panasonic G10 black levels

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I´ve just seen the 42" & 46" panasonic G10 plasmas in a shop and wasn´t too impressed. They were both displaying ocean´s 13 from an hd tv channel. The 46" had weak black levels (the black bars were almost greyish), but with natural skin tones, whereas the 42" had better, but still not great, blacks with orange skin colour. My question therefore is whether or not you have to sacrifice natural colours for darker blacks when adjusting the settings, or is this a case of the shop not displaying the tvs properly?

I have only really been considering plasma, but I thought the black bars on the blu ray version of wall e on the sony 40 w5500 and another samsung lcd looked better than on the panasonics. Are the black bars a good way of judging the black levels on a tv?

p.s. very bright room.

 

[Sorreltiger]

I don't know about the Panasonics, but my Pioneer has mid-grey bars and (of course) legendary black levels! ÿIt's actually a bad idea to have a sharp divide between picture and 'nothing' as it can lead to problems with retention and burn-in, so Pioneer avoid that by forcing the screen to input a grey fill.

ÿI don't know if Panasonic do the same, but I wouldn't be surprised. ÿI'm sure someone will post a definitive answer.ÿÿI also think you have to be very wary of shop displays, especially where plasma v LCD is concerned (thousands of posts on this!!!)

 

[SpiceWeasel]

Trying to decide between different makes/models in some stores is almost impossible.There are a few points you need to consider when looking for a new tv.

Store lighting for example, is normally extremely bright and nothing like your average living room lighting conditions. LCD's tend to look better than plasma in these conditions as well as they generally have a brighter picture. Alot of stores have the tv's set up to grab your attention which could be miles of the ideal settings. Does the store have 30 tv's all running off the same feed, this will have a huge effect on picture quality.

To see what the tv is really capable of you need to view it in home lighting conditions with properly calibrated settings. Also try to view from your intended home viewing distance. Make sure to view both SD and HD content and also take along a few films that you are familliar with for testing. If you already have some equipment that you will be using with your new tv, like a blu-ray player for example take that along with you for the demo. If a store is unwilling to do this then take your buisness elsewhere, it's pot luck otherwise.

 

[Anonymous]

hmtb:

Iïve just seen the 42" & 46" panasonic G10 plasmas in a shop and wasnït too impressed. I have only really been considering plasma, but I thought the black bars on the blu ray version of wall e on the sony 40 w5500 and another samsung lcd looked better than on the panasonics. Are the black bars a good way of judging the black levels on a tv?

p.s. very bright room.

Your final comment explains everything. If you intend to watch your movies in a bright room with fluorescent lights then buy an LCD.

The G10 has deep blacks, not quite matching a Pioneer, but not far off. Lots of detailed reviews have confirmed this.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your comments. I watch tv with some ambient light, but I prefer watching films in a relatively dark room.

 

[Anonymous]

Trying to decide between a Pioneer 5080 or the Panasonic G10 50inch. The LX5090 is about $10k rrp (can get for about $7k), so ignoring as too much. The new Pana G10 rrp is $4,500 (should get for about $3600). My dilema is that I can get the older Pioneer 5080 (not LX) for $3k. Is the NZ$600 exta for the Pana G10 worth it ove the Kuro 5080? Should I worry about the Pioneer not being full HD when the panasonic is full HD, as Pioneer usually beats Panasonic on everything. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Ive never yet known any shop/store to use properly calibrated tvs so I certainly wouldnt base any findings purely on their setups

 

[Anonymous]

Love HiFi:
Trying to decide between a Pioneer 5080 or the Panasonic G10 50inch. The LX5090 is about $10k rrp (can get for about $7k), so ignoring as too much. The new Pana G10 rrp is $4,500 (should get for about $3600). My dilema is that I can get the older Pioneer 5080 (not LX) for $3k. Is the NZ$600 exta for the Pana G10 worth it ove the Kuro 5080? Should I worry about the Pioneer not being full HD when the panasonic is full HD, as Pioneer usually beats Panasonic on everything. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

If the picture on the Pioneer looks better to you, then get it.

Full HD vs HD ready really depends a lot on whether you will be watching more HD or SD stuff and how far your viewing distance will be which will impact whether you can detect any differences between a full HD and HD ready set.

 

[bigblue235]

Sorreltiger:

I don't know about the Panasonics, but my Pioneer has mid-grey bars and (of course) legendary black levels! It's actually a bad idea to have a sharp divide between picture and 'nothing' as it can lead to problems with retention and burn-in, so Pioneer avoid that by forcing the screen to input a grey fill.

I don't know if Panasonic do the same, but I wouldn't be surprised. I'm sure someone will post a definitive answer. I also think you have to be very wary of shop displays, especially where plasma v LCD is concerned (thousands of posts on this!!!)

Yup, Panasonic do the same, or certainly used to. Grey bars instead of black, to avoid burn/retention. The stuff between the bars is unaffected