Plasma V LCD - latest views given enw LED technology

[admin_exported]

Hi, new here and looking for an 'expert' opinion or two. Having spent a few mins searching most of the LCD v's Plasma threads, many seem to be a wee bit out of date, ie early 2009 / late 2008, but given that a lot of the reviews of recent weeks/months have focused on some of the new, skinny LED LCD TVs, I'm keen to find out if Plasma's still rule the roost in those areas they come to dominate, ie Motion and Black levels?

I'm about to buy a new TV, 42" or 46"/47". My choices are either LG or Panasoinc for the Plasma or Samsung / Philips for the LCD (Philips not LED though).

Seems that some review gives the Panas, G10B, G15B or V10B, 5 Stars other give them 4 Stars, the 46UB7020 or B8000 Samsungs get top rated, and so do the 42" and 47" Philips (7404 and 9664).

Does the veiewng angle restriction on LCDs also apply from low down, ie kids lying on floor looking up? Plasma - not affected by speakers being placed close by for audio enhancement - skinny screens not as good with depth of sound?

I'm finding it really hard to understand which I should go for. I've avoided LCDs up to now as I've not seen anything in recent years since buying my 37" CRT Philips Pixel Plus Bohemuth of a set many, many moons aga that matched it in terms of picture quality, but what I've read over the past 3-4 months has now convinced me that LCDs and Plasmas around my budget of £1000 - £1300 have come on leaps and bounds.

So, with all that said I'm looking for the LCD v's Plasma Pros and Cons to be revisited by the experts and give it to me straight in newbie terms. Having owned neither before I don't have a benchmark other than my 10 year old Philips Pixel Plus box.

Lastly, any recommendations - many of the TVs that excel with motion handling, black levels and picture clarity seem to be the higher end ones loaded with extras like PC connectivity, Freesat, SD card slots, etc. I'm not interested in all that, I keep my technologies seperate so its not really a requirement but high quality, deep black, proper / natural colour and good motion handling (motor sports, MX, BMX, etc) are

Your insight is much appreciated, many thanks!

SD

 

[Anonymous]

For motion handling i would say plasma is the way to go. No smearin or anything like that. To me motion smear is the most annoying things and LCD's can be prone to this. Im not an expert though, just a very happy panasonic plasma owner

 

[ear]

I think its pretty easy to tell if you prefer plasmas to lcds.just go to a store and whatch a few of them.pioneer plasmas or panasonic.then compare them to the best lcds Sonys for instance..you should be abble to tell.

 

[Anonymous]

Uless I head to a dedicated store, the mass display places like John Leiws, Currys, etc all have them hooked up to a shared source and the pics aren't showing the real deal.

A couple of mates bought Panasonics early this year and I'm impressed so I was set on Plasma, but ther reviews of the FL7404 / FL9664 and the Samsung LED TVs are saying that LCD has come back and is stealing the show.

 

[Anonymous]

plasmas look best with the lights dimmed , or in a dark room , they will never look as good as lcds in a bright shop ..try a few independant shops , with viewing rooms , its the only way to compare ..

 

[Clare Newsome]

Don't get too hung up on the technology - we've seen LCD screens with better motion and blacks this year than plasmas! The caveat to that is that plasmas aren't too happy being sat near a bright light source (eg a window!), due to their more reflective glass front panels. But then some of the best plasmas have non-reflective coatings.

If you've room for a 46in set, go for it - the extra scale over 42in really counts. The Samsung UE4B8000 could suit you brilliantly (if slightly stretching your budget), but - as mentioned - please have a good look around before you buy.

 

[ear]

kuro's have non refective right? guess that its what makes all the difference!

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:
Don't get too hung up on the technology - we've seen LCD screens with better motion and blacks this year than plasmas! The caveat to that is that plasmas aren't too happy being sat near a bright light source (eg a window!), due to their more reflective glass front panels. But then some of the best plasmas have non-reflective coatings.

If you've room for a 46in set, go for it - the extra scale over 42in really counts. The Samsung UE4B8000 could suit you brilliantly (if slightly stretching your budget), but - as mentioned - please have a good look around before you buy.

Sticking with Plasma for a mo, I'm wanted to ask opinions on the ratings given for the 42G10 gets 5 Stars and the 46G10 only gets 4 Stars, but 37G15 gets 5Stars. Having read the specs on Pana's site the G10s and G15s are essentially the same TV (as are the Vs) when it comes to the screen and processing engine, and its only extars like Freesat and connectivity that seperate them as well as size.

So, why in one review is there comments of motion blur and slightly, albeit very small, less then perfect picture and in others its raved above. Seems contradictory to me; one review dosn't compliment the other albeit the same TV bar size - does the bigger 46£ suffer issue the 42" doesn't?

Also, my only worry with LCD is the viewing angle; I have 2 kids who watch TV sitting on the floor about 6ft - 8ft from the TV at an upward angle of viewing. Will LCD impair what they see?

Lastly, we (wife and I) tend to watch in low light, but kids watch during daylight and we have a lot of windows in the TV area, so lots of bright natural light in summer.

Thanks again for the help, I'm getting a much better picture (scuse the pun) of what I need to consider



Ps - I could fit 50"+ in my living room (23" x 25", extension on house) but they seem huge in comparison to my 37"

 

[Clare Newsome]

Just because a TV has the same basic spec and range-number, doesn't make it perform in the same way. For starters, it's based on a different base panel - one that's made on a different production line (even a different factory); that can lead to variations.

Secondly, larger sets can vary in performance to smaller sets because of the extra upscaling/processing the larger set is having to do. A manufacturer may use a TV tuner unit that looks great on smaller TVs but starts to show limitations when coping with the dimensions of a larger screen. Ditto DVD playback and any other SD upscaling. Even BD playback can fall down slightly on a larger set - there's simply more chance you can spot slight flaws over a bigger area, especially when you are comparing TVs side by side.

The Panasonics are great TVs - solid plasmas that i'm sure will give you years of pleasure. However, in some screen sizes we feel you can buy even better performance.

 

[Andrew Everard]

SixDegrees:
Sticking with Plasma for a mo, I'm wanted to ask opinions on the ratings given for the 42G10 gets 5 Stars and the 46G10 only gets 4 Stars, but 37G15 gets 5Stars. Having read the specs on Pana's site the G10s and G15s are essentially the same TV (as are the Vs) when it comes to the screen and processing engine, and its only extars like Freesat and connectivity that seperate them as well as size.

So, why in one review is there comments of motion blur and slightly, albeit very small, less then perfect picture and in others its raved above. Seems contradictory to me; one review dosn't compliment the other albeit the same TV bar size - does the bigger 46£ suffer issue the 42" doesn't?

Also, my only worry with LCD is the viewing angle; I have 2 kids who watch TV sitting on the floor about 6ft - 8ft from the TV at an upward angle of viewing. Will LCD impair what they see?

All three sets use different display panels, which could well account for the differences between them. We learned long ago that just because one size of TV in a manufacturer's series performs well, it dosn't mean that all sizes in that line-up will.

The only problem with viewing angle for the kids may occur if the TV is mounted up high. If It's positioned where it should be - ie with the centre of the screen at around eye-height when you are in your seated viewing position - you should have few problems. The nippers may experience a slight drop-off of contrast, but it'll be nothing major.

 

[staggerlee]

I'll be honest, i have seen plasma's & LCD's side by side and it can really be difiicult to tell them apart. For the average man in the street (or woman) the differences are small these days unlike the old days.

A lot of the articles on this subject are quite old. I dithered for about 6 months with the same issue. A simple way of a deciding criteria is how will you use the TV. I went for Plasma

1. My room is quite dark and we tend to watch films with lights off. (If itwas a bright room then it would have been LCD)

2. I prefer the dark blacks of Plasma's

3. I wasn't bothered about energy efficiency, as we only have one tv.

But my next TV for the conservatory will be LCD, because its a very bright room and it will be for gaming, dvd's, etc- The kids can leave things on a pause for hours whilst they get distracted. So less risk of image retention issue.

So look at your room and decide how you want to use it. This should help in deciding.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:
All three sets use different display panels, which could well account for the differences between them. We learned long ago that just because one size of TV in a manufacturer's series performs well, it dosn't mean that all sizes in that line-up will.

The only problem with viewing angle for the kids may occur if the TV is mounted up high. If It's positioned where it should be - ie with the centre of the screen at around eye-height when you are in your seated viewing position - you should have few problems. The nippers may experience a slight drop-off of contrast, but it'll be nothing major.

Can you explain. As far as the marketing blurb and other 'site' reviews they calim they all use the same new gen G12 panel. Do you mean that because one is 37", the others are 42" or 46" then this constitues a different panel.

As I said further up the thread, nice-to-haves like PC onnectivity, internet, etc don't interest me a quality pic, natural looking colours (our wee Samsung 19" in the bed room over cooks the color sometimes I I want to avoid this hence my Plasma bias at this stage) and motion handling are the most important as well as that all importnat blacl level.

Don't want to spend too much as I have BD player, stand and a re-org of the living room to budget for as well, so trying to stay this side of £1500 but closer to £1000 if poss.

I've really narrowed it down to Philips 9000 (42) or 7000 (42 0r 47) or one of the Panas ie G10 / G15 / V10 (42 or 46). Sony and Samsung feature as well but not atop of my list just now.

Any comments on the models listed above, ie all around performance as opposed to one which is better of BD or upscaling. Its the overall performance that matters excluding the 'bolt-ons' that I can do without.

Many Thanks

 

[Clare Newsome]

SixDegrees:Andrew Everard:
All three sets use different display panels, which could well account for the differences between them. We learned long ago that just because one size of TV in a manufacturer's series performs well, it dosn't mean that all sizes in that line-up will.

The only problem with viewing angle for the kids may occur if the TV is mounted up high. If It's positioned where it should be - ie with the centre of the screen at around eye-height when you are in your seated viewing position - you should have few problems. The nippers may experience a slight drop-off of contrast, but it'll be nothing major.

Can you explain. As far as the marketing blurb and other 'site' reviews they calim they all use the same new gen G12 panel. Do you mean that because one is 37", the others are 42" or 46" then this constitues a different panel.

You may have missed my post on this earlier in the thread:

Clare Newsome:

Just because a TV has the same basic
spec and range-number, doesn't make it perform in the same way. For
starters, it's based on a different base panel - one that's made on a
different production line (even a different factory); that can lead to
variations.

Secondly, larger sets can vary in performance to
smaller sets because of the extra upscaling/processing the larger set
is having to do. A manufacturer may use a TV tuner unit that looks
great on smaller TVs but starts to show limitations when coping with
the dimensions of a larger screen. Ditto DVD playback and any other SD
upscaling. Even BD playback can fall down slightly on a larger set -
there's simply more chance you can spot slight flaws over a bigger
area, especially when you are comparing TVs side by side.

SixDegrees:

As I said further up the thread, nice-to-haves like PC onnectivity, internet, etc don't interest me a quality pic, natural looking colours (our wee Samsung 19" in the bed room over cooks the color sometimes I I want to avoid this hence my Plasma bias at this stage) and motion handling are the most important as well as that all importnat blacl level.

Don't want to spend too much as I have BD player, stand and a re-org of the living room to budget for as well, so trying to stay this side of £1500 but closer to £1000 if poss.

I've really narrowed it down to Philips 9000 (42) or 7000 (42 0r 47) or one of the Panas ie G10 / G15 / V10 (42 or 46). Sony and Samsung feature as well but not atop of my list just now.

Any comments on the models listed above, ie all around performance as opposed to one which is better of BD or upscaling. Its the overall performance that matters excluding the 'bolt-ons' that I can do without.

Many Thanks

I'd go with the Philips - superlative performance with blacks that shame many plasmas (yes, really), but a sharp, crisp picture that makes everything else look soft by comparison. Stick to your BD player upscaling DVDs, though - the Philips' upscaler is decent, but it can be bettered (TV tuner is fine, though).