Is looking a for a new tv as frustrating as it seems (1 Viewer)

[Henry Hughes]

Im in the market for a new tv. I thought I had it narrowed down to a samsung lcd un60f8000. Then i started reading about how much better a plasma tv is, so i started looking at them. Then I narrowed it down to a panasonic tc-p60zt60. The I read the samsung pn64f8500 was possibly better than the panny, and definitely easier to find. Now I have been reading about the issues with input lag and screen tearing with the samsung.

I am so confused and frustrated, i am longing for a CRT display.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

yes, I too long for a return to crt.....

geometry issues, convergence issues, overscan and imaging centering issues, color decoder issues, screen uniformity issues, light output issues, lack of resolution....

 

[Sam Posten]

The worst thing you can do is read more than 3 reviews on the internet. =) Read a couple from people you trust then go see what looks good to you.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Then I narrowed it down to a panasonic tc-p60zt60. The I read the samsung pn64f8500 was possibly better than the panny, and definitely easier to find. Now I have been reading about the issues with input lag and screen tearing with the samsung.

Either one of those is an excellent display. As Sam alluded to, if you search the Internet long enough, you'll find horror stories for everything... You've probably read the excellent thread here regarding Ron Epstein's experience with both the Panny ZT and the Sammy 8500 - if that thread has taught us anything, it's that you should use Internet research to help narrow down your choices to 2 or 3 models, then use your own eyes to make the final decision.

 

[Henry Hughes]

Either one of those is an excellent display. As Sam alluded to, if you search the Internet long enough, you'll find horror stories for everything... You've probably read the excellent thread here regarding Ron Epstein's experience with both the Panny ZT and the Sammy 8500 - if that thread has taught us anything, it's that you should use Internet research to help narrow down your choices to 2 or 3 models, then use your own eyes to make the final decision.

Yes, i did read that thread. then I read another thread that mentioned the horrible lag problems and screen tearing on the Samsung. I do game quite a bit, so a smaller lag time is optimal.

 

[DaveF]

The worst thing you can do is read more than 3 reviews on the internet. =) Read a couple from people you trust then go see what looks good to you.

And therein lies the other great problem: seeing what looks good at retail is also terrible. You can't compare TVs that are hung 20' high on the wall. Or when they're in tight aisles, and you can't step back far enough to mimic your viewing space. Where they're all on Torch Mode, playing demo reels and not material you know and enjoy.

No, shopping for a TV is a one-two punch of excess technical information from pro and forum reviews, and for too little quality personal experience. I hated it when I was shopping for my last TV.

And I bet it's going to be even worse when it comes to shopping for a projector

 

[FoxyMulder]

If you enjoy 3D or watch during the day a lot then the higher brightness of the Samsung could be a major attraction for you, remember that black levels in a completely dark room will appear slightly grey due to the way our eyes work, therefore put a little bit of light behind the television set when viewing in the evening and the image will appear much better to you, oh and get it calibrated for 2D and 3D or at the very least use a disc like Spears and Munsil 2nd edition and get it better.

Input lag is superior on the Samsung to the Panasonic, on Samsung sets you don't use game mode you name one of the HDMI inputs PC for the best possible performance, game mode gets you 68ms of lag, avoid it, naming an input PC gets you 38ms of lag, much better, the Panny does 41.5ms by comparison.

Black levels on a Panasonic are great but the Samsung F8500 is no slouch and almost as good, remember there is more to an image than just black levels, i think Samsung upscales SD content beautifully and it's peak whites are superior to the Panny set, great peak whites with deep blacks are what makes an image pop more and that is why in head to head viewing many prefer the Samsung set.

Remember firmware upgrades improve performance and what you have read might well have been true but was more than likely fixed and the reviews thus do not take this into account, Samsung issue numerous firmware upgrades throughout a year.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I would buy the best Panasonic plasma I could afford while stocks last.

I want a new television for the bedroom, pity 27" plasmas aren't available.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Take it from someone who just shopped for a new plasma, got a Panny and
returned it for a Samsung --- this can be a very tough buying decision.

First, I highly recommend plasma over anything else.

If you can afford it, the Samsung F8500 is the baby to get. I have the 64" display
and I love it, particularly for its 3D capability.

I see no difference in black levels between the Samsung and the Panasonic ZT60
that I owned --- but saying that can be considered blasphemous, so I will just say
that is my opinion.

Let us know how you make out.