Sammy LCD vs Panny Plasma: which hdtv should I get based on my viewing habits

[JimRochester]

Originally Posted by Spiky

Actually, plasmas are too bright also. But nobody wants to hear about proper setup.

My Panasonic came set to "Vivid" from the Latin Vibranto meaning: to induce bleeding from the eyes it's so freakin bright.

[pedagogue]

I'm about 80/20 (HD / Standard) in my viewing, and hands down I wouldn't trade my Panny for anything....except maybe a Pioneer for 3x th price.

[slop101]

So my TV should get here on Saturday, but in the meantime, I've been hearing from many Panny users that, regardless of the quality of their TVs, if your Panny breaks, you're pretty much shit out of luck as they have some of the worst customer service out of any manufacturer.

It was described to me that if you ever call them with a problem, they'll go so far as to deny that they ever even made your Panasonic TV.

Fortunately, not too many break after warranty.

[Sdallnct]

Sorry...I don't buy it. Remember those few that have issues are the most vocal. Those that get what they expect rarely write about it.

[bloopbleep]

Originally Posted by slop101

Anyhoo, here's what I tend to watch:

About 50% is of HD content, consisting of HD videogames and movie on blu-ray.The other 50% will be a combination of SD content: mostly 480i broadcast from a pretty good digital satellite and 480p from my region-free dvd player.



There's more variables, but that enough to get this started.

I thought I would watch 50 percent standard tv also before I went hd, throw your 50 percent out the window because after having hdtv for a year, my sd watching I would say is 1 percent. I do have a Sammy LCD and Panny Plasma, I slightly put the Panny ahead because I am a huge sports fan and the Redsox look better on my panny. The sammy does look great for videogames.

[slop101]

So I got it this morning and after minimal set-up, and plugging everything in and going through every component (bluray, satellite/dvr, 360, PS3, dvd, etc.) for the last hour to gauge how it looks (keep in mind, it's FAR from being calibrated and I turned all the brightness/contrast settings WAY down for now), and here's my 3-word review:
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

Yeah, it looks amazing. While obviously the 1080p stuff looks astounding (there was some weird stuttering during camera pans that I fixed by setting the default for FPS from 60hz to 48hz), I was was actually surprised by how great the 480p standard-def DVDs looked (not even upconverted). The 480i stuff off the satellite doesn't look too hot, obviously, but it doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it would - definitely tolerable while I'm watching Daily Show/Colbert.

More to come...

[Drop]

I got the same line of Panny as you just in 42inch, and I love it too. I use my XBOX to watch DVDs and they look pretty damn good, even up close. I only have SD DirecTv but it's pretty watchable. Still I'm glad I have an antenna so atleast I can watch some HD TV.

You might want to watch that 48hz mode, I hear it introduces flickering at least when it comes to 24p sources.

[hal9000]

Originally Posted by slop101

So I got it this morning and after minimal set-up, and plugging everything in and going through every component (bluray, satellite/dvr, 360, PS3, dvd, etc.) for the last hour to gauge how it looks (keep in mind, it's FAR from being calibrated and I turned all the brightness/contrast settings WAY down for now), and here's my 3-word review:
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

Yeah, If I wasn't married to my wife (whom I love dearly) I'd find a way to make sweet, sweet love to my Panasonic Plasma... it's that damn good looking. And God forbid, if we were ever to get a divorce, she can take everything... but she can't touch my Panny!

[slop101]

Originally Posted by Drop

You might want to watch that 48hz mode, I hear it introduces flickering at least when it comes to 24p sources.

It was actually flickering when it was set at 60hz (playing 24fps dvd/blurays). Setting it to 48hz is what made it better. It automatically switches to 60hz while playing videogames (and it won't let you switch it back while playing a game anyways).

[Spiky]

The games no doubt output in 60Hz, regardless of resolution. So the TV has to do what it can do. You wouldn't want it to change to 48 anyway.

48 is a multiple of 24, unlike 60, so it ought to be better with a 24Hz source.

[dick_grayson]

Originally Posted by slop101

It was actually flickering when it was set at 60hz (playing 24fps dvd/blurays). Setting it to 48hz is what made it better. It automatically switches to 60hz while playing videogames (and it won't let you switch it back while playing a game anyways).

how is it connected?

[slop101]

Hdmi

(I typed that in all caps, and the board software changed it to just the "H" capitalized. weird.)