TVs, including LCD/LED, plasma, OLED, and more. Ask for buying advice, or help others, share experiences etc.
By sydandzach
#5469
Having spent hours at the local shops, I was all set to jump at one of the LCD/LED HDTV's.
Well now that the initial sucker-punch of overly bright and over saturated colours has worn off a little bit, I find I'm leaning towards a plasma solution (Panny G25), but still with a little reservation.
Yes, I love the accurate colour rendition and deep rich blacks with subtle shading and viewing angles common to plasma, but I still have two issues with plasma that I don't find as much forum discussion about.
My primary concern is with the brightness and white levels. If one is watching bright sun reflections an a water surface, the plasma doesn't reflect the light back at you as well as seemingly a LCD/LED might. Similarly stars on a bright clear night or the headlights of vehicles just seem a little bit flat. It seems that everyone discusses black levels (which I agree are very crucial) but white levels and brightness don't seem to be addressed to the same degree.
The other concern I have with plasma is that it often doesn't seem quit as sharp. It's almost as though plasma screen actually does have the perfect image, BUT it's hidden behind a very fine veil.
Don't get me wrong, I still do currently prefer plasma and have based my opinions almost solely on the Panny 46G25. Perhaps another screen like the Samsung PN-50c7000 with firmware update) might suit better as I understand that it is supposed to be a slightly bright panel, but I don't know.
Perhaps other forum contributers with more plasmna experience then myself can shed a little more light (sort of speak) on the issue?

Thanks and Happy holidays to everyone!!!
#5470
I have a Panasonic 50G25(had it for 2 months) and I am very happy with it. It is an excellent TV at the price, both when you look at picture quality and featues.

Regarding the light output, I think it comes down to whether you can control the light in the room or not. In my living room, I can shut out almost all light and I had to turn down the brightness, because it was to bright, so that is not a problem. But if you have "trouble" with sunlight and other light sources you should look at LCD for the much higher light output. You can just crank it up to compensate for the other light sources.
#5471
Actually the room is reasonably dark and the more time I spend watching plasma the more I am convinced that it is the right solution for me. Extremely rich accurate colour, great viewing angles and amazingly subtle black tones.
Having said that I still find there is a tiny bit of sharpness still lacking.
I guess I will continue to try slight changes to the contrast and sharpness settings.
#5472
Hi TorbjornJensen, just curious my G25 black level setting is currently set to 'dark' as default.
I spoke with Panasonic and they said that is the correct default and that the consumer apparently can't change it.
However I understand from reading other Forums that the black level for the G25 should be 'light' as the default.
Would you mind confirming what your default 'Black' setting is? And whether yours is locked as well?
Thanks!
By Juan
#5473
I have to say that I have the same feelings with Plasma as Sydandzach comments.
I am doubting between Panasonic VT20 (Plasma) and Philips 9705 (LED backlight) and I appreciate a lot plasma colors and natural view, but I see that high end LCD-LEDs, like Philips 9705, seem to be sharper and brighter.
In this "sharpness (LEDs) vs naturality (PDPs)" dilema, in my very personal opinion I think I prefer plasma for films (natural view is a plus) and I prefer high-end LCDs-LEDs for sports (here sharpness is more apprecated as a plus).
I see LCD-LED TVs more "spectacular" and Plasma TVs more "natural" with a vision closer to the old TVs style.
But these are only personal feelings watching and comparing different flat TVs in the stores. Some friends and also sellers tell that vwenig them at home, Plasma TVs gain and LCD-LED TVs seem to be more artificial. Some people say that plasma TVs give their best on a living room view because of their colours and natural view and LCD-LEDs seem to be better on stores because of brightness, sharpness and a more "spectacular" view.
Is it true that plasma TVs once at home seem to have better image quality that at stores?
#5474
Hmm, I think you must be running a different firmware version or something, I have not been able to find a balck level setting anywhere, even with isfcc menu's enabled. Settings wise I pretty much run everything with the THX profile, because it is not far off the 2.2 gamma and 6500K.

I rarely watch TV, I mostly use it for Blu-Ray's. I am approaching 100 hours of usage soon, then I will see if I can calibrate the TV further, to see if I can get a better picture.

Regarding whether the plasma or flatscreens in general are better when you get them home, I think it comes down to the settings. When TV's are setup in stores, they use "Store" profiles, which are supposed to make the TV "pop", not have accurate color/blacks etc. so when you get home and start to setup the TV the way you like, it will "always" look better.