I am trying to decide between the 64" Samsung H5000 plasma or the Vizio 65" M-series LCD. This is to replace a 46" Toshiba 1080p LCD in the living room. I also have 2 Panasonic Plasmas that I have had for years (they are 720p) that I love. I have a Roku connected to the TV in question so having the Smart Apps in the Vizio is not necessary. The room has good light control and there are no windows facing the TV so there is no real glare to worry about.
Thoughts on overall picture quality between the two?
Both TVs are more or less the same price so I am stuck. I'd personally go for the Samsung F8500 but at that size it is way out of the price range.
Depends on your priorities. Unless you have an extremely bright room I would go with the H5000. It does not have an AR filter so if reflections are going to be a concern you might want to reconsider. Outside of that you will get superior viewing angles, contrast ratio, color accuracy and motion out of the plasma. Only other drawback to that set is it is Pentile which could be an issue depending on your viewing distance.
The plasma will have a much better picture... hands down. Two things to consider: glare and brightness. Sounds like glare really isn't an issue with your setup. However, the brightness of this plasma is an issue for me. I like to watch hockey and the ice looks gray rather than white. Almost a deal killer. That is really the only scenario where brightness is an issue - sports or scenes where the screen is primarily white. If you don't watch hockey, then don't worry.
I was trying to do a size upgrade from an older "upper-mid level" 51" plasma.
I bought the 2014 Vizio 65" M series set 5 days ago based upon decent reviews. Well, I cannot believe how bad the TV was and I could not comprehend that it received any good reviews. In short it had every shortcoming of an LCD display and more (search for my recent posts and you'll get the list).
I calibrated it and got pretty accurate colors, but still not a good picture.
So, I ran out and got an H5000. The picture was unbelievably better--better on pretty much any picture quality dimension you could name. Where the m series was like watching TV on a cheap computer monitor, the H5000 was like looking out the window. The H5000 picture was so much better than the m-series my 12 year old daughter commented on how much better the H5000 looked!
For those that point out LCD brightness, I have to tell you that is not true of the M series. To get the display properly calibrated, I had set the backlight at 38 (out of 100). Properly calibrated, the M Series had only 2 fL more light output than the H5000.
As an FYI I have also compared the H5000 to a number of >$3000 4K displays and I still would take the H5000 even if it cost the same as those because of the better picture quality.
I would say there are only 2 possible drawbacks to the H5000:
- Pentile display distracting at viewing distances under 8 feet
- Screen very reflective
I'm lucky that neither of those effect my viewing. However, if the reflectivity was a problem for you, I would do anything to resolve it rather that suffer the poor picture quality of the current LCDs.
Personally, I think it is a sad commentary on the market that this is the only decent display over 60" and under $9000.
FWIW thank you for a good reminder while I am on the hunt for a new TV. I know how plasma looks in stores, I know how bright the stores are, I know I'd turn down the brightness of an lcd if I brought one home, and etc. - but seeing the plasmas side by side with the lcd's you can't help but wonder if you're making the right choice in getting a plasma. This sort of reaffirms that I really need to forget about this TV (Vizio M) which was pretty high on my candidate list.
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