Looking at these three 720p big plasmas. The 63" Phillips, 60" Vizio, and the 58" Panasonic. Reputation says Panasonic, size for the $$$ says Phillips, and bang for the buck says Vizio. How do the internal components compare, like deinterlacers and video processors? How does the glass compare? How about reliability and customer support? What do you think about Phillips long term plasma future in the the US? Viewing distance will be 12 to 16 ft.

Right now I would recommend the Th-58PX60U because of the newer models coming out. There is always Pioneer 6070HD but from the models you are comparing it looks like there is a budget so I don't think you can go wrong with the Panny.

Bang for the buck actually says Panasonic; check out Cleveland Plasma's price inc. delivery...

Right now all three are available locally and on-line for under $3k. I think that many are looking at these three as possible first time plasma purchases or size upgrades from current 42" and 50" owners. As much as I appreciate the long term high standards earned by Panasonic, the 5" size difference is serious when you look at total square inches of viewing. That being said, is there a substantial PQ and reliability difference in Panasonics favor. I know that is a very subjective question which is why I was wondering about the glass, processor, and deinterlacing differences.

Panasonic, I believe they are still having the 5 year extended warranty promotion. Vizio and Philips were rated by Consumer Reports as the most repaired HDTV sets. You can find some good deals on Panasonic's right now because they are trying to move last years models to make room for 2007 line.

Panasonic, I believe they are still having the 5 year extended warranty promotion.

Only on commercial line I believe...

There is no comparing those other models with panasonic.

Only on commercial line I believe...

Yes that is correct

Ya there is no 5 year warranty promo, but there is a $200 Mail In Rebate !!

Cap41, Why is there no comparison between those three models. Other than personal opinion, doesn't anyone wonder what makes them different? Cleveland Plasma, maybe you can shed some light here. The only objective differences I ever hear here is that Panasonic has better blacks and Pioneer has better processing. Like, does NEC use better solder? Maybe Vizio uses inferior reconstituted plastic. Isn't Phillips and LG a merged company? Since Vizio uses LG glass and a Fraoudja 10 bit processor, if they added Panasonic's glass then wouldn't they be the best plasma out there?

Philips makes a good product but I have to say I am not to fond of LG. Vizio has no chance in my book.

Top name brands are worth the extra little cost.

Philips
Hitachi
NEC
Runco
Fujitsu
Panasonic
Pioneer
Samsung

Why no chance? I do not own a Vizio but I do read reviews and they all, all tout them as a good value. Please tell me why your feel that they have no chance. It would be sooo great, with all the really knowlegable people lurking here for years, for someone to offer up some insight into the internal differences between sets.

Still comes down to opinion, so here is my "short" answer. Cheaper build quality, PQ is not near as good as premier brands, the value of these product lines is just about nothing, and a good company backing a product. (meaning in 10 years they will still be around making parts)

Put the Vizio and the other cheap brands in a bar with premier panels and watch how the cheaper brands slowly get replaced as the premier brands stay put for a long time. I see this happen everyday. Bar owner want cheap, cheap, cheap and that is what they get. I try to explain over and over again to these bar owners and only about 10% listen.

andy- In the vizio 60 thread many people have had problems and returned the tv for a different set. I think CR rated them as having high maintenence needs. As far as being a good value, many would say that it appears to be a good value, but when you see that you can get a panasonic 58px60u shipped for a few hundred less than the vizio and the 58px600u for about the same price, many would say it is a no brainer and the panny is the better value.

I guess I'm just one of those kind of guys that wants to know why. I readily accept the premiss that Panasonic and Pioneer and NEC are of a higher quality than say Vizio, Dell, and Polaroid etc. Forever Pioneer has been touted as having superior video processing and Panasonic as having superior blacks. From what I understand, video processing is a chain including MPEG decoding, de-interlacing, scaling, and D/A (video output/input processing). Does Pioneer manufacture they're own video processor and thus unavailable to the competition? Does this mean that Pioneers video processor is better that the equally highly touted Faroudja video processor found in the Vizio?
According to Panasonic, they achieve outstanding black levels by using a very small pre-charge to warm up the panel which allows for lighting up a pixel. I don't understand that but I am copying this statement verbatim. My original post was about the differences between the 63" Phillips, the 60" Vizio, and the 58" Panasonic. All I've really seen so far is that Phillips is good, Panasonic is better, and Vizio won't make it. Would you compare a car based on that kind of information? That is the TV world we live in.

I bought a Vizio P50HDM about a year ago fully expecting it to break - well, it lived up to my hopes. Some kind of processing error where it puts pink/red all over certain shades of light grey. It does this regardless of the input.

I have no trust in it, so back it goes to Costco.

If I didn't have an open ended return policy, I would not touch a Vizio set with a 10 ft pole. This is coming from a current(soon to be former) Vizio owner. The PQ is pretty good for the price, but definitely a step down from Panasonic/Pioneer sets.

Looking at these three 720p big plasmas. The 63" Phillips, 60" Vizio, and the 58" Panasonic. Reputation says Panasonic, size for the $$$ says Phillips, and bang for the buck says Vizio. How do the internal components compare, like deinterlacers and video processors? How does the glass compare? How about reliability and customer support? What do you think about Phillips long term plasma future in the the US? Viewing distance will be 12 to 16 ft.
Okay here is my .02 and my buyers view as if I was going into a showroom demo...

1. Panasonic 58PX60U. First of all, I am biased b/c I am owner of the 42PX60U. Although I have seen a Blu-ray demo of Kill Bill and it looked absolutely amazing. The colors were vibarant and natural and I believe it rivals PDP6070 very well. This is the most inexpensive unit here at around $2500-$2600 shipped. My Fav and Best Buy!!! If this unit was over $3k then I wouldn't be as head over heals, but the price is pretty staggering.

2. Philips 63PF9631D. The Ambilight is a nice feature and gives your source material a nice visual experience. Although the overall picture quality is good, however, as you move closer to screen you begin to see video noise/mosquito noise. Blacks are not as deep as the Pioneer or Panasonic. Keep in mind, the cheapest price is around $3300 online. So this makes it the most expensive unit here.

3. Vizio VM60P. This was the best valued unit about 2 months ago before its release because we as consumers thought that the Panny and Pioneer units would remain over $3k. Now that the prices have fallen the Vizio 60 has become a good value plasma, but lacks in picture quality over the Panasonic and Pioneer. Although it has more HDMI inputs than all of the flat panels, but it still resembles the picture of the P50HDTV (now which will most likely be replaced by the VP50HDTV). Overall picture is good, but not great. I noticed video noise upon closer inspection. Again $2599 + sales tax this unit is the second highest price of the bunch.

Overall, these are based on what I saw at first sight. My impression will not change about the Panasonic. This unit is hands down the winner. Yes, you will need to turn off the vivid picture setting and adjust the picture settings, but once they are dialed in you will find that the $2600 Panny will make you smile and leave money in your pocket.

Does anyone know if any of the new Panny 1080p's especially the 58" offer any important PQ upgrades other than 1080p?

Philips 63PF9631D. The Ambilight is a nice feature and gives your source material a nice visual experience.

creemail - Thanks for the informative post. I'm considering purchasing the 63PF9631D. I ruled out the 58" Panny mainly because I think the value relative to the extra screen size is better with the Phillips (only about $500 more for the extra 5" display size). I also like the look of the Phillips cabinet better - personal preference.

The specs on the Phillips I'm looking at don't mention Ambilight and PhillipsPhanatic mentions in another post that it doesn't have Ambilight. Did you see it somewhere with Ambilight? Thanks!

The specs on the Phillips I'm looking at don't mention Ambilight and PhillipsPhanatic mentions in another post that it doesn't have Ambilight. Did you see it somewhere with Ambilight? Thanks!

It doesn't.....I just e-mailed my contacts over at Corporate in Europe...will report back on a few items, including the 63" design specs.

Cleveland, why would Philips be cutting back plasma outside the U.S. and maybe down the line in the U.S. ? Their Consumer Division just had a good quarter, they have the size and staying power, why not continue to fight, wait for weaker competitors to drop out, and then be a strong/respectable #3 or #2 in plasmas in the U.S. ?

They finally have a killer app in Ambilight -- something that TOTALLY distinguishes them from the competition -- and they put out their 63" models (including the 1080p in 2 months?) without this feature ? Talk about bailing out right at the WRONG time. :mad: :mad:

S-T-U-P-I-D. :confused:

I also feel that Phillips is making a mistake by pulling back in the plasma market. Then again I assume they know more about the US market than I do and they must feel that the world market future is LCD and some other new as yet not released technology. They may also feel that Panasonic and Pioneer has a strangle hold on the top tier displays and with Vizio announcing a strong affiliation with Wal-Mart and Maxent announcing a 58" plasma with a MSRP of $2495 the lower tier displays take away any competitive opportunity. It's a shame because I think Phillips has a very nice plasma at a reasonable price.