This months TV giant test

[D.J.KRIME]

Clare Newsome:Sky Explorer:

With the Panny G20 series TV, these now have the advanced picture setup settings menu and now also the THX picture setting, so I'm not sure how the test was done as there is not a great deal of detail in the review regarding this.

What picture setting was used and did you alter the picture using the advanced settings, yet after this you still could did not get the colours to look as good as the Sony TV? Or did you use say the Dynamic picture setting and base the review on this?

We take time with every set to get the picture looking as good as it possibly can - that involves THX set-up followed by as much tweaking as any available menus will allow.

We would NEVER base a review purely on either out-of-the-box or default settings - though we will, of course, try various picture 'modes' to see how they perform.

But surely if both the Sony and Panasonic were properly calibrated to a grey scale of D65 and colour temp of 6500K then any colour diferances between the sets in question shold have been negligible?

 

[Clare Newsome]

'Should' is one thing; reality often another

 

[Clare Newsome]

maxflinn:
ie , plasma , deeper blacks , more natural picture , no viewing angle issues , faster response time , better motion handling..

lcd , more punchy , sharper picture , maybe a touch more detail , possibly better sd pic..

these are real characteristics of the tech

These are indeed the traditional benefits of the best plasmas/LCDs, but i've seen LED-backlit TVs with better blacks than some plasmas, i've seen plasmas that are more detailed than LCDs, i've seen LCDs with far better motion-handling than plasmas...

You just can't generalise like that anymore - TV technology has moved on, and each set should be judged on its merits.

Oh, and here's a five-star review of a different plasma from the same issue, by the way.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Clare Newsome:'Should' is one thing; reality often another

So for there to be a noticeible differance in colour reproduction then that means that one/both of the TVs failed to meet D65/6500K then because if both sets did manage to achieve perfect(which is very rare on a consumer unit) D65/6500k then both would look identical.

 

[Anonymous]

yea id read that review , i had to buy the mag , i won a cable

..

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:[ We can't wait to see what models higher up the Panasonic chain are capable of".

Speaking of which do you guys have any timescale for when the V20 and VT20 will be available to you for review. Thank you.

 

[Clare Newsome]

maxflinn:
yea id read that review , i had to buy the mag , i won a cable

..

Congrats

. Though having read the LG review, you still made the facetious comment about us being anti-plasma?

(I know, you've apologised

).

 

[2cool]

I have scaned over this post quickly and have to say GET A LIFE. I love home cinema and the thrill of movies in there best glory but to read about tv's this is £200 more and that one is £300 less but only got 4 stars and this one had 5 stars, please take it with a pinch of salt. I got my tosh 46xf355d about 2 years ago for £699 what hi fi didnt even review it i look at it today thinking about upgrade but its just to pretty to get rid of and the pic my be outdated but so will your tv in 6 months time if you buy one now.

I get it you want to back panna if you have one or sony I want tosh to get better reviews but they get pushed to the back more and more but its ok cos i just know they dont make them like they used to but they will the new cell 4k2k will make all other tvs shame full but it will come at a price.

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:maxflinn:
yea id read that review , i had to buy the mag , i won a cable

..

Congrats

. Though having read the LG review, you still made the facetious comment about us being anti-plasma?

(I know, you've apologised

).

cheers , i tell you what , just give the monitor audio br5s back their fifth star and we,ll shake ands

 

[Anonymous]

Clare:

I'm seriously considering the 9704 as i'm looking for a top end 40" and was very impressed by the WHF review, but have two niggling doubts (based on reviews elsewhere) - quality of SD picture and amount of motion blurring. Are the concerns overdone elsewhere, or is the 9704 a classy HD performer, but let down by SD performance?

Any advice would be graetfully received.

Cheers

 

[Andrew Everard]

We really can't comment on reviews elsewhere - we just call it how we see it/hear it, and didn't encounter the problems you mention. If we had, we would have commented on them.

 

[Clare Newsome]

However, we've acknowledged in our reviews that the Philips sets are neither the easiest to set up (far from it; they take some tweaking) nor have the best SD upscaling.

But the Philips is a premium TV that should be treated as such - and that means taking time to set it up, plus ensuring you've got the best-possible sources, cabling etc running into it. Feed it a poor-quality aerial feed or shoddy SD digital channel and you're not going to see it in its glory.

Re the SD - as above, not a problem if you feeding it a decent source.For example, let your DVD/Blu-ray player/AV amp do the upscaling rather than the Philips and you'll get the best from an exceptional TV.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, much appreciated. Based on pretty universal praise, was also planning on getting the Denon AVR-1910 as well (fed by SKY HD). Together with decent cables (and a cold towel wrapped around my head for setting up) I assume I should be all set?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Sounds a grand plan. If that towel starts steaming from the effort of tweaking, please come back on here and there'll be plenty of people to share their tips

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, will doubtless be back...

 

[Alec]

I was just thinking to myself that the world could do with another of these threads.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

So have Panasonic finally let the consumer have controls to adjust the TVs white ballance or are these controls hidden in the service menu?

 

[Anonymous]

D.J.KRIME:So have Panasonic finally let the consumer have controls to adjust the TVs white ballance or are these controls hidden in the service menu?full access , plus two proffesional modes , one for day , one for night ..

 

[D.J.KRIME]

maxflinn:D.J.KRIME:So have Panasonic finally let the consumer have controls to adjust the TVs white ballance or are these controls hidden in the service menu?full access , plus two proffesional modes , one for day , one for night ..

About time as well!

 

[Anonymous]

it sure is about time , but boy have panasonic caught up , full isf controls , thx certified , freesat , freeview hd , skype , proffesional tuning modes , deeper blacks , better standard def , and very fair pricing ..

 

[Andy Clough]

There's further discussion of this month's TV Supertest in our May vidcast, online now.

 

[Anonymous]

maxflinn:it sure is about time , but boy have panasonic caught up , full isf controls , thx certified , freesat , freeview hd , skype , proffesional tuning modes , deeper blacks , better standard def , and very fair pricing ..

max.. it almoust look like your advertising

(are they paying you well ?

i really understand your love for panasonic .. so much im still wating for my 50" since december 2009 when i bought 50v10 and panasonic told me in january didnt have more and going to be replaced 50v20 , but with the new reviews and news im also considering other options and tryinng to open my mind to other brands ...and one thing we cannot left behind is that a new change is here - 3d and even if you think or even i think i dont need it now its best to consider it if you are making or thinking of buying now a new set .....

so even if you dont care about 3d right now...even you think you dont need it i think it could be a thing to consider ...and im trying to do that studying for instances the incomming plasma for samsung that is 3d and good spe...

When you buy a Tv set you probably are making a decison in the budgets (1000 £ - 1500 £ ) its for like 3-5 years or more...so im rethinking the 50V20 and studying other options like samsung (same price range / close) or even stretching budget and still continue waiting this time for pana 50vt20... what do you think of that ? and others to ?

 

[Anonymous]

if panasonic want to employ my services id be very happy to oblige

but no , im not a walking advertisement , in fact if i dont soon recieve my 5 year warranty cert i will be starting a thread that they probably wont like

the 50vt20 , hmmm , if you have to have a tv this year then im expecting that the vt20 will be the one to go for , but i prefer plasma , others might not ..

the sammy plasmas should be good too , they are said to now have the same blacks as panasonic , id look at them , also the lg8500 lcd is getting some rave reviews , the deepest blacks of all one site said .

philips , hmmm , yes if your loaded and dont mind smaller screens .. sonys rear lcds promise to be very nice too , i guess we will know more in the summer ..

as for 3dtvs , well , unless your buying for its 2d quality and looking at 3d as a bonus , id wait till next year , simply because theres nothing 3d to watch on it , there is currently a grand total of 0ne 3d bluray available , and it only comes with samsung 3dtvs , you cant even buy it ? madness..and insulting to peoples intelligence imo..

 

[Anonymous]

Hi All!!

What Samsung are we talking abt here if you don't mind me asking? I used to be a regular WHFI reader when I was in the UK but can't find the magazine where I'm now..

really got interested in the Samsung from what I read here.. what model is it?

Suggestion: It would be nice if you made a paid section on the site and uploaded the magazine there for those of us who are not in the UK and can't get a hold of the mag..

Cheers!

 

[Andrew Everard]

theenlightened1:What Samsung are we talking abt here if you don't mind me asking? I used to be a regular WHFI reader when I was in the UK but can't find the magazine where I'm now..

really got interested in the Samsung from what I read here.. what model is it?

UE40C7000

theenlightened1:Suggestion:
It would be nice if you made a paid section on the site and uploaded
the magazine there for those of us who are not in the UK and can't get a
hold of the mag..

Agreed: we're working on it.