samsung decisions

[admin_exported]

Hi im new on these forums, first off i have to say what a great forum.

Im pretty clueless when it comes to all the technical stuff so really im just after a straight to the point answer. ive been on the search to upgrade my 26'' phillips lcd. 26'' is just not big enough for our new house we have just purchased so im after a 50'' screen.

Ive read alot of reviews on this forum and it seems that plasma seems the way to go with a screen size this large. the two tvs that i have in mind arethe samsung ps50q97hdx and the samsung ps50p96fdx. now the only difference i see between the two sets is that the later is full hd 1080. my question is does the full hd set really warrant the £400 extra or will i be just as happy with the lower spec model?

Im hoping to pair the tv with the samsung ht-bd2r home cinema blue ray player, or the samsung ht-tx35r. your comments on this setup would be great

many thanks stewart

 

[Andy Clough]

Hi Stewart

Full HD 1080p is not strictly necessary, as the Blu-ray player can be set to output video at 720p or 1080i to fit the screen resolution of the HD-ready Samsung. On a 50in screen the Full HD model may offer some advantage in terms of picture quality with Blu-ray discs (it's hard to tell the difference on smaller screen sizes), but equally we've found Full HD sets have sometimes struggled a bit when upscaling standard 576-PAL broadcasts to fit the screen, although we haven't tested the PS50P96FDX as such.

The HD-ready model is fantastic value and delivers great pictures. The only thing against it is that being an older set, I don't think it can accept a pure 1080p/24fps signal as many of the newer sets can, so you may see some judder with high-def Blu-ray movies.

Still, a saving of £400 is pretty significant, so you pays your money...

 

[D.J.KRIME]

[quote user="stewart cripps"]the two tvs that i have in mind arethe samsung ps50q97hdx and the samsung ps50p96fdx. now the only difference i see between the two sets is that the later is full hd 1080. my question is does the full hd set really warrant the £400 extra or will i be just as happy with the lower spec model?[/quote]

I may just be the perfect person to help you here Stewart as I have personal AT HOME experience with both of the Plasma sets you are considering.

Last May I upgraded my old Panasonic 42"" Plaz for the Smasung PS50Q97HDX and must say that it was a lovely set offering fantastic picture quality from both SD Freeview, Sky, DVD and Blu-Ray@1080i. Giving stable and insightfull images and quite a snazzy looking set to boot.

Now unfortunatly (or fortunatly for me depending on your point of view) Mine developed a terminal Screen fault and needed to be replaced under Warrantry, so I contacted my Retailer who gave me the option to upgrade to the FULL HD PS50P96FDX for not much more as the price of the PS50Q97HDX had dropped somewhat since I purchased it. And all I can say is I am soooo glad I took this option.

One thing that had allways slightly bugged me with the PS50Q97HDX was that in certain lighting you got a weird rooling effect on the screen which was due to the Ultra Filter Bright Screen but on the PS50P96FDX even tho the screen also uses the same type of Anti-Reflective screen this effect is not evident (maybe due to the increased number of lines of resolution making the gaps between the lines smaller?) The FULL HD screen is also just as good with normal SD TV broadcasts but BOY can you notice the differnce in Blu-Ray at its native 1080P resolution over either 720P or 1080i. Too add I also think it is a nicer looking set.

So IMHO it is worth spending the extra dosh on the FULL HD set seeing as you intend upon watching Blu-ray which this set will display at 1080p/24fps which it does very well indeed!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your views guys, in a way im somewhat trying to future proof this setup as i dont want to be spending another 2k in a few years time because its out of date so to speak. So on the back of that i think im going to follow your advice and go for the ps5096fdx, im sure the other half wont be so understanding about spending a few hundred pounds more but i think it is a wise move.

The reason ive gone down the samsung route is because i originally set out to get the panasonic th50pz70b but after seeing it on display at my local branch of dixons i was left very unimpressed by the picture quality. The samsung stood out as having a great picture with really vivid colours and nice deep blacks.

Am i right in going for the samsung or would it just be a case that the pannasonic was not set up properly?

many thanks stewart

 

[Andy Clough]

Great advice from DJ as he has experience of both sets. But I'd be wary of judging sets by the way they're set up in Dixons. They're rarely calibrated properly in store, and often the brightness and contrast will be turned up to the max so they stand out in a brightly-lit shop environment.

Certainly nothing wrong with the Samsung sets you've mentioned, and DJ seems to be happy with his, but I wouldn't dismiss the Panasonic out of hand.

 

[Anonymous]

Panasonic TH50PX7 can be bought in Richer Sounds for £699.

 

[Anonymous]

TH50PX7 is an old old model... got the PX70 and PX700 before that but nice price on it though ^_^

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

don't mean to crash this thread but it seems there are people here who can get me out of the misery of reserach overload.

I would appreciate some help. I am moving my Hitachi plasma 42pd3000 (bought 5 years ago) into the playroom.

I am considering the Samsung PS50P96FDX as a replacement.
I anticipate upgrading to sky HD but of course a significant amount of the viewing will be SD and I have been told that the Samsung has issues with SD.

I guess my real questions are:
1. Will SD pictures be better or worse on the samsung than on my hitachi?
2. Will sound be better on the samsung than the hitachi.
3. I watch as much football as I can is the samsung well suited to handling this type of motion?

I found the samsung for less than £1300 at future home in wokingham and this seems like a great price would you agree?

Any opinions really welcomed. I have posted the specs of my hitachi below so you can see what I am upgrading from.

Best Regards

Josh

Screen type: 42"/106 cms visible plasma, progressive scan
Resolution: 1024 x 1024 pixels
Pixel pitch: .9mm horizontal, .51mm vertical
Colours: 16.7 million colours
Luminance: 1000 CD/M2 (typical)
Viewing angle: 160 degrees horizontal and vertical
Contrast ratio: >1000:1
Sound system: 2 x 10 watts (RMS), NICAM tuner
Connections: Screen: DVI, 8 pin mini din (inputs for external tuner box), subwoofer output, speaker outputs
Tuner Box: SCART 1: SVHS, composite video, stereo audio in, composite video out;
SCART 2: RGB, composite video, stereo audio in, composite video out;
SCART 3: RGB, composite video, stereo audio in, composite video out;
Component video input with progressive scan support:
Dedicated S-Video and composite video outputs;
Front-mounted S-Video, composite video and stereo audio in
2 channel stereo out (via twin RCA/phono at rear)
Headphone output; centre channel input; 15 Pin D-Sub PC input

 

[Anonymous]

Oh should have said that my current signal source is SKY+

Josh

 

[Anonymous]

samsung can be got for aroud 1150, but id say it cant beat the Panasonic TH50PZ70B for 1200 ish

 

[Anonymous]

forgot to add: plasma have no trouble with fast moving so no motion problems their and for the panasonics th TH50PZ700B has better sound than the TH50PZ70B but its quite a bit more

 

[Anonymous]

thanks but part of the attraction of the samsung was that rotating base. However went to see the samsung today at a specialist dealer and was told that they had no stock and that there would be no more as samsung were launching a brand new range of 1080p plasmas in the next few weeks. He reckoned they would costs £1300ish.

Best Regards

Josh