I currently have a sony 40v2500 and am looking to upgrade to a 46". I am stuck between the Samsung LN46A550 and the Panasonic 46pz80u. I can get either at roughly the same price. My usage will be 50% tv with majority hd, 25% movies, 25% gaming. The room it is going in stays pretty dark so reflections shouldn't be much of an issue. Any suggestions to sway me one way or the other?

Thanks in advance.

Any advice or suggestions at all?

You should have made an anonymous poll....the reason why people are reluctant to give their recommendation is because if they say Panny then someone will accuse them of bashing Samsung and vice versa. Having said that..personally I would choose the 46PZ80U.;)

Heres one for ya, choose the one you think looks the best!....However, I have the 46a550 and love it, HEY joemama, mines better..lol jk

I'm personally biased towards plasmas, so I have to give a nod to the Panasonic.

If you have a bright room with glare issues than the Samsung is going to compete with the ambient light better and give almost no glare on the matte sceen.

However, if you can somewhat control the lighting in the room I'd go with the Panasonic in a heartbeat. The Panasonic is going to have better black levels than the Samsung. It will also have shadow detail than the Samsung in dark scenes. A plasma is going to have a much better response time than an lcd, so fast motion is going to be less blurry and you will get no ghosting whatsoever. IMO the Panasonic's colors will be better saturated and deeper.

The Sammy is a nice lcd and at it's price point I really don't think there are any other lcds that are a better value, but like I said I'm a plasma guy.....

I'm personally biased towards plasmas, so I have to give a nod to the Panasonic.

If you have a bright room with glare issues than the Samsung is going to compete with the ambient light better and give almost no glare on the matte sceen.

However, if you can somewhat control the lighting in the room I'd go with the Panasonic in a heartbeat. The Panasonic is going to have better black levels than the Samsung. It will also have shadow detail than the Samsung in dark scenes. A plasma is going to have a much better response time than an lcd, so fast motion is going to be less blurry and you will get no ghosting whatsoever. IMO the Panasonic's colors will be better saturated and deeper.

The Sammy is a nice lcd and at it's price point I really don't think there are any other lcds that are a better value, but like I said I'm a plasma guy.....

Hmm... I don't want to come across as arrogant but... this is why you have to take suggestions with a grain of salt. People that have never even seen the tv's being compared decide to jump right in and say that one thing is better than the other. How do I know you've never seen the Samsung? Because it has a high gloss screen, and isn't exactly amazing when it comes to handling glare. That's not to say that it is as bad as a plasma screen, but it's darn close.

You say that the Panny will have better colors and saturation? How can you compare something that you've never seen lol?

Better shadow detail? You should really get out and take a peek!! After calibration, the Samsungs are being boasted as the best lcd panel to date, and is drawing comparisons to the best panel, the Kuros. I personally feel it's a rather bold statement, and may be a little overambitious, but just the fact that it's even drawing a comparison like that says a lot. I've seen the Pannys, and while they are nice set for the money, I wouldn't buy one. If I didn't have the dough to get an Elite, I'd buy an lcd, and Samsung is king of the hill (for now atleast).

The only thing that you said that is true is that is you're a plasma guy, and that you're biased lol.

When I first set out to get a tv I was actually dead set that I would be getting the panasonic. Then after looking in the stores the samsung really stood out. I'm hesitant to take what I saw in the store as gospel though seeing as how it will look different in my space and also once it is calibrated. After reading lots of threads I was leaning towards a plasma but I have also read threads and reviews of the pz85u that talk about a lot of noise in the picture. So thats my dilemma. I don't want to feel like I'm giving up a great picture by going lcd but I also don't want to get the plasma and be frustrated by noise in the picture. Anyway just sharing some of my thought process. Thanks for the comments so far.

You won't be sacrificing PQ by going with an lcd. People use that against lcd's because when they are in stores for demoing, they are set to torch mode and look absolutely horrible. I have a 71 series (ISF calibrated) and I used to post pictures of images on the net without mentioning that it was an lcd. People would ask me if it was Kuros all the time, I would never respond. When I did respond, right away the plasma fanboys would start critiquing. Keep in mind, I am not saying that my pq is that of a pioneer, but it's darn close after calibration.

As for viewing angles. You can watch an lcd at 140-150 degrees before you start to see any difference in the image. So you can throw that old misconception that plasma fan boys throw at you.

Like I said, if you aren't buying a Pioneer, buy the lcd.

Hmm... I don't want to come across as arrogant but... this is why you have to take suggestions with a grain of salt. People that have never even seen the tv's being compared decide to jump right in and say that one thing is better than the other. How do I know you've never seen the Samsung? Because it has a high gloss screen, and isn't exactly amazing when it comes to handling glare. That's not to say that it is as bad as a plasma screen, but it's darn close.

You say that the Panny will have better colors and saturation? How can you compare something that you've never seen lol?

Better shadow detail? You should really get out and take a peek!! After calibration, the Samsungs are being boasted as the best lcd panel to date, and is drawing comparisons to the best panel, the Kuros. I personally feel it's a rather bold statement, and may be a little overambitious, but just the fact that it's even drawing a comparison like that says a lot. I've seen the Pannys, and while they are nice set for the money, I wouldn't buy one. If I didn't have the dough to get an Elite, I'd buy an lcd, and Samsung is king of the hill (for now atleast).

The only thing that you said that is true is that is you're a plasma guy, and that you're biased lol.

UM, what are you talking about, are you kidding me? Are you are thinking of a different model, I am currently sitting in front of my 46a550 and theres no glare, at all, its not high gloss at all, in fact it has a matte layer on it, and handles reflections Fantastically, or should I say "amazingly"(as in there are NO reflections) perhaps you are thinking of the 650/750?

Now I dont want to come of sounding like im a tv fanboy or something, just simply want to understand why you would give false info

I misread the title!!! Whooooooops, thought it said 650, and I actually was referring to PeeJay, which I was wrong to a degree too!! SORRY!

Get the Panny!
When trying to decide whether to get a plasma or an LCd a good rule of thumb is:
If you plan on watching the TV go plasma.

No Prob Lcj, thats what I figured, hard to keep em all straight with 5 different models, crazy ass Samsung

Based on what I've seen available and what my research/finances allows, I'm having this same thought go on in my head. I tell myself that LCD is the safe choice (I know, unfounded fears perhaps at this point) then I go in to window shop again and I see the colors on the Panasonic and fall in love all over. It's difficult to decide when you don't know how they'll look at home. As someone else pointed out, one item I don't like about the LCD in the store is how bright it seems but someone pointed out they usually have them on torch mode (I'm assuming this means they just crank up the brightness?)

We watch a lot of movies and sports here in our basement (either set will be hooked up to HD cable and a ps3) and a few other network/HGTV/TLC shows which apparently have HD channels as well.

At this point, I've almost come to the conclusion that I will enjoy either TV. Both have received quite a few good reviews. Perhaps one TV may work better for some shows, and the other TV in alternate situations. Bottom-line, either way I get a good TV. Is that a fair analysis?

I just want to mention that I'm in the same boat as the original poster, trying to make a similar distinction -- except that I'm looking at 42" models and probably the 85U over the 80U.

They both look great when I've seen them in person. My biggest real concern regards ghosting. I have a cheap Toshiba 32" LCD currently, and motion blur and black crush (I think that's the term) when gaming are the two things I dislike about it. I think both these models will improve on the black crush issue, but I've heard that plasmas don't get motion blur like LCDs.

All I will say is that the panasonics are horrible at color reproduction.

Your viewing environment is dark, you will playing video games and viewing a lot of movies. Get the plasma.

All I will say is that the panasonics are horrible at color reproduction.Que?:confused: Maybe you just need to learn how to do a decent self-calibration.

Based on what I've seen available and what my research/finances allows, I'm having this same thought go on in my head. I tell myself that LCD is the safe choice (I know, unfounded fears perhaps at this point) then I go in to window shop again and I see the colors on the Panasonic and fall in love all over. It's difficult to decide when you don't know how they'll look at home. As someone else pointed out, one item I don't like about the LCD in the store is how bright it seems but someone pointed out they usually have them on torch mode (I'm assuming this means they just crank up the brightness?)

We watch a lot of movies and sports here in our basement (either set will be hooked up to HD cable and a ps3) and a few other network/HGTV/TLC shows which apparently have HD channels as well.

At this point, I've almost come to the conclusion that I will enjoy either TV. Both have received quite a few good reviews. Perhaps one TV may work better for some shows, and the other TV in alternate situations. Bottom-line, either way I get a good TV. Is that a fair analysis?

You fall in love with pannys colors? Hmm, funny, considering it's by far the worst panel in regards to color accuracy, even after calibration.

Pannys are insanely difficult to get right Joe, some calibrators won't even try, and others make a feeble attempt at it. Either way, the general consensus is that they are pretty terrible in that regard. My hobby is working in a home theater store, and the Pannys are so bad. I've tweeked it as much as I can, and it is still so way off. We have it to the left of the 720p Elite(which doesn't help), and to the bottom right we have the Sammy plasma. They both look way better than the panny, and I'm talking the high end one. Personally, I think it is a shame, because aesthetically, it is very easy on the eyes.

You won't be sacrificing PQ by going with an lcd. People use that against lcd's because when they are in stores for demoing, they are set to torch mode and look absolutely horrible.

I do not think that is the case. More LCD's are sold due to the horribly innacurate torch mode.
Also, the showroom of a BB or CC is not what makes people feel plasmas are better overall.(those who do)

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I actually ended up going with a panasonic but stepped up in size and got the 50pz85u. Thanks again.

I do not think that is the case. More LCD's are sold due to the horribly innacurate torch mode.
Also, the showroom of a BB or CC is not what makes people feel plasmas are better overall.(those who do)

False, the real reason why lcds sell more is because the average consumer still thinks plasmas suffer from burn in. It scares them.

Me: On the market for a new HD panel?
Customer: Yeah, BUT NO PLASMA, THOSE THINGS ARE BAD, THEY GET BURNED IMAGES.

I try to educate them, but they are brainwashed. So, you shouldn't go by what people imagine, or rationalize. You'd be surprised to learn the it's the complete opposite.

Btw, for numerical purposes, I would say we get about 30-200 people a day browsing for HD panels.