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Have 9-year old Panasonic Plasma: Will I Be Disappointed if I go LED?

6K views 14 replies 15 participants last post by  lsorensen 
#1 ·
I have a TH-42PE77U that is going strong after almost a decade. I have been contemplating buying an LED tv for a few years, but I have been apprehensive since I am worried that if I don't spend enough on the new tv, I will be disappointed. Obviously, my tv is thicker is all dimensions and perhaps the sound is way better than what would come out of a tiny frame modern tv. Because I am cheap and cautious, I have not bought anything.

The tv has a big scratch on the screen where my son scraped it with a sword, but realistically you can't see the scratch when the tv is on - only when it is turned off. It is a major power hog: eats 387 watts according to the label, and that is irksome. It is only 1080i, and I don't know how much 1080p would change my experience. I don't have cable and watch mostly netflix off a Roku 3 box. I do watch sports via an antenna, and I don't ever see motion trails. My picture is pretty solid: I do see major posterization in very dark areas of netflix picture, and I don't know whether a newer tv would less posterization. I have 180 Mbps download speed internet, so I have great internet speed if I wanted to pay for the ultra high netflix delivery option.

Everything that I read talks about refresh rate and warns against anything less than 120z actual; it seems that the plasma tv's don't have this issue of motion trails. If I were to pick a tv to buy now, I would be tempted to get a Visio M series. Even though Samsung has "the name" it seems that some of their models are pretty mediocre yet sell for a pretty penny.

Thanks for your input!
 
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#3 · (Edited)
I want to point out you didn't mention if you watched TV in a well lit room or in the dark? You did mention kids so I would think you live in the light side of life and don't have your house as dark as the bat cave to watch TV.
I would not have been able to say this just a few years ago but the price of LCD,LED FALD have fallen fast.
If you have bright lite in your viewing area, then you can choose LCD with FALD. The FALD while not perfect, will give you great blacks when you get time away from the kids and can turn down the lights.
Another point is TV size, with LCD you can go to a lager size TV. Philips is coming out with a 65 in LCD,4K,QDOT,WCG,HDR,HDMI 2.0a and FALD with a retail price at 1699.00. One of the Chinese makers is coming out with a 75 inch LCD for 1699.00 retail. Don't forget Vizio came out with a really good 70 inch 4K,FALD,LCD two years ago and it sold for around two grand.
Don't be afraid of the Chinese brand because they make a lot of the high end TV'S, besides you can buy a extended warranty for 5 years and maybe by that time OLED prices will come down to earth!(50,000.00 for a 77 inch OLED?)
 
#4 ·
Research revealed your current tv is 720p capable of receiving up to a 1080p signal. It will scale down both 1080i and 1080p to 720p. It also would seem that the speakers on the side of your set are possibly better than on most tv's. If you do end up getting the Vizio M series, which is a well-spoken of set, I would consider either a sound bar or two good bookshelf speakers coupled with a little amp for audio. Also, bear in mind that the Vizio M series does not support HDR, which adds considerably more of a viewing upgrade than the resolution upgrade you get with UHD. Also, it is generally recommended that you go with as big a tv as you can afford and accommodate. You mentioned that you get posterization in very dark scenes streaming Netflix. Have you ever watched a blu-ray on your tv? Does it posterize in dark scenes? If it doesn't, then you may want to check the settings on your Roku. That's my two cents. Take it with however many grains of salt you like. Good luck with your decision.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Research revealed your current tv is 720p capable of receiving up to a 1080p signal. It will scale down both 1080i and 1080p to 720p.

1st Question:

I am assisting a friend with his Panasonic Viera TH-42PE7U. He got it in 2007. He's thinking about getting a Roku for it. The online manual does not specifically say that all input signals of 1080 would automatically be down scaled to 720p. Is that right??


https://www.manualslib.com/manual/360882/Panasonic-Viera-Th-42pe7.html?page=42#manual



ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/television/om/th-42pe77_en_om.pdf



2nd Question... Have there been any updates for this TV that can be uploaded somehow??
 
#7 ·
FWIW, I just upgraded from a 7 year old LG 720p 50" Plasma to an LG 65UF9500 LED. I needed a wide viewing angle, so I went with an IPS panel assuming that the lack of contrast wouldn't be that much of an issue because our room is always bright. First thing my wife said was "Is it me, or did the old TV look better?". After a week of messing around with settings, I brought it back. If viewing angle is not a problem, maybe a FALD LED set would work, but even going from 720p to 4K was not enough to overcome the issues with an IPS LED set for me. I have an OLED on order from Cleveland Plasma, and currently have the 28" cheapie TCL from our bedroom in the livingroom until the OLED shows up. I need binoculars to see it.

Moral of the story: Don't look a perfectly good Plasma in the mouth.
 
#8 ·
any LCD will be terrible if not viewed straight, OLED will be nice upgrade but still very expensive anything above 55 inch, I upgraded my Panasonic plasma (720P) to JS9000 Samsung TV (mainly because of bright room) i also own St60 Panasonic Plasma which still beat best 1080p LCDs. 4K is way better though. I would get an OLED if money is not an issue, for me it me OLED does not justify its price yet.
 
#9 · (Edited)
You will be disappointed if you get an LCD with LED backlight.

You will likely be thrilled if you go OLED.

I went from a ten year-old 50" Panasonic TH-50PHD6UY to a 65" LG 65EF9500 OLED and am thrilled at the change, where every LCD set I've ever seen has been disappointing in some way or another, usually in very poor reproduction of black or in haloing of bright images.

People here like to throw around "very expensive" for OLED, but my 65" OLED wasn't much more than my 50" Panasonic plasma was when I bought it.
 
#10 ·
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