McPhee Posted December 10, 2008 Posted December 10, 2008 I never get why people try to generalise the quality of one brand's TVs, it never works! Each set is different and Sony, Samsung and LG.Philips aim for the whole market with their sets. They all compete pretty well at each level. The only brands that can be said to be "safe" buys are Panasonic and Pioneer. They keep a good reputation by ignoring the low (or in Pio's case mid) range of the market. Panasonic's cheapest TV from this year's range is £500 and Pio's is £1000! Pioneer now use Panasonic plasma panels. But Pioneer are still superior. The Pioneer Kuro plasma is the reference tv. You wont find anything better. Panasonic are no slouch though. Not yet they don't, Pioneer don't switch to Panasonic panels until next year. The current 9G Pioneer sets are the last ones to use in-house panels. As a general rule, any PC monitor is better than any HDTV. It's not really set in stone as there are great HDTVs and there are shit Monitors. What? Most PC monitors are dross! They come with the bare minimum of picture processing and rely on the PC to provide the picture processing (which is fine until you give them a different feed). Until you start spending big money the colours are also usually inaccurate and black levels poor. PC monitors have their use, and pound for pound they are better under the right application. Feed them something that isn't made for them though and they crumple (like a feed from a Sky box or a PS3).
Jon Posted December 10, 2008 Posted December 10, 2008 Not really true. Panasonic might aim for the higher end market but their TV's are usually beaten by Sony, obviously reviews are subjective but from all the 'what hardware' test's i've read the Sony always comes up above the Panasonic. Especially in the 32" range. So i'd add Sony to the safe buy list. I also wouldn't group Samsung with LG. LG sets are always inferior to Samsung (and usually cheaper) it's right at the base end of the scale. Philips are more difficult in the fact that some sets are awesome where as others are dross.
Nolan Posted December 10, 2008 Posted December 10, 2008 I've never heard of a Panasonic Plasma (idk if they even do LCDs...) being below 42". Can someone explain what exactly dross is/means?
Jon Posted December 10, 2008 Posted December 10, 2008 I've never heard of a Panasonic Plasma (idk if they even do LCDs...) being below 42". Can someone explain what exactly dross is/means? Bad/Crap/Shite/etc
Nolan Posted December 10, 2008 Posted December 10, 2008 Kinda what I thought. Blasted regional differences....
McPhee Posted December 11, 2008 Posted December 11, 2008 Not really true. Panasonic might aim for the higher end market but their TV's are usually beaten by Sony, obviously reviews are subjective but from all the 'what hardware' test's i've read the Sony always comes up above the Panasonic. Especially in the 32" range. So i'd add Sony to the safe buy list. I also wouldn't group Samsung with LG. LG sets are always inferior to Samsung (and usually cheaper) it's right at the base end of the scale. Philips are more difficult in the fact that some sets are awesome where as others are dross. I was refering to how Sony do a wider range of sets, not the quality of their high-end sets. If you bought a Sony set at random it could be a good one (V, W, X or Z series) or it could be a duff (L, U, S, and by this year's standards P and D). There isn't a budget set or a bad set in Panasonic's range, I can't even name a year where there has been one! I wouldn't say Panasonic's sets are "beaten" by Sony's, there's usually quite a difference between the two with both having their positives and negatives. Simply put, Sony's LCD sets are better on High Definition material and handle colours better. Panasonic have done a far better job of scaling SD material on their LCD sets, but the processing involved detracts from the quality of HD pictures. Plasma on the other hand is a whole different ball game. Fair point about LG though, they haven't got much that competes this year. Samsung do better sets at every price point. I've never heard of a Panasonic Plasma (idk if they even do LCDs...) being below 42". They do a 37" Plasma and 32" and 37" LCDs. Might be a 32" Plasma in the works for next year too given LG managed it over a year ago now.
Chuck Posted December 11, 2008 Posted December 11, 2008 What are your opinions on this 37" Panasonic 1080p LCD £630 against a Sony KDL 40W4000 40" £680? And also the differences between the V4000 and W4000. Tnx
McPhee Posted December 11, 2008 Posted December 11, 2008 What are you using it for? The Sony looks stunning with games and Blu-Ray but every time i demo'd it was really, really crap with Freeview. The Panasonic is more middling, pretty good with both and not outstanding with either. Check them out in store (your local Sony Centre and Shop@Panasonic are going to be your best bets for a decent look at the sets). I ended up buying the Panasonic TH-42PZ81. Definitely the right purchase for me
Chuck Posted December 11, 2008 Posted December 11, 2008 Using it for PS3, Blu rays, dvds, sky+ (eventually skyHD). Bit o' 360 for the christmas period. So mainly dvds, bit of games and probably no use of the freeview.
rokhed00 Posted December 13, 2008 Posted December 13, 2008 Using it for PS3, Blu rays, dvds, sky+ (eventually skyHD). Bit o' 360 for the christmas period. So mainly dvds, bit of games and probably no use of the freeview. Sky+ is the same resolution as freeview though, so will have the same problems.
RoadKill Posted December 14, 2008 Posted December 14, 2008 Pioneer are still superior. To hell with that, bring on the World's Largest Plasma TV, the 150" Panasonic, 4096x2160. If I had a house large enough and a budget massive enough, I'd jerk off just seeing it in my living room every day I got home
Raining_again Posted December 14, 2008 Posted December 14, 2008 To hell with that, bring on the World's Largest Plasma TV, the 150" Panasonic, 4096x2160. If I had a house large enough and a budget massive enough, I'd jerk off just seeing it in my living room every day I got home -big tv- Holy mother of god. Dare I ask.... Do you know how much it is?
Nolan Posted December 14, 2008 Posted December 14, 2008 I think I looked that up once, but I can't remember other than exorbitant amount.
Jon Posted December 15, 2008 Posted December 15, 2008 I work for a well know retailer and we sell the 100" at our flagship store, can't remember the price but it was £3000 just for delivery and set up :p
RoadKill Posted December 15, 2008 Posted December 15, 2008 I work for a well know retailer and we sell the 100" at our flagship store, can't remember the price but it was £3000 just for delivery and set up :p For a well known retailer? You think the cops are going to come after you if you say the name?
Jon Posted December 15, 2008 Posted December 15, 2008 For a well known retailer? You think the cops are going to come after you if you say the name? I know they will.
McPhee Posted December 15, 2008 Posted December 15, 2008 £40k for the 100" version, or it was when they launched it anyhow. Not sure about now. I remember being absolutely gob-smacked!
Recommended Posts