50" LG 1080P for under £900.. any good?

[MetalOllie]

Hi,

I'm in the market for a new TV shortly. I was looking in the local Panasonic shop yesterday, at a gorgeous 46" 1080p set at £799, reduced by £100 in the last week. The picture quality was stunning, and I was seriously impressed, not least by the fact I would gain 4 inches by getting it (and a larger TV as well!!!!)...

However, I was looking at Play's website, and came across a couple of LG's (lin ks below). Both claim to be 1080p, and both are 50", which would be a VERY nice increase in size from my present set. Question is, are they cheap because they are crap, or are they decent sets that are going to last and perform well.

The first is an LG 50PS3000 (clickable link) and the second, slightly higher in price is An LG 50PS6000 (again, clickable link)

The prices look good, the spec sounds good, so any advice gratefully received. Unfortunately I don't know the model number of the Panny I was looking at (until tomorrow), although I do know they only had a couple left, which at the price is unsurprising. How much quality would I be sacrificing if I bought LG, and what are the primary differences between the two models, OR, am I better off getting the Panny, if they have any, or saving a bit more and buying something else?

Any advise is, as always, very gratefully received! Cheers!

Ollie

 

[oliphillips]

Just bought the 50PS3000 for 721.99 delivered from Dixons.co.uk . It looks really good and I've read nothing but good reviews. It was £599.99 on Laksys for a while but gone now, could possibly be available at 599 again somewhere.

Specs wise it really does look like the absolute best 40 - 50" for the price range and being at the top of the size range is a bonus!

 

[Monarch]

The LGs are good, the PS6000 has better sound, features/connectivity and the frameless design over the PS3000. There is also the PS7000 (for just over £900) and the PS8000 (for around £1k) which have the glass stands and the PS8000 with the THX preset. If you plan to calibrate the set (whether professionally or even just a 'quick but effective' job yourself) then the THX preset is meaningless apart from acting as a start point, there are full calibration controls on all the LG plasmas though.

The LGs provide a few pros and cons against the Panasonic (it will be the G10). The G10 has better blacks/contrast and is more resistant to image retention whereas the LG has better colour accuracy (due to picture controls) and has a better SD picture (from reading), it's also better design wise in my opinion but that shouldn't really be counted! There are various arguments for motion, there are too many factors to take into account here to say that one is best though.

The LG PS series is deffinitely worth looking at, if you read the 50PS8000 review on the reviews section of this forum then a lot of it can be taken as the case for both the 3000 and 6000, obviously not the comments on the THX mode but once calibrated you can get an idea of how it performs, it was a very positive review, Phil Hinton says that it performs very well next to a Kuro for the most part, which is quite an achievement!

 

[MetalOllie]

Thanks to both.. Blacks are particular issue for me Monarch, so I wonder whether the Panny is significantly better, or whether it is a negligible difference. This is where my current set falters; black levels are fine on solid mass blacks, in animations etc, but when there is any gradient, or detailed blacks, it's, for want of a better expression, bloody hopeless! Having a nice shiny Blu-Ray player, I want to squeeze the best out of any potential set.

My Hitachi has done the job ok, but the final straw was watching Slumdog Millionaire on Blu-Ray. It was was fine until there were any dark, night-time scenes, at which point, extraneous white flecks were graciously added to the picture. I tracked this down to the sharpness, and knocking it down to its lowest setting sorted it, more or less. However, as a result, the rest of the picture was, erm.. less sharp! All the fine detail I like seeing in faces, plants.. minuscule things that just need that "edge" seemed crushed, lifeless and in places VERY soft.

These are my main reasons for upgrading, along with the fact I want 1080p and 24p. I like the idea of having a set with 100hz or greater, which I know the Panny offered (400hz, if memory serves me correctly), and I believe the LG's offer a higher hz rate.

Any further advice (from anyone!) is gratefully received, and if anyone knows places that have them with cheap delivery, free warranties etc.. please feel free to chip in.. i'll be very grateful!

I'm off to beddykins now, so will pick up on the thread tomorrow, but again, many thanks for the advice so far..

 

[MetalOllie]

Ok, help!!!!!

The Panny in question is a 46PZ85 - which a local dealer has reserved provisionally, for £749 INCLUDING 5 year warranty. Opinions desperately needed as soon as possible, because they are literally holding it without a deposit for the next hour! Go for the Panny, or the LG?

 

[961]

Ok, help!!!!!

The Panny in question is a 46PZ85 - which a local dealer has reserved provisionally, for £749 INCLUDING 5 year warranty. Opinions desperately needed as soon as possible, because they are literally holding it without a deposit for the next hour! Go for the Panny, or the LG?

The Panny for me, every time

 

[oliphillips]

Ok, help!!!!!

The Panny in question is a 46PZ85 - which a local dealer has reserved provisionally, for £749 INCLUDING 5 year warranty. Opinions desperately needed as soon as possible, because they are literally holding it without a deposit for the next hour! Go for the Panny, or the LG?

Very good price on the Panasonic. I would have a tough decision with that or an LG PS series! HTH (sorry)

 

[MetalOllie]

:arty:

Well, I've bitten the proverbial bullet (although I feel like I swallowed the entire gun!), and bought the Panny.. just been into my local shop and paid for it; £750 with 5 year warranty just made sense somehow. I'd like 50" (wouldn't be all!), but the warranty just swung it for me. It's a slightly belated (by a week) 40th birthday pressie to myself, so hopefully I'll enjoy it. Got a round trip of 100 miles to go and pick it up, but that's neither here nor there.. should be up and running by this evening, if all goes well!

Finally... 1080p!!! Thanks to all who have offered advice.. I have no doubt I will be back, asking for a LOT more on how to configure the new set!

Cheers again all.. genuinely appreciated!

 

[Grumpykev]

Cracking set - you won't be disappointed!

 

[Schnooky]

:arty:

Well, I've bitten the proverbial bullet (although I feel like I swallowed the entire gun!), and bought the Panny.. just been into my local shop and paid for it; £750 with 5 year warranty just made sense somehow. I'd like 50" (wouldn't be all!), but the warranty just swung it for me. It's a slightly belated (by a week) 40th birthday pressie to myself, so hopefully I'll enjoy it. Got a round trip of 100 miles to go and pick it up, but that's neither here nor there.. should be up and running by this evening, if all goes well!

Finally... 1080p!!! Thanks to all who have offered advice.. I have no doubt I will be back, asking for a LOT more on how to configure the new set!

Cheers again all.. genuinely appreciated!

what store did you buy it at??

 

[tvbox]

Ok, help!!!!!
The Panny in question is a 46PZ85 - which a local dealer has reserved provisionally, for £749 INCLUDING 5 year warranty. Opinions desperately needed as soon as possible, because they are literally holding it without a deposit for the next hour! Go for the Panny, or the LG?

There's a newer version of the Pana now- S10 and G10
The PZ85s are slowly fading away, so well done for grabbing one before it's extinct
The LG is still good though

 

[MetalOllie]

what store did you buy it at??

Technically, Dorchester, which is where I paid for it, but they didn't actually have it in stock, despite their computer telling them they had two! I could have waited until Monday and had it delivered (free), but I'm impatient! I went down to Exeter, which is around 55 miles from me, and picked it up from there. They had four in stock yesterday (although I'm currently watching Emmerdale on one of them!), so if your interested it may be worth giving them a buzz.. Let me know if you are, I've got the phone number to hand, so I can post it if you want it.

Cheers!

 

[MetalOllie]

There's a newer version of the Pana now- S10 and G10
The PZ85s are slowly fading away, so well done for grabbing one before it's extinct
The LG is still good though

Thanks! Monarch, presumably THIS (clickable) is the one you were thinking of (except at 46"), which looks as though it supersedes mines; the most notable difference being mine is 100hz, the new is 600hz (goodness knows how stunning that must look!), slightly better contrast and a Freesat socket. With the 42" at a grand, I'm guessing a 46" would cost a fortune, so I reckon I got a bargain, even if it is now classed as last years model...

Presumably this one is still a decent set? It certainly seems so.. I've watched some SD stuff, which looked stunning (despite one online review telling me the TV is a little dark at times, and slightly weaker with SD, both of which appear to be cobblers, as they look fine to me!). HD is in a whole new league.. it's breathtaking! I watched Slumdog last night, and it was incredible. Upscaled DVD looks so damn close to HD it's unbelievable, and Sky HD is terrific. I recorded the Aquarium Vision thingy on Sky Arts HD last night, and it's the most breathtaking example of HD I have ever seen. I'm guessing the new G10 (and S10, which I know nothing about at all.. what is the difference?), are better sets, but this one seems amazing to me, at an even more amazing price, and best of all, with the 5 year warranty, which is something I REALLY wanted.

The main thing I noticed with the Panny, compared to Hitachi I had, is the distinct lack of adjustment facilities for picture.. This, to me, is actually a GOOD thing.. I could get a decent picture out of the Hitachi, but had a LOT of faffing around setting individual colour levels, tweaking bits here and there, optimizing noise reduction etc.. The Panny is set to normal, I've bunged up the sharpness a little bit, and it doesn't NEED any more tweaking! I think the thing that blows me away the most is the contrast and black levels. No more having to switch black level enhancement on or off, or low to medium, depending on the source.. There's none to play with, and it's easy to see why... black levels are the best I've ever seen personally. I daresay there are many TV's with better black levels, although I suspect they would all be well and truly out of my price range.

I've got some threads bookmarked to have a read on optimizing, but that's just out of interest more than anything, and I'll be posting a couple of questions, just purely on things I don't fully understand, but so far, I am over the bloody moon with the thing!!!!

Thanks for all (everyone) your help! Very grateful!

 

[Monarch]

Yes, that was the model I was talking about, the 42" version can be found for closer to £900 with the 46" model being around £1080 on the net. Don't get confused with the 600Hz vs 100Hz though, it's not the same thing, the 600Hz is a sub field, it actually refreshes at 100Hz (or 60Hz depending on the source), I think the one you have actually has a 400Hz sub field but it wasn't marketed, 600Hz (and 400Hz on the lower models) is being marketed to compete with the 200Hz Sony, and now, LG. The 600Hz feature actually makes very little difference.

It uses the new 2009 NeoPDP panel so it has black levels worthy of an 8G Kuro (still not 9G level) and lower power consumption, even when a brighter scene is displayed. The problems with the SD scaling in the model you bought have also been ironed out. The SD quality on yours will depend a lot on the source, the PZ85 has overly soft scaling, the G10 is still a little soft but has improved upon that, some people prefer the softness though, but that will be a big reason why HD looks significantly better as the HD picture is still very good.

The S10 is the entry level 1080p model, it has 400Hz and some improvements in the technology, but it's still largely based on 2008 tech, the G10 (and all the set above) have the NeoPDP panel and freesat of course. Overall I think you've bagged yourself a bargain there!

 

[Delh68]

Technically, Dorchester, which is where I paid for it, but they didn't actually have it in stock, despite their computer telling them they had two! I could have waited until Monday and had it delivered (free), but I'm impatient! I went down to Exeter, which is around 55 miles from me, and picked it up from there. They had four in stock yesterday (although I'm currently watching Emmerdale on one of them!), so if your interested it may be worth giving them a buzz.. Let me know if you are, I've got the phone number to hand, so I can post it if you want it.

Cheers!

Congratulations on your buy! ~ What size vehicle did you need to transport such a beauty?

Delh68

 

[MetalOllie]

Congratulations on your buy! ~ What size vehicle did you need to transport such a beauty?

Delh68

Thanks! I'm over the moon with it! As for transporting it, my best mate is a sparky, so he asked his boss if he could use that; it's slightly smaller than a Transit, but meant the TV went in with absolutely no problems, upright, rather than laid down (recommended by the guy in store). Made life MUCH easier!

 

[MetalOllie]

Yes, that was the model I was talking about, the 42" version can be found for closer to £900 with the 46" model being around £1080 on the net. Don't get confused with the 600Hz vs 100Hz though, it's not the same thing, the 600Hz is a sub field, it actually refreshes at 100Hz (or 60Hz depending on the source), I think the one you have actually has a 400Hz sub field but it wasn't marketed, 600Hz (and 400Hz on the lower models) is being marketed to compete with the 200Hz Sony, and now, LG. The 600Hz feature actually makes very little difference.

It uses the new 2009 NeoPDP panel so it has black levels worthy of an 8G Kuro (still not 9G level) and lower power consumption, even when a brighter scene is displayed. The problems with the SD scaling in the model you bought have also been ironed out. The SD quality on yours will depend a lot on the source, the PZ85 has overly soft scaling, the G10 is still a little soft but has improved upon that, some people prefer the softness though, but that will be a big reason why HD looks significantly better as the HD picture is still very good.

The S10 is the entry level 1080p model, it has 400Hz and some improvements in the technology, but it's still largely based on 2008 tech, the G10 (and all the set above) have the NeoPDP panel and freesat of course. Overall I think you've bagged yourself a bargain there!

Thanks Monarch! The SD stuff looks fantastic when the source is good; stuff broadcast at lower bitrates, such as some of the American news channels (like Fox), do look soft, and the poor quality of the signal is accentuated by the set.. I guess that's one of the trade off's.. it makes everything look stellar, including crap! If it does have a 400hz subfield (which I seem to recall reading something about as well), then so much the better (I guess, although I have NO idea what a subfield is!!).. 100hz IS a definite improvement. Back in the halcyon days of CRT, I had several 100hz sets, so I was cautiously optimistic that would make a substantial difference, and I think I was right!

For what I paid for it, I really have snaffled a bargain.. it was £899, reduced in the week to £799, so for them to do it at £749 AND throw in the warranty was, for me at least, pure gold. An extra 4", 5 years warranty, and one VERY impressive picture!

Your help and advice has been enormously helpful, and is really appreciated.. have a virtual pint on me!

Cheers Monarch, and everyone else who has given me advice and support! I've said it before, and I'll say it again.. this is best forum on the net, and that is largely down to the people here, who are always unbelievably patient and tolerant with less experienced people (like myself), and it doesn't get said often enough, but I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone (I usually do, whether they like it or not!), when I say we all genuinely appreciate the continued advice and support we get here.

 

[Monarch]

Glad you're enjoying it, poor quality SD feeds look crap on all modern TVs so don't get the impression that it's specific to your set to have soft scaling, and yes, some of the american stuff looks terrible! I would like to tell you what the 400Hz sub-field is but I'm not completely certain myself, I'm still trying to get to the bottom of it!

Anyway, enjoy your TV and I hope you don't have any problems, I'm sure you wont as Panasonic do make very reliable sets...unnaturally so at times! and if something does go wrong then you've got your warranty. I'll enjoy that virtual pint once it's been converted to a real one later on