What to do?

[admin_exported]

Hey guys just when i think i know what im going to buy.......something else pops up. Ive just come back from glastonbury working and now have the funds to by a tv upto £1500. I mianly just watch films and game. Im not worried about sound quality due to already having my own theatre kit (B&W 685). But the problem lies in what to do as i originally had LCD(Sony 32D3000) which was great but now im after a 46-50" screen and all my usage of my tv suggest plasma...

Ive looked at the Panasonic G20, V20 but worried about the lasting black level problem which occured on last year models. I also looked at the samsung ps50c7000 which has the added bonus of 3D but not too bothered about this but would be nice to know i could use it, but cant seem to find a place to demo it and no reviews anywhere. Does anyone here seen it as i heard it had IR. Then there is the sony 46nx704 which lookst the bill just cost more over the other two. Can anyone suggest what they would do?

Many thanks

 

[bigboss]

I would take a proper demo of the shortlist & decide which is best for me. These reports of lasting black levels, IR etc. are not consistent & users like maxflinn (Panasonic 46G10) are still happy with their TVs. All the 3 TVs you mention are very good in their own respect.

 

[Anonymous]

yes as bb sais im still happy with my tv , although i think the blacks may have been blacker when it was new , i cant be sure , the picture quality is still very good so im not too bothered , having said all that , there do seem to be at least some 09 panny owners in the uk that are certain that their tvs are not operating as they should , and there are many more in the states apparently , panasonics response to them ? your tvs are working fine

... not exactly what you want to hear if your tv malfunctions is it ??

the 2010 sets are seemingly fine from what i can make out though , and i think they are great value when compared against some of the expensive lcd sets around ..

there is actually a review of the samsung 50c7000 plasma out there , try a very well known u.s. tech website , they rate it as excellent , with blacks on a par with the pana g series (but not the v series) , and very good 3d performance with barely any crosstalk , id defo consider one , much cheaper than a 50vt20 , for seemingly not all that much of a performance drop ..

id personally steer clear of sonys edge lit lcds , overpriced and underperforming imo , expensive eye candy , better of looking at a 46ex503 ..

also , the samsung 46c750 is very interesting , according to reviews its as good as both the sony ex503 , and the higher up samsung c7000 sets too , and it has 3d even though its only the same price as the sony 46ex503 , bargain of the year ?

 

[Anonymous]

cheers for the input max and bigboss, the only problem i have at the moment is getting to demo a ps50c7000, i found one in comet but it wasnt working for some reason :S........great start there. But i will hope to see if it in the next couple of days. Does anyone know whether or not this samsung suffers the same problem as the LED 3D when u slouch as the picture goes black not good if you lying on you couch. Another thing guys, what would you recommend doing to prevent IR for plasma, i read a post months ago but can't remember what it said

 

[Anonymous]

no viewing angle issues with 2d or 3d on the sammy , lying on the couch would be fine , its a plasma , only lcd sets , be they conventional or edge/rear led lcd,s suffer , the same is true regarding 3d crosstalk , virtually none on the latest 3d plasmas , but all 3d lcd,s suffer from it ..

image retention sounds worse than it is , its only usually seen on a blank screen , after a bright static image has been on for some time before , as soon as there is an actual image on the screen , its gone ..

having said that , reviews have suggested that its more prevelant on the latest lg plasmas than the panas and samsungs , and in fact can sometimes actually be seen during normal viewing , but its said that this happens less and less as the tv gets more use ..

i wouldnt worry about image retention personally , i very rarely see it on my own tv , and as said above , only briefly on a blank screen..

 

[Anonymous]

cheers for the info max! Looks like its down to the samsung or the panasoni thenc. I can get the sammy for £1250 with one pair of glasses aswel. The panasonic G20 will cost me £1150. hmm got to have a think about this but im more inclined witht the samsung at the moment. Do you know how hard to calibrate a tv yourself as the G20 has the THX setting already done. Are the ones you get with toy story blue-ray any good or would i need to get some one else to do it for me?

 

[Anonymous]

as i say , theres only one review of the samsung out there , but i personally rate the site highly , and they rate the samsung just as highly as the g20 , so seeing as its only a little more expensive , but is a full 3dtv , and seeing as you can get a pair of glasses thrown in , id go with the samsung , but i think you should try and demo both , side by side if possible , and id ask the salesman for the remote and set both tvs to cinema mode , see what you think ...

as regards thx , yes its handy , but is it as useful as having 3d ?? probably not , the site that reviewed the samsung also lists the settings they used to calibrate it , now they wont be perfect but they will look alot better than a standard setting imo , you could use them as a starting point . if you cant find that review , but get the sammy and would like to try the settings , then post here and ill paste them and post them here for you ..

a full proffesional calibration after a few months once the screen is fully run in and obviously done in your home would be your best bet though , or use a thx dvd/bluray as you mentioned if you dont want to spend the dough , around £250 i think

 

[Anonymous]

cheers max you have been a star [*]Thank you! as for the review i cant find it but can you give me a hint to its name or is this against house rules :S and yes theit setting would be a great starting point!

 

[Anonymous]

if you google "samsung PN50C7000 review" you may find one , er , that was done on 14th july

 

[Anonymous]

cheers for that. I see it cant handle 1080/24fps. This is abit weird for a tv at this price level not being able to do this.

 

[Anonymous]

hmm , i must admit i didnt spot that , i read through the review kinda quickly , it does seem a strange omission , however it doesnt seem like the reviewer found it to be too much of an issue , its still a very positive review ..

id defo demo , try to watch a blu-ray on it instore and see if the lack of 1080/24p is an issue for you , if not , it could be the answer ..

 

[TKratz]

I am pretty sure 1080p24 would not be omitted as a feature on a premium screen like this ano 2010.

Surely this must be an implementation problem from Samsung (which hopefully can be fixed) rather than a delibarate omission.

 

[Anonymous]

hi tkratz , maybe your right , 24p has been standard on most sets for a few years now , it does seem strange that its absent here ..

but as i said , the reviewer didnt find it to be much of a problem , weird though ..

 

[TKratz]

Well, I seriously wouldn't consider a TV that do not support 1080p24!

 

[Anonymous]

how would you describe the affects on picture quality that the lack of 24p may have tkratz ??

 

[TKratz]

Panasonic had some problems last year on their Nordic G10 models. It should have been fixed by now, but it created some serious judder to the picture (not just what you usually see with 24Hz playback.

 

[Anonymous]

ok , but the review found no issues like that , id like to see what its like for myself before parting with my money , but thats not a decision ill have to make , my euros are heading in panasonics direction

 

[bigboss]

TVs that don't support 24fps shown the picture at 25fps instead. Videophiles can notice subtle differences between them, most cannot.

 

[Anonymous]

hmm im going to have to see if i can get a long demo to establish whether the difference in frame rate in noticable to me. Although im sure its not that noticeable.