Buying plasma TV for SD picture (Ireland) - advice?

[robnet77]

Hi,

last year I wanted to buy a plasma tv after reading the great reviews of the LG50PG6000 on magazines and here, also the price was finally affordable, but eventually I was put off by the lack of shops selling it (instore shops such as PC World and Currys were too expensive).

Now I've read about the LG 50PQ6000 and decided to try again

Best options I'm considering:

- PC World - LG 50PQ6000 at 850€ (optional 5-year warranty for 170€)

- PC World - Samsung PS42B430 (or 451?) for 560€ (roughly) with optional 5-year warranty for 169€

- Pixmania - Samsung PS42B430 for a 550€ (roughly) with 2-year warranty included and optional 5-year warranty for 99€

- Pixmania - LG 50PQ3000 for 810€ (roughly) delivered, 2-year warranty included and usual convenient 5-year extension as optional (99€)

- I was advised by a nice forum member here that in a local shop they might have the Samsung PS50B430 for 670€, probably with 1-year warranty, will check the details of this soon

- travelling 170km to Belfast to the RicherSounds store and buy an LG 50PQ3000 for 600£ (roughly 660€) which I would definitely couple with their famous 5-year warranty for about 65€

Last one seems to be the best option, maybe I won't miss too much the additional features of the higher spec PQ6000, I would really like a 50" for my bedroom (3 meters distance) instead of a 42", will use it mainly with DVDs and DIVXs with its built in speakers, sure the warranty would be a bit of an issue due to the distance but I hope I won't need it frequently...

A thing that puts me off is the review I read for the PQ6000 here on avforums, they say its black levels are not as good as the best LCDs, but there's one thing I don't get:

last year the PG6000 was said to have very good blacks, only second to the Pioneers and maybe the Panasonics, and the latest Pioneer was said to have black level values 10 times lower than the best LCDs...

what has happened in one year?
have the best LCDs made huge progresses on blacks?
or was the Pioneer way better than the LG?

As a matter of fact, I wouldn't want simply decent pictures at such prices, maybe an LCD would now be a better option?
or a low-end Panasonic?
or a projector?
or would a cheaper Samsung (series 4 as above) have PQ similar to the LG?

Help!!!

 

[andy1249]

Plasma still do the best black levels in general and are also best for movement , no type of LCD can match them yet.

Panasonic is the best currently being made, now that Pioneer are out of the business , I personally wouldnt go for an LG, flat screen manufacturers are not on a level playing field yet and Panasonic outperform LG by a considerable margin in terms of black level.

Richer Sounds is still your cheapest option for Ireland , no bricks and mortar shop south of the border can match those prices. Obviously the extra 5% vat is a big chunk of this but also the models supplied for sale to the south of Ireland have a bigger source price and the retailers couldnt match the price even if they wanted too.

 

[duncfunk]

Only the best lcd's can get close to budget plasmas for black levels and to get a similar size screen would cost you well over £1000.

Richer sounds Belfast will deliver anywhere in Ireland for only £30 and it's where I got my 42PQ6000 from a few months back.

If black levels are very important to you then the 50X10 from RS could be a better option. Having said that the PQ6000 has superb SD PQ with excellent colour accuracy and calibration controls. I choose the LG because 90% of my viewing is SD and I preferred the picture on the LG for this.

The PQ3000 has the same panel as the 6000 but lacks the glass front design, usb divx and has inferior sound.

 

[robnet77]

thanks guys...

Panasonic outperform LG by a considerable margin in terms of black level.

according to some people here, though, the LG is supposed to be better on other aspects compared to the Panasonic, not lastly colours and easiness of setting it up. Is this true?

Richer Sounds is still your cheapest option for Ireland , no bricks and mortar shop south of the border can match those prices. Obviously the extra 5% vat is a big chunk of this but also the models supplied for sale to the south of Ireland have a bigger source price and the retailers couldnt match the price even if they wanted too.

VAT should be 15% in UK and 21.5% in Ireland actually!!! though in UK it will go up to 17.5% from January I reckon, also the extended warranty some companies provide in Ireland (two years) has to be taken into account, especially if you have to pay 200€ for an extension...

Richer sounds Belfast will deliver anywhere in Ireland for only £30 and it's where I got my 42PQ6000 from a few months back.

sure but many models are only available in-store, aren't they?

If black levels are very important to you then the 50X10 from RS could be a better option.

I wouldn't know how much they would count if the overall picture is worse though, as you yourself pointed out...

 

[andy1249]

Actually they wont deliver TV's to the south at present , its some obscure legal issue , they will deliver everything else though ,

There is a commercial interaction forum for the South of Ireland on this site ,

richersounds.ie - boards.ie

You can post here with a request for TV's and you may even get a good deal off them. But as far as I know you will have to collect it. They will let you know for sure one way or the other if you post your question here.

 

[audiphile76]

according to some people here, though, the LG is supposed to be better on other aspects compared to the Panasonic, not lastly colours and easiness of setting it up. Is this true?

Overall build quality is with Panasonic. LG is better in color reproduction but that is where it starts and ends. Panasonic is more IR proof, better blacks and sound.

 

[music]

What all the posts and indeed the OP doesn't really address is that according to your Title, you want to watch SD pictures. Be warned therefore that full HD sets are not so great at SD pictures.

Indeed, many on these forums have said that the Panasonic X10 series (HD ready) has a better SD picture than the more upmarket G10 or V10's for example.

The best sets for showing SD material were SD sets!

 

[robnet77]

What all the posts and indeed the OP doesn't really address is that according to your Title, you want to watch SD pictures. Be warned therefore that full HD sets are not so great at SD pictures.

Indeed, many on these forums have said that the Panasonic X10 series (HD ready) has a better SD picture than the more upmarket G10 or V10's for example.

The best sets for showing SD material were SD sets!

I'm not looking for a HD set, and I was actually advised to buy SD models, I'm not getting your point, except that maybe I'd have to avoid LCDs? thanks

There is a commercial interaction forum for the South of Ireland on this site ,

richersounds.ie - boards.ie

nice one! thanks!

Overall build quality is with Panasonic. LG is better in color reproduction but that is where it starts and ends. Panasonic is more IR proof, better blacks and sound.

that's also what the AVforums review says... but in case I bought a Panasonic, I'd have to go for a 42" because of the price (I would avoid the cheap "C" series), and maybe its somewhat better quality wouldn't make up for the size difference, hard to judge maybe...