TH-50PZ85U vs Pioneer PRO 1150HD

Check out posts by 'Footbaggin' in the master Panasonic 2008 thread, starting with post #1637 and then continuing on the next page. He compares his nw 50PZ85U to a 5080, which is essentially the same as the 1150:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...970761&page=55

I would get the 1150HD and calibrate it

Because Pioneer always looked better IMO, especially if you get it calibrated. I think we will know more once the 85's start shipping.

It is a current model Pioneer.

No they are not. The 85 series will never be able to match the color accuracy of the 1150. Grayscale is also better on the 1150...although the 85u has very good grayscale tracking.

1150 is a current model

I am in the same boat. I am leaning towards the panny because of the increase in resolution, I see slight SDE on my 720p set from my seating position of 8 ft. Also the increase in brightness is a big plus for me, my panny 7uy is somewhat dim when there is a fair amount of light shining in my living room. This is somewhat off topic, When I first found AVS in 04 I dont recall dealers posting in alot in a bunch of threads pushing one panel over another. Cleveland seems to push panasonic probably because he is not authorized to sell pioneer panels online and roman seems to do the opposite with the pioneer. I would perfer to hear from AVS owners or future buyers opinions and not someone making a buck off the panels. Maybe I wrong and they were dealers posting back then to. But it seems in every panny, pio comparison thread these two show up, Lol.

Roman's company sells Panasonic in addition to Pioneer. I've also seen Cleveland Plasma give plenty of praise to Pioneer, so I'm not exactly seeing any big competition conspiracy to sell you a display.

I was pondering this myself.

I jumped on the 1150 deal today.

My very first HD set. I can't wait to hook it up.

I jumped onto the 1150 yesterday too, I saw it side by side with an 85U and liked it better. I was watching King Kong on an HD-DVD Player and the foggy scenes looked much better on the pioneer. Also the pioneer elite has a better warranty, and more inputs. 4 HDMI Pc input, and a eithernet for a media hub that sounds like it could be cool

Forya - since I haven't had a chance to see the 85U since my local BB isn't putting them on display until next week or the week after, would you be able to give me your opinion on the comparison between black levels on the 85U and the 1150? Also, did you get a chance to compare side by side to see the differences in black levels and color? Did you compare the 85U to the 700 series or 77U?

I went to BB tonight (also in the Philly area) and compared the 1150 with the 750U and I was amazed at how the 1150 performed against other 1080p TV's in the higher-end TV room (Magnolia in BB) where the lights are dim and comparisons can be made vs. harsh fluorescent lighting. I have a 1150 on hold at tweeter (20% redundable deposit holds the TV for a week) and I hope to figure out if I should buy the 85U from my EPP discount (28% off retail) vs. 1150 at current tweeter.com discount price. I am trying to not quote prices and abide by rules but the 1150 ends up costing me $475 more after taxes.

Thanks in advance!

The Best Buy in Montgomeryville has or at least had an 85u, but I did this at the Tweeter in Allentown.
The Tweeter in the Montgomery Mall has a 1150 right next to a z77u, but the 1150's settings are all messed up there, and it is not a good place to see the difference.
What sold me was the black levels, the skin tones, and the amount of inputs on the pioneer. But The EPP price seems real good, can you get that price at a store, or do you have to order it direct?

Thanks - I may have to check out that BB to see the 85U for myself. I would have to order through the EPP site.

While at BB tonight, I found a Panasonic remote control laying around and played with the 750U which was displayed next to the 1150 and I set the video to Reference and Standard. Both settings did not compare to the picture of the 1150. The 1150 had deeper blacks and the colors were much more accurate in the nature scenes of the video that was playing. I couldn't believe how much better the 1150 720p compared to other 1080p's...funny thing is that I read this comparison all the time and usually think that the comparison must be skewed, but seeing is believing in this case.

Enjoy your TV!

yup, resolution is at least 4th on the list of important performance aspects when considering a display of 50" or less, especially if you don't sit extremely close.

you're doing yourself a big favor by comparing for yourself and deciding based on your own impressions, not marketing or forum hype. good luck and let us know what you decide.

WHAT 1150 'deal' is there good price on these units now??

Tweeter had them advertised for 1200 under retail.

tweeter's deal is hard to beat now
By the way that Best Buy in Montgomeryville only has/had the 42in 85u, Maybe by now they have the 50 up. He said they were getting an 80U too

There is a tweeter outside Altanta that has a 1540 for just over 3K. I think they had 1-NIB.

Currently looking at the 1150. I had been looking at the 5080, but it is the same price as the 1150 in my area. Seems to be a no brainer to go with the 1150.

yes. but for one grand more you might be able to get a 5020HD later in the year.

If it does go for less then $3500.... I know it will be worth the wait for me. 1080P doesn't hurt... plus it will be a 9G panel meaning 80% better blacks and maybe brighter... the last 100% Pioneer plasma.

Robby I agree with you...Although the 50PZ800U will be enticing as well. Tough choices going down the stretch...

Chris

You know I saw the same thing last night while at Best Buy. I hadn't read those comparisons, but it was even hard for me to believe that the Pioneer 5080 panel that they had hanging above the Panny 1080p 77U actually looked better. Before I checked the model I thought it was 1080p and just had a better picutre. I was really surprised to see at 720p it still had a better picture. The 5010 next to the 5080 was just that much better, but even the 5080 and 5010 seemed very close.