Kuro vs the rest

[admin_exported]

About to go for the Panasinic 42PZ85 but would like to know how come in all the reviews I read that the Pioneer 42 Kuro (428?) wins hands down when it is only an HD ready set. I assumed full HD would always produce a better picture due to pixel density ?

All comments welcome before I finally part with my cash.

Thanks

 

[John Duncan]

Not always - standard def TV upscaled to 1080 can look worse than upscaled to 720, so it depends on your source. Viewing distance is also important, since you might not even notice the difference.

 

[professorhat]

Mmmm, put your faith in what you see with your own eyes rather than tech specs. There's many other things going on "under the hood" that resolution, contrast settings etc. figures don't tell you.

 

[John Duncan]

Yup. I'd rather have a 720 panasonic than a 1080.....um.......anything really.

 

[Clare Newsome]

fishyfella:
I assumed full HD would always produce a better picture due to pixel density ?

To use a food theme (as i'm eating lunch), it's like saying a sandwich will be tastier because it's got more ham in it - that's fine if it's great-quality ham and all the rest of the package is great, too. But a fat ham sandwich with poor-quality bread isn't going to be as good as a sarnie with slightly less, top-quality ham and the best bread you've ever tasted!

The best (but by no means all) Full HD sets will display more slightly detail WHILE DISPLAYING FULL HD MATERIAL (eg Blu-ray) than the 42in HD Ready Kuro, but it terms of colour, contrast and motion-handling - and, as mentioned, SD TV performance - the Pioneer is better.

 

[John Duncan]

I may have to eat all the pies now.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

There is also the BANG PER BUCK side of chosing Your TV. EG when I was in the market for a New Plasma I looked at a few and ended up with the FULL HD 50"" PIoneer KURO vs the Samsung FULL HD PS50P96, now yes the Pioneer was a better TV offering beter slightly better Black levels over the Samsung and more insight into the dark sceens. But the Pioneer was well over double the price of the Samsung and IMHO the differance in the picture was not that much worse on the Samsung to make Me warrant this extra expense on the Pioneer. So I got the Samsung and mighty happy with it I am.

As with lots of People on here also recomend, go and have a look with your own eyes and then get the set You are happiest with which may not nessescerialy be the set with the Highest spec on paper.[*]

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the advice, looks like I'm off to a showroom. A diet of predominately SD TV will probably look better on a 720 display then ?

final question is would watching SD TV upscaled to 1080i via SKY HD make the picture quality between the 2 closer ?

Claire - now I'm hungry !

 

[D.J.KRIME]

If using a Sky HD box, the SD channels are not upscaled unless You set the HD box video output to either 720p or 1080i, but from My experience You are better off leaving the HD box set to AUTOMATIC as I have found the scaler in My TV to give better results than the scaler in the HD box. In saying that, AFAIK all the HD channels upscale all SD content their end and transmit every thing at 1080i but the differance between a native 1080i and a upscaled one is quite staggering.

The biggest benifit with SD content that I have noticed is the digital conection using the HDMI cable over scart.

 

[Anonymous]

In answer to your question - not really! Sky upscaled to 1080i makes the picture look slightly soft. I've got the Kuro and I leave the sky box set to auto output and let the TV handle the upscaling. A mate of mine just bought the 428 the other week and came to the same conclusion as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Last question I promise 1

I sthere a discernable difference feeding a full HD picture say blu ray into a full HD TV or say the Kuro 42" or Panny PX80 ?

Thanks and again great to get swift reponses and great advice

Cherrs

 

[Clare Newsome]

Maccca:
In answer to your question - not really! Sky upscaled to 1080i makes the picture look slightly soft. I've got the Kuro and I leave the sky box set to auto output and let the TV handle the upscaling. A mate of mine just bought the 428 the other week and came to the same conclusion as well.

I'd concur!

 

[Clare Newsome]

fishyfella:
Is there a discernable difference feeding a full HD picture say blu ray into a full HD TV or say the Kuro 42" or Panny PX80 ?

Again, it depends on the Full HD TV in question, plus the distance from which you're viewing it.

As mentioned above, the best Full HD sets (think 50in Pioneers, new Panas and Sony W upwards) will show more detail, but you may only notice that if you're sitting reasonably close.