Plasma model differences confusion

andygb

I have been looking at various Plasma screens lately, most of them from either Panasonic or LG. Now, there are some great offers out there, and the £500 mark seems to be the ballpark for a few 42" bargains.
However, I am totally confused, because I thought that 1080p was the thing to aim for, but then a whole lot of other screens (well OK only a few), have come along, not with 1080p, but with 2 million to 1 contrast levels and up to 600Hz!!!!!!!!
What is best???????


Please help, because a couple of years ago I was going to buy a Panasonic 42 pz81, which looked fantastic, and now I am just totally confused.

Andy

macman

1080p is the resolution, contrast is contrast. two totally different things.
The best way (indeed the only way) is to make a shortlist and then go and look at the pictures, it's entirely subjective.

aliEnRIK

As macman said ~ its picture quality your after
Dont get bogged down by specs. Many tvs have awesome looking specs but LOOK cr*p

Heres some reviews for you to peruse ~
http://whathifi.com/Reviews/TVs-Reviews/TVs-Reviews/Rule-Screen-Size-42in/

My advice if you want a 42" tv for 500ish
http://www.richersounds.com/product/plasma-tv/panasonic/viera-txp42x10/pana-txp42x10
Its HD ready, not 1080P. But at that price you can expect quality to take a bit of a fall if you go for a 1080P tv
This Sony is a very good 40" full hd (LCD though)
http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/sony/bravia-kdl40s5500/sony-kdl40s5500

andygb

aliEnRIK wrote: »

As macman said ~ its picture quality your after
Dont get bogged down by specs. Many tvs have awesome looking specs but LOOK cr*p

Heres some reviews for you to peruse ~
http://whathifi.com/Reviews/TVs-Reviews/TVs-Reviews/Rule-Screen-Size-42in/

My advice if you want a 42" tv for 500ish
http://www.richersounds.com/product/plasma-tv/panasonic/viera-txp42x10/pana-txp42x10
Its HD ready, not 1080P. But at that price you can expect quality to take a bit of a fall if you go for a 1080P tv
This Sony is a very good 40" full hd (LCD though)
http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/sony/bravia-kdl40s5500/sony-kdl40s5500

That is the Panasonic I was looking at, the full 1080p version comes in around £200 more.

aliEnRIK

Its your call
768 panels (Like that one) means that no matter what feed it gets (SD, 720 or 1080) it HAS to scale to fit the panel
The good thing is it has a pretty good internal scaler so HD stuff will still look very good
If your after watching a lot of full hd stuff (Or ps3 games etc), then id recommend paying more for a decent 1080P as it wont have any scaling so will be as good a picture as the tv can produce

totalsolutions

in a bedroom, Panasonic TX-P42V10 £1500

almillar

Bit much for a bedroom TV don't you think totalsolutions?
Cheapest 1080p plasma at Richer Sounds is actually a Panasonic for £609.
http://www.richersounds.com/product/plasma-tv/panasonic/txp42s10/pana-txp42s10b
There's no single standard for measuring contrast ratio, so those figures don't tend to have much meaning, and 600hz in my opinion is a bit of a marketing gimmick.

vyle

When looking at plasmas, ignore the quoted contrast ratios because there is no agreed standard for measuring them.

Also ignore the refresh rates, because on plasmas it's sub field drive, rather than anything to do with motion on screen.

Go with a panasonic, preferably a G10, and you'll be happy as a monkfish in church.