It seems to me that LCD TV's make more sense

[Pacfanweb]

Seeing as I use a 70" screen, I'm betting it's more then 20-30lbs more...if there's even a 70" plasma on the market right now.

I compared the weight of my Panasonic 65VT60 and googled a Samsung 65" LED.

That was the difference. Other LED's may vary.

There is no 70" Plasma. Don't think there's anything bigger than a 65"(actually, I guess it's 64" now that Panny quit making them) that you can realistically purchase.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The top Sammy last year was almost dead-even with the Panasonic.

Really, only the reviewers were putting the Panny on top, because of the slightly better black levels, and those guys are obsessed with blacks.

I can tell you that the Samsung F8500 won last year's Value Electronics Shootout over Panasonic.

CNET was there, and they said people liked the brightness and whiter whites of the Samsun, and better contrast, over the blacks of the ZT60, even though CNET and the other "experts" themselves still chose the Panasonic.

Now this was after seeing them in a controlled lighting environment, side-by-side, which pretty much nobody gets the chance to do.

So regardless of which one was "best"....they were basically too close to call it.

I wasn't hating on Samsung. I have a Samsung 1080p 3D plasma that in some ways is better than my best Panasonic. The picture is bright, very clear and scales content better than either Panasonic.

 

[jacktesterson]

My LG 50" Plasma just died last week. Had it for 6+ years. Paid $2500 for it in late 2007.


I went with a 50" LED TV this time, got it on the weekend. Wanted a 60 but could only afford a 50. I think the color was a smudge better on the Plasma, but the LED is much brighter and looks much more modern. (Its all screen). Plus I use a HTPC on it 95% of the time and now do not have to set everything to be plasma friendly like I did before. (To avoid burn-in issues).

My buddy bought a new LG 60" 1080p Plasma and uses a HTPC too and you can see his Chrome Favorites bar burned into the TV. So it can still happen. You just need to be careful. I used mine as a monitor for years.

 

[Thebobo]

Now that Panasonic ship has sailed are Sammy/LG plasma's any good?

Love my 60 LG Plasma and the price was $600~ Beautiful picture, love the magic controller with voice activation and all the apps work great. You can still get this model for under under $700

Other owners

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1476213/official-lg-60pn5700-60-class-thread

 

[Golgatha]

I think the biggest problem is most have never seen a properly calibrated plasma. I know I never have. I've yet to see one that remotely looked as good as the good LCDS although lots of internet people tell me otherwise. When dropping that kind of cash, I prefer to see what I'm getting before...not buy it then pay someone 300 to come make it look right...which is something I've NEVER understood regarding a digital display(both plasma and LCD).

Too bad our showrooms are dwindling...although given the above, then whats the point of them if apparently they aren't doing their jobs anyway? Eventually it will all be a "guess and pray"

In the absence of professional calibration, $20 for a Disney WOW Bluray goes a long way towards getting decent picture quality out of your TV.

 

[JackBurton]

I think the biggest problem is most have never seen a properly calibrated plasma. I know I never have. I've yet to see one that remotely looked as good as the good LCDS although lots of internet people tell me otherwise. When dropping that kind of cash, I prefer to see what I'm getting before...not buy it then pay someone 300 to come make it look right...which is something I've NEVER understood regarding a digital display(both plasma and LCD).

Too bad our showrooms are dwindling...although given the above, then whats the point of them if apparently they aren't doing their jobs anyway? Eventually it will all be a "guess and pray"

I have 2 professionally ISF calibrated Pioneer Elite plasmas. I love them both and wouldn't trade them for anything on the market.....except for Samsung's 85" 4K S9 set. Holy Christ that thing was amazing looking!

There really isn't much of a debate anymore though. The future is LCD or OLED. Plasma is done. The beginning of the end for plasma was when Pioneer left the market in 2009. It was all down hill from there for plasma.

 

[tential]

This type of thread is like a thread saying:
You should pick up the 4670K instead of the 4770k. It's 85% of the performance (at least) blah blah blah (Throw in any 2 processors you think fit better but you get the point).

Either way though, Plasma is being replaced by OLED. So when OLED hits the market at good prices I'll be EXTREMELY happy.

 

[Midwayman]

This type of thread is like a thread saying:
You should pick up the 4670K instead of the 4770k. It's 85% of the performance (at least) blah blah blah (Throw in any 2 processors you think fit better but you get the point).

Either way though, Plasma is being replaced by OLED. So when OLED hits the market at good prices I'll be EXTREMELY happy.

Except in this case, the 4770k is cheaper.

 

[Pacfanweb]

I have 2 professionally ISF calibrated Pioneer Elite plasmas. I love them both and wouldn't trade them for anything on the market.....except for Samsung's 85" 4K S9 set. Holy Christ that thing was amazing looking!

There really isn't much of a debate anymore though. The future is LCD or OLED. Plasma is done. The beginning of the end for plasma was when Pioneer left the market in 2009. It was all down hill from there for plasma.

Yep. That's why I bought a Plasma last year when it reached its final, and best form. The VT60 and ZT60.

Now I hope my VT gives me the same 10 years my old DLP did, and hopefully OLED will be at a similar price point by then.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Having seen a calibrated Sony X900A 4k TV, plasma doesn't do anything for me against the clarity of that set.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Having seen a calibrated Sony X900A 4k TV, plasma doesn't do anything for me against the clarity of that set.

I don't think anyone argues against 4K clarity. It is about the best PQ you can get with the actual content you can actually watch. I mean, if you are hooking your top flight gaming PC to your TV then 4K rocks.

 

[Midwayman]

Having seen a calibrated Sony X900A 4k TV, plasma doesn't do anything for me against the clarity of that set.

It would be interesting to compare the motion resolution of a set like that vs a high end plasma. Plasma is known for excellent motion clarity, while LCD.... not so much. Of course static.... no question.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Are there any plans for oled displays in 4k? I know the cost of entry would be astronomical but I am curious.

 

[jacktesterson]

Are there any plans for oled displays in 4k? I know the cost of entry would be astronomical but I am curious.

http://www.slashgear.com/lgs-curved-77-inch-4k-oled-tv-is-absolutely-stunning-08312473/

They are in development.



OLED is being held back by the push for 4k a tad, IMO.

 

[poofyhairguy]

So this thread got me curious and I researched today. Looks like plasma is in real trouble. The only new Samsung model this year is a midrange 64 inch TV with good blacks but a pentile display:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-PN64H...96052518&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=65+inhc+plsama

The higher-end model was canceled meaning that the PNF8500 is the last high-end plasma available (maybe forever):

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-h7000-201403153671.htm

LG has announced new models but no reviews. Both companies are leaders in OLED and LCD technology so R&D is going there and not to new plasma tech.

Ring the bell, plasma is done. It was a good run.

 

[Wingznut]

I disagree, poofy... The beginning of the end was many moons ago, when Panasonic announced they were discontinuing plasmas.

 

[Pacfanweb]

http://www.slashgear.com/lgs-curved-77-inch-4k-oled-tv-is-absolutely-stunning-08312473/

They are in development.



OLED is being held back by the push for 4k a tad, IMO.

I think they haven't gotten the production costs for OLED down to where they can make the sets for a reasonable price.

Also, I remember reading they still have longevity issues.

But OLED craps all over a 4K LED set. 4k is just something to get them by until OLED can be sold at a reasonable price.

 

[tential]

So this thread got me curious and I researched today. Looks like plasma is in real trouble. The only new Samsung model this year is a midrange 64 inch TV with good blacks but a pentile display:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-PN64H5...65+inhc+plsama

The higher-end model was canceled meaning that the PNF8500 is the last high-end plasma available (maybe forever):

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-h7000-201403153671.htm

LG has announced new models but no reviews. Both companies are leaders in OLED and LCD technology so R&D is going there and not to new plasma tech.

Ring the bell, plasma is done. It was a good run.

I thought that was common news....
I keep forgetting not everyone is reading tech news each day. It's common knowledge or well known now that Plasma was done and has been done.
OLED is Plasma's successor.

Edit: Yes OLED is being held back by the need for 4K.
It's easier to sell numbers over something that is harder to quantify like picture fidelity. OLED just like Plasma shines at great black levels. But in a store, no one is looking at a display to see how dark it gets. All over BestBuy they're trying to make the display as bright as possible to catch your attention. It's why LED LCDs were so popular. This is directly from a Best Buy's saleman btw from when I went to purchase my LED HDTV. They didn't have a plasma big enough for me sadly but the picture quality was better when he played actual content and not just the extremely bright thing they have on loop at store.

I hope OLED doesn't suffer the same fate as plasma just due to the way stores market HDTVs.

 

[desura]

Having never seen 4k...well, I don't see the point. I guess the best thing is that you can sit closer to a display and see detail, which I guess would be more immersive. But then most stuff would be upscaled.

I've always thought that Pentile made absolutely no sense in phones, but made perfect sense for a TV. The worst part of LCD displays are how obviously digital they are... while Pentile seems like it has problems with displaying straight lines -- which is absolutely no problem in TV's. I'm much more bothered when curved lines are obviously pixelated.

I'm perplexed still that AMOLED hasn't arrived significantly in tablets yet. I mean, it is so obvious to me that the best way to compete against the ipad is to use AMOLED. I myself would pick an AMOLED tablet over an ipad in a heartbeat.

 

[desura]

So can someone answer me this:

Full array tvs with local dimming. How good is the effect?

What bothers me most is how movies with letterbars on the top and bottom will have grey in the top and bottom, which I find distracting. Local dimming does something about this?

 

[tential]

Having never seen 4k...well, I don't see the point. I guess the best thing is that you can sit closer to a display and see detail, which I guess would be more immersive. But then most stuff would be upscaled.

I've always thought that Pentile made absolutely no sense in phones, but made perfect sense for a TV. The worst part of LCD displays are how obviously digital they are... while Pentile seems like it has problems with displaying straight lines -- which is absolutely no problem in TV's. I'm much more bothered when curved lines are obviously pixelated.

I'm perplexed still that AMOLED hasn't arrived significantly in tablets yet. I mean, it is so obvious to me that the best way to compete against the ipad is to use AMOLED. I myself would pick an AMOLED tablet over an ipad in a heartbeat.

I can see the point. I sit 10 feet away from my HDTV though (probably 8 but lets just say 10). So more detail. Also, since my HDTV is hooked through my PC (I use WMC for live TV), I can use my HDTV as an actual PC as well. That's nice if I want to play youtube, look at the weather, or well, get the full functionality of a PC. 4K makes using your large display much clearer. Also, I'm sure 4K would help get rid of that "digital" effect as with 1080p on large displays it's possible to see individual pixels while with a 4K HDTV it's much harder.

Lack of 4K content though is a reason why I won't purchase a 4K HDTV yet. Well that and price. When gaming PCs handle 4K relatively easy though I'll definitely switch as I use my PC as an AIO content delivery system. That way, I don't switch inputs between cable, bluray, xbox, playstation, roku(or whatever device people use).

The larger your HDTV is and the closer you sit though it makes sense. I always thought my 70 inch LED HDTV looked small but well, no one really understands. My sister who spent some significant time watching it while home now agrees. It feels small after you watch for awhile. Most people could sit closer, it's just room aesthetics that hold them back. If I could get a reasonably priced 100 inch HDTV for the main living room I would. For now though, I'd like to upgrade to a 80 inch 4k LED HDTV (until OLED is ready). However, most likely I'll upgrade to 70 inch 4k LED. The price premium jump from 70 to 80 is just way too high. For Sony, it's a 4x difference while every other screen size upgrade is fairly linear in price jump.

So can someone answer me this:

Full array tvs with local dimming. How good is the effect?

What bothers me most is how movies with letterbars on the top and bottom will have grey in the top and bottom, which I find distracting. Local dimming does something about this?

Full Array with local dimming helps a lot but it doesn't fix it completely. OLED will.

Sharp used to offer Full Array on their whole lineup. Then they realized how stupid that was and that they could strip down their lower end HDTVs and still sell them at the same price and give people more of a reason to upgrade. When I purchased my HDTV in 2012, the new 2013 models were JUST coming in. The guy tried to upsell me to the 2013 model.... which just looked dark with it's edgelit display. It's a shame Sharp did that but well, gotta stack your money however you can.

I'm upset about having to upgrade since Full Array is now reserved for higher end models.

 

[sdifox]

Blame the idiots that think thinner is better. It's a tv, I don't stand around all day admiring its profile. Edge lit is the worst thing that could have happened to display technology.

 

[Dari]

So, is it too late to get a Panasonic plasma? I'm in the market for a 50" and Panasonic's own website isn't selling them.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I disagree, poofy... The beginning of the end was many moons ago, when Panasonic announced they were discontinuing plasmas.

I had naive hope that LG or Samsung would get more aggressive in the space. I knew that Panasonic quitting would leave a hole of value in the TV market for a while, but it looks like "a while" will be something like 8 years.

Oh well, I have my 60 inch ST60 and my 65 inch ST50 to get me through the dark ages of television.

So, is it too late to get a Panasonic plasma? I'm in the market for a 50" and Panasonic's own website isn't selling them.

Probably yes. They stopped making them months ago, your only chance is if a local store still has a display model or something on clearance (that is I how I got one last month).

I will say that Samsung plasma still provides more value in the 50 inch segment than any LED, especially if you have the budget for this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BCPGOD4/...ter_B00BN5SWQ0

But overall right now is the worst time to be buying a new TV for a not bright room in over a decade.

 

[Dari]

I had naive hope that LG or Samsung would get more aggressive in the space. I knew that Panasonic quitting would leave a hole of value in the TV market for a while, but it looks like "a while" will be something like 8 years.

Oh well, I have my 60 inch ST60 and my 65 inch ST50 to get me through the dark ages of television.



Probably yes. They stopped making them months ago, your only chance is if a local store still has a display model or something on clearance (that is I how I got one last month).

I will say that Samsung plasma still provides more value in the 50 inch segment than any LED, especially if you have the budget for this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BCPGOD4/...ter_B00BN5SWQ0

But overall right now is the worst time to be buying a new TV for a not bright room in over a decade.

Damn, I dicked around until I needed one and now the chance is gone. Thanks for the link but I think I'll pass on the Korean makes. Nothing wrong with them but if you're going for the best, why settle?