Panny PT47WX49 or Toshiba 42H81? (1 Viewer)

[Jordan Tracey]

I am in the market for tv's. RPTV's that is! Heh. I was wondering what any of you folks onhere thought was the better one. The Panny is a 5" bigger and $200 less, but I haven't really heard anything about it, but I have heard great things about the Toshiba's, so I was wondering if it is worth the extra 200.

 

[SteveA]

From what I know of both sets, the main advantages of the Toshiba are:

1. Better stretch modes for watching 4:3 material

2. Looks better with traditional analog sources

3. Looks better than the Panny right out of the box (although the Panny is supposed to be fantastic-looking once tweaked)

The Panasonic gets you more screen for the buck, though. Both of these sets are very well regarded.

 

[MTrotter]

I was able to compare the 47" Panny to the 50" Toshiba at Sears. The Tosh was way better, but primarily because I couldn't get the red out of the Panny no matter what. Maybe it was just that particular unit. The Tosh had a real natural look to it on outdoor objects like rocks, while the Panny turned them pink. Skin tones also showed these differences. These are the things I noticed. Also, some folks do not like the way the Tosh upconvert a 480p signal to 540p, saying it fuzzes up a DVD image.

 

[Jordan Tracey]

Do either tv's lock into full mode when playing a anamorphic dvd?

 

[Mike I]

both sets do not lock in full when receiveing a progressive signal

 

[Dylan Savage]

That is incorrect, the Panasonic DOES lock into FULL mode, the Toshiba does not.

 

[Jordan Tracey]

I really don't know what full mode is, I have just heard it isn't good. So what exactly is full mode?

 

[Dwight Amato]

Full mode is what you put it in to watch a DVD. The Panny does lock into full mode on progressive scan images, so you want a DVD player that scales.

I have the Panny and I love it. For $1570 the picture is outstanding. I do admit that the set looks horrible at the stores, but no set looks anything like what it will at home. Once properly calibrated, both pictures will be stunning, but my nod goes to the Panny.

 

[Jordan Tracey]

I already have the Panny RP56, I don't know if it scales or not. Ahhh, I should read up on my stuff more than I do!

 

[NathanS]

The RP56 doesn't scale.

 

[Dylan Savage]

Scaling is way overblown, I have the RP56 and PT47WX49. 1.85 DVD's are full screen, 2.35 DVD's have small black bars. 4:3 DVD's are a problem, but I only have one of them (Full Metal Jacket) out of 60 other movies/discs. For this one I just put the DVD player in interlaced mode and either run the TV in 4:3 or zoom mode (chops off tops and bottoms to fill the screen) but either of these do not look very good. Basically you are not going to get good performance from this DVD/TV combo on 4:3 discs. That is a drawback. I don't see it as worth the $250 premium for the RP91, however

 

[Jeff Leigh]

Scaling doesn't just fix 4:3 movies, it also fixes non-anamorphic 1.85 and 2.35 DVDs. Not as many of those out there these days, but I still have quite a few.

 

[Massimo N]

Since I've had both TVs in my home (47" Panasonic and 57" Toshiba) I'll give my review of the 2 sets. I finally settled with the Toshiba, so my bias is towards towards the Toshiba ...
These are my opinions with the 2 sets.
======================
Panasonic 47WX51:
GOOD
-Good Contrast
-Easy to set up
-Friendly service menu
-Friendly Service Convergence
-Apparently tracks very flat grey scale (after calibration)
-Priced VERY competively
-Good Line Doubler (with auto 3:2 pulldown)
-2 HD Component Inputs
BAD
-Only ONE memory
-Glare Screen (only on the WX51)
-Severe Red Push (Correctable through Service Menu)
-Severe SVM (Fixable through Mechanically disconnecting board)
-Excesive Edge Enhancement (Some ISF guys can access 'special' menu to reduce)
-No direct input selection
-LOCK in FULL for all 480p material
-Slow to Switch Inputs
-Image ringing
===============================
TOSHIBA 57HX81
GOOD
-Great line doubler and 3:2 pulldown
-Great colour decoder
-Separate Memory for each input type
-Direct Input Access
-Great Contrast and Colour Saturation
-Anti-Glare Screen o.k.
-VERY Treakable (lots of on-line documentation)
-Discrete ON/OFF codes
-Does NOT lock into FULL with 480p material
-Very Good Stretch Modes for 4:3 material
-2 HD Component Inputs
-Only 1 service convergece grid for all modes and inputs
BAD
-Some image ringing (not as bad as Panasonic IMO)
-Stretch modes not saved with Picture Preferences.
-Very Heavy (Cabinet made from 100% particle board)
-Artifacts with 540p upconversion (you really need to know what to look for, most will not even notice)
-Ghost Line issues on some sets (I had my set recently replaced due to my CRTs acting up - I had 3 ghost lines on my old set ... none on my new set )
=================
After calibration, both sets will will look GREAT! I would seriously go with the bigger set if the 'BAD' stuff doesn't bug you. It's amazing how fast you get used to the size. The 57" Toshiba doesn't look all that big any more.
I also found that shopping for a TV at a dealer extremely difficult, because most stores don't have the right viewing conditions for critical viewing/evaluation ... not to mention the majority don't have the sets correctly set up.
Good luck with your purchase!
Cheers!
Mass