Panasonic G15 (or S1) vs Samsung LNB650

[Odin75]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum. Have been a visitor for a long time, but just recently created an account.

So, I did a search around google and here, and didn't quite found the answer I was looking for. I'm trying to decide between the Panasonic G15 (Plasma), and the Samsung LNB650 (LCD). This is going to replace a Westinghouse LVM-37w3se. As you can see on my HT Gallery, it will be used in a HTPC setup. The main reasons I want to replace this screen is because it has bad viewing angles, bad black levels, and motion blur. The viewing angles are not bad sideways, but up and down, which in return mess up the black levels. The motion blur is somewhat obvious, but I notice it more in moving text, there this text feels like it stuttering.

I went to my local stores, after reading the reviews of the G10 (thicker G15) and the LNB650. The first thing that threw me off, was that blacks on the G10 looked gray in all 3 stores I visited. All the reviews I read indicate the G10 has super deep black levels, but when I saw it in person, it was dark gray at best. Aside from that, the brightness was a bit too dim. Perfect for up-close PC usage, but too low for movie watching. I suppose bringing the brightness up is going to mess the blacks even more. I was so shocked that I even went to see the Kuro Elite just for comparison, and while better, the blacks look like an over washed tuxedo.

However, when I looked at the LNB650, those blacks were so deep that it blended right with the frame. I did notice what the reviews say, that the black tend to lean towards blue, but I only noticed this while watching it side-by-side against the S1. By itself is not visible at all, and I feel this can be helped a little by calibrating it somewhat. I understand that nothing in real life looks so deep, because even closing my eyes doesn't reach the level of deepness that screen has (weird uh?), but I assume that if it can do that extreme, it can do the lighter shades with ease. Sorry if I sound a little biased, but that's the deepest black I have seen in my life, not even my piano black PS3 looks so deep.

I was glad to see that neither the G10 nor the LNB650 suffered from viewing angles problems. The Samsung impressed me, because I went hoping for the color to get washed out, but it didn't. The G10 of course doesn't have that problem for being a plasma, and watching it at extreme angles looked just as good.

Unfortunately, they didn't have many commercials with text, so it was hard to judge motion blur. I saw a Panasonic LCD that had a blu-ray with some text, and it looks horrible. The text looked like it was having a seizure, that's how shaky it was. Maybe it was a 60h LCD, I don't know. The G10 had a commercial playing which I'm familiar with, and the motion was very smooth. It did reminded me of the CRT we have in the living room, but not as good. The LNB650 did pretty good too. It sucks that they didn't have text commercials playing, so I could compare motion blur between them.

I care about the Input Lag as well, but I plan to use them in Game Mode for that. My current Westinghouse was no lag at all, so I expect similar performance from this newer models.
Also, I do enjoy the look of Auto Motion Plus, before any of you asks.

So as you can see, I'm really trying to like the G10/S1, but I can't. The price is perfect, because I'm looking for something in the 50" range for no more than $1,300 shipped. The 54" S1 special in Sears is amazing, considering I don't like how deem THX looks on the G10, and I can calibrate it using Cnet or D-Nice settings. The Samsung has a 46", that while not ideal, is better than the 55" that I can't afford.
I'm almost considering getting the 54" S1 from Sears, and then return it if I don't like it. I'm just trying to understand why it looks so difference when I look at it at the store, as oppose to pictures in this forum.

I'll post some video later today, from footage I took in my quest, to show what I mean. I'm really hoping you guys can prove the video wrong, and the blacks are not that gray, because I'm really trying to like the S1/G10.

Thanks for reading, and sorry for the long post.

(If this is not the place, sorry, and can you move it?)