Plasma Screen TVs - What to look for?

[pacmania_2001]

My parents are looking at buying a plasma screen TV, probably about 42" or so in size.

What are things to look out for when buying one of these in terms of things to avoid and things that I should look for?

What about other technologies like DLP, LCD etc?

[offline]

Brand name. SONY

[BJ_M]

sony has not very good picture and is way over priced in plasmas .. in fact pretty middle low of the pack in quality of image .. sony plasmas also have not been selling very well except by name ..

a DLP rear screen can look much better - but issues of rainbow effect and replacing bulbs now and then (plus size) turn some off ..

LCD do not display blacks well - end of story, but they are VERY bright .

i would say i would have to agree with this review pretty close as to order of quality ... i would rate the viewsonic a little higher as good bang for the buck ..
AWAI is really owned by sony and are crap ..
Dell W4200HD is also a very good buy and was not reviewed there -- the price you can buy those at is really good ...

http://reviews.cnet.com/4521-6531_7-5021476-3.html


also read this

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-8900_7-5120008-1.html

a note about ED vs. HD plasma - in reality , unless all you watch is HD , in many cases there is not alot of dif in picture quality and in both cases -- ordinary cable looks pretty bad at times (a lot of the time on HD - common problem)

[pacmania_2001]

Whats LG and Samsung like for quality?

[BJ_M]

so so to good -- samsung is great for image quality but known at times to have reliability problems --

i own a lot of samsung HD stuff though and never had a problem (HD DVD PLAYER , DLP rear screen) , i also have a chinese built HDTV CRT system branded as ADVENT -- never any problems with it either ..

LG (GOLDSTAR) started out being crap many years ago and is now real good stuff - so i hear , no persoanl experiance . they make nice fridges though .. good value it seems ..

i

[flaninacupboard]

Wait for SED if quality is a real concern.

[offline]

sony has not very good picture and is way over priced in plasmas .. in fact pretty middle low of the pack in quality of image .. sony plasmas also have not been selling very well except by name ..

All plasma screens are built by
three companies: Panasonic, Pioneer, and NEC.
All other companies currently buy their screen stock from them.

Samsung and Lucky Goldstar (Zenith/LG) have set up plasma factories
in South Korea but they are not producing much - both still
buying from the big three.

Most Plasma TV's on the market are 8 bit only (256 shades of brightness)
which is why you see in-store displays showing nice crisp primary
color video like cartoons or bright landscapes. Looks
great until you take it home and see the splotchy mess that many
DVD's and most tv shows look like on low end plasma's. New plasmas
are 10-bit (1024 shades) and have other alterations to improve
black levels (plasma being poor with dark scenes)

The most important part, however, in a plasma is the internal scaler.
This is the device that fits say DVD resolution 720x576 to a 1024p to
an HD display. Now a top of the line external scaler can cost $ 8,000 AUS
while a mid range can set you back $2,000 - $3,000 AUS. The inbuilt
scalers currently used are mostly alcheapo crap even on the +$30,000
AUS high end displays.

Now BJ_M rates the Sony poorly. I steer away from many Sony
products as a rule but the Sony has the best "average" picture
on the market imho. By average I mean when watching TV.
Sure, the casing looks crappy compared to the space aged silver
LG offering, but the picture is a third better imho. Yes sales are
poor but this is due to pricing strategies and value adding by
LG, Samsung and others.

Go take your own DVD (something with lots of dark shades)
and check it out for yourself. Remember, there are 200 million
plus Americans that used to swear NTSC was better than PAL.
Some still do

BTW Plasma prices should drop mid next year with a 52inch selling
for what a 42inch gets now. Wait and compare with liquid silicon technology and the new LCD's, or buy then.

[pyrate83]

Plasma's can have serious burn-in on the picture man.

[BJ_M]

Fujitsu - Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sampo, BenQ Samsung and Lucky Goldstar all have plants ..

Sony makes thier own guts, but uses NEC glass ..

NEC plasma was just bought by Pioneer. Sony may switch to Fujitsu - Hitachi (they use some now but)

Fujitsu - Hitachi is a joint venture plant , also not latest tech. some say ..

Toshiba - Toshiba rebadges Panasonic's screens and internal processing components.

Sharp - While Sharp makes some changes to internal components, their plasma TVs are essential repackaged Pioneers.

Runco - Runco's 50" plasma display comes from Pioneer and its 42" plasma display comes from NEC, though Runco may make some modifications to both displays.

Marantz - NEC is the OEM for Marantz's 42", 50", and 61" plasma monitors.

ViewSonic - The OEM of ViewSonic's 50" plasma screen is Pioneer. The OEM for its 42" plasma screen is more than likely a Hitachi.

Gateway - Gateway's 42" and 50" plasma TVs (both the regular and Ultra Bright models) are re-badged Sampo displays. For the 46" they use BenQ as the OEM.

Philips - Philips uses Fujitsu/ Hitachi glass screen and most internal components as well. However, Philips makes its own bezel with built in speakers.

I have never seen a good quality picture on a sony plasma display .. any generation . but I am not a big fan of ANY plasma anyway .. I would never buy one... i have spec'd and we have installed 100' and 100's of these things ..

I DO like a LOT of other products from Sony , they also do not make any of thier LCD s' either btw (all from samsung)

[BJ_M]

"Plasma" was invented at the U. of Illinois in the mid sixties’ by Professors Donald Bitzer and Gene Slottow..

Today the US has three very small plasma companies: Plasmaco in upper NY State, now fully owned by Matsushita, and the two manufacturers in Ohio, ElectroPlasma, making small monochrome plasmas part of the year, and Photonics Systems, which has become a VAR plasma supplier.

Orion, out of Daewoo says it will build a plant but it now owned by BENQ (hyundi) aready ..

Sanyo and toshiba also plan to build a plant in china (already making about 3000 units a month in a i guess a pilot project)

[pacmania_2001]

Is Pioneer a good brand?

I'm now looking at one that retails for $7999AUS, managed to knock them down so far to $6200AUS from a few phone calls so it seems the margin must be pretty good on these things. I have a feeling cost is about $6000.

[pyrate83]

Seems like a decent price but for $6K it better be like 60 in. Pioneer must be a good brand since TechTV used it in their digital digs sweepstakes. Consumer Reports rates Panasonic and Philips as the top HD brands. One is $5k and the other $4k but only 42in. screens.

[Jester700]

I looked at plasmas last year before deciding it was still too pricey. But at THAT time, Panasonic was accepted by many as the best in black levels and dark gray gradations - an issue with plasmas. I expect many others have closed the gap or even surpassed Panasonic since then, but maybe not.

I HAVE seen a Panny 42" plasma for $2100-ish. I was considering it. But I think we'll go with that cheap Sam's club 55" Akai for now. In a couple years, I expect the 7" deep DLPs will only be a couple grand, and then we'll pick one up.

[ViRaL1]

The AKAI is actually a rebadged Samsung. There are forums out there (maybe even here, haven't looked) that have info on how to tweak your AKAI 42" to get the same picture quality as the more expensive Samsung branded model.

EDIT: I'm not 100% certain about the 55", but the 42" is definitely a Samsung.

[offline]

The Pioneer PDP-434HDE (rrp AUS $8,999)
is the best all rounder at the moment plus
it has a High Def Digital interface.

If I was buying a 42" Plasma TV right now I'd go
for it.

PS:

Don't forget to leave $600-$1200 if needing a wall mount.

[tweedledee]

All plasma screens are built by
three companies: Panasonic, Pioneer, and NEC.
All other companies currently buy their screen stock from them.

Fujitsu - Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sampo, BenQ Samsung and Lucky Goldstar all have plants ..

Does this mean one of these statements is incorrect? or do these companies buy from the "big Three"

[Hardcoreruss]

A good model is the Panny PWD7, display only but if you are using satellite you dont need to spend the extra on a tuner.

[BJ_M]

All plasma screens are built by
three companies: Panasonic, Pioneer, and NEC.
All other companies currently buy their screen stock from them.

Fujitsu - Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sampo, BenQ Samsung and Lucky Goldstar all have plants ..

Does this mean one of these statements is incorrect? or do these companies buy from the "big Three"

my information is correct -- i do a lot of work with NEC and get their newsletters and such and for confirmation i double checked on various Asian manufact. associations websites ...

[BJ_M]

The Pioneer PDP-434HDE (rrp AUS $8,999)
is the best all rounder at the moment plus
it has a High Def Digital interface.

If I was buying a 42" Plasma TV right now I'd go
for it.

PS:

Don't forget to leave $600-$1200 if needing a wall mount.

i agree -- that is one of the nicest looking units ...

to bad on the price in AUS though !! It is $3500 in USA and cost is around $3100 (cost on electronics like this are very hard to say with precision as there is ad back $$ , coop $$, manu. rebates , spiffs, etc - in the retail market.. also what level you buy at) ..

The wall mount for it (like a chief) is $300 us (SRP)

Down Under must be getting hammered bad on pricing ..

[BJ_M]

seems in canada we are getting shafted also - as they are $5999 CND at futureshop.ca

lot of USA retailers are selling them in the 4-4800$ range ..

[yoda313]

seems in canada we are getting shafted also - as they are $5999 CND at futureshop.ca

lot of USA retailers are selling them in the 4-4800$ range ..

Hello,



Come on and move to the good ol USA Where the prices are right

Kevin

[BJ_M]

right for what ?

[pacmania_2001]

Well my parents ended up going for a Samsung after all my work screwing over retailers for the Pioneer.

It's not too bad a unit, only standard resolution, not high definition. Not too bad for the price though.

[BJ_M]

Isnt that the way it always goes with parents ?

They do that with me on cars/trucks all the time .. i spend a week getting them the best deal on a good model (via long distance) and they go and buy something completely different ..

[BJ_M]

on the BBC this morning they are saying that Sony may pull out of plasma altogether.



The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said Sony, the world's number two plasma TV maker behind Matsushita, owner of Panasonic, and ahead of third-largest Hitachi, would exit the plasma business as early as the spring of 2005.

Sony responded with a statement that while it would concentrate on LCD screens, it had no plans to pull out of plasma.

Electronics analyst Kazuya Yamamoto said it was difficult for Sony to make a profit out of plasma screens.

"Because Sony relies 100% on others for its panels, it has little room to lower costs," he said.

Sony's overall television division posted a loss of 6.1bn yen ($58.64m: £30.2m) in the three months to 30 September.

Analysts say Sony would be better off sticking to rival technology LCD.

With plasma and LCD competing to be the most popular flat television technology, plasma currently has the advantage in that its screens can be made significantly larger.

Yet Sharp, one of Sony's television rivals, is already concentrating on LCD screens in the belief it will eventually be able to produce models as large as those using plasma technology.

[BJ_M]

Sony LCD is made by Samsung ... so Sony relies on someone else there also ..

[LSchafroth]

I have yet to see a Plasma display that looked good. I can see the pixelation on them at a close rang and evan from 20 feet.

Myabe I've never seen one with HD, but if most of the channels are standard broadcast, then they are not a good solution.

The projector DLP based sets always look much better.

LS

[Jester700]

The AKAI is actually a rebadged Samsung. There are forums out there (maybe even here, haven't looked) that have info on how to tweak your AKAI 42" to get the same picture quality as the more expensive Samsung branded model.

EDIT: I'm not 100% certain about the 55", but the 42" is definitely a Samsung.

Yeah, so is the 55". That's one of the reasons I'm leaning that way. It won't win any awards, but $1300 for a 55" screen is too good to pass up...

[pyrate83]

Sony LCD is made by Samsung ... so Sony relies on someone else there also ..

I thought it was the other way around that Samsung relied on Sony's parts to make their LCD's.

[BJ_M]

nope