Guys,
I'm looking at HDTV's at the moment and I'm struggling with some of the differences.
LED's are bright as you like, unless you're dropping serious cash, you can't get the refresh rates. For the money, you can get 100 hz in LED but you can nab a 600 hz plasma in a bigger size.
Is it really worth it? Is 100 hz enough for movies? I'm looking at this model, Samsung UE40D5520 http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-ue40d5520-40-full-hd-led-tv-10078505-pdt.html
Any input appreciated!
My TV runs at 100hz & it does just fine, I dunno whether it'd be the same thing or not but imagine running a game with everything maxed out at 100fps, I think you'd be pretty happy with that.
My friend has an older model samsung tv & he's happy with it & they seem happy to play just about any file type you can throw at them too, which is a bonus.
cheaper on dixons website btw - http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/product-10078505-pdt.html?srcid=369&xtor=AL-63
My 2 cents (from info gathered when I bought my last TV and from a recent trip for my father):
LED
-more energy efficient
-brighter (better daylight viewing)
-no image burn
Plasma
-image burn not an issue any more (in normal life time)
-no motion blur
-better contrast
-better blacks (because they are not backlit)
-very large viewing angle
I'll declare my bias here, I bought a plasma and I have not been disappointed. It sits in my lounge which is all glass at one end (patio doors) and triple window at the other end of the room - yes when it is sunny I close my blinds to improve the picture, but then I used to do that on my CRT and would have also done it on an LED, so I do not see the 'brighter picture' of an LED as an advantage. In the evenings when I sit down to watch a movie or some TV the 'brightness' is a total non-issue as the plasma is actually less tiring on the eyes as you're not watching a picture that has been backlit (imagine trying to look at a photo with someone shining a torch into your eyes along the same axis - it exagerates the issue but makes the point of why backlit screens are more tiring to your eyes).
The major benefits I see with plasma are fantastic blacks (try producing a jet black image on an LED when it is backlit), no motion blur and incredibly wide viewing angles. I watch a lot of movies and sport and the plasma wins hands down for me. Yes it's more expensive to run, but if you work out how little the TV costs to run anyway, then the difference in monetary terms is negligible.
I re-did all this research for my father some 6 months ago and was quite open to the prospect of LED or LCD winning the battle and getting his vote, but having looked around, viewed all of the major manufacturers in quality settings, plasma won out again -- and that was my father's view too (and he went out believing he was going to be buying an LED from all the web research he did, but the plasmas just looked better and blew the LEDs into a cocked hat).
One side comment about screen size. To my eyes, on screens less than 42" I see a degradation in the benefits of Bluray (1080p) content. It seems to me that the smaller screen struggles to produce the quality in a way that your eye can properly distinguish and appreciate. My advice in this respect is to buy the biggest screen you can get away with for your viewing distance, you'll be thankful later. My wife wanted a maximum screen size of 36", but when I took her out to audition screens and showed her precisely the same output on a 36", 40", 42" and 46" TV she had to concede that the smaller screens just did not show the HD detail as well as the larger screens. I ended up with a 46" screen as a result of that unscientific test!
Hope this helps.
I agree with TL plasma I feel is a better picture colour and quality. It will be my next screen type. Also they won lots of awards the Panasonic especially the gt50 this year.
hope that helps
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Well I have that Samsung TV you're looking at, and I totally love it.
For more details buy me beer..........or ask.
Just bought one of these, at £849.
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-ps51d6900-51-full-hd-plasma-3d-tv-10091383-pdt.html
(http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-ps51d6900-51-full-hd-plasma-3d-tv-10091383-pdt.html)Couldn't be happier, awesome TV. In terms of comparison, neighbour has a similar LED and the thickness difference negligible. The bigger difference is the weight, and to TL's point brightness, but I am v. happy with it.
I have a Panasonic 42" plasma, and I use it for all of my gaming (PC, 360, PS3), and all of my TV / Film use. Stunning TV, can't fault it. Fantastic colour, non-existant response time. Blows the socks off of my old Sony Bravia LED in every way. The 3D (unavoidable in most new TVs) is also pretty awesome if you throw the right thing at it - Arkham City or the Tron Legacy Blu Ray, for example :)
Got a 2011 sony bravia, led backlit, 3d,
Pros:
Good 3D
Great picture, colours
Can still view picture directly side on
No motion blur, smooth image
Frequent updates
Internet, wifi, widgets (although limited)
Super light
Great hd
Cons:
Patchy blacks (might be settings)
Internet web needs improvements
Uncomfortable 3d glasses (although there are a few differt types)
Some thoughts.... I've watched a fair bit of TV on TL's screen and it certainly is a stunning view. I especially enjoyed the mighty Green Bay winning the Superbowl in February :D
Don't get hung up about refresh rate. TV, movies and games are all produced to run at 60 Hz. So a higher refresh rate won't actually make any difference to image quality. Some TV's show motion blur and some don't. The only way to tell is to watch them for a while in the shop. A number on the box won't really tell you anything.
Also contrast ratio is another meaningless term. the difference or range between the lightest and darkest areas of a screen would be important if there was actually a standard definition to which all TV manufacturers stuck. While there is a proper way to measure brightness ratios using something called a foot lambert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot-lambert) TV manufactures don't use it. Each uses some arbitrary process that just makes their TV seem better than the competition. If you think about it how much blacker than white black actually is is a meaningless concept. Black is black and white is white. 100,000:1 is nothing more than a marketing term so ignore it. Again look at the TV and decide for yourself.
I been looking myslef at tv's in the last few weeks, check out techradar.com best 10 teles of 2011 for 3d/led/plasma/lcd, got my eye on the vt30 55" panasonic plasma, lookin mighty fine, think fatdans just got the 42"version of the same set so gonna have to do some serious arse sitting to check it out !!
went with samsung 40" LCD at the last big debate off and its been fine but now showing its age with 1 measly hdmi and its not even 1080p ! (ahhh the shame !)
happy hunting Ninj
Quote from: FatBob;340312I been looking myslef at tv's in the last few weeks, check out techradar.com best 10 teles of 2011 for 3d/led/plasma/lcd, got my eye on the vt30 55" panasonic plasma, lookin mighty fine, think fatdans just got the 42"version of the same set so gonna have to do some serious arse sitting to check it out !!
went with samsung 40" LCD at the last big debate off and its been fine but now showing its age with 1 measly hdmi and its not even 1080p ! (ahhh the shame !)
happy hunting Ninj
I have the VT30s younger brother, the ST30. From what I've seen, there isn't a great deal of difference between the two (there is a seperate 'THX' mode 'designed' for watching movies, but then the 'True Cinema' mode is also 'designed' for the same thing :S), and in fact when I was looking to purchase, I was advised by quite a few people to go for an ST, because you can get a bigger TV for the same money. When I compared the 2 in person, I decided on the ST for that exact reason. The same size VT was more than 2x the price, and I couldn't tell any difference!!!
I got mine a few weeks after release though (I'm a TV junkie), so prices have no doubt settled down since then. Still, if there is a big price gap, I'd advise against the VT, and suggest an ST or maybe a GT - but again, the differences between ST and GT are negligible.
Anyway, they're fantastic TVs. The picture quality is just superb, it simply blows away my 2010 Sony - and I had been a big Sony fan before this thing. I also game on it all of the time, and have experienced no issues whatsoever with ghosting/image retention. I think Panny have really sorted out their panels when it comes to retention resistance. Top notch TV, I'd recommend it in a heartbeat, be it for movies, 3D, normal TV, or gaming!
And yes, Battlefield 3 is the **** on it.
Unless you have a supercomputer for a brain and are a freak of nature where everything appears in slowmo around you you will not notice much difference between 100hz and 600hz. Your Auditory and Vision system runs between 40fps and 60fps, more than 40 clicks in a minute and you will not be able to hear the different noises properly, more than 60 frames will appear to be fairly smooth motion as your brains does and awesome job of interpolating frames. Just like when you blink your brain fills in the blanks.
600hz is a bit mad when you think that even bluray runs at 24fps. On Normal TV and current HD technology there will be very little or no difference you can notice.
I would go purely on picture quality. As TL says blacks generally better on Plasma, saying that there is a new technology on LED TV's now that doesn't backlight the whole pannel, it does it selectively based on where the colour is needed. THis was a game changer for LED as it narrows the gaps.
I have owned both and viewing angle is roughly the same, if you have kids plasma is often a better choice due to the thick glass pannel at the front, however it gets very hot! Plasma consumes a lot more power and you will get a heavier thicker unit.
Prices are about the same for a high end unit, perhaps slightly cheaper for a plasma when looking at 50inches and above.
LED has a brighter and more vivid picture but sometimes so it you ware watching AVATAR or a CGI movie it really pops out at you, saying that if you are watching sport or period drama it might look better on a plasma.
Personally I went for the LED option, it was a really close call. The main thing for me was the mounting issue for the TV and the weight of 40 inch plasma would have meant that I couldn't have the mount that the Mrs wanted for the living room.
DZ
Quote from: FatBob;340312I been looking myslef at tv's in the last few weeks, check out techradar.com best 10 teles of 2011 for 3d/led/plasma/lcd, got my eye on the vt30 55" panasonic plasma, lookin mighty fine, think fatdans just got the 42"version of the same set so gonna have to do some serious arse sitting to check it out !!
went with samsung 40" LCD at the last big debate off and its been fine but now showing its age with 1 measly hdmi and its not even 1080p ! (ahhh the shame !)
happy hunting Ninj
Thanks Bob. I read a descent review on the Samsung I'm looking at on techradar. I'm close to buying it but i'm a little concerned about the viewing angle too. Our current tele is wall mounted with two couches perpendicular to the tele. I've looked at the plasma's and imho the picture quality compared to the LED's just isn't there. I'm trying to keep it under 600 as well which is limiting the size a wee bit...
Thanks everyone for your input. I'm comfortable with the 100hz refresh rate (thanks DZ) as I've been reading up on that as well.
It may be the viewing angle that determines the final decision tbh.
As I said I have this model, I've just tried the viewing angle and to be honest it is difficult for me to replicate your setup, but you've been in my lounge and you know where the tv sits, well from there I can enter the room from the door by the cloakroom and see the picture no problem which is a pretty steep angle tbh.
When you say Cloakroom you torture/sex dungeon don't you Lion ????
Ninja knows the "code words".
Quote from: lionheart;340341Ninja knows the "code words".
It's the safe word he needs to know, not the code word! :getmecoat:
Trouble is everything sounds so muffled in that latex gimp hood.
MMMMpppphphhhhh.....MMpppphhhh....MMMMppphhhhh (help i'm being held prisoner in lions "TV"room)
That's not the safe word .......now hand me that gerbil...
Thanks for allowing this to degrade in the usual fashion.. :D
welcome dude....now shush and go buy a tele !!
went with the samsung in the end.. going to set her up tomorrow..
How does she handle then ?
Loverly... I've fiddled with the colour to get it where I want it.. I've not seen any juddering nor ghosting so happy days so far.
Only gripe is the speakers but for a tele that thin, that's to be expected. However with the Optical out plugged into the surround sound that's not a problem..
All I need is about 40 feet of cat-5 (to get it around the edges of the LR and into the office, and I'll be able to spin things off my network. Where's Toby when I need him? Perhaps I should have a winter barby or summat.
Reporting in sir how long do you need and do you want wall mount and it installed?
give me a shout
Sent from your computer.
:yahoo: Send you a text.. :D