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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Home Theatre & HDTV => Topic started by: justink on January 18, 2011, 01:45:11 AM
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there was a nice LG at sears that looked perfect for $800, but she's no where to be found. contempleting doing in store and talking up a manager to give me the same deal...
thoughts?
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Looking for a 50" plasma in the 1K range take a look at the following model. This one and its big sister are the first THX 3D certified units.
http://www.lg.com/us/tv-audio-video/televisions/LG-plasma-tv-INFINIA-50PX950.jsp
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the panasonic 50" g25 is currently under 900 bucks at amazon
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I would stay away from the panny, I had one and it buzzed like crazy especially when screen displayed a large amont of white, search the net they are known for bad power supplies, I returned mine to sears within 30 days and got another lcd. I would buy lcd or led before plasma. just my 2 cents.
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I would buy lcd or led before plasma. just my 2 cents.
I would get a plasma before an lcd or led. my 2 cents :)
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I would buy lcd or led before plasma. just my 2 cents.
I would get a plasma before an lcd or led. my 2 cents :)
+1
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why do you guys recommend plasma over lcd/led?
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why do you guys recommend plasma over lcd/led?
Thinking about replacing our 8 y.o. rear-projection LCD, and the much lower cost of plasmas certainly is a draw.
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why do you guys recommend plasma over lcd/led?
For me it's a couple of things all having to do with picture quality.
First and foremost though are the black levels. Watch a movie like the Dark Knight and on a LCD the dark scenes are really greenish. On the plasmas it more of a true black. Higher contrast ratios also help the case for plasmas. Secondly plasmas handle fast motion better. Less blur and drag. If you watch any sporting event you'll notice the difference. Last is viewing angle. The more you deviate from directly center the more the picture becomes less vivid. Plasmas have a significantly wider viewing angle than LCD's.
What works in the LCD's favor is that you can get a slightly slimmer and lighter TV. Also LCD's do not generate as much heat as the plasmas.
LCD's are starting to match up better in price compared to plasmas especially in the >50" sizes. But all things being equal in price the picture quality of the plasmas really is a nice jump up from comparible LCD's.
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In addition to what has already been mentioned plasmas will deliver a more film-like picture and are currently better for 3D than LCD's with LED back lighting are. Today's modern plasmas can be thin and are not prone to the issues of past plasma's.
LCD's will generally be brighter than plasma's so if your viewing room is bright with lots of sunlit windows that could be a factor.
While off to a slow start (there's not much of a selection of 3D movies at the moment) this is the next push out to viewers/consumers. For the current price difference it is worth considering a 3D plasma if a new set is needed right now. Of course 3D could be a flop or of no interest to you but having the option never hurts.
We replaced our 8 year old early high-def DLP rear projection set with a 3D plasma. The old set was rebuilt under warranty at the 4 yr mark and was on its' way out again with a dim lamp which is now discontinued and complete failure of the built in audio.
Here is a review of the LG 60PX950 --> http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/305832/a-few-thoughts-about-the-lg-60px950-3d-plasma-official-thread The 50PX950 is the same only smaller.
LG has recently announced replacements for this series at the CES 2011 but since they will not be available for a couple of months bargains can be found for the current models.
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I beleive plasmas have a higher current draw so there is the power consumption, plus plasma seems to be a fading in popularity, there were many more lcd and led tvs available during my last purchase. But I will agree the picture was great, the noise was unbearable, and I would check the ratings carefully, after my purchase I checked others having issues with the buzzing and it was widespread on the panny g20 and g25 and many people were stuck with repairs that didn't correct the problem, I am happy to report that both my lcd's are quiet as a mouse.
Shayne
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thanks for the info guys
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the panasonic 50" g25 is currently under 900 bucks at amazon
the 50 GT25 (3D) is $999. I will be buying that in July most likely for the bedroom.
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I have a Samsung plasma that looks awesome...The Samsung and the Panasonic were side by side at Video Only and the Samsung looked noticeably better, which surprised me because Panasonic is one of the oldest manufacturers of plasma.
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I have a Samsung plasma that looks awesome...The Samsung and the Panasonic were side by side at Video Only and the Samsung looked noticeably better, which surprised me because Panasonic is one of the oldest manufacturers of plasma.
side by side is totally subjective on how the panel is calibrated. Store testing is really not a good way to compare, unless they are calibrated in a dark room. Even then, they are different panels so they will of course look slightly different.
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BTW, based on this thread (and being cheap), I went ahead and picked up a Samsung 50" plasma. I got it for the conference championships (honest my Packer-fan-wife, I got the new tv so you could enjoy the game better....)
Only $650, so way cheaper than LCD tv's, and a far, far nicer picture than the sony rear projection LCD it replaced. Perhaps not as nice a picture as a high-end LED-LCD, but great for us since we're not huge videophiles. I compared it against a Zenith (made by LG) 50" plasma that was only $550. I liked the Samsung picture much better. I agree it is hard to compare in a store not knowing how it was set up, but though I couldn't adjust the Samsung picture, they had left the remote for the Zentih lying there. I spent a lot of time totally changing around all the settings and playing with everything, and nothing I did made the Zenith look as good as the Samsung positioned right next to it.
I spent some time with my Digital Video Essentials set up disk to really try to tweak the settings (damn there are a lot!), and really have it dialed in pretty good at this point.
I don't notice anything objectionable in the way of noise from it. It's in our family room in a finished basement which though it has plenty of windows, doesn't get strong lighting, so the brightness on it has been fine.
Overall, a great tv for the money. For our watching habits, it is hard to justify spending $2000-3000 for a tv (again, did that once already), and the plasma has fit the bill nicely.
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You can't judge a set at all by how it looks in a showroom. Right out of the box most sets are programmed for vivid mode or a similar mode just to make the set stand out in a showroom under bright lights etc. This showroom mode is not at all what you want to use at home and should not be used to judge a set.
Digital Video Essentials, Spears & Munsil etc. are great for adjusting the user settings for your set, definitely money well spent.
To go even further an ISF Imaging Science Foundation calibration will fully calibrate your set well beyond what you can achieve without special training and thousands of dollars worth of test & measurement gear. You probably don't want to spring for this type of calibration on a $600.00 set but is worthwhile on more expensive sets.
http://www.imagingscience.com/
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depending on deals, you might be able to get close to $1k for the Panasonic 50-ST30. That's a great panel.