LG 50PK350, Panasonic TX-50U20B or Samsung PS50C580....

[Pistol Pete1]

Which would be best for picture quality?

The Panny spec isn't on their website, so I assume it's a Comet 'special.' It has a spec betwwen the X20 and S20, as it is Full HD but has no internal freeview HD tuner.......So I assume it uses the S20 series panel, which has a 4 star review at £1000, and this one is going for £600...

Whereas, the LG is their bargain basement panel, that Maxflinn and AEjim love (so I've read).....again FULL HD but no freeview hd tuner built in......all for £550.

Not bothered by internet options, as I have the Sony S370 for that...

Not bothered by the lack of Freeview HD, as I'll probably buy an external one later in the year.

For £100 extra, the alternative is the Panasonic TX-50S20, which does include the built in freeview HD tuner.....

hmmmmm.....[:^)]

 

[lobby]

Yeah lots of good deals on the 50" plasmas was looking to get a Sony 46EX503, but may sway towards 50 plasma.Panasonic imho are second best to the mighty Pioneer, but as there not around any more i think you have to demo.Lg seem to have really produced some really great plasmas from the budget 350 upto their 990.Im actually wanting the HD freeview, weve got sd sky and may upgrade only for the sport really.Don't want sky for films has ive always got them on dvd and blu-ray and prefer to watch them when i want and not interfere with all the soaps my family like watching.Go demo a few if you can, im off tomorrow to look at the Sony's, Pannys and LG's. In my area only currys will stock them as a few indepent stores have dropped LG has having terrible aftercare service, so i hope currys are ok with it, as my last two tvs where sent back.Hitachi 32 crt had a green picture straight out of the box and Samsung 40" lcd had scratches all over the facia panels.Definetly unpack while the delivery men are there, or when you have it installed just to make sure everything satisfactory.Good luck Pete hope you get what your looking for.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Just found the Samsung PS50C580 for similar money now too....

50"....Full HD....Freeview HD built in.......interesting.......

Three way decision now.......

Also, how much would I get for my 2 year old Panny TH-42PX80 HD ready tv, in mint condition? £250????

 

[Anonymous]

250 if you are lucky for the 42 inch (720 only)?

I just installed the LG 50PK350 and I think it is a great tv. Got it delivered from Amazon for 536.

I have Sky HD so dont need a tuner in the TV and use a receiver so dont need more than two HDMIs (one in back and one on side for emergencies).

The picture is great, styling is also better than Panasonics. I do like the samsungs although cant recall the specific model you refer to.

 

[Anonymous]

i don't remember seeing the samsung pete, but i've seen the sammy c6900, that's a step-up model to the c580 yet for me the pic quality was not quite as good as the pk350, mainly due to the black levels which i found to be poor ..

some prefer the pk350 to the g20, i'm sure some prefer the g20 too, (it has slightly better blacks) but the fact that they are close in performance would indicate to me that the pk350 is better than pannys s range.

the pk350 would be my choice (obviously it is as i own one

), it's an excellent tv in all areas (apart from the reflective screen), especially with motion, which is much better than the v20, and it's very cheap for all that, i highly reccomend it

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Hoped you would see this thread, Max.....

I assume you still have your PK350? My problem is a big window behind the viewing position, so might not be suitable due to it's reflectiveness.....

Will be popping into the sales sometime tomorrow, I reckon.....

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Stormpilot:250 if you are lucky for the 42 inch (720 only)? I just installed the LG 50PK350 and I think it is a great tv. Got it delivered from Amazon for 536. I have Sky HD so dont need a tuner in the TV and use a receiver so dont need more than two HDMIs (one in back and one on side for emergencies). The picture is great, styling is also better than Panasonics. I do like the samsungs although cant recall the specific model you refer to.

Just read on another forum that I guy had been offered £300 for his Panny TH-42PX80 recently......so I guess £250 isn't totally out of the question....

 

[Anonymous]

Well it is the panel I settled on. Not interested in 3D, Freeview ( can't get it here until 2012 anyway ) or any of the internet / freesat stuff that gets bundled in with a lot of TVs.

I am happy to do everything else externally via the AV receiver/Network/PC etc.

Pleased to see that others here like it as well plus Richer Sounds will do it for just over 600 notes with a 5 year warranty

I know there are rules about linking so I won't but other sites rate it highly as well.

 

[Anonymous]

hi pete, yea i still have it and i really like it, for the money it's an unbelievable bargain.

i think that having any plasma tv opposite a window will cause at least some reflections, and i'm not sure whether or not the lg would be more reflective than the other two? it's not a problem for me anyway as mine has it's back to the window.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Mr Mellie:

Well it is the panel I settled on. Not interested in 3D, Freeview ( can't get it here until 2012 anyway ) or any of the internet / freesat stuff that gets bundled in with a lot of TVs.

I am happy to do everything else externally via the AV receiver/Network/PC etc.

Pleased to see that others here like it as well plus Richer Sounds will do it for just over 600 notes with a 5 year warranty

I know there are rules about linking so I won't but other sites rate it highly as well.

With a 5 year warranty included, that is a very tempting price indeed.........

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Max,

Just read that the LG has a very low response time for a plasma, which can cause problems with gaming.....do you use your's for gaming and do you have any problems?

And the same for image retention....LG are seen as the worst for it?

Thanks.....

 

[heavenlydoddy]

Could i please just ask the Lg owners is the £200 ish rise from the 550/350 to the 990 worth it ?. Are you getting a far superior picture on the 990. Also with the reduction of the PX990 is that worth the extra from the 350/550. Im not bothered with the 3D but was tolf the other day the PX was a far better picture even over the pk ?. If any of you see any deals on these please post.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Might have been better starting a new thread, rather than gatecrashing mine with a slightly off topic question.....

 

[Anonymous]

Pistol Pete1:
Max,

Just read that the LG has a very low response time for a plasma, which can cause problems with gaming.....do you use your's for gaming and do you have any problems?

And the same for image retention....LG are seen as the worst for it?

Thanks.....
hi pete, i don't do gaming so can't help you there. there is image retention though, but i don't find that a problem personally, it's only really noticeable on a blank screen, so i don't worry about it..

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Is the imagine retention avoidable? Or very easy to get on this panel?

Never had retention or burn on my Panny, but for the first 200+ I was very careful not to give it a chance to get it........

 

[Pistol Pete1]

One more question:

If you watch a blu ray film with the black bars at the top and bottom, does this cause image retention on these tv's?

Thanks......

 

[Anonymous]

i wasn't careful at all with my tv in the early days, i set it up how i liked and that was that, yes, this tv does exhibit more image retention than any i've had before, and after watching a blu-ray with black bars top and bottom there is image retention, but on a blank screen. as soon as i put on an actual source it's soon not visible, so i personally don't find it a problem..

 

[Anonymous]

no (bars arent strictly an image)

As for the question of reflecting screen
the LG use the glossy screen which produces and amazing picture in the dark.
( laptops for instance offer glossy or matt as an option).

I dont see the reflectance as a fault, but rather it does matter where and when you do your viewing.
At night you cant beat it, and in the day you cant watch it in a conservatory

 

[v1c]

Pistol Pete1:
Max,

Just read that the LG has a very low response time for a plasma, which can cause problems with gaming.....do you use your's for gaming and do you have any problems?

And the same for image retention....LG are seen as the worst for it?

Thanks.....

Pete my brother in law (late/mid 20's) has just purchased the PK350 and is very pleased with it and especially it's value for money.

I've asked him about it and It does suffer from image retention easily and very quickly for example the LG screen saver will cause image retention and it is only on the screen for a couple of seconds at a time. Don't let this dissuade you from purchasing the set though as he uses the set for gaming of up to 6 hour sessions and when finished there is a dull image retention that goes when a standard tv picture is displayed with no visible IR. Option on the set include colour wash , white wash and orbiter as protection against screen burn as well as screen saving.

Over all well happy with the sets performance especially picture.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

v1c:Pistol Pete1:

Max,

Just read that the LG has a very low response time for a plasma, which can cause problems with gaming.....do you use your's for gaming and do you have any problems?

And the same for image retention....LG are seen as the worst for it?

Thanks.....

Pete my brother in law (late/mid 20's) has just purchased the PK350 and is very pleased with it and especially it's value for money.

I've asked him about it and It does suffer from image retention easily and very quickly for example the LG screen saver will cause image retention and it is only on the screen for a couple of seconds at a time. Don't let this dissuade you from purchasing the set though as he uses the set for gaming of up to 6 hour sessions and when finished there is a dull image retention that goes when a standard tv picture is displayed with no visible IR. Option on the set include colour wash , white wash and orbiter as protection against screen burn as well as screen saving.

Over all well happy with the sets performance especially picture.

These 'washes' help remove imagine retention then?

Anyone heard of imagine burn with the LG?

Popped into Comet and they had the PK350 and PK 590 next to each other....both using HDMI (unlike the Panny TX-50U20B(component connections) which looked awful next to the G20 and HDMI connector!!!)......

After playing around with the settings and getting both exactly the same, the PK590 still looked a touch better.......with more realistic colouringing and a touch more detail.

Are they really the same panel???

 

[Anonymous]

yes same panel, the range of realistic colouring and detail you refer to can be easily changed by the calibration menu,
dont be fooled by the comet elves trying to get you to buy the more expensive panel , unless you need the options of course.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Stormpilot:yes same panel, the range of realistic colouring and detail you refer to can be easily changed by the calibration menu, dont be fooled by the comet elves trying to get you to buy the more expensive panel , unless you need the options of course.

Don't you worry Storm.....as an ex employee of Comet, I'm well aware how they work there.....

Which is why I set up both tv's with exactly the same settings, using an LG remote I found round the store........

Yet the PK590 still looked a touch better, even though exactly the same demo was being shown, with exactly the same settings.......

Wonder if one has a longer HDMI cable or something, as I noticed both were using the same HDMI cable into the back........

 

[Anonymous]

they only differ on spec pete, the picture quality is the same. pete, the 50px950 was going for £899 recently, may be worth waiting till jan to see if you can spot one for similar dough? i dont know if you're into 3d? but it's said to be an excellent 2d set anyway, and it has a black filter which gives better blacks and helps reduce reflections. nice if you could stretch to it?

 

[grdunn123]

Maybe the '590 had a better HDMI cable?? Mot sure if this can make a difference in picture quality

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Pistol Pete1:

Stormpilot:yes same panel, the range of realistic colouring and detail you refer to can be easily changed by the calibration menu, dont be fooled by the comet elves trying to get you to buy the more expensive panel , unless you need the options of course.

Don't you worry Storm.....as an ex employee of Comet, I'm well aware how they work there.....

as I noticed both were using the same HDMI cable into the back........

Do people not read to the end of these posts anymore?