42" Panasonic TH-P42V10 or 45" Sony KDL-W5500?

AVCobra

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Hi,

as with many people I've gone bog-eyed reading the threads on this excellent site. So many models, so many good reviews and so many opinions!

I've narrowed it down to 2 models I think: 42" Panasonic TH-P42V10 or 46" Sony KDL-W5500. I have a budget of around £1000-1200 (or less if on offer!).

I'm not a TV fanatic nor an avid games player so the TV will be used for general viewing plus I'll be taking advantage of watching some HD programmes & DVDs; it will be used by my kids for light game playing (Wii & PS3); and I'd like to watch videos from my PC either by linking it to the TV or via any other methods available. Normal viewing distance is approx 8 feet.

I quite like the freesat option with the Panasonic as we're beginning to think that Sky isn't such great value for our viewing habits.

To be honest, I'm at a loss to know which to pick as both seem to have pros and cons mentioned aplenty in these forums (e.g., plasma burn, LCD brightness etc etc).

Now, I appreciate that the Plasma fans may say the Panasonic & the LCD fans may say the Sony (in fact I had to flip a coin as to whether to post this in the Plasma or LCD forum!).

But I'd appreciate your views on the comparison between the above 2 models, as my own research is driving me nuts!

So, what do you think?

Cheers
 
Thanks paulr2006 although your comment in your post about the PQ of the panasonic has me somewhat concerned now.

hope some others will share their views of both the panasonic & the sony so I can get a few opinions to help me choose

cheers
 
Thanks paulr2006 although your comment in your post about the PQ of the panasonic has me somewhat concerned now.

hope some others will share their views of both the panasonic & the sony so I can get a few opinions to help me choose

cheers

Below is a copy of a PM from Phil Hinton which might go some way to helping you, it did me :)


It's a common misconception that Plasma is soft. It actually displays all the detail available fed a decent Blu-ray signal. I have often heard that people think LCD is sharper, but actually its a false sense of edge definition, which gives an impression that what you are seeing is sharp.
If you are used to seeing an LCD image and a bright one at that, it will seem that a Plasma display is dull, soft etc. This is actually just a fact that your eyes are used to seeing an LCD style image. They are very different in how they work, so I expect this kind of reaction.

The main problem is that 99% of people have never seen a correctly calibrated image on either tech and have preconceptions of what they expect to see and what they feel is a good picture. But I have run demos (at Bristol) where we have let people watch a calibrated image first for about 10 minutes, before then going to standard or movie modes where greyscale and colour are wrong and the gasps are audible when 'they get it'.

The V10 and G10 are very good examples of Plasma and need to have time spent with them. The cinema and warm selections, with brightness and contrast correctly set will get you a decent image, that is as close as possible (whithout a pro calibration). You just need to give it time for your eyes to adjust to the image. There are always claims that Cinema and warm are too dull, but actually its like that for a reason. The natural world is not full of blue looking super whites and in your face strong vivid colours, even in strong sunlight. Think of it like a camera and its white balance. When it is set correctly, then the colours and black levels are improved. The same is very true of film and TV material, it should be at 6500k which is where it was mastered and produced. Again, its hard to explain this to anyone who has not spent time watching 'correct' images and instead use standard or natural modes on an LCD or Plasma (these are overly blue, but not until you actually look closely).

Plasma will never have the 'clarity' you say you are used too, as it works differently to LCD and doesn't have that overly straight lined image look. But plasma is not soft, you are seeing just as much, if not more detail. The key is resolution, not sharpness. Sharpness is false and some LCD TVs actually enhance this effect by using subtle sharpening and edge enhancement, which actually kills resolution and detail. So resolution is what you want, not an over sharp and blue looking image. With what you have described, I think this is what you are used to, so my advice would be to try and give a plasma some time set up in cinema/warm with no added sharpness, and after time you will soon see that in terms of resolution (especially with movement) Plasma is just so much more natural and balanced in its images.

Hope that helps.
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