While being in the hunt for a new television, I keep on doubting between television sets.

I will use the tv for: Watching digital tv/ watching avi-files through a WD HD drive/ hooking up my laptop/ watching dvd's / playing nintendo wii. So I'm looking for a pretty versatile tv though my budget is limited. (+- 800€)

After looking at my main activities I concluded it was better for me to go for a nice lcd television, but after reading some reviews about plasma I have the feeling a plasma could also fit my needs. If I went for a plasma it would probably be the Panasonic TX-P37X10, though it is not full HD but (as I read) is not relevant for 37"-inchers.

I'm looking for a 37" screen but any exceptional 32" suggestions are welcome as well, my room being not too big.


SONY KDL 37W5500
SONY KDL 37V5500
SONY KDL 32W5500
PHILIPS 37PFL5604
LG 37LH4000

Momentarily I prefer the 37W5500 price/quality speaking I guess. The other day as I went to the shop I compared 100hz with 50hz and the difference was clear to me. But it was a typical demo-video, not really watching normal television... So I'm quite confused whether it is really worth it or not.

Considering my main 'activities', do you think the V5500 is the one for me?

Kind regards,
p

[Mars76]

I have the 37W5500 and am really impressed. Use it mainly for watching SD stuff which gives great results but also for gaming on the 360 and DVDs. DVD playback is fantastic and the 360 via HDMI is outstanding.
Just waiting for Blu-Ray prices to come down a little further before I buy one.

Highly recommended.

So do you think a W5500 fits better towards SD-viewing? If not, I would not be so sure to pay the extra money for the 100hz. For gaming, I guess the best choice is the V5500, but I'm not a hardcore gamer, I just play Wii regularly.

The V5500 would cost me 700€, while I could get the W5500 for about 850€... Tough choice.

[pwnsweet]

For a gamer, go with a Panasonic with the IPS-Alpha panels. They have next to zero input lag, and that's exactly what you want as a gamer and even more so as a Wii gamer (due to pointer movement sensitivity).

As a side note, I've tested the latest Sharp ASV panel HDTV's, LG E-IPS panel HDTV's and Sony/Samsung VA panel HDTV's. None were even close to the Panasonic and it's IPS-Alpha panels when it comes to input lag. I've also tested the Panasonic NeoPDP Plasma panels and they have noticeable input lag also.

[Mars76]

Can't really say about differences between V and W as I only ever looked at the W. At the end of the day I bought the best I could afford. However you can see a difference in the picture when you turn of the 100hz.

I did look at the Panasonics and was going to buy one of these before I plumped for the Sony.
What I like about the sony was how much you can customise the settings, and for each individual input as well.
The settings on the Panasonics are minimal and you are kind of stuck with how they want you to see the picture in some respects. (A lot of reviews mentioned this).
Basically you are backed to the old CRT days of only being able to adjust Brightness, Contrast and Sharpness. (This was the case when I was looking)

Here's a review of the W5500 (needs to be read in conjuction with the 40 inch version as well).
Sony KDL37W5500 / KDL37W5500U Review

[pwnsweet]

Originally Posted by Mars76

The settings on the Panasonics are minimal and you are kind of stuck with how they want you to see the picture in some respects. (A lot of reviews mentioned this).

Interesting. This is something I never really looked into and now I wish I did. Can you please give some examples of what the Sony allows you to adjust that the Panasonic doesn't, or better yet, link me to a review that goes into the limitations of the Panasonic further? I can't seem to find any reviews mentioning this.

After a day of looking around in shops I came up with two possible buys:

Sony KDL 37W5500 vs. Philips 37PFL8404

Both have comparable prices and specs. Sony looked really limited in video streaming possibilities which kinda made me wonder. Philips has the possibilty to broadcast avi/xvid according to the 8404's specifications sheet.( But here and there I hear some complaints about movie file compatibity going on though...) Also I prefer the colours on the Philips but I acknowledge the fact that is was just a look in the shop, and could give me not the right idea of both screens' capabilities.

Some questions:

-Will I be able to hook up my external HD via usb and watch stocked video's or not?

-And for Wii'ing, both have a game mode, but which one is best to cut response time?

If I could not watch video's the way I want it to and if Wii is just not that ideal on both sets, (aside from ambilight) these two would be very comparible, I conclude... If so which one is the best to go with do you think?

If this is the situation, would a WD HD do the trick for me to watch video's? Or is a USB-powered DVD-player a more considerable option to solve this problem?



Kind regards,

[nwhitfield]

I have a Panasonic V10 here; when I'm viewing via the component input, on the Picture settings menu I have options for

Mode: dynamic, normal, cinema, game
Contrast
Brightness
Colour
Sharpness
Colour balance: normal, warm, cool
Colour management: off/on
Eco-mode off/on (adjusts based on ambient lighting)
P-NR: off/on (noise reduction)

On the PC input, you'll also get separate R,G,B gain settings; on analogue broadcast inputs, there's an additional comb filter setting

Then on the Setup menu/other settings there are options for
Intelligent frame creation: Off/Mid/Max
Picture overscan: off/on

These all seem to related to a specific input, as far as I can see from my fiddling, for example I have overscan on for the SD component input from my Toppy and off for HD and HDMI.

So, I certainly don't see that you're terribly stuck with what Panasonic want, certainly on the 37V10.

Nigel.

[Mars76]

Originally Posted by pwnsweet

Interesting. This is something I never really looked into and now I wish I did. Can you please give some examples of what the Sony allows you to adjust that the Panasonic doesn't, or better yet, link me to a review that goes into the limitations of the Panasonic further? I can't seem to find any reviews mentioning this.

Here is a list of pitcture options on the W5500
Target Input
Picture Mode
Backlight
Contrast
Brightness
Colour
Hue
Colour Temperature
Sharpness
Noise Reduction
MPEG Noise Reduction
Motion Flow
Film Mode
Advanced (containing the following)
Black Corrector
Adv. Contrast Enhancer
Gamma
Auto Light Limiter
Clear White
Live Colour
White Balance

So as you can see the options are quite comprehensive.

Also below is a link with a review for a panasonic TV. This is what I was planning on getting before the sony.

Panasonic TX37LZD85 Review – 37” Viera 1080p LCD HDTV

A quote from the review to highlight my original point.

"Panasonic's designers appear to be targeting customers who would be intimidated by a huge array of picture tweaks, who would feel more comfortable with a lower number of more familiar options, more reminiscent of the days of CRT displays."

I have also seen this first hand on my cousins Panasonic Plasma.