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[Tathanen]

What is the ideal lighting for watching a plasma anyway? How dark should the room be? Watching a LCD in total darkness is like looking at a small sun and the blacks are just awful. I'm planning on moving my HT stuff to a different side of the living room and it'll be as good a time as any to look into setting up proper lighting conditions.

Well, ideally the room should be completely dark. That's where you can really appreciate the black levels, and where the "dimness" becomes irrelevant. Couple super-dim lights on the walls like in a movie theater probably wouldn't hurt, though.

Realistically I never use my plasma in conditions that black, hurts my eyes. I'll usually have a small light on off to the side somewhere when I use it at night.

 

[Prophet Steve]

What is the ideal lighting for watching a plasma anyway? How dark should the room be? Watching a LCD in total darkness is like looking at a small sun and the blacks are just awful. I'm planning on moving my HT stuff to a different side of the living room and it'll be as good a time as any to look into setting up proper lighting conditions.

Difficult to say how dark it should be, but I got a light with a dimmer and basically keep it at something where I am able to see the buttons on my remote control. Complete darkness is too much for me, even when it probably looks a bit less.

 

[Ferr986]

So I finally ended up getting the LG 39LB5610, mainly because I got a nice price for it. It seems like its the new budget model for 2014.

Im coming from a 32 720p, so the change is pretty big. As for now Im generally happy with it (PS4 looks awesome, 360 not that much but maybe its because I use a cheap HDMI), didnt notice much input lag (atleast I dont notice it, I even tried with heavy QTE games, guess Im lucky).

The only nitpick Im having right now is that moving the camera in a game really fast makes me slightly dizzy. Its weird because I dont notice any big ghosting (in game mode). Maybe its because the TV is bigger and I have to get used to it (I have a 39inch tv in 1,7m distance from eye view, maybe I overdid it).

 

[Canon]

How/where are people (in the US) finding Panasonic plasmas?

I might sell mine (in Canada). I'm not really happy with how flat the image on the S64 looks compared to my old Sony LED, but the main issue is the posterization. It looks really bad. In addition to dithering and line bleed (which is terrible), plasma is not a technology I enjoy. Some people are OK with it to get true blacks.

I've been looking at an LG LA7400, but I heard it might not be good for games? I'm wondering if it'd be better than the Sony w802a (obviously not in input lag, but for everything else).

 

[x3sphere]

I got my Samsung HU8550 today, and damn, gaming on a big 4K screen is incredible. I didn't even care I was limited to 30 Hz as it looks so damn good.

Also, the black levels on this set are really good despite being edge-lit. My panel shows no uniformity issues, I've never had a high end Plasma so hard to compare there but my previous set (LG LH90) was full array local dimming and this is far better...

 

[OverHeat]

I got my Samsung HU8550 today, and damn, gaming on a big 4K screen is incredible. I didn't even care I was limited to 30 Hz as it looks so damn good.

Also, the black levels on this set are really good despite being edge-lit. My panel shows no uniformity issues, I've never had a high end Plasma so hard to compare there but my previous set (LG LH90) was full array local dimming and this is far better...

Congrats! Look great

 

[Giever]

Do you have rainbow blinds opposite your TV, or is something else going on in that reflection? If they are in fact rainbow, that's kind of awesome.

 

[x3sphere]

Do you have rainbow blinds opposite your TV, or is something else going on in that reflection? If they are in fact rainbow, that's kind of awesome.

Ha no they aren't rainbow, just solid white, must've just been the way the light was hitting the screen or something.

 

[polyh3dron]

After owning my 65VT60 for almost 3 months I must say I am very happy with my purchase. Having those deep blacks in a dark room is just something that is worth it. Every time I see a LCD TV now and I can see the backlight where there's supposed to be black I am reminded of how awesome my TV is. I just have to be mindful of leaving it on with stationary images for too long and any image retention I have had when I did leave something like that on for too long went away pretty quickly.

I can safely say that with this picture quality I will not be interested in 4K for a very long time, at least until the standard matures to the point where all the satellite channels and such are 4K and the early adopter tax goes away.

BTW, clevelandplasma.com says they have the 65ZT60 in stock which is a slightly better TV than the VT. It'll probably be pretty pricey but it's be worth it.

 

[drugstore_cowboy]

Bought a 46W905a. The feed was so bad there was no way of judging it beforehand, hope I'm pleasently surprised and damn TVs have come a long way since I've last looked at them properly, some of the 4K and OLED sets were great.

 

[Prophet Steve]

After owning my 65VT60 for almost 3 months I must say I am very happy with my purchase. Having those deep blacks in a dark room is just something that is worth it. Every time I see a LCD TV now and I can see the backlight where there's supposed to be black I am reminded of how awesome my TV is. I just have to be mindful of leaving it on with stationary images for too long and any image retention I have had when I did leave something like that on for too long went away pretty quickly.

I can safely say that with this picture quality I will not be interested in 4K for a very long time, at least until the standard matures to the point where all the satellite channels and such are 4K and the early adopter tax goes away.

BTW, clevelandplasma.com says they have the 65ZT60 in stock which is a slightly better TV than the VT. It'll probably be pretty pricey but it's be worth it.

ZT60 is a only a small bit better, it mostly is better for reflections I think. If you got a lot of money to spend, sure, it is an amazing TV, but the VT60 is pretty similar.

 

[Unconditional]

Is a new 50 in panny st60 worth about $900 bucks?

 

[Prophet Steve]

Is a new 50 in panny st60 worth about $900 bucks?

I don't live in the US, so not entirely sure what the prices are exactly there. But seeing as it would be about the same in euros here and I have seen plenty of comments seeing people not buying it at all.

Keep the high input lag in mind though, even when it doesn't bother me it can bother a lot of people.

 

[Ninjician]

ZT60 is a only a small bit better, it mostly is better for reflections I think. If you got a lot of money to spend, sure, it is an amazing TV, but the VT60 is pretty similar.

ZT60 will do better in a bright room, with a slight sacrifice on light output, due to the filter applied to the TV for less reflection.

In a dark room, the VT60 will outperform the ZT in light output, and vibrance.

Overall, the ZT60 does not have an "air gap" between it's non-reflective filter and the plasma array, so if you are off-axis, you will not see a slight "doubling"' or ghosting effect on the ZT60.

I own the 65VT60, and combined with a Calman5 AutoCal and Meter, the damn TV calibrates itself.

 

[lostinblue]

Yeah, if it's a plasma for bright room go Samsung F8500 and don't look back, hence I don't really think of ZT60 as being superior to a VT60 due to the filter. More expensive, limited edition feel and featuring premium touches like gold plated USB ports... well, yes.

It also has worser standalone sound than the VT60 because it did away with the front facing speakers, which combined with the slightly lower light output further puts it behind VT60 in my book. But these are really little nitpicks, I'd say the TV is every bit as good as the VT60 (and I wouldn't be able to tell them apart in a dark room, damn, I can barely make a calibrated ST60 apart from a VT60 if I have no access to the menu's during a movie), for the things it actually does worse it does the well lit room better, it just happens that for that criteria it has no means to compete with the aforementioned sammy and hence it's not really the best tradeoff to even try seeing that puts little dents on the VT60 peak excellence.

But it is still obviously a mighty fine TV and due to the no gap filter thing, effectively last years technical marvel... even more so than the VT60.

I just wouldn't trade my 65VT60 for it, even if it cost the same and had the same inches going for it.

 

[Corsick]

Hello all, I was wondering now that 4k TVs are becoming more and more refined and reasonable in price, would investing in a quality 1080p TV still be worthwhile? I'm afraid of buying one at an awkward in between time where it will become outdated within a year or so by 4k sets that are almost the same price but better quality.

 

[Hattori]

Hello all, I was wondering now that 4k TVs are becoming more and more refined and reasonable in price, would investing in a quality 1080p TV still be worthwhile? I'm afraid of buying one at an awkward in between time where it will become outdated within a year or so by 4k sets that are almost the same price but better quality.

I would think it's still worthwhile since there isn't much 4K support at the moment (other than a capable gaming PC.)

 

[iMax]

Yeah, if it's a plasma for bright room go Samsung F8500 and don't look back, hence I don't really think of ZT60 as being superior to a VT60 due to the filter. More expensive, limited edition feel and featuring premium touches like gold plated USB ports... well, yes.

It also has worser standalone sound than the VT60 because it did away with the front facing speakers, which combined with the slightly lower light output further puts it behind VT60 in my book. But these are really little nitpicks, I'd say the TV is every bit as good as the VT60 (and I wouldn't be able to tell them apart in a dark room, damn, I can barely make a calibrated ST60 apart from a VT60 if I have no access to the menu's during a movie), for the things it actually does worse it does the well lit room better, it just happens that for that criteria it has no means to compete with the aforementioned sammy and hence it's not really the best tradeoff to even try seeing that puts little dents on the VT60 peak excellence.

But it is still obviously a mighty fine TV and due to the no gap filter thing, effectively last years technical marvel... even more so than the VT60.

I just wouldn't trade my 65VT60 for it, even if it cost the same and had the same inches going for it.

It also has a proper killer feature. The ability to turn off the hideous green power LED!

 

[Lima]

It also has a proper killer feature. The ability to turn off the hideous green power LED!

Only on the UK model though.

 

[lostinblue]

It also has a proper killer feature. The ability to turn off the hideous green power LED!

Only in europe and perhaps Japan it seems (probably japan/asia models as well).

A few months ago somebody with a ZT60 in this thread concluded that one option was sadly missing in US models.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The power LED is red on my VT60, and I didn't even notice or think about it until someone brought it up earlier in the thread. I guess I am just used to mentally tuning out power lights on electronics.

 

[iMax]

Only in europe and perhaps Japan it seems (probably japan/asia models as well).

A few months ago somebody with a ZT60 in this thread concluded that one option was sadly missing in US models.

That seems like a really odd feature to omit.

 

[lostinblue]

That seems like a really odd feature to omit.

Yeah, but truth to be told... VT60 and ZT60 are really similar component-wise, same panel, same chips and boards, virtually the same TV. Physically the only difference is that the ZT60 has an extra rear fan I believe.

What I'm saying is... if you could flash a VT60 with the european ZT60 firmware you'd probably have that option, which turning it sideways means if you flashed a ZT60 with VT60 firmware you wouldn't.

Perhaps they didn't bother for US to have distinct firmwares and taking aside model ID headers on the service menu they're the exact same.

 

[Applesauce]

Any other VT60 owners know how to disable the speakers? I can't figure this shit out if my life depended on it.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Any other VT60 owners know how to disable the speakers? I can't figure this shit out if my life depended on it.

Mute the volume? I don't know what you are asking here. If you are trying to use the audio pass through or the ARC, there's an option in the menu to make the audio go to external source instead of TV speakers.

 

[MrJames]

I got my Samsung HU8550 today, and damn, gaming on a big 4K screen is incredible. I didn't even care I was limited to 30 Hz as it looks so damn good.

Also, the black levels on this set are really good despite being edge-lit. My panel shows no uniformity issues, I've never had a high end Plasma so hard to compare there but my previous set (LG LH90) was full array local dimming and this is far better...

There is a $500 price drop on all the new Samsung 4K sets. Not sure if it's a temporary sale or permanent but you should probably be able to get some money back. The 65" is tempting but I'm going to wait a few months until Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and maybe Vizio have released their sets.

 

[Applesauce]

Mute the volume? I don't know what you are asking here. If you are trying to use the audio pass through or the ARC, there's an option in the menu to make the audio go to external source instead of TV speakers.

That is what I am trying to do, on my ST30 it was simple, I am having a hard time finding the option on this one. I'd rather not have to mute it every time I turn it on.

Edit : apparently you can't disable the speakers like you could on previous models. So I just turned the volume down to 0.

 

[Goddard]

So I finally ended up getting the LG 39LB5610, mainly because I got a nice price for it. It seems like its the new budget model for 2014.

Im coming from a 32 720p, so the change is pretty big. As for now Im generally happy with it (PS4 looks awesome, 360 not that much but maybe its because I use a cheap HDMI), didnt notice much input lag (atleast I dont notice it, I even tried with heavy QTE games, guess Im lucky).

The only nitpick Im having right now is that moving the camera in a game really fast makes me slightly dizzy. Its weird because I dont notice any big ghosting (in game mode). Maybe its because the TV is bigger and I have to get used to it (I have a 39inch tv in 1,7m distance from eye view, maybe I overdid it).

Please tell me you're joking when you say 360 looks bad because of a bad hdmi cable. That makes literally no sense whatsoever.

 

[JRW]

For the smoothest & most natural looking motion handling (without special help from "240hz" etc bandaids) Plasma is still what I recommend to anyone for gaming, I just converted a friend who ended up buying a 64" Samsung plasma (their first plasma) and everyone is blown away by the picture quality with gaming & movies.

 

[HI. BILLY MAYS HERE]

I need some recommendations for a 40-42 inch tv please.

-I don't care about 3D or apps

 

[lostinblue]

For the smoothest & most natural looking motion handling (without special help from "240hz" etc bandaids) Plasma is still what I recommend to anyone for gaming, I just converted a friend who ended up buying a 64" Samsung plasma (their first plasma) and everyone is blown away by the picture quality with gaming & movies.

Yup, people go on and on about tech, like CRT, plasma, whatever is past, present is LCD (therefore better).

That might be true from a store sales department standpoint et all but one should be focusing on something far simpler.

Self emitting is the future. It'll always be because it's simply inherently superior (doesn't wash-out, better color reproduction, able to be calibrated at higher light peaks without degradation (which simply wasn't happening with most plasmas because of energy regulations, but F8500 and pro-line sans ABL panasonic plasmas did it), capability of shutting down pixels altogether) even if you can close distances *which is what LCD's have been doing for 15 years now, and still not there yet*, yet... Self emmiting consistently has gotten better even if in the case of Plasma R&D costs and personnel involved shouldn't really be comparable seeing it was 3/4 companies investing on a tech against the rest of the world.

And then there's OLED, slowly but surely closing in.

The future is self-emitting, and hence, in a lot of ways plasma is the closest to the future one can buy with moderate amounts of money as of now, even if they're part of the past. It's also inherently superior to anything LCD's and it'll keep that advantage for years to come.

If anything, anything LCD manages to pull to close distances not only comes with caveats (and the trick is knowing where they are to be able to notice them) and for every hard earned gain in there one could wonder what if that same money went to plasmas instead (but then we'd end up sad). Hopefully that money is now going for OLED's because despite being good on paper and on expo's... they need it for mass consumption.

 

[FoxDie]

So I am replacing my 32" with a bigger model , 40-48" perhaps, what do you guys recommend ?

 

[lostinblue]

So I am replacing my 32" with a bigger model , 40-48" perhaps, what do you guys recommend ?

Which region of the world do you reside in?

Available TV models change across region I'm afraid.


Speaking of which...

European W605B reviews started popping up:

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/kdl40w605b-201404233740.htm

And it seems like it is a 32W655A (2013 model) in 40 and 48" sizes, it's not supposed to be as crappy as said a few pages ago; but it's definetly like a 32" W650A which is inferior when it comes to processing to a 42" and over W650A or this years W705B models. Sadly W705B's are not on sale in US of A.


So, to answer your question, if you are in US as of now (and shooting low) I'd say Samsung H5000, if you are in Europe I'd say Sony W705B.

If you are shooting higher I'd say Panasonic VT60, Samsung F8500 or Sony W905A who are available but cleaning stock fast across al territories. (F8500 aside that remains in production I think)


Also tell me how far from the TV are you sitting please.

I need some recommendations for a 40-42 inch tv please.

-I don't care about 3D or apps

Same questions, US or Europe, and how far are you sitting?

 

[lostsupper]

...It's also inherently superior to anything LCD's and it'll keep that advantage for years to come...

That's clearly the pitch being made in this thread, but it's not true. There are positives and negatives to lcd's. To me the positives outweigh the negatives.

 

[HI. BILLY MAYS HERE]

Which region of the world do you reside in?

Available TV models change across region I'm afraid.


Speaking of which...

European W605B reviews started popping up:

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/kdl40w605b-201404233740.htm

And it seems like it is a 32W655A (2013 model) in 40 and 48" sizes, it's not supposed to be as crappy as said a few pages ago; but it's definetly like a 32" W650A which is inferior when it comes to processing to a 42" and over W650A or this years W705B models. Sadly W705B's are not on sale in US of A.


So, to answer your question, if you are in US as of now (and shooting low) I'd say Samsung H5000, if you are in Europe I'd say Sony W705B.

If you are shooting higher I'd say Panasonic VT60, Samsung F8500 or Sony W905A who are available but cleaning stock fast across al territories. (F8500 aside that remains in production I think)


Also tell me how far from the TV are you sitting please.Same questions, US or Europe, and how far are you sitting?

US and about 10 feet

 

[DrEvil]

I'm finishing my basement into a home theater this summer and will likely be looking at 4kTVs in the fall. I'd like to go 80"+ but why is it that 4KTVs have like a 20,000 price jump from 65" to 85"?

Makes no sense. Any recommendations as to when I could get an 80"+ 4k set at a decent price?

 

[HI. BILLY MAYS HERE]

I'm finishing my basement into a home theater this summer and will likely be looking at 4kTVs in the fall. I'd like to go 80"+ but why is it that 4KTVs have like a 20,000 price jump from 65" to 85"?

Makes no sense. Any recommendations as to when I could get an 80"+ 4k set at a decent price?

What's a decent price ?

 

[DrEvil]

What's a decent price ?

Sub $10k

 

[gatti-man]

What is the ideal lighting for watching a plasma anyway? How dark should the room be? Watching a LCD in total darkness is like looking at a small sun and the blacks are just awful. I'm planning on moving my HT stuff to a different side of the living room and it'll be as good a time as any to look into setting up proper lighting conditions.

The darker the better. I own a sharp 80uq now and I turned the backlight way down. It's pq pales compared to the kuro but it's 80" and that adds a lot of other benefits. For plasma I'd recommend non direct lighting so you don't get reflections and like I said the dimmer the better.

The kuro is probably the best gaming tv I've ever owned. The Sharp I have now doesn't even come close for multiplayer games. Anyone that recommends lcd for gaming to me is just crazy. Even if it has A Little less lag like some Sony's the picture under motion will never compare to plasma.


Edit:
On the subject of lag. I see many people saying " I can't tell that there is lag while gaming so lag is not a factor etc" this lime of thinking is completely wrong. If you have a receiver you can test this for yourself by using the audio synchronize feature. Go in manually and add 30 ms of audio lag then watch a close up of someone talking. Now set it to 60ms, then to the Samsungs 72-90ms. That is a crap ton of lag and if you play online games is absolutely a large disadvantage. The Sharp 80uq I own now has 50ms of lag as far as I can tell using my audio sync in the yamaha receiver I use. If I was a serious online gamer that would be too much. Even being the casual I am no way would I ever go with a 90ms set.

 

[MrJames]

Sub $10k

80"+ I don't think anything is coming out at that price.

Samsung is releasing a 75" version of the 8550 series estmated at around $6K. Sony has a 79" X900b model coming out rumored to be around $9K. Sharp may have something.

 

[HI. BILLY MAYS HERE]

Sub $10k

3-5+ years at best

 

[gatti-man]

It also has a proper killer feature. The ability to turn off the hideous green power LED!

The sharp line of tvs have this ability too. I solved that on my kuro with a tiny piece of electrical tape lol.

80"+ I don't think anything is coming out at that price.

Samsung is releasing a 75" version of the 8550 series estmated at around $6K. Sony has a 79" X900b model coming out rumored to be around $9K. Sharp may have something.

I would really recommend against getting these large true 4k tvs at this time. There are several technologies on the horizon that will change 4k and leave current investors in the dust. Full array led back lighting is on the cusp of being affordable in large sizes, dolby high dynamic range is on its way out, a new color space rec 2020, as well as oled dropping in price. Imho it's a very bad time to drop 7 - 20k on an investment tv. Wait until the standards are settled then buy your reference set. The Sharp 80uq is my stop gap. I got it for 4500 delivered and when I can get a large 80"+ reference set I'm retiring the 80uq to my gym upstairs.

Wish I could do the same, dude. VT60 light is enclosed in a perspex bar running all the way along the bottom edge of the TV. Tape won't block it :/

That sucks so hard. I'm very light sensitive. I can't handle those lights, even the soft glow from the ps4 controller annoys me to no end. When I'm watching netflix I put it under my couch.

 

[iMax]

The sharp line of tvs have this ability too. I solved that on my kuro with a tiny piece of electrical tape lol.

Wish I could do the same, dude. VT60 light is enclosed in a perspex bar running all the way along the bottom edge of the TV. Tape won't block it :/

 

[DrEvil]

I would really recommend against getting these large true 4k tvs at this time. There are several technologies on the horizon that will change 4k and leave current investors in the dust. Full array led back lighting is on the cusp of being affordable in large sizes, dolby high dynamic range is on its way out, a new color space rec 2020, as well as oled dropping in price. Imho it's a very bad time to drop 7 - 20k on an investment tv. Wait until the standards are settled then buy your reference set. The Sharp 80uq is my stop gap. I got it for 4500 delivered and when I can get a large 80"+ reference set I'm retiring the 80uq

See this is my dilemma. My current tv is the first generation 46" 1080p Aquos. Bought it new for like $4k back in 2006 or so. It's still a fantastic set but I know there is tons better out there. I don't buy tvs every couple years, so I want one that lasts.

That said, with my home theater basement. I've largely decided against going projector + screen because it'll cost more in the long run, let alone light and bulb prices down the line, a big set would be preferable.

I've seen the 90" sharp Aquos 1080p sets locally for around $5k and it's super tempting, as I've had great experience with my current Aquos, but am worried that at those sizes 1080p loses it's visual fidelity, and I'd really love to future proof my self as much as possible.

 

[lostinblue]

That's clearly the pitch being made in this thread, but it's not true. There are positives and negatives to lcd's. To me the positives outweigh the negatives.

Not a lot of positives in my book though.

Better peak output at the cost of color accuracy (most LCD's not being able to calibrated well over 120 cd/m^2), OLED calibrations for bright room will hit 170 cd/m^2 and not suffer from that.

Plasmas could have made it if not for ABL, and Samsung F8500 actually did it or incredibly close (hence people calling the the OLED-like plasma), but energy regulations made it very, very hard to accomplish without a lot of extra engineering being done there (which with the technology on it's last legs wasn't doable). LCD's being more energy efficient.

And IR is a consideration of the tech, which is the biggest downfall since a lot of people don't feel like owning a tamagochi in the first few hours of the panel, or actually testing it and getting to know it well. It was never a problem for me, none of my plasmas had permanent anything and I had like 5 of them, still own 3.

Motion is better, blacks are better, I means there's not a lot more going for a TV. Before the last 3 year Sony models Plasmas were consistently way snappier when it came to input lag. It was truly a tech ahead of it's time.

Biggest shortcoming is really how complex it is, a lot more things to go wrong and the fact they costed more to manufacture from the get go. It's a wonder how it lasted this long, but the real reason it did was because it was killer tech.

I'm finishing my basement into a home theater this summer and will likely be looking at 4kTVs in the fall. I'd like to go 80"+ but why is it that 4KTVs have like a 20,000 price jump from 65" to 85"?

Makes no sense. Any recommendations as to when I could get an 80"+ 4k set at a decent price?

Look into projectors! Also cheapest (good) BIG LCD TV's you'll find are Sharp models.

As for the jump in prices, clearly production capacity and yields, not a lot of facilities can pump out a 80" screen, upgrades had to be made for that, and of course they'll capitalize on them in the upcoming "inch war".

US and about 10 feet

Ok you could do with a ~65" TV.

If you're shooting low, go 64" Samsung H5000, it's $1400.

 

[gatti-man]

See this is my dilemma. My current tv is the first generation 46" 1080p Aquos. Bought it new for like $4k back in 2006 or so. It's still a fantastic set but I know there is tons better out there. I don't buy tvs every couple years, so I want one that lasts.

That said, with my home theater basement. I've largely decided against going projector + screen because it'll cost more in the long run, let alone light and bulb prices down the line, a big set would be preferable.

I've seen the 90" sharp Aquos 1080p sets locally for around $5k and it's super tempting, as I've had great experience with my current Aquos, but am worried that at those sizes 1080p loses it's visual fidelity, and I'd really love to future proof my self as much as possible.

The current sharp 90" is two year old tech unfortunately. Check out the UQ line. It's essentially a 1080p plus set. Has more and smaller pixels than 1080p and up converts content or can accept 4k and downconvert. It's not the sexiest tv out but if you want size and great pq without killing the wallet this is your best bet.

 

[DrEvil]

The current sharp 90" is two year old tech unfortunately. Check out the UQ line. It's essentially a 1080p plus set. Has more and smaller pixels than 1080p and up converts content or can accept 4k and downconvert. It's not the sexiest tv out but if you want size and great pq without killing the wallet this is your best bet.

Looks like I'll be keeping my eye on this line. How do they compare to the sony or Panasonic equivalents? Are they generally held as the ones to beat, currently?

 

[gatti-man]

Looks like I'll be keeping my eye on this line. How do they compare to the sony or Panasonic equivalents? Are they generally held as the ones to beat, currently?

Not sure. No scientific reviews have been done. The 80" is almost half the price of its competitors. How I decided on it was I went to Frys and ran the same source (pacific rim 1080p) at my viewing distance of 12' I couldn't tell the difference between the sony samsung or sharp. I would wager the Samsungs and Sony will review higher but you are paying for that in excess imho.

I'm sure eventually when good 4k content is available the differences may be more obvious but when will that be? 4k netflix is reviewed as barely bluray quality and the sharp can accept that signal. Bluray association hasn't even approved a 4k bd spec yet.

 

[lostsupper]

Not a lot of positives in my book though...

I've mentioned this in this thread before, but for people who are looking at pros and cons:

I bought an ST50 on the recommendation of threads like these. The dithering was the first thing I noticed when I turned it on. I honestly thought it was defective. After hearing from people that this was intended behavior, I resolved to get over it. Some people claim to not notice it--I can't imagine how not.

I had severe image retention, even after a week of non-stop break-in. Any high-contrast static image would remain on screen for over an hour.

Bright scenes would buzz audibly.

I'm not saying nobody should buy plasmas--but with all things GAF and internet-proper, a dominant point of view tends to be adopted and perpetuated absent any dissenting opinion. Just voicing that opinion.

 

[Canis lupus]

My 2010 plasma has better picture than my parents last year high end Philips LED LCD. The colors look more natural, the LCD is very flashy. The negatives of LCD are worse than the negatives of a plasma to me, the downsides of plasma(lifespan, uses more power) are not impacting my viewing experience unlike lcd's downsides which are related to its image quality: bad viewing angles, washed out colors, motion blur, bad contrast. I'd buy a plasma again if mine died.