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TV Recommendations

khollister said:
The consensus on the high end video forums is that, of the 2011 models, these were the top 3:

Panasonic VT30 plasma
Sony HX929 local dimming LCD/LED
Sharp Elite local dimming LCD/LED

The Sharp is by far the most expensive and would have likely been the consensus for the best if it were not for a cyan color decoding error that was virtually invisible, but became an internet furor considering the price of the sets.

The VT30 and 929 are a bit more of a toss-up based on the compromises you are willing to accept.
Click to expand...

Excellent and unbiased write up and a good summary of what is going on in the various AV forums.
 
khollister said:
The TV industry is losing money, and every set (regardless of cost or brand) has a recent history of potential QC issues and technology tradeoffs. Even the new Elites have had a history of some sets dying and refusing to power on.
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Thank you for that very informative post.

Why is the TV industry losing money? Are people just not upgrading their sets very often? Or are the manufacturers just producing sets that are too expensive and not moving enough?
 
khollister said:
The VT30 and 929 are a bit more of a toss-up based on the compromises you are willing to accept.
Click to expand...

And as it turns out, those are the exact two models I debated about for a week before finally weighing all the factors I had available against my needs, my viewing area, etc. For about the same money I had a choice of either the VT30 plasma in a 65" or the Sony 929 BL-LED in a smaller 55." I'm sure I'd be happy with either, but in the end it came down to a couple of factors.

First, the living room in my house has a lot of ambient light - not a factor that favors the Plasma. Also, while the Plasma was reported to have a better "off axis" viewing capability, the 929 was said to loose quality off-axis. However, I checked that in the show room and found that, for me at least, the off-axis picture looked great. Both sets have terrific color and very black blacks, so that was really a wash.

Second, once I convinced myself that either set would be great, but that the Sony might do a little better in my viewing environment (lots of light), the other factor that pushed me firmly into the Sony column was power consumption. I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and determined that the Sony would cost about 1/3 that of the Panasonic Plasma to operate. The Panasonic "might" be a "little" better that the Sony in a head-to-hear picture quality, but for the money I'll save in energy costs alone, it was worth going with the Sony 929.
 
radiogoober said:
Thank you for that very informative post.

Why is the TV industry losing money? Are people just not upgrading their sets very often? Or are the manufacturers just producing sets that are too expensive and not moving enough?
Click to expand...

I don't begin to understand all of the market dynamics but in my opinion there are a few contributors to the industry being awash in red ink:
  1. The big surge of folks buying HDTV's due to the digital broadcast cutover (in the US) and the stablization of the HD disc market (blu-ray won) is over.Most people that want an HDTV set have one. The market is far more saturated than 5 years ago.
  2. The industry has not been overly successful in convincing people they need the latest thing. I don't think 3D took off like the industry hoped, and not enough folks are running projectors or direct view sets over 70" to justify the investment in 4K (there isn't even a 4K medium standard yet).
  3. The average consumer is happy with "good enough" and values size, convienience & cost over quality. The rapid expansion of streaming services and the death of the rental blu-ray market is evidence of this. This is one reason we are still waiting on so much quality back catalog to be available on BD or with decent transfers - it's been 5 years and we are still waiting on staples like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Lawrence of Arabia.
  4. The Japanese (and I believe even the Korean) manufacturers are getting killed by lower quality (as in PQ, not assembly quality) sets and components coming out of China. People want a $1500 80" TV, not a reference quality $3000 55".
  5. Most manufacturers have churned their model lines every year with gimmicky features rather than substantial improvements in PQ that folks might be willing to upgrade for. TV's have longer lifecycles than computers and you aren't going to get folks to upgrade a $1500-$3000 TV every couple of years for the most part becuase of some stupid internet app that they already have in 3 other devices. I really think 3D was a big mis-step from an investment standpoint. Companies thought folks were going to trade up their 2D TV's for 3D as the next "must have" hot thing.
  6. It is hard to sell upscale TV's when all of the brick & mortar stores are either going out of business or going down-market to cater to the lowest common denominator. Try going somewhere to compare mid to high end TV's in a reasonable environment. In most US markets outside of large cities, Best Buy, HH Gregg, Costco, Sams or Walmart are the only places typically displaying TV's. And due to the way they display and market them, everything tends to look similar, so folks go for price. It's why Sony and Samsung are fixing the price of their high end models - without the dealer environment to upsell consumers to the specialty segment of the line, the high end market is dead.

I live in the Orlando, FL area (not a small city by any definition) but aside from a few custom installer with no showroom (and whose market is primarily projectors), BB, HHG, Walmart, Costco & Sams is about it. Every other store that was a retail audio/video showroom went out of business. I believe the manufacturers are also paying for that in returns since people have no choice but to buy blindly from Amazon or some other e-tailer. People can't make an informed decision based on comparison viewing and experienced sales help, so it turns into a crap shoot.
 
stix666 said:
I bought a Pioneer Kuro 9g a few years ago. I think the Panasonic VT range is of similar quality.

One of the reasons I went with this rather than LCD/ LED was Standard Def playback - definitely looks better with good plasma sets compared to other technologies.
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Me too. Too bad Pioneer never got to release the planned 10G Infinite Black panel that the FUGA tech built into it. It was supposed to take SD picture quality even further.

----------
joeybuckets said:
i would definitely go with a LED Smart TV if you want to stay current. i have this one:

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN55D8000YFXZA


it's WONDERFUL!!!!!! IDK What your price range is, but LED is the way to go.


:D
Click to expand...

What application does "being current" have in choosing the best tv?
 
BasilFawlty said:
And as it turns out, those are the exact two models I debated about for a week before finally weighing all the factors I had available against my needs, my viewing area, etc. For about the same money I had a choice of either the VT30 plasma in a 65" or the Sony 929 BL-LED in a smaller 55." I'm sure I'd be happy with either, but in the end it came down to a couple of factors.

First, the living room in my house has a lot of ambient light - not a factor that favors the Plasma. Also, while the Plasma was reported to have a better "off axis" viewing capability, the 929 was said to loose quality off-axis. However, I checked that in the show room and found that, for me at least, the off-axis picture looked great. Both sets have terrific color and very black blacks, so that was really a wash.

Second, once I convinced myself that either set would be great, but that the Sony might do a little better in my viewing environment (lots of light), the other factor that pushed me firmly into the Sony column was power consumption. I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and determined that the Sony would cost about 1/3 that of the Panasonic Plasma to operate. The Panasonic "might" be a "little" better that the Sony in a head-to-hear picture quality, but for the money I'll save in energy costs alone, it was worth going with the Sony 929.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've done excellent research! I've never considering the 'running cost' of any TV I've bought.

I bought a similar Panasonic plasma to the one you were considering a few months ago (a P42UT30 I think!), and I loved the richness of the plasma and the smoothness of the motion. The only major 'but' is: the reflections are quite bad, when it's sunny. Any way I position it, it's either facing the sun or something reflecting the sun. It's a bit like the glossy v matte screen option, except it's easier to move a Macbook around than a big plasma. Good job I live in Ireland and the sun is only a very occasional visitor.. ;)
 
khollister said:
The consensus on the high end video forums is that, of the 2011 models, these were the top 3:

Panasonic VT30 plasma
Sony HX929 local dimming LCD/LED
Sharp Elite local dimming LCD/LED

The Sharp is by far the most expensive and would have likely been the consensus for the best if it were not for a cyan color decoding error that was virtually invisible, but became an internet furor considering the price of the sets.

The VT30 and 929 are a bit more of a toss-up based on the compromises you are willing to accept.

<snip>
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the in-depth information. I sort of flipped and flopped between the VT30 and the HX929 but in the end I went with the Sony HX929. I just got it set up and last night we watched our first 1080p content (a Blue Ray movie of Batman the Dark Knight). All I can say is WOW! The 55" that I got is the perfect size for the space I have and the picture quality is just amazing! I suppose one could argue that the VT30 might be better in some respects, but I am definitely happy with my choice! I also like the fact that the Back-lit LED Sony uses 1/3 the power of the VT30 Plasma set.

One thing that I was worried about was off-angle viewing. All the reviews I read said that was a weak point for the Sony, but to be honest, I don't see a problem at all! In fact, I have TRIED to see a difference when I go off angle and honestly, whatever the degredation is supposed to be, I just am not seeing it, so I guess fo me it's just not an issue.

Thanks to all who offered advice - I know I'm going to be happy with this set. No doubt about it.
 
Not trying to sway your decision, but I too am stuck with aging rear projection HDTV. Since you waited so long, why not just stick with it for several more months for Apple branded TV?
 
Not to worry - not going to sway my decision. My decision was made and I bought the Sony and I'm very happy.
 
Problems connecting to Panasonic

Sorry that I'm replying to a forum. I just couldn't find a way to post a new forum.
I have a Macbook pro 17" 2011 and tried to connect it to a Panasonic Viera through a mini display port-HDMi adaptor and a HDMI cable.
No signal at all on TV.
Tried connect to a Samsung, and connection OK?
Does anyone know of any issue regarding connecting MBP to TV?
Thanks in advance, and sorry if this is the wrong thread.
 
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