Buying a new TV

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Therk

36 posts

Geek

#91559 15-Oct-2011 16:57

Hi there,

We've had our Sony 40" LCD for over 4 years now and think its time to upgrade.

I'm wondering if its worth buying a Plasma over an LCD. We noticed that Plasmas looked a lot better in store (less blur, smoother and better colours) but are concerned about issues such as burn in.

Anyway, we have a budget of about $2500 (less is always good) and have these requirements of the TV:

- Full HD
- 50"+
- USB support
- Wifi support with Youtube would be nice

Been looking at the Panasonic plasma range of TVs and may get one of those.

Some advice would be great, cheers :)

edit: Also looking for a 32" Full HD LCD for my room for under $800, wondering if there is any difference between all the basic Samsung/Sony/etc models or should I just get the cheapest?

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3867 posts

Uber Geek

#534108 16-Oct-2011 23:08

Panasonic 50" ST would be an obvious choice for the plasma... you should be able to pick up a wifi dongle too, if it's what you're after. They ST's are a NeoPlasma, so you'll get an anti-glare screen, good black levels, lower energy use, accurate colours etc. Or, to put it another way, the ST30 is where plasmas get 'good'.
For the 32" TV, will you be watching TV? Or will it be used for gaming / a PC monitor?

Therk

36 posts

Geek

#534110 16-Oct-2011 23:15

Yeah the ST30 looks good, do you think its worth paying a few hundred more for the GT version? Also, there is no major issues with plasmas anymore right? Permanent burn in scares me a little >_<

Oh and the 32" LCD will mostly be used to watch TV, and for a little bit of gaming.

Thanks for the reply :)

P1n3apqlExpr3ss

830 posts

Ultimate Geek

#534113 16-Oct-2011 23:25

100% had a 51" plasma for $1600 or so. I believe it was the Samsung 6900 series and matches your criteria
http://www.samsung.com/levant/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/plasma-tv/PS59D6900DRXTW/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=

Parents are still caught between the LED/Plasma debate... Plasma is cheaper, better colours and viewing angles, whats not to like? Burn in issues?

Therk

36 posts

Geek

#534116 16-Oct-2011 23:45

P1n3apqlExpr3ss: 100% had a 51" plasma for $1600 or so. I believe it was the Samsung 6900 series and matches your criteria
http://www.samsung.com/levant/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/plasma-tv/PS59D6900DRXTW/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=

Parents are still caught between the LED/Plasma debate... Plasma is cheaper, better colours and viewing angles, whats not to like? Burn in issues?

I've heard some horror stories about Samsung plasmas so at this point I'd rather stay away from them :\

P1n3apqlExpr3ss

830 posts

Ultimate Geek

#534118 16-Oct-2011 23:49

Therk:
P1n3apqlExpr3ss: 100% had a 51" plasma for $1600 or so. I believe it was the Samsung 6900 series and matches your criteria
http://www.samsung.com/levant/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/plasma-tv/PS59D6900DRXTW/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=

Parents are still caught between the LED/Plasma debate... Plasma is cheaper, better colours and viewing angles, whats not to like? Burn in issues?

I've heard some horror stories about Samsung plasmas so at this point I'd rather stay away from them :\

What kinda stories? The sales rep was more then happy to brag about how Samsung and Panasonic are the best brands to buy

Therk

36 posts

Geek

#534119 16-Oct-2011 23:52

He said that design wise Samsung are generally the best while when it comes to quality nothing beats Panasonic. Also mentioned that some Samsung models still have serious burn in issues and that Samsung are behind other competitors in that respect.

mattwnz

16710 posts

Uber Geek

#534126 17-Oct-2011 00:19

P1n3apqlExpr3ss:
Therk:
P1n3apqlExpr3ss: 100% had a 51" plasma for $1600 or so. I believe it was the Samsung 6900 series and matches your criteria
http://www.samsung.com/levant/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/plasma-tv/PS59D6900DRXTW/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=

Parents are still caught between the LED/Plasma debate... Plasma is cheaper, better colours and viewing angles, whats not to like? Burn in issues?

I've heard some horror stories about Samsung plasmas so at this point I'd rather stay away from them :\

What kinda stories? The sales rep was more then happy to brag about how Samsung and Panasonic are the best brands to buy?

I think it depends on the stores, and what they make the best margins on. Consuemr did a reliability survey and I believe samsung were below Sony and panasonic, but not by much. Personally I have had problems with samsungs LCDs, and don't think they look as nicely designed as Sonys. I think sonys build quailty is one of the best.

Ramjet007

287 posts

Ultimate Geek

#534144 17-Oct-2011 06:09

I upgraded my 40" LDC to an Panasonic ST 50" Plasma about 4 weeks ago. Very happy with it.

scuwp

3325 posts

Uber Geek

#534163 17-Oct-2011 09:02

I have a Samsung 50" plasma, and absolutely love it, there are always lovers/haters for any brand.

For TV's over 50+ my money is on plasmas for best value, especially in your price range. Picture quality is awesome! LED comes close but a lot more $$$. I don't think burn in is a big issue these days, however I wouldn't leave any TV on the same image for hours on end no matter what kind it is, that's just dumb IMO.

Happy shopping

Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then always be the Batman

Dunnersfella

3867 posts

Uber Geek

#534464 17-Oct-2011 20:11

If you want to see why you should run with a Panasonic ST over a Samsung 6900 plasma... turn them both off. You'll notice that Samsung have tinged their panel red, meaning you have a picture that will be much, much trickier to calibrate. Leaving you, typically, with quite a bit too much red in the picture. People look sunburnt, reds look almost pink...
The motion processing on-board the Panasonic will smoke the Samsung too.
And while I haven't seen burn-in on plasmas for a long time, last years 7000 series plasma did suffer from quite a lot of image retention... to the point that I'd never have recommended a mate who games to buy one.
I don't know if that's an issue for the 2011 Samsung plasmas though.

fahrenheit

753 posts

Ultimate Geek

#534649 18-Oct-2011 12:16

Dunnersfella: If you want to see why you should run with a Panasonic ST over a Samsung 6900 plasma... turn them both off. You'll notice that Samsung have tinged their panel red, meaning you have a picture that will be much, much trickier to calibrate. Leaving you, typically, with quite a bit too much red in the picture. People look sunburnt, reds look almost pink...

This is completely backward. Samsungs colour accuracy is widely regarded as superior to Panasonics. Samsung offers CMS, grayscale and gamma adjustments in their low - midrange TVs that put Panasonic's to shame.
The ST has a single colour slider which adjusts all colour channels and every mode other than True Cinema will have a green push that cannot be corrected.

Where the ST will dominate the 6 series is in its AR filter and deeper black levels.

Dunnersfella

3867 posts

Uber Geek

#534655 18-Oct-2011 12:23

fahrenheit:
Dunnersfella: If you want to see why you should run with a Panasonic ST over a Samsung 6900 plasma... turn them both off. You'll notice that Samsung have tinged their panel red, meaning you have a picture that will be much, much trickier to calibrate. Leaving you, typically, with quite a bit too much red in the picture. People look sunburnt, reds look almost pink...

This is completely backward. Samsungs colour accuracy is widely regarded as superior to Panasonics. Samsung offers CMS, grayscale and gamma adjustments in their low - midrange TVs that put Panasonic's to shame.
The ST has a single colour slider which adjusts all colour channels and every mode other than True Cinema will have a green push that cannot be corrected.

Where the ST will dominate the 6 series is in its AR filter and deeper black levels.

So the Panasonic looks green to you... but with better blacks (unless it's in True Cinema mode... in which case it's a much better performer all round)?
And the Samsung won't look red at all, despite the fact that the user will have to compromise their calibration to get around the red tinged panel? However, as there's more scope to the calibration, they get to stuff around for longer in order to get to where they need to be...?

What about the god awful motion performance of the Samsung's?

timmmay

16372 posts

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#534658 18-Oct-2011 12:24

I had a Samsung 50" plasma about a year ago. It buzzed, it had burn in, it used loads of power, and the motion looked weird. I swapped it for a 55" Samsung LCD and i'm very happy with it.

You might be able to see a difference in image quality when you have them side by side, but in practice most good brand modern TVs do a decent job.

fahrenheit

753 posts

Ultimate Geek

#534671 18-Oct-2011 12:58

Dunnersfella:
fahrenheit:
Dunnersfella: If you want to see why you should run with a Panasonic ST over a Samsung 6900 plasma... turn them both off. You'll notice that Samsung have tinged their panel red, meaning you have a picture that will be much, much trickier to calibrate. Leaving you, typically, with quite a bit too much red in the picture. People look sunburnt, reds look almost pink...

This is completely backward. Samsungs colour accuracy is widely regarded as superior to Panasonics. Samsung offers CMS, grayscale and gamma adjustments in their low - midrange TVs that put Panasonic's to shame.
The ST has a single colour slider which adjusts all colour channels and every mode other than True Cinema will have a green push that cannot be corrected.

Where the ST will dominate the 6 series is in its AR filter and deeper black levels.

So the Panasonic looks green to you... but with better blacks (unless it's in True Cinema mode... in which case it's a much better performer all round)?
And the Samsung won't look red at all, despite the fact that the user will have to compromise their calibration to get around the red tinged panel? However, as there's more scope to the calibration, they get to stuff around for longer in order to get to where they need to be...?

What about the god awful motion performance of the Samsung's?

True Cinema mode is similar to THX mode in that its colour accuracy is closer to the rec709 standard. All other colour modes have their range extend into the green. This is fairly common on recent Panasonics. Unfortunately this comes at a cost to gamma (which also has no adjustments offered). Without a CMS or a VP, you have to rely solely on the colour slider. If you correct the green push that is inherent in those other modes, red and blue will be made worse as the adjustment raises and lowers all three colours. Even with calibration, you are stuck with this compromise.

The Samsungs also have similar push with the out of the box colour but they give the user the controls they need to correct it. That functionality is only offered on the flagship Panasonic (VT30). Without being able to set colour, gamma, grayscale, the result has to be a compromise.

So no, the Samsung does not require more stuffing around. It gives the tools needed so you don't have to compromise.
There is way more to consider than just colour of course (motion smoothing and other nasties on the Samsung), but where these two makes are concerned, Samsungs colour accuracy comes out on top.

robbyp

1163 posts

Uber Geek

#534700 18-Oct-2011 13:51

I think LEDs have quitre a few advantages over plasma, however fo rthe price, plasmas are excellent value for money and you probably can't go wrong buying one.

However I believe plasmas do use more power, and they perform best in a dimly lit room. Also I don't think they last as long, and you can't get the ultra thin panels like you can with LEDs. Also not sure if they emit radiation, like CRTs

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