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Cliff Rohrabacher
12-26-2007, 11:36 AM
$1400.00 at Price Mad in NY.

It's got me thinking


Which Big 50" Plasma is the Caddillac, the Denon, the Klipschorn of Plasma TVs?

Jim Becker
12-26-2007, 7:55 PM
Pioneer, I believe, Cliff...if you want plasma. Make sure you have a room that is compatible with it as plasma has very shiny and reflective screen surface. They are also better in lower light situations. LCD, on the other hand, is more compatible with rooms that have a variety of light situations and don't have the reflective issues.

Rick Gooden
12-26-2007, 8:48 PM
I agree with Jim, Pioneer is the class of the category. Pioneer makes two levels, standard and Elite with the Elite considered tops by most videophiles. Samsung, LG, and Panasonic all make good units. Philips on the other hand is not highly regarded and is thought to have a higher than normal failure rate. That being said, I have even seen Vizio plasma tvs that look good anymore. For sports (a lot of movement) plasma is still your better choice, although LCD is coming on strong. At 50" an LCD will cost considerably more.

Al Willits
12-26-2007, 8:50 PM
Pioneer PRO-FHD1 Elite 50" 1080P Plasma Display

This would be the one I'd put in my HT room.....if I had 6k to spend..:D

The elite series of pioneer is considered by many top of the heap, even with out the "pro" in the title, but if you hit any of the audio visual forums, different people like different brands.
Kinda like here...:)

Al

Tom Godley
12-26-2007, 10:53 PM
Everything is moving to LCD - so that being said.

I like the way Plasma shows off the blacks -- and also is still very bright.

The Pioneer plasmas are very nice -- I actually like the plasma picture to the LCD.

Last year I replaced a plasm TV in my den with a sony projection -- the 13 inch depth of the projection was not a problem in this location. I have been very happy with the set and like it better than the large sony LCD in another location - at 1/3 the price!

The blacks are quite good on the LCD projections -- but you must be directly in front of the set - even more so than LCD.

Corning makes many of the panels for the LCD units - the difference come down to the case and drivers.

The one thing that I always warn people about plasma sets is that they get very hot and can heat up a small room - but I still like them!

Cliff Rohrabacher
12-27-2007, 7:55 AM
Pioneer huh? Cool. I'm surprised that Phillips let the crown slip. They had the first one on the block If I recall right.

Al Willits
12-27-2007, 8:36 AM
Cliff, spend a bit on some of the HT forums like this one.



forums dot soundandvisionmag dot com

You'll find there's more than a few sets to pick from, also remember that most of these sets need to be calibrated, (ISF) this can be done by a service tech or the DIY DVD's that's out there, depending on how good a set up you want.

Be a bit cautious when looking at them, the colors are cranked up from the factory and are usually set to max so they look good on the show room floor.

Also some models have better track records than others, so you get to pick a brand, then a model to chose from...good luck :)

Al

John Bailey
12-27-2007, 9:44 AM
I knew very little about this subject, but my wife said she wants a decent TV to watch movies. At this point we have not been hooked up to TV for about 8 years, and don't plan to be at anytime. We watch, maybe, 6 movies a year, but that number will go up if we move beyond our old 20" CRT.

On the days either side of Christmas, I was on the road to relatives and was able to do a lot of research. I visited 4 Best Buys, 3 Circuit City's and 2 specialty (read expensive) Audio/Video stores. I was able to check out specs and pictures of hundreds of TV's in different settings and with different set-ups. This is what an idiot videophile has learned.


At first, the cheaper brands looked better to me. I found out that often the big box stores will take time to set up the TV that make the most money for them and the others are put out with no set up. So, often the cheaper ones do look better at the store.
Most of the cheaper ones, if not all, are disposable. They are produced so they cannot be fixed. If they are under warranty, typically a year, and they break down, you simply get a new one. After the warranty, you also get a new one, but you pay for it this time. So, if you get a cheaper one and you plan to keep it more than a year, better to spend the money for an extended warranty. Of course, that means it's, now, not a cheaper one, except it's still a cheap TV.
Looking at all the TV's in different settings, Pioneer seemed, to my eyes, to have the best picture. Most Pioneers, if not all, were Plasma and were hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars more than the others. For me, it would not have been worth the extra money, but I can see it being a great TV for others.

For Plasma, I felt Panasonic was the best all round value. Great picture at a good price.
I felt Sharp had the best value for LCD's. Again, a great picture at a good price.
SONY's had a great picture no matter the format. Actually, the SONY SXRD rear projection models had the best picture, in my opinion. However, the smallest one I could find was 50", which is too big for my room, they take up much more space than the flat screens, and SONY is discontinuing them.My wife will do the selection, because she's the one who wants it. My advice to her will be pick a SONY anything, or a Panasonic plasma, or a Sharp LCD. We are looking at the 42"ers, as they are the biggest that will fit in our space. My pick would have been the Panasonic 4275U (I think that's the correct number) for $1,099.

Remember, I may have spent a lot of time on research in the last few days, but in reality, I'm still a know-nothing.

John

mark page
12-27-2007, 9:54 PM
Coming from the tv reps and Bose reps at work, Pioneer is tops but you pay for the name, then comes Panasonic, then Samsung. LOML was set to buy a Samsung till she was told that Panasonic makes every individual component for the tv, and Samsung subcontracts lots of components. LOML bought a Panasonic 42" for the home and a Bose V-20 lifestyle surround and we love it. For a 50" screen, definately go the 1080 instead of the 720 series. She went 720 for our 42" and I cannot tell a difference with that size, but anything larger you can, from what I have seen with my own two eyes. With LCD tv's the top two are Sony & Sony.