Upgrading from LCD to Plasma

[ewsjr]

Yea, you will be more than pleasantly surprised with the increase in PQ AND the way better angle of view. I have an ISF calibrated (I highly recommend getting this done) 65" Panasonic plasma in my HT and everyone is floored when they watch a movie for the first time. I did have a very nice 65" Toshiba RPTV (still looks amazing in my brother's living room) which many feel has the best PQ of any display type. But I am truly amazed at how great things look on the plasma. I just bought a 42" Panasonic ST30 plasma for my living room and it, too, looks fantastic even without the calibration. My only advice would be sure to check the size you buy. If you can afford bigger, do it. You will thank yourself in the long run.

[giosipiano]

Originally Posted by Sonny

That's terrible....it really is. You think they would be MORE than happy to show you what a display can do?!?!?! That's a shame, all those different places & nobody "helped" you (that's what they are there for!!!). What's the deal with the employees??? Reminds me of a time in the early 80's when I went with my grandfather to buy a car. We pull up everyone looks at us in a rusted out old dodge, all the sales people saw us and looked the other way... After an hour or so, a new sales person came into work & asked if we were being helped, my grandfather said "we are now" & bought four cars (cash). You should of seen the faces of the sales people that passed us by. You just never know. I'd get rid of everyone who passed you by & hire people that care & enjoy having a job...

Most of the 'assistants' I've seen either can't be bothered, or don't know what their talking about (sometimes a bit of both lol). For example, last week I was in Richersounds and overheard a customer with an assistant looking at a Sharp LED TV. The store was displaying a BBC News feed (which is NOT available in HD). The customer asked the assistant if what he was watching was 'HD', to which the assistant replied "yes" . Instant 'facepalm', and I almost walked out. But unfortunately this seems to be the case with most of the major retailers

Great story BTW

Originally Posted by ewsjr

Yea, you will be more than pleasantly surprised with the increase in PQ AND the way better angle of view. I have an ISF calibrated (I highly recommend getting this done) 65" Panasonic plasma in my HT and everyone is floored when they watch a movie for the first time. I did have a very nice 65" Toshiba RPTV (still looks amazing in my brother's living room) which many feel has the best PQ of any display type. But I am truly amazed at how great things look on the plasma. I just bought a 42" Panasonic ST30 plasma for my living room and it, too, looks fantastic even without the calibration. My only advice would be sure to check the size you buy. If you can afford bigger, do it. You will thank yourself in the long run.

Unfortunately 42" is the absolute largest for the room I have it in because of all the furniture .

But thanks for the advice

[Cooley]

I have nothing to add to above kind advices. My input is when you get to the showrooms and the salesperson shows you LCD LED this and that, stay firm with plasma and don't be swayed.

The color is more vibrant from LED alright, but the problem (at least to me) is it is too sharp - ironic that its strength is my dealbreaker. To elaborate, I once saw Avatar Blu-Ray on a top LED TV demo, it is VERY sharp, so sharp that you can tell when the Princess and Jake Sully were flying with their Banshees, the whole flying imageries were pasted by CGI technique onto the Hallelujah Mountain background. It virtually discounted the entertainment.

Plasma blends them much more naturally.

That said, you may want to contemplate 3D plasma to make it 'future-proof', at least for a while...who knows, there would be 4k 3D plasma and LED some time later.

[giosipiano]

Originally Posted by Cooley

I have nothing to add to above kind advices. My input is when you get to the showrooms and the salesperson shows you LCD LED this and that, stay firm with plasma and don't be swayed.

The color is more vibrant from LED alright, but the problem (at least to me) is it is too sharp - ironic that its strength is my dealbreaker. To elaborate, I once saw Avatar Blu-Ray on a top LED TV demo, it is VERY sharp, so sharp that you can tell when the Princess and Jake Sully were flying with their Banshees, the whole flying imageries were pasted by CGI technique onto the Hallelujah Mountain background. It virtually discounted the entertainment.

Plasma blends them much more naturally.

That said, you may want to contemplate 3D plasma to make it 'future-proof', at least for a while...who knows, there would be 4k 3D plasma and LED some time later.

Thanks for the reply

Completely agree about the LCD/LED TVs - the image has a kind of 'fake' look to it, which a lot of people actually like. I'm going for Plasma because I'm after a more realistic/film-like image. Although I have an LCD at the moment, I've turned the contrast & backlight right down, and turned off all the so-called 'enhancements'.

With regards to 3D, I'm just not interested in it. I've seen plenty of 3D demo's (mainly Avatar) but haven't been all that impressed to be honest. And apart from that it hurts my eyes .

[giosipiano]

Finally decided to go with the Panasonic VT20.

Ordered it today, and will be picking it up tomorrow from Richer Sounds.

Can't wait to watch Blade Runner....

Thanks everyone for your input