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

[anandkumargb]

Here a Q to the punters -

I am looking to buy a 32 inch LCD TV. Other day, I went to E zone and looked at brands like Samsung, Sony and LG; all of them priced around 33 - 37k. Otherday I see a Advertisement (aadishwars) in the paper saying 32 inch LCD TVs for 23 - 25 K for brands like Onida, Videocon, Philips. Here is the question

1) Why is there such a price difference?
2) Which Brand should I go for? Pls suggest VFM deal
3) What is the difference btw HD ready, Full HD?
4) Pls suggest best place in Bangalore to buy LCD?

Thanks a ton! in advance

Regards

[anurag_p80]

Congrats Anurag on the 42" Plasma Purchase. So next in line is a rock-meet at your place..eh?

Hehe. Soon dude, soon. No speaker set-up yet. Making do with the puny TV speakers for now. Neighbors are happy, I guess

Also, for a 42 inch plasma, what is the minimum viewing distance?

5.3 feet. So as long as your viewing distance is between that and about 10.5', you should be fine with a 42 incher. On another note, I saw the X10 (on display at the Panasonic Brand Shop, Hyderabad). Has a glossy display panel, and aesthetically much better than the PV8/ 80. However, even with the claimed double contrast wrto the PV, the picture did not look any better to me. They did not have any high quality sources though, so.....

[donzerus]

Originally Posted by VSG12777

Hey Anurag,

By the way, we have picked up a 3 year extended warranty from LG for the plasma which cost us around 11.5k or so. This even covers lightning damage. So no worries till the year 2013. By then, we may be ready to change the TV again !

Venkat, does the extended warranty cover burn-in also ?

[Proxima]

Went to ezone in Perungudi. Prices:

Samsung PS42B430 - 46k (Airtel dish free on Samsungs)
Samsung PS42B450 - is 7k more in the MRP on samsung.co.in. He didnt have the price for it.
LG 42PQ30 - 44k
Panasonic 42in X10 - 56k
Panasonic PV8D - 45k

The Samsung PS42B430 looks slightly better than the Panasonic PV80D. He didnt display the X10 so cant comment.

But to me, a similar size LCD looks better (especially when images move fast) than any of the plasmas. But the LCDs that look good are very expensive. More than double that of similar sized plasmas.

Im really confused now. I have a strict 50k budget and I want to get the BEST and BIGGEST TV at that price. If I can get a good DVD player bundled in, that will be great.

I need help.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Proxima

But to me, a similar size LCD looks better (especially when images move fast) than any of the plasmas. But the LCDs that look good are very expensive. More than double that of similar sized plasmas.

Im really confused now. I have a strict 50k budget and I want to get the BEST and BIGGEST TV at that price. If I can get a good DVD player bundled in, that will be great.

I need help.

Your observation is spot on before I explain technical reason let me tell you this is not something which will go down very well on this thread because our minds are trained to think Plasma has more contrast ratio and darker blacks so provided better picture quality.

Now the picture looking good part has more to do with the source quality and what a TV can playback , So a Plasma which can not play HD source can not match PQ of an LCD which is playing HD source ( mostly the case in showrooms).

Even if we compare plasma and HD for same resolution then apart from the display a lot goes in to the image processing done at the background.
So a TV with better processor and software for example better algorithm to scale up the ordinary SD TV image will provide bettwer picture.

LCD are blamed for slow response time but that was on earlier generation and now it is 2ms to 5ms and the limitation is further reduced by high refresh rate in high end models.

So moral of the story an LCD with high refresh rate , Ability to play High definition ,good processor and software can always provide PQ better then a plasma which does not have these.

Plasma can provide better PQ if and only if rest every thing is equal but we know that plasma models with all bells and whistels are expensive then LCD with similar features.

[Proxima]

You make an interesting point. But the fact that a half decent LCD costs more than 2 times a High end" plasma seems to tilt it in the plasma's favor.

For standard DVDs and dish tv stuff, will there be a difference between a 42in good LCD and a 42in good plasma? High def stuff will constitute a very small proportion of my TV viewing.

Not just on Team-BHP, but in even in places like Amazon.com, buyers seem more satisfied with plasmas vis-a-vis LCDs. I could not really understand it, unless its the price/size. So I am just trying to understand the reason here.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Proxima

You make an interesting point. But the fact that a half decent LCD costs more than 2 times a High end" plasma seems to tilt it in the plasma's favor.

For standard DVDs and dish tv stuff, will there be a difference between a 42in good LCD and a 42in good plasma? High def stuff will constitute a very small proportion of my TV viewing.

Not just on Team-BHP, but in even in places like Amazon.com, buyers seem more satisfied with plasmas vis-a-vis LCDs. I could not really understand it, unless its the price/size. So I am just trying to understand the reason here.

Well plasmas are better in color fidelity and contrast ratios but I fully concur to your observation related to moving images look good on LCD rather then on plasma in Indian market. The reason is that we are comparing the latest generation LCD product with slightly older plasma set and that is the reason our observation does not concur with Amazon or CNET review.

This has more to do with product placement by Panasonic vs Samsung and LG In Indian market the latest generation Plasma from Panasonic is still costlier then an LCD TV from other manufacturers with same features.

Cost comparison just based on screen size is not always correct.

My hypothesis ( only hypothesis no proof presented) is that though you may not be viewing Full HD there are other improvements done in the product example DSPs and Code which improve the product in general.

As I belong to Consumer electronics industry ( not TVs) I can safely say that any next generation feature is not added in Isolation it is accompanied by lots of modifications in processors , DSPs and Code which consumer does not see.

Whereas for various variants in same generation models hardware and software is mostly same but some of the features are disabled for market segmentation.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by amitk26

Well plasmas are better in color fidelity and contrast ratios but I fully concur to your observation related to moving images look good on LCD rather then on plasma in Indian market. The reason is that we are comparing the latest generation LCD product with slightly older plasma set and that is the reason our observation does not concur with Amazon or CNET review.

This has more to do with product placement by Panasonic vs Samsung and LG In Indian market the latest generation Plasma from Panasonic is still costlier then an LCD TV from other manufacturers with same features.

I dont think that this is the case. The Samsung and Panasonic plasmas that I had provided links to are recently launched models, even in the USA. And customers are more satisfied with them than a 42in LCD. Is it just the price?

Agreed that plasmas look more natural, LCDs look more jazzy than is in real life. It is like comparing a Canon camera with a Sony camera.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by VSG12777

2 of my office colleagues have also picked up LG 42PQ30 and 50PQ30 (entry level models) plasmas last month on my reference.

Hi Venkat (and Anurag)

Is there any difference between the LG PQ30 and the LG PQ70? What is the price difference? Please do let me know.

[anurag_p80]

Proxima, there are very few differences. Pq70 has a frameless finish, and the USB supports DivX, Xvid also along with mp3 and Jpeg formats (this is also available on the PQ60). PQ70 also has Bluetooth support. The audio is (only slightly) better in PQ70, with clear voice (not sure whether this feature is present in the PQ30) and TruSurround or some such. This should not matter though, coz TV speakers will never be enough anyway. There is no difference in the panel. For me the clincher was the price difference: PQ30 at 40k and PQ70 at 44k. For a 4K difference, the aesthetics, DivX support and bluetooth seemed VFM to me. And ya, the extra HDMI and component ports are handy as well. (3 HDMI/ 2 Component in PQ70, 2 HDMI/ 1 Component in PQ30 IIRC).

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by anurag_p80

Proxima, there are very few differences. Pq70 has a frameless finish, and the USB supports DivX, Xvid also along with mp3 and Jpeg formats (this is also available on the PQ60). PQ70 also has Bluetooth support. The audio is (only slightly) better in PQ70, with clear voice (not sure whether this feature is present in the PQ30) and TruSurround or some such. This should not matter though, coz TV speakers will never be enough anyway. There is no difference in the panel. For me the clincher was the price difference: PQ30 at 40k and PQ70 at 44k. For a 4K difference, the aesthetics, DivX support and bluetooth seemed VFM to me. And ya, the extra HDMI and component ports are handy as well. (3 HDMI/ 2 Component in PQ70, 2 HDMI/ 1 Component in PQ30 IIRC).

Thanks Anurag. How would you rate your PQ70? On SD stuff and for viewing DVDs?

I plan to purchase a Wii later on, hope it will be compatible with this.

[anurag_p80]

Have not spent much time with it yet. Overall, looking good with all the settings below 50 for the first 100 hrs. After that will calibrate according to my taste. USB looks good, and is flawless. But has a few quirks- no adjustments in picture, sound etc. possible when playing through USB. So far, so good. Tatasky looks very good, specially Discovery etc. I have zoomed it to fill fullscreen, but it still looks decent enough. F1 totally rocked. DVDs look stunning with component connection.

Wii, I think, can only output SD through composite. TV will display it no problem. Cannot wait to check it out with my 360. Will do that over the weekend and update.

[Proxima]

Guys, any shops in Chennai to buy plasmas at the lowest rates from? Please PM if you dont want to share names/numbers in public.

Many thanks.

[VSG12777]

Originally Posted by kpbhatt

Venkat,

Did u buy the LQ plasma from the LG Shoppe ? I have tried my luck at various electronics stores around my area and none stock the LG plasma , heck even the famous Chroma store didn't have it. I am keen on a demo and buying it. Looks like i might have to wait for a while before i land my hands on it....

Guys from Pune any pointers to where we can get to see a LG plasma apart from LG shoppe?

Kpbhatt:

No I did not get it from LG Shoppe. They didn't have stock of it and the service at LG Shoppe in Chennai sucks in any case. I got it from another guy who's also one of the distributors for LG plasmas and LCDs. If you can get a demo at the LG Shoppe, then please by all means go there for the demo. However you may get better prices outside compared to the LG Shoppe.

Originally Posted by Digital Vampire

42PQ70 price seems like a good buy for a 720P Plasma panel.

What resolution can it support via VGA?

Can it do 1280×720 via VGA?

Did anyone try connecting this TV to a computer? If yes, how is the image quality?

I've seen in the past that VGA support was available only at lower resolutions in some panels and hence this doubt.

Digital Vampire:

The LG 42PQ70 plasma has a 1024x768 panel. So its PC input can take only 1024x768. Not sure how the image on the screen would be if we connect a laptop or desktop with higher resolution output.

Originally Posted by cooldude1988765

I Have a 40 inch samsung lcd (2and a half yrs old) and a sony 32 inch lcd (2years old) Both of them play 720p via vga from my laptop.
So i am sure a newer tv will give you the same resolution via vga.

Cooldude:

Not necessarily. It all depends on the plasma panel's resolution. Your Samsung/Sony LCDs may be of 1366x768 resolution, and hence they would be able to support 1280x720 resolution without problems. However in general plasmas are of a lower resolution. Still they are able to produce more natural colours and better blacks. Since the plasma panel has only 1024x768 resolution, it would not be able to support proper 1280x720p resolution. I am not sure if the scaler works for PC input as well - like when you connect say, a Blu Ray Disc player to the plasma thru HDMI, the player puts out 1920x1080p resolution and the plasma tv scales it down to the panel's resolution which is 1024x768.

Originally Posted by Proxima

Guys, please help me out. Any reviews on the Panasonic-VIERA-TC-P42X1 and
Samsung-PN42B450?

Also, for a 42 inch plasma, what is the minimum viewing distance?

Proxima:

Here are 2 good links regarding plasma TVs and viewing distance:

Plasma TV Size & Optimal Viewing Distance

CarltonBale.com 1080p Does Matter – Here's When (Screen Size vs. Viewing Distance vs. Resolution)

That should take care of your query !


Warm regards,
Venkat

[oss]

Originally Posted by Proxima

Guys, any shops in Chennai to buy plasmas at the lowest rates from? Please PM if you dont want to share names/numbers in public.

Many thanks.

Which brand of plasma are you looking at?