Buying a Flat Panel Display (LCD/Plasma/LED etc)

[jassi]

Originally Posted by madbullram

@ all PV80ers: I saw the demo of PV80 and LG 42PG61. Both were almost similar in pricing and I felt the picture was much better in LG. I had taken my own DVD and the DTH was Tata. In both counts I felt LG was more balanced also the sound was much clear in LG. Plus the USB port compred to just a SD port in Pana.

I am just ignorant in this area and blabbering what my eye saw rather than the specs of each TV (even specs look better in LG). Just want to know if I am missing something.


Now, I is there a compelling reason you all went for PV80?

did you check the settings on the pv80 - I am sure it was on standard and not optimized for showroom settings. Infact panny has a seperate setup for showrooms and home use, however most dealers keep it on standard, unless they are interested in selling pannys or even plasmas for that matter.

I have personally not seen or heard about LG plasmas being anywhere comparable to panny or pioneers, but I maybe wrong!!

[kb100]

Originally Posted by madbullram

@ all PV80ers: I saw the demo of PV80 and LG 42PG61. Both were almost similar in pricing and I felt the picture was much better in LG. I had taken my own DVD and the DTH was Tata. In both counts I felt LG was more balanced also the sound was much clear in LG. Plus the USB port compred to just a SD port in Pana.

I am just ignorant in this area and blabbering what my eye saw rather than the specs of each TV (even specs look better in LG). Just want to know if I am missing something.


Now, I is there a compelling reason you all went for PV80?

Well LCDs tend to be much brighter and colours tend to be over saturated. They therefore might give you the impression of a nicely saturated contrasty image. The second problem lies with motion blur It can be quite tiring/irritating(IMHO) .

The colours are much more natural in Plasma's. As is the Blacks. Motion blur is non-existent. On SD - both DVD and DTH - I found the LCD to be very 'sharp/edgy' - where as it was butter smooth in the plasma. All this was at whatever settings they were on them at the time. The shop keeper was pushing LG like mad - so ...

On the whole the Panny plasma was much easier on my eyes - the clincher of course was all the reviews. ALL of them uniformly put the PV80 leagues ahead of anything in that bracket! (and no LG figures anywhere in the top 10)

But you know what they say about reviews . End of the day its your eyes!

PS: I did not check the sound at all - it was hooked to a HT in the showroom - and I have one at home as well .


BTW : I just paid for my PV80 - the local distributer was not willing to go below 57,750/- . Decided the peace of mind and lack of headaches that comes with buying locally was well worth the 1,750 extra! (when compared to Devi prices). He did not have stocks of the PV80, so I'm likely to get delivery only on Saturday morning.

[nemo]

i set my pv80 this evening and connected to the Hatway STB the picture was pretty good but like csenthil & Saji i too get the horizontal lines - not many but it's disturbing no background noise though. Are we 100% sure it's because of the Hathway cable or it's just a setting or 2 that we are missing?

Also guys, what setting should i run the TV for the first 100 hrs. I just left it with the factory settings.

[jassi]

Originally Posted by nemo

i set my pv80 this evening and connected to the Hatway STB the picture was pretty good but like csenthil & Saji i too get the horizontal lines - not many but it's disturbing no background noise though. Are we 100% sure it's because of the Hathway cable or it's just a setting or 2 that we are missing?

nemo - like i said I have two 42 inchers (pv80 and sony 3lcd) on hathway stb and have no such horizontal lines. Unless all of you got a bad batch of pv80s, I think its an stb issue

PS - are you too on tht devi's 56k batch - is there something wrong which is why it came so cheap - did the factory setup kick in when you connected for first time (it should ask for showroom or home setup)

[madbullram]

@Jas: I made the showroom guys set all parameters same. He was insistent on selling Pana not LG
@ KB: LG 42PG61 is Plasma. I didn't compare with LCD. The review are very good for LG model

Here the quote is 61K :( for Pana and LG is 56k

[jassi]

Originally Posted by nemo

Also guys, what setting should i run the TV for the first 100 hrs. I just left it with the factory settings.

leave it on standard, not eco or dynamic - or if you are leaving it on eco - change the settings within eco to be same as standard. After 100hrs restore default and enjoy eco in its full glory

[kb100]

Originally Posted by madbullram

@ KB: LG 42PG61 is Plasma. I didn't compare with LCD. The review are very good for LG model

Here the quote is 61K :( for Pana and LG is 56k

Ooppps .. My bad!

I for one do not have too much of an opinion about any LG product after my experience with their AC five years back. So yes, I have a prejudice - BUT they may have moved on since then!


Do Look up as many reviews as you can about both of them - and see if that helps!

[jassi]

Originally Posted by madbullram

@Jas: I made the showroom guys set all parameters same. He was insistent on selling Pana not LG
@ KB: LG 42PG61 is Plasma. I didn't compare with LCD. The review are very good for LG model

Here the quote is 61K :( for Pana and LG is 56k

try the cnet reviews - LG didn't show up in the top displays when I checked last

[nemo]

PS - are you too on tht devi's 56k batch - is there something wrong which is why it came so cheap - did the factory setup kick in when you connected for first time (it should ask for showroom or home setup)

Yep - I'm too part of that group. i wouldn't blame the TV as yet and it did prompt, asking me to choose b/w the home & showroom setup.

btw, 56k is not really so cheap - it's cheaper by 1.5-2k at the max. Like KB100 had mentioned i could have got it for 57.5k in Coimbatore. Also you would recall a fellow member from Delhi has posted a month or so ago that he had purchased the PV80 for 55.5k.

leave it on standard, not eco or dynamic

thanks for the info

[kb100]

Originally Posted by jassi

try the cnet reviews - LG didn't show up in the top displays when I checked last

Doesn't show up in a single one. I must have gone thru some ten to twelve sites - US, European and Asian!

Google isn't throwing up much with that model number either. Strange

Here is one for the PV8 that I found while I was hunting for the LG reviews
PC World - Panasonic VIERA TH-42PX8A - Reviews - Hardware - Televisions - Plasma TVs

[kaushik_s]

About the horizontal lines, there is some comb filter or something which needs to be turned off.on/adjusted or something for DTH signals. While I was taking demo one person in Panasonic showroom was speaking about it and was telling that most of the users ignore it and hence the bad quality. I'm not able to remember exactly what he said. You guys can try it just for the heck of it. Actually prior to that I used to think comb filters are there only on LCD's.

[madbullram]

Originally Posted by kb100

Doesn't show up in a single one. I must have gone thru some ten to twelve sites - US, European and Asian!

Google isn't throwing up much with that model number either. Strange

Yes, even trusted review not giving good points:
LG 42PG6000 42in Plasma TV Review - TV Reviews - TrustedReviews

I will go back again and take good look. The price diff is like 4-5 k, thst another factor I am thinking off.

[kb100]

Originally Posted by madbullram

Yes, even trusted review not giving good points:
LG 42PG6000 42in Plasma TV Review - TV Reviews - TrustedReviews

I will go back again and take good look. The price diff is like 4-5 k, thst another factor I am thinking off.

Ram.. Check out the PV8 then You can save about 6-7 k straight if you can live without the front SD card and one extra HDMI slots, a a couple of small features. you can get this for 48k in Blr - and around 50-52k in Chennai

PC World - Panasonic VIERA TH-42PX8A - Reviews - Hardware - Televisions - Plasma TVs

I quote from the review

It produced one of the smoothest, most refined pictures we've seen to date in our high-definition tests. A lot of modern panels producing crisp, razor-sharp images; however, the TH-42PX8A takes a slightly more laid back approach, with a softer, more cinematic style that looks fantastic. That isn't to say it lacked definition: everything looked sharp and clear with plenty of detail and no noticeable aberrations.
This was backed up by impressively low noise levels. One of our main tests is the film Transformers which, while an impressively authored film, is also quite grainy at times. However this display did an admirable job keeping noise to a minimum, presenting a clean smooth picture throughout our testing. Fast motion was handled beautifully, with or without the 100Hz function activated. There was no noticeable blurring; everything was clean and fluid.

[nemo]

The price diff is like 4-5 k, thst another factor I am thinking off.

madbullram, why don't you talk to the Devi guys and get it delivered in Chennai ? You'll get a better product for the same cost.

[madbullram]

@KB: Thnks. Its 56k here :(
@nemo: But how will they collect payment? Whom to contact? Do let me know the contact details pls.