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Panny TH-50PZ700U or Pio 5080?

post #1 of 6
12/3/07 at 2:00pm
Thread Starter 
I can get either the Panasonic TH-50PZ700U or the Pioneer 5080 for about the smae price. I cannot decide. I sit about 9' from the TV and I have a fairly bright room but no windows on the wall oposite the TV. I watch alot of sports and regular programming and a couple of movies a week (HDDVD as sson as I have the TV). I've read the pioneer is better and I've seen a friends 5080 and it is nice but I've also read that properly calibrated the difference between them is nearly indistinguishable. I've read pio's processing is the best but with the panny's 1080p I should need all the extra processing right? Please help me decide.

How much does a typical calibration cost for sets like these? Thanks!

Derek
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post #2 of 6
12/3/07 at 2:58pm

Re: Panny TH-50PZ700U or Pio 5080?

Greetings

Calibration runs about $250 to $300 range for the basics. Add $125 per additional input type usually.

The Pioneer has much better black levels than the panasonic. But less pixels. On HD DVD material ... you won't see the extra pixels, but the lower resolution of the pioneer will give you moire patterns and other conversion artifacts. The panasonic should be free of these.

Panasonic has more calibration options than the pioneer. Pro level calibration on the pioneer officially voids the warranty on their sets ... if not an Elite brand.

Regards
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post #3 of 6
12/3/07 at 4:27pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Panny TH-50PZ700U or Pio 5080?

thanks for the reply! So with a professional calibration and identicle input, say an HD broadcast of a football game or HBO movie, would the panasonic be close enough picture wise that you could not see the difference unless they were side by side? Sorry if that's a redundant question but if your a calibrator of these sets you would know how close they really are when set up correctly. Plus I'll only be like 9' away.
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post #4 of 6
12/3/07 at 5:53pm

Re: Panny TH-50PZ700U or Pio 5080?

Greetings

You trade one weakness for another.

Weaker blacks on the Panasonic ...

More moire patterns and artifacts on the Pioneer.

Both images equally calibrated .... however ... add a second device and the Pioneer is stuck. The Panasonic can adapt for that one too.

The Contrast ratio on the Pioneer will be better than the Panasonic. The one with fewer pixels has the better CR.

Regards
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post #5 of 6
1/10/08 at 10:38am

Re: Panny TH-50PZ700U or Pio 5080?

Last night I hooked up my 5080 and I just love it. I returned a Hitachi unit and the difference is night and day. The Panasonic units are also good but the black levels on the Pioneer did it for me. Good luck and I think you may want to get the TV calibrated after a few hundred hours of break in.
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post #6 of 6
1/12/08 at 2:27pm

Re: Panny TH-50PZ700U or Pio 5080?

I've been looking at the Panny PZ700U, since I can't get the Pioneer locally. I think I'm going to wait for the PZ800U though... supposedly blacks almost as good as the current Kuro. Maybe by the time the PZ800U comes out, I could get the 700U for cheap!
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