fluxo
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[ Long Post Alert! ]
I'm struggling to decide what should replace a faulty VT30. The shortlist:
Sony HX923
Sony HX853
Panasonic GT50
The VT50 is ruled out because the smallest size is still 4" larger than the
already large-ish HX923. Moreover, I have sworn to never get a television with
cooling fans again.
Here is my current thinking. The VT30 was too dim. The 2012 models from
Panasonic are still, arguably, too dim (hence the lumagen interest), but are a
modest improvement over last year's effort. But still, I would be concerned that
the GT50 would be too washed out on sunny summer evenings. If you look through
Panasonic's submitted patents, you will see that a lot of them relate to
inventions designed to improve luminosity. So this aspect of performance is
clearly something that Panasonic would like to improve, too.
Comparing the GT50 against the HX853 in the store, I could still spot some of
the same traits evident in the VT30. Skin tones, whilst lifted slightly from the
VT30/GT30, remained overly dark and saturated. Skin tones on the HX853 appeared
far more natural and less jaundiced. I would hope this could be improved
somewhat with calibration, but it is a concern.
Moreover, there was some muddying of textures on the GT50. Watching Wimbledon
tennis, there was a tendency for the GT50 to look slightly murky compared to the
sparkling clarity of the HX853. And on close inspection it is clear that the
GT50 is using significant spatial dithering (you can see the rapid subpixel
alternation in some areas). Clearly, if you need to use more than one pixel to
achieve a given tone, then you are losing resolution. However, this dithering
can mask encoding artifacts in the broadcast signal, which were more obvious on
the HX853, so all is not bad.
The GT50 suffers from obvious gradient banding in some scenes. The LCD display
next to it was clearly able to display smoother gradients and the banding really
stood out in the side-by-side comparison. I'm not suggesting it is any worse
than last year, and may indeed be better, but it is still disappointing to see.
Although one will not always see clearly defined bands, it must be that there is
some subtle loss in accuracy of fine textures because the GT50 is not able to
display enough colours.
The HX853 was suffering from noticeable clouding and flashlighting. This was
particularly clear on the black bars of 2.35:1 content. This and the blooming of
the HX923 are a real concern. I love being able to watch Wonders of the Universe
on the VT30 and see a nicely defined starry sky. It has occurred to me that the
spacecraft in 2001: A Space Odyssey may have blooming around the edges (in those
scenes where blooming was not in the source), and that would be a
disappointment. And I think it must follow that if blooming can be seen in black
areas, that it must also be more subtly present in lighter areas. In other
words, there will be a loss of contrast and detail.
The motion of all the sets on the shortlist was good enough for me.
Finally, build quality. This may not be of the utmost importance for some
people, but I do like a thing nicely made. I believe in the use of authentic
sturdy materials and I detest plastic. I will say that none of the shortlisted
TVs even approaches my Apple gear for build quality. But then I've seen much
worse in TVs in the past.
Over all, my impression is that the GT50 has the upper hand when it comes to
build quality. The stand is not inspiring, but the rest seems sturdily enough
made. I do have some concerns over the bezel. The outer bezel has what appears
to be a chrome finish (seen also on the VT50), which is pretty cheap looking in
my opinion. And is the inner bezel plastic? I could not say.
I suspect the GT50's screen would be more resistant to scratches (is it actually
glass?). But I take so much care of my stuff that I doubt I would ever scratch
either screen. Still, accidents can happen.
Anyway, I've been rambling on. Your thoughts are appreciated.
I'm struggling to decide what should replace a faulty VT30. The shortlist:
Sony HX923
Sony HX853
Panasonic GT50
The VT50 is ruled out because the smallest size is still 4" larger than the
already large-ish HX923. Moreover, I have sworn to never get a television with
cooling fans again.
Here is my current thinking. The VT30 was too dim. The 2012 models from
Panasonic are still, arguably, too dim (hence the lumagen interest), but are a
modest improvement over last year's effort. But still, I would be concerned that
the GT50 would be too washed out on sunny summer evenings. If you look through
Panasonic's submitted patents, you will see that a lot of them relate to
inventions designed to improve luminosity. So this aspect of performance is
clearly something that Panasonic would like to improve, too.
Comparing the GT50 against the HX853 in the store, I could still spot some of
the same traits evident in the VT30. Skin tones, whilst lifted slightly from the
VT30/GT30, remained overly dark and saturated. Skin tones on the HX853 appeared
far more natural and less jaundiced. I would hope this could be improved
somewhat with calibration, but it is a concern.
Moreover, there was some muddying of textures on the GT50. Watching Wimbledon
tennis, there was a tendency for the GT50 to look slightly murky compared to the
sparkling clarity of the HX853. And on close inspection it is clear that the
GT50 is using significant spatial dithering (you can see the rapid subpixel
alternation in some areas). Clearly, if you need to use more than one pixel to
achieve a given tone, then you are losing resolution. However, this dithering
can mask encoding artifacts in the broadcast signal, which were more obvious on
the HX853, so all is not bad.
The GT50 suffers from obvious gradient banding in some scenes. The LCD display
next to it was clearly able to display smoother gradients and the banding really
stood out in the side-by-side comparison. I'm not suggesting it is any worse
than last year, and may indeed be better, but it is still disappointing to see.
Although one will not always see clearly defined bands, it must be that there is
some subtle loss in accuracy of fine textures because the GT50 is not able to
display enough colours.
The HX853 was suffering from noticeable clouding and flashlighting. This was
particularly clear on the black bars of 2.35:1 content. This and the blooming of
the HX923 are a real concern. I love being able to watch Wonders of the Universe
on the VT30 and see a nicely defined starry sky. It has occurred to me that the
spacecraft in 2001: A Space Odyssey may have blooming around the edges (in those
scenes where blooming was not in the source), and that would be a
disappointment. And I think it must follow that if blooming can be seen in black
areas, that it must also be more subtly present in lighter areas. In other
words, there will be a loss of contrast and detail.
The motion of all the sets on the shortlist was good enough for me.
Finally, build quality. This may not be of the utmost importance for some
people, but I do like a thing nicely made. I believe in the use of authentic
sturdy materials and I detest plastic. I will say that none of the shortlisted
TVs even approaches my Apple gear for build quality. But then I've seen much
worse in TVs in the past.
Over all, my impression is that the GT50 has the upper hand when it comes to
build quality. The stand is not inspiring, but the rest seems sturdily enough
made. I do have some concerns over the bezel. The outer bezel has what appears
to be a chrome finish (seen also on the VT50), which is pretty cheap looking in
my opinion. And is the inner bezel plastic? I could not say.
I suspect the GT50's screen would be more resistant to scratches (is it actually
glass?). But I take so much care of my stuff that I doubt I would ever scratch
either screen. Still, accidents can happen.
Anyway, I've been rambling on. Your thoughts are appreciated.