Samsung or Panasonic

TT Si

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Hi all, been lurking for a while so thought I better sign up. Just after some advice if possible on my next TV purchase. I currently have a 10 year old Panasonic plasma, a 42px7oba to be precise. While it is still working fine, I am wanting a new larger screen. The two I have been looking at are a Panasonic 58" ex700 or Samsung mu6400. I am not fussed about HDR as my viewing is a mixture of Netflix and SD material on Now TV plus blueray disc. I sit about 6 to 8 ft away, directly in front of the screen. I was leaning towards the Samsung but I am concerned about the screen bleed I have read about. Any advice or personal experience welcome.
 
No TV is perfect. - The same can be said if spending £500 or £5000.

Every time we get a`personal recommendation' or`what the best' or`if I were you' type of the questions, can we remind members of the saying:`one man's meat is another's poison'. We need to construct a profile of your taste for pros, TV use and more importantly your intolerance for specific cons for you to make the right choice. or...you can take the plunge and find out later. Nonetheless even with all the recommendations in the world, make sure you can demo the TV before you buy it, ideally with your own content in a dark demo room which stores such as richer sounds have. If not, make sure you are able to return the TV if you are not happy with it. Buy from a reputable source!

Please answer the following questions:
  1. What are your sources going to be? eg - Do you have fibre internet capable of UHD streams? Will you be buying and using an UHD Blu-Ray player? Netflix? Amazon? Catch up TV? HDR consoles? PC?
  2. SD vs HD vs UHD use percentage? eg 20% 60% 20%
  3. Movies, sport, console games, PC use (in percentage)?
  4. How close can you view the TV?
  5. Do you need to view the TV from the side or only straight on?
  6. What conditions do you like to view in? During the day? At night with lights on? In the dark?
  7. What are you currently using and what do you expect by upgrading to a new TV?
  8. Are you interested in being able to use motion enhancements on your TV to reduce judder and/or reduce motion blur? Both frame interpolation and frame insertion let you do this, read more about it here. They both have their upsides and downsides, so read carefully.

Please rearrange the following PQ attributes, in descending importance:

Blacks
SDR Brightness
SDR Colour Saturation
SDR Colour Accuracy
HDR Brightness
HDR Colour Accuracy
HDR Colour Saturation
Local dimming
How accurate the picture is out of the box (without having to change any settings)

Now for bugs, tell us your possible pet hates related to TVs, in descending order:

Motion Blur
Motion Judder
Temporary image retention
Bad screen uniformity, Dirty Screen Effect, Clouding, Light Bleed, Blooming
Soap Opera Effect
3:2 Pulldown Judder with 24hz movies. See: Judder-Free 24p on TVs
Loss of detail in dark areas
Reflective screens
Haloing
Colour banding. See: Gradients on TVs: Color bit depth (warning this is not the same as vertical banding, for vertical banding see bad screen uniformity)

Now which is most important to you?

Price
Connections
Smart TV (which apps)?
HDR PQ
SDR PQ
Sound
 
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My main source is virgin set top box with a fast internet speed, Netflix via ps3 and now TV via standard box. Any blue rays will played with the ps3 which I have a pioneer 5.1 system connected via optical. SD,HD.UHD. is I guess about 40% 40% 20%.
I don't play games and wont be using it as a monitor at all. The only sport I watch is motorbike racing on Eurosport HD.
Viewing position is 8ft and no closer than 6ft and straight on to the screen.
I view in daylight and at night with just a table light on and not complete darkness.
Currently using 10 year old 42 inch 720p Panasonic plasma so hoping to get a generally better viewing experience all round. I know I won't be getting motion as good as I have with my plasma but that's only to be expected I guess so any motion enhancements would be good to have but won't be at the top of my list. HDR isn't important to me at all, if it was I would go for a higher end TV. Good blacks and SDR brightness and colour would be at the top of my list.
I don't really have any pet hates except motion blur and judder.
As for apps I only really use YouTube and Netflix via the ps3 and as for connections 3 HDMI,s and optical out are all I need really. As long as I get decent SDR pq and good HD and UHD pq I will be happy.
 
SD,HD.UHD. is I guess about 40% 40% 20%
You might find SD TV upscaled to UHD on an UHD TV poor, I do, some people don't. Best demo some SD TV on an UHD model to be sure, you may be shocked how much worse it looks than on your current TV. On the other hand you might find it looks okay..or "acceptable" as many state it is.
so any motion enhancements would be good to have
any pet hates except motion blur and judder
You should look at models like the Sony XE85 series or Samsung 55MU7000 / 55MU7070 then. Panasonic have a model in this category but its currently more expensive, the 58EX750. There are ups and downs to each TV so get whichever model you like the look of the best, or which smart TV you like the sound of most. Even the higher priced Samsung MU8000 is cheaper than the Panasonic. MU8000 only really worth if you want twin tuners and the ability to record and watch another channel at the same time (using external HDD).

SDR brightness
All of these tv's should be plenty bright with SDR, the advent of HDR has pushed manufactures to make TVs brighter overall.

Models you have been looking at like the Panasonic EX700 and Samsung MU6400 use 60hz panels instead of 120hz ones. Maybe you are fine with this refresh rate, not sure, it depends person to person. But they certainly don't have the stronger options to enhance motion performance like the TVs I mentioned above have.

Hope this helps!
 
Yes thanks for that. I will call in at my local RS and demo both the ex 700 and the mu 6400 with some SD material and see how the motion is as well. Even if the Samsung performs better though I think the screen bleed I have read about on forums might still put me off it. I will be waiting to see what deals can be had on black Friday before I buy anyway so I might end up getting something else in the end.
Thanks again
 
At 55" the MU6400 Samsung likely uses a PLS panel so its not a contender in my view. I would be looking at the Hisense N6800 instead. In fact the Panasonic EX700 is very overpriced for what it is, both the 55" Hisense N6800 and 55" Sony XE70 are better value TVs overall.

PLS is an IPS type panel which will let more light from behind, its only worth getting PLS/IPS type panels on TVs if you need wider viewing angles.

They let more light in from behind the TV which makes for worse screen uniformity and greyer blacks.

The higher end Samsung MU7000 and higher use VA type panels at 55".
 
I didn't know that about the 6400 having a pls panel so that's good to know. I could still be tempted by the ex 700 but only if it is heavily discounted come black Friday as you say it does seem rather overpriced. I will definitely be looking at the mu7000 and the the xe70 though as an alternative.
 

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