HELP with new TV decision... (1 Viewer)

[99monguse]

I thought I had it figured out. I was going to buy either a Panny G10 or G15; I wanted somewhere between 50"-60". I currently have a Panny 53" rear-projection 1080i/480p and its a great TV...just not 1080P and not as "BRIGHT" as the newer technology. My step-son and I do A LOT of gaming via 360 and eventually a PS3. Right now we just have SD DvDs but when I get the new TV we'll be buying Bluray.

Like I said...I thought I had decided on the Panny G10/G15 plasmas but now I'm reading posts about issues with the TVs and my father-in-law just got a new Sammy 50" LCD 1080P set and I told him what I wanted...he said, oh no you don't want a plasma! He said the guys at the Best Buy he went to specifically told him DO NOT get a plasma!!!! Now I figured they just told him that so he spend more cash on a LED LCD but they sold him a non-LED LCD TV. I watch some sports in HD (ATT U-VERSE) but not a lot. Mostly the tv would be used for regular tv watching, HD TV watching, occasional HD sports...and A LOT of gaming. I wouldn't mind being able to plug my PC into the TV and net-surf on the bigscreen, while sitting in the recliner

What do you think?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

If I were answering this question 3 years ago I'd agree that LCD was the way to go due to the likelihood of burn-in on the plasmas available at that time.

Today it's different. There is about a 100-200 hr break-in period on plasmas, during which you shouldn't game for more than a couple of hours at a time. Once that break-in period is over you're good to go.

Plasmas, especially Panasonics, are actually better for gaming than LCDs, especially Samsung LCDs due to the much faster picture processing. All the processing in LCDs results in significant lag when playing video games, especially first person shooters--there's a very noticeable gap between your control input and the action on the screen.

Plasmas have a much higher framerate, much faster pixel response time, and no off-angle loss of color intensity, and significantly lower prices at 50+ inch screen sizes.

Larger Samsung LCDs of late have been suffering a lot of failures due to inadequate capacitors on the power board, I hope your father-in-law bought the extended warranty.

I sell tvs for a large Sears store. We don't hesitate to recommend plasma unless a customer's setup involves having to compete with really bright ambient lighting conditions (an lcd in torch mode is brighter than a plasma in torch mode, either would be much brighter than your rptv.)

In general an LCD is more vivid and has a little sharper image on stationary shots, while a plasma is more accurate/lifelike with a sharper image during fast motion.

Unlike BB associates I'm on commission and lose that commission if a set is returned---it would be against my interests to recommend an inferior product.

We often have customers whose friends or relatives have told them to avoid plasma like a plague. This is primarily based on experiences people may have had 5 or more years ago, often with bargain brand plasmas like Philips, Magnavox, Haier, Maxent or those heavily promoted Chinese Gateway sets. There are plenty of 5 year old Pioneer and Panny sets still out there giving excellent service.

 

[99monguse]

I have had several people tell me that DLPs are good too, less expensive also. I personally didn't care for the lower brightness levels (similar to my existing rear-projection set) that the DLPs have compared to plasma/lcd.

What do you think about DLPs and whats your opinion on the Panasonic S1 series plasma as opposed to the higher units(G10, G15, V10...)? Most stores are selling the S1 series Panny plasmas.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

DLP is sharper and brighter than your current crt-based set but still has the off-angle dropoff. They're down to only one mfg. now so like it or not will almost certainly become an orphan technology.

The G10 and G15 series sets use the same plasma panel as the S series but have a few more adjustments available in the user menu, not really worth the extra money over the S imho.

The 50" S can be had for under 1k at that store that sells Die Hard car batteries.