Question Is it worth replacing a 42" Panasonic plasma for less than £1k?

InvisibleDuncan

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I have an old 42" Panasonic plasma that is starting to die – I have a blue blob at the bottom of the screen that is very slowly getting bigger (I first spotted it during the clay court tennis season last year, and it's now about 150% of its original size - probably about 6 inches across). It's really only noticeable against the orange of a clay court or a white background, so it's not a massive problem yet (unless I'm watching Fortitude).

That said, I thought it might be a reason to upgrade my TV to something a bit bigger, maybe in the 55-58 range. I'm biased towards Panasonics for no reason other than that this one has lasted me well, and my budget is pretty small – probably up to £1k. I'm not enough of an aficionado to justify spending more than this – the fact that I've lived with a blue blob since last May probably gives that away.

Wandering around Curry's I found the TX58DX750B for £979, which seemed to have a great picture but includes 3D that I'm not the least bit interested in. The non-3D equivalent (TX58DX700B for £829; £699 on Amazon), though, seemed a bit less vibrant. Might that just have been the settings, or is the picture genuinely dimmer?

The obvious question is: is there any point in buying a replacement for that money? I've seen a few threads on here that seem to state that modern LCD/LED TVs are actually worse than ancient Panasonic plasmas unless you're spending serious money, so would I be better off sticking with this one until my blob has expanded to become really intrusive?

Any advice gratefully received.
 
There are ups and downs to LCDs vs Plasma's but in many ways it can be two steps forwards one back. There are also ups and downs of UHD vs FHD which you may also consider.

I wrote about it before in a couple of threads I made:

Thinking of replacing your plasma?
UHD vs FHD

Once you understand the differences and have a good idea of how you will be using the new TV you should have a better idea whether you think its worth upgrading or not. A lot has to do with how close you sit and what content you will utilize. I would definitely urge you think about utilizing some HDR and look at a TV like the Samsung KS7000 instead (which also doesn't have 3d) that is at least decent with HDR unlike the Panasonic DX-750. Btw the DX-700 is a different model from the DX-750 entirely, for starters it has a slower hz panel.

If you find you are not really going to change what you watch or you don't really sit close enough to UHD then you may consider upgrading to a FHD OLED like the LG 910V.
 
If you find you are not really going to change what you watch or you don't really sit close enough to UHD then you may consider upgrading to a FHD OLED like the LG 910V.

I have an old 42" Panasonic plasma that is starting to die – I have a blue blob at the bottom of the screen that is very slowly getting bigger (I first spotted it during the clay court tennis season last year, and it's now about 150% of its original size - probably about 6 inches across). It's really only noticeable against the orange of a clay court or a white background, so it's not a massive problem yet (unless I'm watching Fortitude).

That said, I thought it might be a reason to upgrade my TV to something a bit bigger, maybe in the 55-58 range. I'm biased towards Panasonics for no reason other than that this one has lasted me well, and my budget is pretty small – probably up to £1k. I'm not enough of an aficionado to justify spending more than this – the fact that I've lived with a blue blob since last May probably gives that away.

Wandering around Curry's I found the TX58DX750B for £979, which seemed to have a great picture but includes 3D that I'm not the least bit interested in. The non-3D equivalent (TX58DX700B for £829; £699 on Amazon), though, seemed a bit less vibrant. Might that just have been the settings, or is the picture genuinely dimmer?

The obvious question is: is there any point in buying a replacement for that money? I've seen a few threads on here that seem to state that modern LCD/LED TVs are actually worse than ancient Panasonic plasmas unless you're spending serious money, so would I be better off sticking with this one until my blob has expanded to become really intrusive?

Any advice gratefully received.


Agree with Dodge, the problem is whether you have a tolerance for LCD pictures, I along with a fair few posters here don't. We live in the Plasma and OLED boards :)

Richer sounds have the OLED LG 910V for £999 with a discount code, it's on the website plus a 6 year guarantee. It is not a 4k or HDR TV but as someone who replaced my old Panasonic Th42pz70 plasma last year, I can honestly say the PQ is a big improvement.

I would also advise checking out the TV content you watch for potential 4K and HDR. Broadcast sport is currently available in UHD and a relatively small amount of drama is available via premium streaming subscription services(Netflix and Amazon). There are no immediate plans for the BBC or any of the major broadcast channels to offer a proper UHD service at the moment. So, depending on your viewing habits there might not be enough UHD content out there for you or that you are willing to pay extra for.

I would suggest popping down and viewing in Richer Sounds, unlike Curry's you can view the TVs with the same sources you would view at home; SKY in HD and SD rather than, the USB demo pictures that are designed to not show the flaws. If you watch SD, or still watch DVDs for any reason, I implore you to do this.

Most UHD TVs look great with UHD content and a good 1080 signal but anything less and the PQ isn't great; artifacts, SOE, judder etc
 
Thanks, both of you - that's very helpful. :thumbsup:

I watch Amazon Prime quite a bit but that would be my only source of UHD; I'm not planning to move to Sky Q any time soon. I think I'll have a look in Richer Sounds to see what things look like on Sky HD or normal Blu-ray..

Am I right in thinking that the Samsung KS7000 Dodge mentioned is OLED rather than LCD?
 
No its a LCD TV, I don't know if you read already but if you watch SD TV still then thats another reason to go FHD, upscaled to UHD SD looks worse.
 
We don't watch much SD these days. We still have DVDs that we watch using a Panasonic blu-ray player that has pretty good upscaling, so I'm not sure how that would look.

Anyway, based on the advice here and looking in Richer Sounds, I think I might just wait until the blob is a bit bigger and then try for an OLED.

Thanks for the help, guys. :)
 
We don't watch much SD these days. We still have DVDs that we watch using a Panasonic blu-ray player that has pretty good upscaling, so I'm not sure how that would look.

Anyway, based on the advice here and looking in Richer Sounds, I think I might just wait until the blob is a bit bigger and then try for an OLED.

Thanks for the help, guys. :)

The 910v is unlikely to be available after easter. All new OLEDS are UHD and considerably more expensive as a result. The TV launch year/ model cycle is roughly April to April so this is the time of year when 2016 models are at close to their lowest prices thanks to reductions before the new 2017 models are launched at RRP.

Waiting few months or more could make a lot of difference. The LG B6 OLED (2016 model) can be had currently for around £1600, the B7, the 2017 model will be around the £2500 mark.

The LCD KS7000 49", 2016 model was around £1200 at launch, you can now pick one up for less than £800.

My suggestion, don't wait for the blob to get bigger, decide on a few Tvs you consider serious replacements and keep an eye on the easter sales and pull the trigger when the price is right. By the time you get to June/July you could be looking at having to spend a lot more money to get something you could have got for £1000 less a few months before.:eek:
 
Hmmm. It seems like it's already a bit random. The LG OLED55B6V was £1699 at Curry's yesterday; it's now £1999. Still £1799 at Richer Sounds, though.

I guess I'll have to take a leap at some point...
 
fwiw, I went from plasma to the KS7000 and I really like it. Straight on, it's nicer, better colour accuracy AND has no blue blobs. I use Amazon (HDR stuff is impressive), skyQ (ask me about F1 after this weekend) and picked up an xb1s for UHD Bluray. Not enough content yet to bother but Pacman CE 2 looks lovely ;)

No SOE with the motion "enhancements" all turned off.

I do find myself still looking for LCD effects like the blacks greying out if I stand up. It's quite direction-sensitive.
 

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