TV experts please - best 50-55" LED?

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#566014 8-Jan-2012 10:23

pacificsurfer51: When purchasing LCD/LEDS over 40" you seriously have to consider looking to the PLASMA'S. Currently have 2 32" LCD Samsungs, 55" 3D Plasma Samsung and 2 42" Panasonic Plasmas in my household. I fell in love with the 3D Samsung Plasma. The picture clarity blew every other tv on display when I watched Avatar on it. HD tv is superb on the plasma as well as blueray movies. Experts would also advise plasmas as well. I still love the Panasonics as they're a rock solid tv.

Nice, gees that is a lot of teles.

timmmay

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#566021 8-Jan-2012 10:29

Funny it was a Samsung 3D plasma that I returned because of the buzzing noise and the poor motion when things are moving or scrolling. I had it replaced first, in case it was faulty, but nope it was fine. Just not good.

fahrenheit

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#566025 8-Jan-2012 10:38

timmmay: Funny it was a Samsung 3D plasma that I returned because of the buzzing noise and the poor motion when things are moving or scrolling. I had it replaced first, in case it was faulty, but nope it was fine. Just not good.

If strawberries make your tummy hurt, it doesn't mean you should declare all fruit as poison.

timmmay

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#566027 8-Jan-2012 10:53

TVs are very much personal opinion. The only real answer is to buy the one that looks good to you. Pay attention to picture mostly, extra noises or annoyances, sound isn't that important, fancy features generally aren't important as they can be added later (other than 3D).

networkn

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#566033 8-Jan-2012 11:11

Kcng: Thanks, I'll also check out Sony. We have been looking at either Samsung UA55D6000 55" Series 6 LED or LG 55" 55LW4500 - think we are favouring the LG - what do others think? Thanks again

I think in LCD/LED the two top manufacturers are Sony and Samsung, I would stay away from everyone else personally (and I have owned a LOT of TV's)

In Plasma Panasonic have everyone else cold except Pioneer Kuros but you don't the budget for them.

Plasma gets a bad rap for being old technology, but PLENTY of smart people buy them.

The last TV I bought was a 32" ex700 and I don't recall being as impressed by a TV for a long time. ( I have owned 5 50+ TV's and 2 Projectors and probably 6 <50" TV's

Kopkiwi

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#566128 8-Jan-2012 16:28

I have to agree with those that have mentioned the Panasonic plasmas. They smash everything offered by Sony and Samsung.

I had the Sony EX720 for a while, 55" Eventually have wound up with the Panny ST30, 60"

It absolutely destroys the picture quality of the Sony and Samsung I had previously.

Do yourself a favour and pick up the Panasonic.

sbiddle

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#566129 8-Jan-2012 16:34

networkn: In Plasma Panasonic have everyone else cold except Pioneer Kuros but you don't the budget for them.

Panasonic took over the Pioneer patents, and I recall reading a number of reviews of their 2011 series panels where they claimed they now matched the Kuro black levels.

I still have a 50" Pioneer plasma here myself, and while it has plenty of flaws the picture quality is still stunning.

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fahrenheit

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#566136 8-Jan-2012 16:51

sbiddle:
networkn: In Plasma Panasonic have everyone else cold except Pioneer Kuros but you don't the budget for them.

Panasonic took over the Pioneer patents, and I recall reading a number of reviews of their 2011 series panels where they claimed they now matched the Kuro black levels.

I still have a 50" Pioneer plasma here myself, and while it has plenty of flaws the picture quality is still stunning.

Of displays that are still in production they are the current black level champs, but sadly they don't even come close to the 9th gen Kuros. That may all change tomorrow (literally. Yay CES!) but I'm not holding my breath. At least we should have some idea soon.

kendog

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#566196 8-Jan-2012 18:48

mcmillgd: I think the 50 is better value.

Has someone been telling you size doesn't matter?

Dunnersfella

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#566218 8-Jan-2012 19:48

Correct me if I'm wrong...
But the new Sharp Elite's are said to exceed the black levels of the Pioneer Kuro's, and they're LED's.
The Panasonic VT's have hit the Pioneer black levels too - or at least depending on whose reviews you read.
I don't believe Sony is making LED's that compare to the leaders in the market place (Samsung / LG and now Sharp's LED) - they simply seemed to have dropped the ball and don't seem to be leading the market any more. I'll be interested to see what turns up at CES too...

networkn

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#566224 8-Jan-2012 20:04

I have heard something about Sony preparing to leave the Consumer TV Market.

fahrenheit

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#566236 8-Jan-2012 20:31

Dunnersfella: Correct me if I'm wrong...
But the new Sharp Elite's are said to exceed the black levels of the Pioneer Kuro's, and they're LED's.

Yeah pretty impressive. Its the result of a team being given unlimited time and budget to make a high-end display. US only and its anyone's guess as to when the tech will filter down to the average consumer displays.

The Panasonic VT's have hit the Pioneer black levels too - or at least depending on whose reviews you read.

Professional calibrators > reviewers with no equipment with which to measure such low black levels.
If I recall correctly, the VT30s are a similar black level to the 8th gen Kuros. The 9th gen where a huge improvement over that.

richms

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#566264 8-Jan-2012 21:31

How are the plasmas for dither these days tho? The ones I saw at harveys were still visible and not as bad as a friends vintage SD plasma which is like watching a swirling chessboard virtually, but they were still bad enough that I was abel to see them clear as anything from about 2m away on the 55" or the next one up.

Im hoping to see some sane 4k stuff announced at CES so the larger sizes become viable without the screendoor appearance that plauges large screens that are only 1080px high.

Richard rich.ms

surfisup1000

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#566750 10-Jan-2012 09:12

mcmillgd:

Anyone else had trouble switching between analog and digital on a samsung tv?
I purchased a Samsung 32" LCD a year ago for an elderly Aunt. Ended up being returned because she kept on changing the channel to analog and couldn't get back to freeview.

This is a very good point, on the usability. Old people / young children get stuck on stuff like this.

I've a sony lcd but the analog tuner has no aerial attached as we only use mysky. But, there is no way to disable the analog input, so , occasionally the kids get stuck if they push the wrong button. There is also no standby button on the tv --so, you must use the remote to put the tv into standby. This is highly annoying as i have a harmony remote which gets stuffed when the kids use TV on/off button.

TV's from 30 years ago were easier to us than modern TV's -- you'd switch on, and you'd always get the picture. Switching channels was instantaneous (not like the 1 second delay you get on modern TV's) . Why can they not make modern sets as 'easy' to use? They should detect active inputs and only allow switching between those.

I'll be looking carefully at usability when I upgrade to my next set. Definitely the tv on/off should put it into standby, not 'off'.

Jaxson

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#566752 10-Jan-2012 09:23

surfisup1000:
mcmillgd:

Anyone else had trouble switching between analog and digital on a samsung tv?
I purchased a Samsung 32" LCD a year ago for an elderly Aunt. Ended up being returned because she kept on changing the channel to analog and couldn't get back to freeview.

This is a very good point, on the usability. Old people / young children get stuck on stuff like this.

Panasonics cycle all channels on a tuner, so if you are on the digital tuner, you'll only get digital stations.

I noticed Samsungs allow a mix of analogue and digital channels, and you can move the channels around as you wish. The trick here, as as been mentioned above, is to ensure you only scan for digital channels in the first place, and delete the analogues if you have any stragglers.

surfisup1000: They should detect active inputs and only allow switching between those.

Samsung sets do just this.

surfisup1000: i have a harmony remote which gets stuffed when the kids use TV on/off button.

There are often other codes in the harmony database that are not on the actual TV remote control. If you can find a discrete ON command then you can send this at the start of your sequence to always try to turn the TV on, in case it's been turned off. Otherwise you'll need to educate your kids

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