Author Topic: Flat Panel Reviews Thread  (Read 42719 times)

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Offline comitatus

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Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« on: Sep 17, 2009 at 10:29 AM »
a lot of my friends would love to buy a flat panel, unfortunately some of them won't go as far as buying a brand new t.v. some would be shopping at bargain basement places, garage sales, and forum markets. some or even most of these places carry models that are no longer in production.

which is why i created this thread, if you have an older flat panel, and would be kind enough to make a short write up about it. that will be great! we can have a collection of impressions for t.v's that are no longer in production, para naman if someone chances upon them in some place somewhere, they can have a quick reference.

i'll ask carlo to start off with the Sammy R8 and M8.

MOD NOTE:

a really great idea, decided to make a sticky out of it, will just try to cut and paste all impressions/reviews made by pdvd members over the years.

any member can add their own impressions/reviews, try to make it as comprehensive as possible. no other comments please (comments will be deleted). hopefully the thread will only have impressions/reviews of different flat panels.

btw, took out "retro" from the thread title

ADDED: will also post professional reviews from the net, so as to guide people on some models not reviewed by our own members.
« Last Edit: Nov 30, 2009 at 07:25 PM by iiinas »
Panny 50C10 and Sammy 40A650

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Samsung 32R8
« Reply #1 on: Sep 18, 2009 at 02:30 AM »
Nice idea Yuria ;)

If people do encounter some of these old models, they'd have some "actual" impressions before they take the plunge.

I'll start with the Samsung 32R8

Release date: Somewhere around 2007?

Flat panel type: LCD, 720p native

Pro's
+Good contrast ratio of 8,000 to 1
+Very good input response time for gaming (with game mode activated)
+3 HDMI inputs
+Fair viewing angle
+Great over-all T.V design (This was a handsome looking model)
+Good stock sound system

Con's
-Overly bright
-Minor blur with fast action movies and games
-Noticeable clouding

We'll do the Panasonic 42PV70 next, and with time I'll try to be more specific with these impressions.

Thanks.
« Last Edit: Oct 06, 2009 at 06:55 AM by iiinas »

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42PV70/50PV70
« Reply #2 on: Sep 18, 2009 at 10:33 AM »
Panasonic 42PV70/50PV70

flat panel type: plasma, 720p native panel

released: 2007

the good
+great blacks with very good colors
+very good viewing angles
+very good input response time
+excellent dvd/blu-ray picture definition
+still one of the best plasma models we've had, can still hold it's own against newer plasma units

the bad
-green phosphor lag
-noticeable panel buzz
-lack of an "eco" mode despite being a mid-range plasma (not really a big deal)

carlo777 and i agree that the pv70 is still one of the best plasma models we've had. so if you can still find this model floating around when you're shopping for a second hand t.v or if you're lucky enough to find a brand new one for a great price. you'll be very happy with the performance - even after years to come^




« Last Edit: Oct 06, 2009 at 06:54 AM by iiinas »
Panny 50C10 and Sammy 40A650

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Toshiba 32/37CV500
« Reply #3 on: Sep 19, 2009 at 01:38 AM »
Toshiba 32/37CV500

Flat panel type: LCD, 720p native

Release date: 2008

Original impression done: Oct 28 2008

My impressions of the 37 inch version of Toshiba's CV500 (upgraded from the 32 inch version)

DVD/Blu-ray

I really like the way this model defines picture, colors are very good and soft without being dull. For both DVD and Blu-ray, pictures are crisp and clean, with few stutters and blurs even with fast moving scenes(far cry from it's 32 inch version). This is actually the only T.V I have (both plasma and lcd) that has a DYNAMIC mode that you can watch without scorching your eye! I don't know whether the CV500 has an IPS panel, but the LX80 from Panasonic beats Tosh in the area of viewing angles. The CV500 tends to "white-out" when viewed from an angle.

PS3

This is my current favorite gaming T.V, the "game" picture setting may seem too soft at 1st, but when you get to look at it closely you'll notice that game characters are far cleaner and far less jaggy(The ps3 is not known for it's anti-aliasing capability so this is a welcomed display performance). Background details are clearly seen down to the small details and all this "eye candy" comes with minimal blur and spot on input response. Now, the 32 inch version of this model has the same picture definition, but was plagued with motion blur during rounds of intense FPS/Racing games, this was not the case with the 37 inch version. By the way, despite setting the PS3 to full RGB mode, the picture remained clear even on dark gaming scenes. For my Panny plasma's, LX80, and my Sammy series 5, I kept the RGB setting to limited because they presented a darker picture.

Cable

Just ok and may seem a bit pixelated on certain channels.

Sound

Deep, clear and catchy! Looks like the SRS wow powered sound is quite good for a "stock" sound system.

Other Features

A number of picture settings (Dynamic,standard,game,pc,etc) which are all excellent. 1080p capable via HDMI (never tested this though, as I stick to 1080i/720p with non-full hd units).

Final thoughts

The 32 inch CV500 had very good picture quality, but pixel response was a tad slower. I'm glad the 37 inch model updates the pixel response time and gives you more than just an extra 5 inches in size, but also refines the smaller model with better game inputs and a faster panel.
 
Note: I don't have this T.V anyomre, sold it months back.
« Last Edit: Oct 06, 2009 at 06:54 AM by iiinas »

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Sony Bravia 40S550
« Reply #4 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 06:40 AM »
Sony Bravia 40S550 Impressions
July 2009
Posted by Carlo777



Dvd:

Tested the Sony 40S550 with a Pioneer DV-410v player upscaled to 1080p, and just like the older S400 model, the S550 delivered vibrant colors with very sharp pictures. The "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" opening credits displayed some pockets of uneven lighting and the usual mild clouding effect. Panoramic shots from the "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" on the other hand, produced smooth motion, backed up by some amazing visuals. The Dvd performance of the S550 is competent, clear, and catchy for an LCD.

Blu-Ray:

Playing the "Transformers" on a PS3 set at 1080p, was a very pleasant experience. There was no hint of motion blur during rapid scenes of mech transformations and high speed chases. Black levels during blu-ray playback were rich and very good, however, just like most LCD's there were pockets of grey, that's commonly associated with the technology. Colors are even better than my Samsung 40A650 and just like previous models, Sony seems to be very strong in the area of LCD color reproduction and motion flow.

PS3:

I don't have to elaborate just how good these recent Sony models are when it comes to "linking-up" with the PS3. Graphics are very crisp, and rendered with less jaggy outlines. 1080p native games like Metal Gear Solid are depicted with stunning detail and with no signs of ghosting, even during very fast phases of the game. Unfortunately, I don't have an FPS title now to further validate the "game blur" issue, but I'll give an update as soon as I have my "Resistance" back.

Cable:

I gave up halfway trying to channel the S550, so this is still a genuine Sony problem for me. I can't imagine why Sony could not simplify this process, a real pain to obtain procedure, that turns-off pea brain guys like me.

Pro's

+ Very good colors
+ Excellent viewing angles
+ Very good motion flow
+ 4, yes 4! HDMI inputs

Con's

- Less than perfect screen uniformity
- Very difficult to channel

I'll have more on this in the coming days, along with a short comparison with the S400, do note that I have to take a very short walk to the house of my folks to re-observe the S400.

As it stands, the S550 is a very strong performer in the entry level of Sony's 1080p line, and an excellent addition for fans of the technology.
« Last Edit: Oct 06, 2009 at 06:53 AM by iiinas »

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Panasonic 42G11
« Reply #5 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 06:59 AM »
Panasonic 42G11
Sept 2009
posted by Carlo777



DVD Performance:

Using a Toshiba XDE500 set at 1080p (no picture enhancements), and playing "The Day After Tomorrow". I immediately noticed the advancement Panasonic has made in the area of picture quality via the much talked about "Neo-PDP" panel. Picture came off with very good color tones, blacks with great shadow detail, and pan shots with very little to no judder at all (provided 1080p/24 is activated). Fast action Japanese cartoons and movies like "Hokuto no Ken" and "The Transformers" gave off very consistent picture definition with razor sharp details despite extremely swift scenes. This folks, is the 1080 lines of moving resolution in action! It was pretty hard to appreciate the feature at first, but when I viewed those fast scenes again on lesser plasmas like the PY800 and the S10. I began to see some very minor loss of "sharpness" which I did not see when I suddenly switched back to the G11.

Based on my previous experience with FULL HD plasma models in the past. SD Dvd content has never been a PY800 nor an S10 strength, funny to note that SD Dvd was the arena of 720p plasma models like the C10, PV80 and the PV70. Right now the G11 steals thunder from those legendary performers, and cements itself as the new "King" of Panasonic's impressive line of pdp panels when it comes to DVD performance.

General Blu-Ray:

Connecting a PS3 via an Ixos HDMI cable then set to 1080p, and watching "Batman Begins" "Dark Knight" and the "HD Sampler". Again, gave us jaw dropping performance with that much needed picture vibrancy which were somewhat held back by previous 1080p plasma models like the S10 and the PY800. Picture was sharp, punchy, and those "IMAX" shots from the "Dark Knight" were visual feasts with steady motion flow and consistent black levels from top to bottom (note, 24p and Intelligent Frame Creation were still off).

Comparing it to my previous plasma units (PY800,S10 and C10), the G11 was more "alive" and brighter without compromising it's black levels. Thus far, the infinite black drive lives up to the hype with dazzling movie performance. Though I noticed the greens were a little bit too aggressive at first, switching off color management and dropping the color setting to 30-35 quickly fixed the problem.

PS3/Xbox 360:

The G11 delivers very impressive game performance, with superb input response time. Colors for the most part are pleasing to the eye, and over-all picture definition remains crisp, sharp and with a detailed brightness level that will have your eyes thanking you. For the PS3, generally, I'd still prefer a Sony or a top Samsung FULL HD Lcd  over the G11 but the "digital pictures" rendition gap between this plasma and a top Sony or Samsung are quite narrow and almost negligible. The reason I still prefer a FULL HD Lcd is because, the G11 was not completely spared from the infamous green phosphor lag. Though you'd be hard pressed to see them clearly, a strong eye could still detect them during very fast first person pans and scans.

On the other hand, the picture presentation of the G11 is quite stronger for the Xbox360, having tested Street fighter 4 for both systems on the G11. The "anti-aliasing" capability of the 360, could be better appreciated with this plasma, as the softening of "jaggies" which was then, a mere subtle difference on previous 1080p models, are better defined and more pronounced now. Begging me to say that if you're a 360 fan boy and a plasma whore, then it would be a no-brainer to get this model as your prime display device.

Screen Uniformity:

Tested with a blank input screen along with a full white background, and the G11 delivers a near perfect to perfect screen uniformity. No bleeds, no uneven lighting, and definitely no clouding.

Green Phosphor Lag:

Like I said during my G11 game impression, this unit still has the green tinge but unlike the 2008 models. You'd be hard pressed to see them. The level of "ghosting" is similar to that of a Panasonic S10 and C10.

Image Retention:

For now, I can't really test this up until I'm done with the 100 hours break-in.

Intelligent Frame Creation(I.F.C):

This has never been my favorite Panny feature but unlike the PY800 and the S10, artifacts associated with it has been minimized. Still "I.F.C" makes your movies move so unnaturally that despite the improvement garnered by the G11 in this area, I still prefer to stay away from it.

Screen Reflectivity:

Not as reflective as a Panny C10 and just a tad, just a tad more reflective than a PV70 or PV80. Oh and so far I don't see any vertical stripes or "chicken-wire" like screen imprints.

1080p/24 for Blu-Ray and Dvd:

24p is much much better than I.F.C when it comes to motion flow but it does not work all the time for the Toshiba XDE-500 as some dvds were absolutely too jerky to be even watchable. This may be a player concern as the same jerkiness, was observed with other plasma models like the C10 and the PY800.

Blu-Ray on the other hand fared better with cool motion that faithfully replicates how movies were meant to be seen (Thanks to my wife for this particular observation). There is a known issue of flickering when 1080p/24 is activated but so far I've not seen it with the G11, as well as on the S10. The flicker, however, was seen on the older PY800, since experts say that the "flicker" is there, I'll need more time to observe the concern.

Against the Kuro 8XG:

Thankfully, Vic was able to loan out a 428XG, for this particular review. To be honest, I thought it was not a fair comparison as the G11 is a FULL HD panel while the Pioneer was simply an HD ready unit. To sort of level the playing field, we simply set both units to output 720p on a Pioneer DV-410v player and here is what I've seen so far...

-The level or depth of black was "inkier" on the Pioneer even over the G11, but you'd have to look at them closely to make out the differences (Played the Underworld: Rise of the Lycans).
-Shadow detail was better defined on the Pioneer, again the G11 was just a few steps below.
-Based on my observations, the G11 is as close as you can get to a Pioneer performance without breaking the bank and you'll even run pass the 8XG in the area of electronic gaming.

To finish off the "Kuro level" performance question, I'll pit the G11 against my Japanese father-in law's Pioneer Kuro Elite PRO-151FD (wish I had that much money to burn Sad). I know this is a no-contest in favor of Pioneer, but I just want to see how close the performance level can be - If it's even truly close to begin with.

Pro's

+One of the best, if not the best Panasonic plasma for DVD use
+Stellar Blu-Ray/Media player performance
+Very good electronic gaming picture definition with lightning fast input response time
+Generally very accurate colors
+Generous and deep blacks
+Near perfect to perfect screen uniformity
+Great viewing angles
+Low power consumption vs previous Panasonic FULL HD Plasma models

Con's

-Green phosphor lag still present
-Mildly inaccurate or very strong green color rendition
-Mild flicker when 1080p/24 is activated
-I.F.C is still clunky compared to Sony and Samsung's "Real Cinema" and "Movie Plus" features respectively
-"Tweety bird" stock sound compared to "SRS wow" and "BBE-VIVA" systems
-May require a digital source for cable (needs confirmation)
-A tad more reflective than Panasonic's PV70/PV80

Panasonic places a lot of faith in it's plasma to combat the rise of new technologies on other formats. They gamble on a panel which attempts to rework the present to survive the future, and so far the Neo-Pdp technology is a superb representation of the notion that "Plasma is here to stay".

The G11 by far, is the best looking, best performing Panasonic plasma available in the Philippine market to date. And unlike other Panasonic 1080p offerings I had the pleasure of owning, this model actually floors me every time I give life to it; whether it's for humble DVD's, to mind blowing Blu-Ray's, to high def gaming, the G11 never fails to impress.

Panasonic maintains a slogan of "Ideas for life". And let's face it, not all these ideas are actually good, but with the G11 (powered by the Neo-Pdp), Panasonic actually comes off with a "GREAT IDEA FOR LIFE", and just how many times can we say that for an electronic company? Wink




« Last Edit: Oct 06, 2009 at 07:03 AM by iiinas »

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Panasonic 42G11
« Reply #6 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 07:06 AM »
Panasonic 42G11
Sept 2009
posted by ramonski



I bought this TV a week ago, so I guess I'll post my own impressions here:

After about 70 hours break-in, I calibrated the TV's grayscale and the results have been quite good.  However, with only 2 point grayscale calibration available for this TV, it was not possible to get perfect grayscale.  There is some minor green and red cast in the grays between 30% and 80%.  This is not going to be a big deal for most people.

Coming from a Samsung M81 LCD TV, the blacks in this TV are quite impressive, but at the default gamma of 2.0, it was rather disappointing.  You can, however, set the TV's gamma to 2.5 and calibrate from there, which will give you inkier blacks for nighttime viewing.  I will say however, that I expected the blacks on a plasma to be much darker than I have seen on this set, maybe that was an unrealistic expectation, but I have always heard plasmas have truly dark blacks, but that is really not actually the case here.  In a completely dark room, the blacks are at best a very dark gray.  It's significantly better than even the best LCD's, but be realistic in your expectations and you won't be disappointed.

It is possible to get insanely dark blacks on this set, but you would have to turn brightness down significantly and in my experience it led to unacceptable levels of black crush and loss of shadow detail.  I'd like to see a plasma that doesn't do that, I guess this is not it.  Nonetheless, calibrating to the right brightness level on this set will still yield a much better black level than on a properly calibrated LCD set.

Motion resolution is astounding when compared to LCD, but I don't like IFC either it makes motion feel unnatural.  Gaming on this TV is absolutely excellent, its deeper blacks bring out detail in extremely dark games.  I have the demo of Batman: Arkham Asylum and having plugged my PS3 on both the Samsung and this set, the Panasonic wins hands down showing more detail in the darkest confines of Arkham Asylum. I notice no green phosphors on this set at all.  If you're going to just play games on this TV, it's better to get a 42X10.  1080p is absolutely wasted in gaming, because nearly all games run at 720p resolution or less and this TV will upscale games to 1080p on a PS3.  The Xbox 360 has its own scaler and scales to 1080p leading to less scaling artefacts.

You need a cable box for this TV to show digital channels.  Unfortunately, I do not agree that standard def is good on this TV.  It looks quite awful compared to my CRT TV and is remarkably similar to the Samsung in this regard, in other words, terrible.  Do not buy this TV if all you're going to do is watch cable channels.  In fairness, it may have more to do with Skycable's awful signal quality in Cebu, actually I'm pretty sure this is what it is, Skycable is a terrible cable company, unfortunately the only one we have where I live.

DVD and Bluray on PS3 is excellent.  Motion is fluid across the fastest pans and scans, and the movies 300 and Matrix showcase the sets (relatively) great blacks.  Colors on Planet Earth look very natural and believable on this set after calibration, but with the default grayscale blues are oversaturated.

Image retention continues to be a problem even after break-in and this should concern most LCD switchers.  It is rather unusual to have to pay attention to what you are watching on a TV, any content with logos or black bars such as games and cable news channels are going to leave marks that you will notice in dark scenes.  Kind of ironic that the set's excellent black levels is marred by rather obvious IR that lingers in the dark scenes.  It somewhat defeats this advantage.  Black bars in bluray and DVD's are absolutely annoying on this set when switching to full screen content, I cannot lie it is really annoying and noticeable...  It goes away after you "wash" it out, but then again this is another annoyance when compared to LCD's...  IR will also severely constrain your gaming sessions, as I said before this set is not worth it if you are just going to use it to play games, and I doubt it will survive if that is all you actually did with it day in and day out.  Fortunately, most people will not be using this TV just for games, but if you're thinking of using this set to play World of Warcraft 24 hour marathons, think again, this set will be completely ruined by your gaming addiction...

I do not know if this TV is really worth P80,000 (plus extra if shipping outside Manila) but it is a very impressive set despite the persistent plasma flaw called IR.

Offline iiinas

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Panasonic 42C10
« Reply #7 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 07:10 AM »
Panasonic C10
May 2009
Posted by Carlo777



Dvd/Blu-ray

We tested the DVD performance of the C10 using the new "Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans" movie and we immediately observed the T.V's deep blacks and rich colors. For the most part, picture defenition remains clear and clean, screen uniformity was near perfect, as expected from a plasma. Blu-ray at 720p, playing "Transformers" was a total blast, fast moving scenes were handled with no traces of motion blur, pixelation, and picture breaks that are commonly associated with lower bracket LCD's. Over-all movie defenition was brighter than the previous models like the PV8/80, without compromising the inky blacks we've come to admire with Panasonic's line of plasma's.

PS3:

Running a 720p native game like "Street Fighter 4" demonstrated razor sharp input response times that will surely impress even the most "hard-core" precision savy gamers. As expected, I saw flashes of the notorious green trails (known to techies as "The Phosphor Lag") during quick pans of first person shooters like "Resistance". However, it won't derail your senses because the over-all picture presentation remains strong, with vibrant colors, less the eye strain - Something very much welcomed for those who would want to bed with their plasma's and their ps3's.

The PV8 and PV80 factor:

I, for one laments the demise of these two legendary models, but the arrival and the subsequent performance of the C10 gives you a feeling that Panasonic really knows how to come up with evolutionary means to sustain the technology in a sea of high tech wonders like the 120hz LCD, LED and OLED. Though the difference in picture quality between the C10 and the PV8/80 are not miles apart, the C10 is your best bet for a solid 720p performance - If you skipped the 2008 wonders. So let the PV8 and 80 (though legends they are) rest in the halls of Valhalla - A worthy successor has arrived! Did I mention that the C10 is only around 50k?

"But it's just a 720p T.V???" factor:

Sure, the C10 is a "mere" 720p native T.V tuned for a 1080p/24p performance, but I can honestly say that it beats the Samsung FULL HD A550 in the area of color accuracy and over-all movie picture performance. It even trumps above my A650 FULL HD T.V in-terms of black levels and screen uniformity. Not bad for a "mere" 720p T.V right? Crispy video game detail/s presentation, unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it) still belongs to the FULL HD panels where pixel and polygon counts really matter.

Pro's
+Very good blacks
+Rich and vibrant colors without the "eye strain"
+Near perfect viewing angles
+Well priced

Con's
-The usual green trails
-Some minor image retention after video game play (I need to look at this again because my eyes were already tired from the test)
-Fuzzy game detail compared to FULL HD units like the A550,A650 and PY800.

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Panasonic 32S10
« Reply #8 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 07:13 AM »
Panasonic S10
July 2009
Posted by Carlo777



Blu-Ray:

Fired up "The Dark Knight" Blu-Ray on a PS3, set at 1080p and what I saw was an LCD with colors that will rival that of a higher end Samsung A650. The blacks were rich making the S10 - A good example of the developments Panasonic has made for fans of the technology! Though there were a few uneven spots, as expected on an LCD, you'll be hard pressed to even make an issue out of it. Fast scenes were handled with near perfection, as I didn't notice any smear or very annoying blurs.

WD Media Player:

We tested the "Kingdom of Heaven" to check the amount of picture noise the S10 flashes out for this particular movie. I remember our old Panasonic LX80, and we were turned off by the the picture as being too grainy for our taste. Pleasant surprise here! The FULL HD S10 delivers a smoother, cleaner picture that retains film grain but delivers it to a level where we were not repelled by it. A fine balance for enthusiasts who subscribe to the "grain is good" concept and for average the Joe's who may want a cleaner, yet crisp picture.

PS3:

LCD has always been my format of choice for gaming and the S10 does not disappoint. Input response time was dead perfect, even with precision games like our new "King of Fighters 12". There was a very minor "trailing" issue seen during our quick rounds of vicious first person pans of "Resistance", but I think I was just being to anal, since most of you may not even see or notice it. Picture defenition for games on the S10 remain vibrant, lively and with that much loved "digital" look rounding up an excellent over-all gaming experience.

Initial take:

So far this is one of the better 32 inch LCD's I've seen! My old FULL HD Samsung 32A550 looks pretty darn pale next to it, and even my Samsung 40A650 may start to feel a little pressure from this small T.V when it comes to color rendition.

If you're in the market for a great entry level 1080p FULL HD LCD T.V for your PS3, or media player I can confidently say "This is the T.V, you're looking for!". However, I will need more time to look at the DVD and cable performance and it should be out within the week or so. I may also end up buying one for my office, and junk the initial need for a 22 - 26 inch LCD T.V that I had carefully planned last weekend.

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Samsung A550
« Reply #9 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 08:18 AM »
Samsung A550
Oct 2008
Posted by Carlo777



This was one blind purchase, I did a few weeks back before getting a PV80. The catch here was to buy a small Full HD T.V, to experience FULL 1080p at a price that won't scar me just in-case the T.V sucked.

DVD/Blu-Ray:

Upon plugging the unit with a PS3, as a blu-ray player then set to Dynamic mode at 1080p. Everyone in the house was impressed by it's sheer brilliance, the DNLE+ engine gives you very vibrant colors and for the first time, even my non-videophile wife said "wow, that's a nice T.V". Everything was crystal and film grain management was very good. Not as noisy as the LX80, and the movie plus feature tends to smooth out the picture even more. At a glance, it performs like a very expensive T.V, packed with an excellent design to look really well on just about anywhere you put it. Now, comes the quirky side, with movie plus on, I noticed that while the picture was very good, there were a few stutters along the way. Switching off movie plus clears this issue though. When it comes to color accuracy, this unit tends to be a bit off, not the biggest deal in the world, but you'll start to notice that everything seems to be tainted with an extra coat of paint. Hopefully, this could be fixed via calibration. The difference between 1080p and 720p for movies does not make a dramatic impact at this size (32 inches). At least for my part.

PS3/X-Box 360:

With a press of a button we enter Samsung's "Game mode". Picture for this mode is somewhat subdued and pale, but we noticed that input lag is almost unnoticeable, and blur was kept to a very very bare minimum. Rounds of COD4 and Tekken 5DR were tested on a ps3 and this little unit delivers, forget about pale pictures, as hardcore FPS and Fighting game fans (like my sis) says "I can do better combo's and shots with this model". Game mode really does cut down on input time. Now, does 1080p make a difference in this area? Yes, it does! We've been playing Virtua Fighter 5 on 720p for so long, that when we forced it to run on 1080p and set the aspect ratio to "just scan" you could really see cleaner, less jaggy, and more detailed backgrounds. This is the weird part, pale as it seems on game mode for the ps3, it was not for the 360. Partnered with the X-box 360 this model appears to be the perfect T.V and rivals the picture quality output of my PV80, but then again this is just for the Microsoft console.

Cable performance:

Very good, but I don't think I have a unit that has bad cable performance, must be our area.

Sound:

Not the best thing in the world, but I'm not a sound expert so I would not really know. (Btw, all my T.V's don't have a home theatre set-up, not one)

Final words:

A cost effective T.V, that offers FULL HD and a very good all around performer. Did I just throw almost 40k down the tube? The answer is a resounding NO!

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Panasonic 42PY800
« Reply #10 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 08:24 AM »
Panasonic 42PY800
Jan 2009
Posted by Carlo777



Got the former flagship of Panasonic's line of plasma's and this is what I've seen so far...(People notice that I have this unit in my signature and they've been asking me for an impression). A bit late but here it is:

The Panasonic 42PY800 (FULL HIGH DEF. PLASMA T.V)

DVD/Blu-Ray:

Set at 1080p with a Pioneer DVD player, the picture quality is a notch above the PV80, with colors on the softer side, Fast moving pictures were handled with great ease and with no signs of the T.V trying to catch up with the scene. Blu-ray playback was extremely well done with full 1080p support, at a 6-7 feet viewing distance you may think that the picture quality of the PY800 is no different from that of a lower end PV80 but move closer and you'll begin to see cleaner and better defined pictures. Switching on the INTELIGENT FRAME CREATION feature gave us very smooth flowing pictures, that will remind you of Samsung's movie plus option. It's really very cool to look at and at 42 inches it made a dramatic initial impact. However, after the "wow" subsided we decided to switch it off because it gave our movies too much of that "handy-cam" look - Taking away the cinematic feel of what was supposed to be a million dollar blockbuster!

PS3

Running a 1080p native game "NINJA GAIDEN" on standard picture settings gave detailed backgrounds and very clean images, but as far as I remember seeing it on both my PV8 and PV80 (1080p capable plasma's) I didn't see any significant leaps in picture quality. To find a way to justify the cost of this model(at least for gamers), we decided to activate the frame creation mode to see if it could give stable framerates for our games. Result = Bad idea! Input lag was felt and executing precise "8 way run" combo's on Soul Calibur 4 became a pain to perform. Visual artifacts were also seen with this feature kept on. Phosphor lags were still there, but this was something we already expected. However,despite long gaming sessions, this model appears to be more I.R resistant than the lower bracket Panny models, after 3 hours of none stop gaming we went to a blank input screen and saw very little ghost images. A flip to T.V mode for just under 15 mins washed it out completely. On my PV8/80 it took way longer than that to clear the "mess".

Cable:

No complains here, this is plasma! And our place pumps out good cable signals.

Sound:

The BBE-Viva gave catchy, rich and full sounds even at high volumes. The best stock sound system I've heard on any of my units! (Check my sig )

Other features:

3 HDMI inputs and an SD card reader (something already on the PV80). Oh, and it's MADE IN JAPAN! And it's on the front display sticker! I guess being made in Japan is already a feature. X.V Color support was thrown in as well (X.V is supposed to be the new standard for high definition color). Question here is: Do we already have media that actually uses this?

Other impressions:

I can't say I was totally blown away by this Panny, and it even made me wonder whether I just junked cash for a premier model that is (IMHO) not leaps and bounds over what I already have(take note, the INTELIGENT FRAME CREATION can be experienced on smaller yet cheaper Samsung units like the A550). I may sound too critical, but with the price tag, I guess I should be - every cent in the pocket counts. Anyway, this is still a good T.V and perhaps if you don't own a PV80 or a PV8 and have the cash to pay for it...then go ahead! But if you already own the cheaper models, stick with them and re-think the itch to upgrade.

One more thing!

People have asked me to rate my plasma's from highest to lowest in terms of price to performance, here we go:

1) Panny 42PV80 - Still rocking from all angles of price and performance! (d**n! This is a good T.V that's hard to beat)
2) Panny 42PY800 - Cool features that you can probably live without, but if you have the cash why should you?
3) Panny 42PV8 - Very basic but still very good

An honest and non-technical perspective Wink

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Sharp 32A33
« Reply #11 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 08:37 AM »
Sharp 32A33
March 2009
Posted by Carlo777



My wife purchased a T.V yesterday for our guest room with no auditioning, just a plain "blind buy", relying on the staunch reputation of Sharp in Japan. My surprise and delight to see the usual faces of the Sights and Sounds crew delivering a new toy for me to fiddle with.

A quick glance at the features of the A33 and you'd expect a lot of goodies to come out of this unit.

Dynamic contrast ratio: 7500:1 (not the best but good enough)
2x HDMI terminals
Built-in Digital amplifier for the sound system (cool!)
6ms pixel response rate
100Hz = Wow! A T.V for just 30k plus to have this feature? This was starting to "build up" as a solid 720p native LCD.

So here we go...

Blu-Ray/DVD:

We popped-in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" on a Pioneer DV-410V set at 720p with Limited RGB. At the onset I already noticed how grainy, dark and murky the picture definition was. I understand that "film grain" is sometimes an integral part of a movie, but I think the director of this particular saga never intended to have his epic run with some sort of light sand storm effect on the background. For Blu-Ray we used the "Underworld: Evolution" to check for inky blacks and grey spots, and we found a number of uneven grey areas (more than usual for an LCD). We even spotted a few subtle color bleeds on both Dvd and Blu-ray playbacks, but this was more evident on DVD. Motion flow was tested using the very action oriented "Transformers" Blu-Ray and though the A33 was moving the scenes very smoothly, a few minor pixelations were seen during scenes with rapid mech transformation. I started to think my wife made a bad call with this T.V...

PS3:

Playing rounds of Street Fighter 4 on 720p gave us fuzzy details and the colors were very strong, way too strong for our taste. Imagine an overzealous/insane artist given complete liberty to splash away with all colors at his disposal. Bad, very bad. However, there was no input lag and motion blurs were no where in sight.

Cable:

Heavy pixelations and very noticeable color bleeds will make you think that the maids are luckier to have their 19 inch CRT T.V still up and running.

Quick Pro's and Con's

Pro's
+Fair motion handling
+Fair viewing angle
+Very good stock sound system
+The power button: You can switch it off

Con's
-Overly dark picture definition
-Not the best unit when it comes to color saturation
-The power button: You can switch it back on

I'm very disappointed with this T.V because I've seen other Sharp models that were really very good. Sharp is also a leading player in the LCD market, so I don't really know what the heck happened here. I'll try to play around with the settings but for all my impressions, I keep them at default, so I could try to convey an "out of the box" experience, which I believe is fair information for anyone looking to but a new T.V. I'll also check my HDMI cable to see if it's working 100% then get back to you guys. But right now my initial impression of the 32A33 is not looking very sharp

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Samsung 40A650
« Reply #12 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 08:48 AM »
Samsung 40A650
Dec 2008
Posted by Carlo777



After weeks of contemplation I finally gave in and purchased the Samsung 40A650 full HD T.V, this was influenced by the very good performance of the cheaper 32A550 and I needed to have a higher end Full Hd panel - that's an LCD, to compliment my Panasonic 42PY800, another very good 1080p performer but on plasma's side.

I won't go through with the specs on paper but rather on how the unit performs in "real life"

Blu-Ray/DVD

Using a Pioneer DV610v we watched the Lord of the Rings "Return of the King" dvd set at 1080p, the cavalry charge towards the end of the movie was presented in a very panoramic manner with no hints of slow-down or pixelation. On blu-ray we tested the Transformers from chapters 18-25, just to check if the extremely fast paced action, which involves high speed chases and rapid mech transformations would slow the unit down. Pleasant surprise! No hitch at all! With everything flowing smoothly despite so many things happening on-screen at the same time. For black levels, we used the very dark Underworld Evolution blu-ray and switched off all the lights to verify just how consistent the backlight and black levels are, it's still not as solid as my Panny 42PY800 with pockets of somewhat grey areas that's supposed to be pitched black, and we still observed a few sections of uneven lighting. Not really a big deal and you can simply over-look this minor set back. Since this is LCD, you don't get any green phosphor lag (those annoying green trails on plasma) in high contrast areas and some may say - That's lcd and you'll get motion blur instead! Based on what we've seen with our test materials above, the A650 does not seem to have that issue.

PS3/Xbox 360

The weakness of the so-called "game mode" feature of Samsung was that it gave you great input response time but at the expense of picture quality (lower models define graphics in a somewhat pale manner). This unit has a very good looking picture with game mode switched on! Colors are vibrant and with jaggy's kept to a bare minimum. The game we used to test this is a 2.5D Japanese game called "Battle Fantasia", the game is known to bring out jaggy edges because it's a mixture of hand drawn sprites over polygons. Normally, the overly sharp picture definition of an LCD will make you want to slip this game back to your CRT monitor. We didn't have that feeling with this unit, as it displayed the game in a crisp and clean way. If this model displays great picture quality on a graphically inferior game, I can't wait to see it play 1080p native games like MGS4^^^

Cable

No cable yet, still need to channel this thing.

Sound

No complains here, I'm not really into the audio stuff.

Initial impressions

May not be the cheapest LCD but based on how it performs so far, it's ONE OF THE BEST LOOKING, BEST PERFORMING FULL HD PANELS OUT THERE! Hopefully, when I do get the time I'll compare this with the Panasonic 42PY800! I'd like to see how Sammy's 1080 24P "Real Movie" or it's Auto motion plus compares to Panny's intelligent frame creation.

I'm still playing with this toy and will try to give more updates...soon

Added info:

Dvd and Blu-ray set to 1080p, game was set to 720p.

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Sony Bravia 40X450
« Reply #13 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 08:56 AM »
Sony Bravia 40X450
Feb 2009
Posted by Carlo777



Blu-Ray/DVD:

We started off by testing the DVD performance of the X450, using the new Toshiba XDE-500. We played a round of the "Gladiator" and the picture came out to be very crisp, very clean and in my opinion: The X450 gave one of the best if not the best DVD performance I've seen so far. We're not sure if it's the DVD player or the T.V but I'll do a round with my usual Pioneer DV-410V later. For Blu-Ray, we used the Transformers again, playing the usual chapter's 18-25 because these particular segments have very fast moving scenes with a number of screen activity, like high speed chases and very quick Mech transformations. The X450 defined the picture very well with vibrant colors and showed no traces of slowdown, motion blurs or pixelation. The "Motion Flow" of this Sony seems to be better than both the A650 and the PY800 as far as I remember it, and I've been going over those chapters from the Transformers over and over again for my different impressions. For a quick black level test, again I used the eternally dark "Underworld" movie, I'm so familiar with this film being played on my various LCD's that I can easily spot grey areas at a quick glance. For this particular Sony, I really had to look for them again, there were still very small pockets of grey, but this time you'd have to be "nosy" to find them. Color reproduction is the best I've seen on an LCD and so far this is starting to be Sony's strongest aspect along with fantastic motion flow.


PS3:

Using our new "Street Fighter 4" game, we observed that the X450's strong ability to reproduce "digitized" images backed with a very spot on input response time makes this model my new favorite gaming T.V! (Too bad this ain't mine) Graphics are detailed, razor sharp and free flowing without any of the "known" issues I've encountered on other LCD's and Plasma's. Just to be sure I popped in "Resistance" and did very quick first person scans and pans in a vain attempt to see hints of motion blur. So far and up to now I've not seen any, this is very bad for my part because like I said - the T.V does not belong to me :'(

Cable:

None yet because wer're still waiting for SnS folks to come over and channel this thing.

Sound:

Very good but not as catchy as the BBE-Viva of the PY800.

Quick round up:

Pro's
+ Best color reproduction on any LCD we've come across
+ Great motion flow and spot on input response time
+ Good black levels for an LCD
+ Excellent viewing angles

Con's
- Expensive
- The T.V does not belong to me Wink I like to stress this over and over again because despite having an A650 and a PY800, I think I want this T.V and I'm starting to want it badly

Final Update:

The Sony even with the Pioneer DV-410V still bleeds better picture quality and like I said perhaps the best we've seen on an LCD. Pockets of grey areas when watching "Star Wars" were really hard to notice. I thought it was simply because we were using the XDE 500, but that was not the case. There was a drop in picture quality but we concluded that it was because we were using a lower model DVD player in the form of the 410V.

Conclusion:

LCD's are really improving and the Sony 40X450 is the finest example of those improvements. Come to think of it, you get great color reproduction, finer than fine black levels, a motion flow that is nearly free of artifacts and a model that looks and feels solid -Down to the touch and up to the very last detail (Forgot to mention how cool the remote looks). Sure, it may not win awards in the price department but with the X450 - You can have complete confidence that you're paying for more than just the T.V being a Sony Wink.

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Philips 42PFL9532
« Reply #14 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 09:01 AM »
Philips 42PFL9532
April 2009
Posted by Carlo777



I received a good amount of PM's asking me for a quick impression of this Philips 42 inch FULL HD LCD:

Blu-Ray/DVD

We tested the Philips with a Pioneer DV-410v set at 1080p, playing the movie "I'AM LEGEND" - We observed that the LCD gave very clear and vivid colors that was even better or at the very least, compares to a Samsung 40A650. Dark areas in the movie were also projected in a manner that was relatively clean and with less noticeable noise. Details were finely conveyed in a brightness level that was very refined for an LCD. Black levels though, were still not up to par with a Panasonic plasma like the PY800, but it was more than just mere "acceptable". For Blu-Ray we tested the 42PFL9532 (What a mouthful!) with the movie "Casino Royale" for it's extremely fast action scenes that is sure to bring lower end and slower LCD models to their knees. The 3ms pixel response rate and the 100mhz panel zoomed past the show with extreme ease. No signs of pixelations and not even a hint of blur was detected. Did I mention that this model was also 1080/24p capable? The result was a near judder free performance during slow pans and another welcomed feature to round up the list.

PS3

Using the game "Metal Gear Solid 5" a native 1080p title, the Philips gave razor sharp details and very pleasing color reproduction. Like I said above, the 42PFL9532 has a 3ms response rate and that was translated to a "ghosting" free picture rendition even when we did quick first person pans with FPS games like "COD4" and "Resistance". Additionally, input lag was not felt in any of the games we tested and that includes heavy button "precision" fighting games like "Soul Calibur 4" and "Street Fighter 4".

Sound and Cable

Please give me more time to check these out, I'm a bit tired already Cheesy

Initial pro's and con's

Pro's
+Very good color reproduction.(Stronger and better than most Sammy models I've seen)
+A d**n fast panel! 3ms response time + 100hz = Blur free performance.
+Refined picture definition that does not become overly bright like most LCD's.
+Price (see below)

Con's
-Black levels still not up to par with plasma and some of the heavy hitting LCD's like the Sony X450 and the W400 series.
-Tends to "white" out when viewed from an angle.
-Color reproduction should have been near perfect but we noticed that it's blue color definition was a bit too strong. (Subjective)

Price:

I wanted to avoid the "price factor" for this impression but the Philips 42PFL9532 -  A 42 inch FULL HD LCD with some of it's features stated above, and it's good performance was only purchased for around 70k! Most LCD's now are priced higher than that and with lesser "steam" to boot.

We will definitely keep an extra eye on this one and I'm even thinking of selling my Sharp and Toshiba LCD's to buy it. New observations for you guys tomorrow when we test it further with more DVD's and Blu-Ray movies.

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Panasonic 32LX800
« Reply #15 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 09:08 AM »
Panasonic 32LX800
Oct 2008
Posted by Carlo777



Initial impressions

A friend of mine brought one from HK and invited me to test this new unit from Panasonic. Out of the box, 2 dead pixels too bad he's not covered by warranty. Since this is a grey unit, I don't know if sellers here will be offering you the same item( in terms of specs and features).

Picture quality:

Almost the same as LX80, a bit more refined but not really a significant leap over it's little brother. With 100mhz motion picture pro we noticed that stutters and blurs were cut to a bare minimum. Fired grand turismo for the ps3 and the motion was silky smooth, not that the LX80 was not smooth, but this was a bit clearer and cleaner. Compared to the PV8 (lower end panny plasma) this unit still did not achieve plasma black levels, but it's darn close.

Another advantage, I can see so far is the 1080p24 which was not available in the LX80 and could be found on the more expensive or cheaper plasma models (PV80,PV8,etc). Sound output is again very similar to the LX80. (not a sound buff and I don't crank up my volume so I would not know, this part of my observation will not be accurate)

Other features include, SD card slot and it looks like the high end PY800 which is nice. . If you were putting off buying a Pana LCD for the lack of 1080p capability, this is your answer, with a more refined picture to boot. A solid native 720p LCD (1366x768 resolution) and maybe the best HD-Ready 32 inch set currently available, but for the price parang mas ok ata mag PV8 or PV80 lalang kayo, unless LCD is your thing.

I did not really get to test it so much kasi we spent more time drooling over the new Hamman rims we got for our E90 Wink

One more thing according to the HK salesperson, the panel of this particular unit is MADE IN JAPAN. Ayan another plus, if that is truly an advantage. Anyway, he will visit my house later to test drive my PV80, kung mas maganda daw, he might buy sa SnS or sa T.W and may sell it. If ever, post ko lalang dito sa market place.

Question:

Will I buy one if I already have an LX80?

Answer:

YES! kung wala pa ako plasma Wink

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Pioneer Kuro PDP428XG
« Reply #16 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 09:42 AM »
Pioneer Kuro PDP428XG
Jan 2008
Posted by lithium_deuteride



Very happy with it. Japan built, exhudes class with the glossy plastic sidings. Fit and finish is beyond reproach. Weighty brushed-aluminum remote control adds a sense of quality.

Cable TV reception was disappointingly soft at first.  I expected that but not to such degree.  After about a month of usage, TV reception for some reason markedly improved in sharpness to the point that its now just a tick below what I'm used to with my CRT Sony Wega 25 incher.

Bluray playback is awesome. No you will not complain about resolution - it's plenty detailed.  Colors are rich and natural looking. I used to gawk at demo TV's in the malls but now that I'm used to the Kuro's picture, those demo TVs don't look so impressive anymore. You notice their shortcomings right away - the grayness of the blacks, the unatural colors, etc.  My first Bluray was the BBC HD documentary Planet Earth. I tell you, your jaws will drop and you'll be left praising the Lord for creating such a wonderful planet.

I'm playing Motorstorm, Rachet & Clank as well as a bunch of downloaded playable demo PS3 games.  No complaints-the games are real eye candies.  The manual tells you how to set the TV to prevent the dreaded screen burn and image retention issues.  Seems to work as I've not seen a hint of these problems.  BTW, the Metal Gear Solid Guns of the Patriots demos which so amazed me when played at 1080p on a 40" X-series Bravia looked merely good on the 428. Maybe games is one area where 1080p LCD is superior or maybe, my game mode settings just need to be optimized, I really don't know.

The well made on-screen menu looks to be a tweaker's delight but is much too complicated for the average joe. In my case, I tweaked the movie mode using settings I found on the net. The result was an easier on the eye naturalness that instantly became my default setting. This Saturday, the TV will be calibrated so there's a good chance its PQ, as good as it already is, may still improve.

Paul of Sights & Sound came over late this afternoon and calibrated the 428XG using the Spyder.  He was done in about 30 minutes.  He commented that the calibrated settings (saved in User mode) were very close to the TV's default setting under Optimum mode.  Some TV's daw are way off the D65 ideal but this one was almost spot-on out of the box.

How do I compare it to my Movie mode setting which I got from Pio 8G owners on AVS forum and which is my current favorite?  Paul's is obviously more colorful. Mas tuminkad yung colors with the general tint nudged closer to yellow compared to the AVS setting. Other than that, both have the same easy-on-the-eye presentation.  Which do I like better?  Of course I like the more colorful one but the jury's still out on which looks more natural.  I'll have to watch more Blurays before I can decide. Maybe I'll post some pics so you guys can decide which looks more natural.

Nevertheless, I would like to thank Sights & Sounds and Vic for delivering this great value added service. More power sir.

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Panasonic 42LZ80
« Reply #17 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 09:54 AM »
Panasonic 42LZ80
May 2009
Posted by Carlo777



Thank you! That saves me a lot of time, just a quick one for this unit, as far as I remember seeing it.

Pro's
+Very good blacks with a strong color defenition that is better than a Sammy A550
+One of the best response times on an LCD, near blur-free performance (Fast movies and games)
+Good viewing angles
+Well priced

Con's
-Minor picture noise (Can be fixed via P-NR/MPEG-NR options)
-Minor uneven lighting, which is present to a certain extent on all LCD's I've seen

Can't do a detailed review because I don't have the LZ80 and these observations were derived during a demo run. However, for it's price and performance, it's really hard not to put this unit on your LCD shopping list.

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Sony Bravia KLV-32V300A
« Reply #18 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 12:37 PM »
Sony Bravia KLV-32V300A
July 2007
Posted by meateater



I tried my best to have them lower the price without the freebies, pero ayaw talaga eh.
Well nag offer sakin yung sales nila na bilhin yung HT for 5k. Iyon lang hehe.
Anyway, since I had it for about a day I was finally able to tinker with it.

My findings (this is my first lcdtv so baka yung ibang points ko hindi valid)

Pros:
*Build quality is good.
*Gaming with xbox360 is really great. You can see all the eye candy.
*Can accept 1080p signal but downscaled back to 720p, tried this with xbox360 and it works.
*Standard tv viewing is decent, please note it is still below CRT quality, but comparing it with samsung
            r and s 81 series, and sharp BX series, I personally think it is better.
*Using VGA as a source (connected via laptop), 720p videos were good, even the lower quality videos that I downloaded
            played well. Comparing it with my computer LCD (samsung 940bw), I think the v300 is better.
*The audio source for the VGA is an earphone jack, so madali i-connect sa laptop or pc.
*Black levels are definitely better than my pc LCD.
*adjustable yung black levels (low medium high)
*there is an option to fix vcd / mpeg noise and it seems to work well
*Wireless headphones were very useful. The TV allotted a different volume setting for the headphone
            so you can mute your TV set and enjoy the sounds from the headphone.

Cons:
*Mapping the channels can be a pain as you have to put them in a certain order
       If you take out something in the middle, uurong lahat ng channels.
*I think the factory settings is a bit too bright for my liking
       medyo sumakit yung mata ko for the first 30 minutes of playing xbox
       might need the avia disc for this
*Speaker sound is so-so
       Comparing with my 4 year old sony sdtv, the older tv sounds better
       (my old tv has subwoofer on top of it built in, so maybe this is one of the reasons)
*Slow to channel surf when compared to my sdtv
*You insert the coaxial cable sa side. I personally did not like this, then again I guess
       they placed it there kasi pwede mo i-wall mount. But for people like me who place their
       TV on the ever trusty table feel ko masama tingnan.
*Need to add around 6999 pesos to avail of the home theater with dvd upscaler.
*Free wireless headphone seems very fragile. I dont think it will last very long.

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LG 3250FR
« Reply #19 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 12:48 PM »
LG 3250FR
Dec 2008
Posted by itoT


Ang may negative review po sa CNet Asia ay yung Scarlet 32LG60UR (50,000:1), medyo weak talaga sound... pero yung 32LG50FR Full HD (30,000:1) is fine with me. I like the sound better than my Samsung A450. Cable viewing is also neat. Sa design, mas astig A550 pero di ko alam performance. Issue about samsung:http://abcnews.com.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-ln46a550/4864-6482_7-32815315-2.html

My impression on 1st day of use of 32LG50FR Full HD...
What I love:
Intelligent sensor, it adjusts the picture base on available light
3 HDMI
as PC monitor, sharp and nice colors @ 1920x1080 (using a cheap intel little falls 2 + vga cable with ferrite core)
viewing angles
aesthetics, piano finished...can swivel
Bluray, Upscaled DVD, PS3, dload HD also good
free wall bracket
cheapest Full HD @30k

Negative:
PIP, no sound when I'm on PC mode and want to watch TV ( i read the manual and i can't seem to find how)
No PIP kapag naka TV ka tapos you wanna see other channels
Very simple settings...you can't even name the channels unlike in Samsung.

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Panasonic PV8
« Reply #20 on: Oct 06, 2009 at 12:53 PM »
Panasonic PV8
June 2008
Posted by raptor



Hi Guys,

This is my first foray into the flat panel technology.  I've finally replaced my 29-inch JVC Interiart after more than 10 years of service - still running pretty well without issues, but the new flat panel technologies have really overtaken crt by a long stretch, and the price of the new flat panels have really dropped within practical striking distance.  Hence I finally decided to get the 42PV8, based on reviews here and abroad, price, and also due to the influence of it's popular predecessor the 42PV70.

One of the worries that I have prior to purchasing a flat panel was the PQ on cable TV programming, since we're using it 70-80% of the time watching cable TV only. I've been reading comments that plasma or lcd TV has acceptable quality on cable TV, but never a comment that plasma or lcd is much better than crt on cable TV.  To add to my worries, my cable TV is probably the cheapest cable company in Metro Manila (Cablelink in Paranaque) - no choice because it is the only provider allowed in our condo. We'll, to those who have the same predicament, I would like to mention that even with the second rate cable TV connection that I have, the 42PV8 offers much much better PQ than my old CRT when viewing cable TV programming.

Here's my HT setup -

Panasonic 42PV8
Onkyo 702 AVR
Pioneer DV400 DVD upscaler (should have taken the DV600, I was not aware that this has no optical out -but very good PQ output)
Popcorn Hour A100 Network Media Tank (for my HD movies - 720p and 1080p)
Dali (front speakers)
Infinity (center speaker)
Bose (rear speakers)

Here's my take on the Panasonic 42PV8
1. Cable TV viewing - great, much much better than my old CRT TV
2. DVD viewing - superb, I was initially planning to get the Toshiba 37C3500, after seeing this side-by-side (no contest)
3. HD movies - I've tried several HD movies (Saving Private Ryan 720p, Raiders of the Lost Arc 1080p, others) and 1080p/720p demos of Philips and Samsung via my Popcorn Hour - this unit displays better quality than most displays from the big appliance shop. Blu-ray players and disks are still too pricey, if you want HD movies, an HTPC or a network media tank like the Popcorn Hour would deliver the same quality as the the BD players.
4. PC connection - as expected, picture quality is very good, text are crisps and defined - this is when connected to a laptop through VGA connector only ...those planning to hook this up to HTPC's would be impressed - I wouldn't use it though as a regular PC monitor - too big ...hehe
5. I've been hearing about the heat dissipated by the 42PV70 - the 42PV8 does not exhibit the same thing ... heat dissipation is almost similar to my old TV

I wanted to post pics for those who wants to see the PQ on cable TV, DVD, Popcorn Hour, and PC viewing, but I do not know how to set my camera properly so as not to display the black lines that appears on the screen or the blurred image when I try other setups.  If you want to see pics, please help me out on setting up the camera (i'm just a point and click photographer  Angry) ... I'm using a Sony DSC-H9 camera, it has plenty of presets and also has manual mode - please let me know the correct settings including the recommended room lighting ...thanks.

Offline iiinas

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #21 on: Oct 13, 2009 at 11:39 PM »
Samsung Series 6 LA-32A650A1R
February 2009
Posted by Killer_Truck


I have the same size and model and I am much very happy with it. Haven't tried it for gaming though but for DVD movies its much better compare to my sony 37" S series.

Pros: 1. Very good PQ
        2. Deeper black
        3. Built in USB port is a must for me because I loved to view pictures and play mp3 directly on it.
        4. There is like a touch screen control at the side(vol, channel, on/off and source) which is nice.

Cons: 1. Not very good sound coming from built in speaker
         2 . It accumulates lots of dust every second (maybe thats why there is a free microcloth inside the box)
         3. It runs hot  Huh

By the way, you can also check out the other 32er model of different brand like Sony W series and Panasonic lx800 like you mentioned. For  the LG's havent check them.

My suggestion buy it or better yet choose for a bigger size let say 40" series 6 also, here in my place(UAE) there is a promo now for 5,400 dirhams(dont know how to convert it to bahrain currency) for 40" + 22".

Cheers

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #22 on: Oct 19, 2009 at 11:27 AM »
Panasonic 42C10 Plasma
Posted by rj_roze
October 2009


Hi Guys,

I've been a lurker in this forum for many months, but this is my first post so pardon the lack of structure. I got the Panasonic 42c10 last September from SnS and just recently completed the 100 hour break-in.
I won't go very deep on my review as there has been countless of those already. Instead I'll just go with some of the issues that buyers seriously considering this model might be concerned.

1. Let's start with Screen Reflectivity as this seems to be the biggest feedback provided by others. Under normal lighting conditions (used this on my living room) it was no biggie really. Issue is only apparent during dark scenes (funny that I could clearly see my reflection during brief moments in which the TV is displaying a totally black picture).

2. I have not really noticed the infamous phosphor lag, my untrained eye probably is not good enough to notice it. I do notice judders when scenes are panned slowly. It’s really terrible, seems to be more noticeable on DVDs though.

3. Last issue I’d like to raise was color banding (not sure if this is the correct term, newbie). This is the ring like formation you notice around the sun, or the moon. The TV seems to be bad in reproducing subtle changes in color gradations. I have to admit that I have only tried using the TV on DVDs, not sure if the issue would be noticeable when viewing Hi-Def contents.

Over-all the issues I raised are not really deal breakers but rather imperfections that can be attributed to the TVs relatively low price point. I got mine at 40K so I’m not really complaining. For all the things you are getting, it’s really an amazing TV, totally a bang for our hard earned buck!

By the way I have been using the monitor as my primary HTPC display and it is just doing wonders. When using the TrueMotion feature of PowerDVD 9, the issues with panning judders are totally eliminated.

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #23 on: Nov 30, 2009 at 07:23 PM »
LG 32LH70YR
by Jason Saundalkar from ITP.net
Sept. 2009

http://www.itp.net/573747-lg-32lh70yr-scarlet/?tab=article


The 32LH70YR Scarlet LCD TV is one of LG's latest launches and right from the off, proved an awesome display device.

As it's part of the Scarlet lineup the screen is beautifully designed and thus won't look out of place in even the most expensively-appointed living rooms. Even the LCD's power button is something special to look at and, when pressed, gradually lights up in segments; a nice touch. The only change we'd make to this otherwise superb design would be to include side-mounted inputs; at the moment all the input ports, including the USB 2.0 port, are located on the screen's back.

In terms of features the LG is fully-fledged and offers useful options such as picture-in-picture (PIP) capabilities, different video viewing modes and Bluetooth support. The latter can be used to pair a Bluetooth headset with the TV so you can enjoy audio in private. Nifty.

Using the screen over a period of three weeks, we found it performed well no matter what we threw at it. On the gaming front the screen proved very responsive as it tackled even very fast paced games with no signs of motion blur. The same held true when watching fast-paced movies and in terms of colour vibrancy and detail, this Scarlet was fantastic. The screen also offers Full HD (1080p) content compatibility and because it offers three HDMI inputs as well as two Component inputs, you'll never have to worry about swapping HD sources.

Verdict

A beautifully designed screen that's more than capable on the performance front. It packs some great features too.

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #24 on: Dec 01, 2009 at 12:58 PM »
Panasonic Viera TX-P50X10
by Ian Morris from Cnet
Reviewed on: 13 February


http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/televisions/0,39030218,49301036,00.htm

You might think that a good TV has to boast a resolution of 1080p. After all, adverts and tech journalists have been telling you for ages that you must have a 'Full HD' television if you don't want people to laugh at you.

The truth is that 1080p is brilliant, but far from essential. If you're looking to save money but still want an impressively large TV, why not consider a 720p panel, but go for a slightly larger screen size? Panasonic thinks people might choose to go down this route, so its 50-inch Viera TX-P50X10B plasma TV, at a price of around £900, is designed for bargain hunters who want to fill their room with television.

Design

Despite its low cost, the TX-P50X10B is actually a very stylish-looking TV. In fact, when we got it out of the box, we thought it was a more expensive model. There is nothing about it that screams 'budget', and anyone putting one in their house is likely to be able to fool visitors into thinking it's a much more expensive TV.

There are clues to this TV's budget heritage though. For a start, the stickers that festoon the TV when you unpack it keep quiet on the display resolution. After some digging, we managed to find out that this screen has a 1,366x768-pixel resolution. You'll also notice that, at the rear, there is only a single pair of HDMI sockets, with a third on the side of the TV. Fewer HDMI inputs are a sure sign that some cost-cutting has taken place.

In terms of other connectivity, you get a pair of Scart inputs, component video in and RCA audio jacks for stereo input and output. There's no digital audio output -- another indication of cost-saving. On the side, you'll find VGA -- a more sensible position for this socket, frankly -- and analogue S-Video and composite inputs. There's also an SD card reader here, for viewing photos on your TV.

We were pleased to see that the front of the TV features a proper off switch. Apart from that, there isn't much to break up the design. The speakers are located underneath the TV, so fire downwards. That's good from a design perspective, but we usually have our doubts about the performance of such speakers.

The stylish TX-P50X10B looks like a more expensive set

The Panasonic remote hasn't changed significantly since the last time we reviewed one of the company's TVs. We have no complaints about the remote's style, though -- it's comfortable to hold and the buttons are laid out logically.

Features

The TX-P50X10B is light on amazing special features. It's a good, solid TV though, and we were especially taken with the simple-to-use menu system.

Plenty of thought has been put into the process of setting up the TV for first use. As soon as you plug the TV in, you're presented with the tuning screen, which hunts around for all the analogue and digital TV channels. After you've tuned everything in -- a process that takes about 5 minutes -- the TV will ask if it's in a shop or a home. The purpose of this is to set the TV to the appropriate brightness and contrast level. We always welcome settings like this, because there's nothing worse than a TV that comes set up for a bright shop environment.

Panasonic keeps its menu systems wonderfully simple. There aren't thousands of individual settings to tweak for each picture element. Some might think that's slightly limiting, but bear in mind that this is an entry-level TV, aimed at people who want to simplicity.

The TX-P50X10B also has some good Viera Link functionality, including the option to 'pause live TV', which can trigger recording on a Panasonic DVD recorder. That's handy if you've got all-Panasonic kit. Luckily, Viera Link can also talk to non-Panasonic equipment. For example, our Onkyo AV receiver was happy to accept orders from the TV. When we pressed the volume up/down key on the TV remote, the amp adjusted its volume (the TV mutes itself automatically when it detects an external amp).

There is also a single, convenient button to switch off any linking, or, in the case of an AV receiver, switch back to using the TV's speakers.

Performance

Let's start with sound quality. As we mentioned earlier, the TX-P50X10B has downwards-firing speakers. There wasn't any noticeable problem with the audio quality as a result of this. Dialogue from a selection of TV channels and material was decent enough. We weren't crazy about the overall sound quality though. In particular, music sounded weak, and we'd avoid watching action movies on this TV like the plague. We also noticed that, on HD movies with Dolby TrueHD, the TV lacked the power to deliver audio loudly enough. Such movies also sounded spongy.

That said, built-in speakers are rarely any good and we always advise that people invest in an external sound system. Trust us: if you're a film fan, you'll get much more out of the movie experience with good sound.

Freeview picture quality was good -- plenty of detail was recovered from the picture, and colours seemed fairly accurate. The TV also managed to do a good job of reducing the appearance of macro blocking and mosquito noise -- a side effect of over-compressed MPEG-2. In short, if you watch plenty of Freeview, this TV won't disappoint.

Looking at our HD DVD of Serenity, we were once again impressed. At the start of the movie, when the Universal logo and the spaceships appear, we noted excellent blacks. Close inspection of the halos around the sun did indicate that there was some solarising on bright objects. This is a plasma trait that's pretty much disappeared on more expensive TVs, but, on this budget model, the results are visible. It's not anything to worry about, however, and, at normal viewing distances, you won't notice it.

Conclusion

There were times when we noticed that the Panasonic Viera TX-P50X10B's picture looked less detailed than 1080p sets we've tested. That said, most people simply won't be able to tell. Panasonic has produced a sturdy, well-priced TV that offers plenty of value for money and looks the part too. If you can afford it, go for a 1080p television, but, if you're on a budget, the TX-P50X10B will suit you perfectly.

Edited by Charles Kloet



« Last Edit: Dec 07, 2009 at 11:54 AM by iiinas »

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #25 on: Dec 07, 2009 at 11:57 AM »
Panasonic Full HD Plasma 50G15
Posted by Munskie
December 2009



For your information, the Panasonic G15 series uses the same plasma panel as the G10, the only difference is the slimmer casing of the G15.


Plus
-Superb Black Level Performance
-Stunning detail in highdef sources, nmt or bluray.
-Natural color rendition in movies, especially in THX mode.
-Superb gaming mode.   With this 1080p model, I get the digitize look I see in LCD sets in terms of gaming, minus the eyestrain.  (I have a 32in LG LH20R, tried gaming with it, and my eyes gets strained a lot.)
-Decent enough SD cable reception.   Same as my previous panel.   Considered going Cignal HD, but went against it. Few HD channels, some are just upconverted, and some in wrong aspect ratio.   
-Decreased screen reflectivity compared to my previous bedroom panel (Hitachi 9500), and it helps that our panel faces a wall.

Minus
-Very Thin sounding internal speakers.   This panel will be used with the intention that it will not be paired with a HT audio system, I have a separate HT room for that.   Though I knew this was a weakness beforehand, I thought it would just be at par with my previous panel, but no.  Just didnt cut it.   Even the wife was complaining of the sound, when all shes watching was those local telenobelas.   The Polk surroundbar SDA solved the problem for me (Was impressed with this instant home theater).
-Ive read other reviews that it is still susceptible to green phospor lags.  Thank God, I dont have the eye to see them (so might as well, a breakeven for me).

Overall, Im pretty impressed with this unit.  I was in HK last week, and did my comparisons between the G, S and C series.  Without looking at the G, the S and C series are very good on their own.  Its just that the G series is on another level of its own.

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #26 on: Dec 07, 2009 at 11:59 AM »
LG 32LH70
Posted by Carlo777
December 2009


Dvd performance:

Using a Pioneer DV-600 connected via HDMI and set to 1080p, the LH70 gave us an average performance for DVD. Watching the movie "The Day After Tomorrow", the model gave off fair color tones and was marred by being a bit on the bright side. The LH70, however, handled fast action scenes from movies like the "Transformers" without a hitch! On lesser units, these fast moving scenes will display motion blur and very mild pixelation - The LH70 had none of those issues.

Blu-Ray:

This is where the LH70 trumps! I tested the LG with the movie "Dark Knight" and it was a grand performance. Dark scenes were rendered with minimal screen unevenness and cloudings were kept to a minimum (I saw another unit with heavy cloudings, but it seems to be confined to particular sets). Chase scenes were well done with no signs of the LH70 trying to play catch up with these extremely fast moments.

PS3:

LCD remains my choice for digital games and the LH70 was sweet all the way. Displaying 1080p native games like Metal Gear with crisp and vibrant graphics. No hints of ghosting and input response times were felt or seen during the demo.

Pro's
+Great high definition performance (Blu-Ray)
+Fast response time
+Stylish looks
+Good stock sound system
+Great for digital games

Con's
-Fair, just fair dvd performance even though the unit is at full 1080p
-Overly bright and certain colors come off as dull

Offline Lotur

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #27 on: Dec 23, 2009 at 07:54 PM »
Panasonic 50C10 Plasma Photo Review
Part 1
by Lotur


More of a photo review since im no TV techie ;)


50C10 Panasonic Plasma bound to replace my Samsung LA32R81 LCD


Installed and in place, thanks to Dom of Pdvd for the great customer service


Went with dynamic mode during the tests but returned to normal mode shortly to begin my break in period

Blu Ray
Holy cow, the movie grain PQ is superb

The black levels are unlike what the R81 can offer







DVD
Looks great at 720p, the vibrant colors, sharpness and contrast meshes wonderfully well and non-eye straining






tests to be continued (prolly games and movie downloads next)
« Last Edit: Dec 29, 2009 at 07:53 PM by iiinas »

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #28 on: Dec 24, 2009 at 02:04 PM »
Panasonic 50C10 Photo Review
Part2
by Lotur


Howdy peeps!
As promised here is the rest of the 50C10 photo review
Admittedly i was intimated by the 50-inch screen at the beginning ;D had to tone down the contrast during dynamic mode before settling down to a suitable viewing distance to get shots

PS3



Resident Evil 4
TO be honest i miss the zombie, suspense-filled gameplay of the original, but then again i think Capcom did a very good job reinventing the series.


MGS 4
Solid Snake's last hurrah :)





Tekken 6
My fave fighting game of all time ;D
This was the very reason i bought a PS3 :agree:













NBA 2K10
Random game between the Rockets and the Knicks
Yao benched to avoid another injury :rofl:












Street Fighter 4
Whenever i play SF i remember the good old days back in Reeno's Megamall B LG. We made a daily trek after class just to satiate our fighting game hunger lol































Pacquiao v Cotto (HD download)
Wapakman LOL


Idol Manny being interview by HBO




Cotto... dayum Pac bust him up real bad





Thats it for my photo review, as with most the tech reviews made by our experts i have to really agree with them.
Outside the reflectivity issues this TV is a must have for any Plasma lover.

Will prepare another photoshoot batch once my break in period is complete.
Thanks for viewing and Merry Xmas everyone! :)
« Last Edit: Dec 29, 2009 at 08:01 PM by iiinas »

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Re: Flat Panel Reviews Thread
« Reply #29 on: Jan 21, 2010 at 08:55 AM »
Toshiba 42RV600
January 2010
Posted by Carlo777


Dvd/Blu-ray performance:

We tested the RV600 via the old pioneer DV610v and set the resolution to output at 1080p. Playing the movie "Armageddon", we noticed that the RV600 brings out very fine colors for an LCD not coming from a brand that is very popular around PDVD. Colors were vibrant without being overbearing, and again for an LCD, this unit is not as flashy bright as Samsung, and may I dare say, it even betters the Panasonic LCD's like the C10 and the older LZ80 in the area of over-all picture definition.

Blu-ray experience is also something to write home about, as details were crisp and clear. However, just like the older Toshiba models (AV500 and the CV500), the RV600 displays a measure of motion blur during fast moving scenes. On the flip side though, if you're watching from 6 feet and above, you'd hardly notice the issue.

Screen uniformity is as expected from an LCD, with minor clouding on the upper left hand corner of the model (This may be unit specific). Back-light bleed however, is very difficult to detect and that in itself, is a welcomed performance.

PS3:

Playing the 1080p native game "Metal Gear" on the RV600 gave us punchy graphics, and vibrant colors. Input response time was not an issue, so the T.V may just be as fast as your reflexes! My only gripe with the RV600, again, would be minor motion blurs - Esp when you play FPS games like "Resistance".

So far, the RV600 is shaping up to be very good alternative for those who wish to check out other brands aside from the heavy gunners we have here...

Media player:

Testing movies on the WD Media Player, RV600 still displays crisp and punchy images, colors rendition is one of this Toshiba's strongest points! Motion blur is still quite noticeable during fast scenes, however, just as I said... you'd have to be really nit picky and very close to the unit to even make it a bugbear.

Pro's
+Good blacks
+Very good color rendition
+Quad HDMI terminals
+Good SRS Stock sound system

Con's
-Motion blur on fast scenes
-Mild screen unevenness

Conclusion:

Toshiba is not a very popular brand around PinoyDVD, but the RV600 with it's bells and whistles coupled with a very credible performance makes it a very strong contender in the 42 inch FULL HD size market! I've done a number of reviews in the past, and I do count this unit as a part of my list of recomended T.V's.