1080p Plasma's And Mfg's

[EddieG]

I hope to get a new set next year after the prices come down a bit and am curious about something. When I bought my CRT HDTV and was looking at large screens 4 years ago I had to look at the sets side-by-side in the store. With a 50" plasma with 1080p, how much of a difference, if any, is there between Samsung, Toshiba, and Panasonic?

Of course I will look at them at the stores before buying, but in the end will it come down to price?

Thanks!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I hope to get a new set next year after the prices come down a bit and am curious about something. When I bought my CRT HDTV and was looking at large screens 4 years ago I had to look at the sets side-by-side in the store. With a 50" plasma with 1080p, how much of a difference, if any, is there between Samsung, Toshiba, and Panasonic?

Of course I will look at them at the stores before buying, but in the end will it come down to price?

Thanks!

IMO manufacturers will preset their TVs to look extremely bright & high contrast. So when I compared the TVs during shopping, it was very easy for me to notice that my Mitsubishi had the most striking picture of all. Extremely colorful, bright, sharp, & high contrast. It's unscientific, but it was so pleasing to my eyes, I just had to buy it.

So cost is always a factor, but you may find that one of those TVs will look the best, and the $100-$200 difference may be worth it. Or not.

 

[MDS]

IMO manufacturers will preset their TVs to look extremely bright & high contrast.

Exactly true but also the settings will be different between TVs. It's really hard to tell which one will be better when you get it home because in the store you are comparing apples to oranges.

I am down to two - Sharp D82U and Toshiba LX177. I saw them both side by side showing the same channel (ESPN HD, I think). The sportscasters were sitting on an orange couch discussing whatever it is they were discussing.

The orangeness of the couch looked totally different on the two different sets. One was a dark orange and the other was more muted. Which one is 'correct'? No idea.

I noticed the same type of thing with Sony vs other TVs showing some kid's movie. The opening scene showed a red storybook. On all TVs except the Sony, it was a dark red. On the Sony it was more pinkish red. Again, which one is correct?

You'd have to adjust each TV to near identical settings to really be able to judge which is better and most stores it seems won't let you change anything (they don't even have the remotes out). When I said that I'd like to see what it looks like with the brightness and contrast lowered, the salesman told me 'Oh, you wouldn't want to lower the brightness or contrast'. Really? That is the first thing you want to do when you get it home.

 

[EddieG]

Exactly true but also the settings will be different between TVs. It's really hard to tell which one will be better when you get it home because in the store you are comparing apples to oranges.

I am down to two - Sharp D82U and Toshiba LX177. I saw them both side by side showing the same channel (ESPN HD, I think). The sportscasters were sitting on an orange couch discussing whatever it is they were discussing.

The orangeness of the couch looked totally different on the two different sets. One was a dark orange and the other was more muted. Which one is 'correct'? No idea.

I noticed the same type of thing with Sony vs other TVs showing some kid's movie. The opening scene showed a red storybook. On all TVs except the Sony, it was a dark red. On the Sony it was more pinkish red. Again, which one is correct?

You'd have to adjust each TV to near identical settings to really be able to judge which is better and most stores it seems won't let you change anything (they don't even have the remotes out). When I said that I'd like to see what it looks like with the brightness and contrast lowered, the salesman told me 'Oh, you wouldn't want to lower the brightness or contrast'. Really? That is the first thing you want to do when you get it home.

When you looked at the 2 sets side-by-side and the color of the couch was different shades of orange, were the people's flesh tones the same?

I just remembered something I heard a few months ago. Your in the store and you are listening to 2 sets of speakers and one sounds just a LITTLE bit better. Or you are looking at 2 tv's and one is just a LITTLE more colorful. When you get home you have nothing to compare it to. When you go a friends house do you look at his 50" plasma and think "Hm...his looks a LITTLE better than mine"?

So to answer my own question, it seems like it IS worth it to save a couple hundered bucks if it comes down to a Samsung vs. Toshiba vs. Panasonic (unless one of them looks really awful in the store, which I doubt will happen).
The limiting factor would be the "extras"...like how many HDMI inputs, and the built-in speakers (though this is a mute point when using a surround sound system).

 

[mtrycrafts]

When you looked at the 2 sets side-by-side and the color of the couch was different shades of orange, were the people's flesh tones the same?

I just remembered something I heard a few months ago. Your in the store and you are listening to 2 sets of speakers and one sounds just a LITTLE bit better. Or you are looking at 2 tv's and one is just a LITTLE more colorful. When you get home you have nothing to compare it to. When you go a friends house do you look at his 50" plasma and think "Hm...his looks a LITTLE better than mine"?

So to answer my own question, it seems like it IS worth it to save a couple hundered bucks if it comes down to a Samsung vs. Toshiba vs. Panasonic (unless one of them looks really awful in the store, which I doubt will happen).
The limiting factor would be the "extras"...like how many HDMI inputs, and the built-in speakers (though this is a mute point when using a surround sound system).

Since you are looking at the newer TVs, consider checking out the Consumer Reports article in your local library. There is one in the current issue on large TVs. I am pretty sure that they do calibrate their TVs before blind comparison, hiding the identity. They also rate their standard def performance as well.

 

[acacia987]

IMO Panasonic have some ridiculously nice looking plasmas out now and with there new screen coatings that make glare almost on par with LCD's. they also are priced reasonable as well. I am planning on getting the TH-42PZ77U sometime in the near future.

 

[EddieG]

IMO Panasonic have some ridiculously nice looking plasmas out now and with there new screen coatings that make glare almost on par with LCD's. they also are priced reasonable as well. I am planning on getting the TH-42PZ77U sometime in the near future.

I'm looking at the 50" in the same model for now. It can be found for less than $2k.

R.E. your 42" read this:
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-and-plasma/panasonic-th-58pz700u/4505-6482_7-32317318.html?tag=txt

or http://tinyurl.com/3874j8

 

[zildjian]

R.E. your 42" read this:
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-and-plasma/panasonic-th-58pz700u/4505-6482_7-32317318.html?tag=txt

or http://tinyurl.com/3874j8

The TH-58PZ700U (what your link refers to) is the 50" from the previous generation (or half generation, months vs year) than the 42" acacia987 is talking about, the TH-42PZ77U. Very similar but different TV's. The new PZ77U model has a higher contrast ratio and anti-glare coating that the previous PZ700U's didn't.

 

[EddieG]

The TH-58PZ700U (what your link refers to) is the 50" from the previous generation (or half generation, months vs year) than the 42" acacia987 is talking about, the TH-42PZ77U. Very similar but different TV's. The new PZ77U model has a higher contrast ratio and anti-glare coating that the previous PZ700U's didn't.

Stupid me! I'm so sorry I misread that model number. My humblest apologies!!

What cnet said was that the 42" screen was too small to take advantage of the 1080p.

 

[zildjian]

What cnet said was that the 42" screen was too small to take advantage of the 1080p.

No problem. cnet is right about that. For a 42" model, I'd save my $$ and go 720p unless I was going to be sitting right beside the thing.