Sammy FPT5084 / PN50A550 / or Panny TH-50PZ85U

I'm having the same dilemma.

Why was the PQ on the 5084 better than the 85u? I noticed the greens on th A550 are extremely bright and look bad.

I think I am going to wait for the panny 800u to come out and see if the pic is better than the 85u.

They probably had it set to Dynamic mode. You can't judge what you see in the store unless you are making the adjustments yourself.

I am having this same problem... I just cannot decide between the Samsung and the Panasonic

I hear that the Samsung 550 doesn't have as good of blacks as the Panasonic. Is this true?

I am going for a plasma mostly for the deep blacks for movies.

I saw some of the Pannys in the store and the blacks are about the same as the Samsung.. They didn't look to have better blacks than the FP-T5084 that I have at home..

Then get the Kuro. The Sammy and Panny have a similar shade of black (with some saying the Panny has a couple shades darker, but side by side very similar).

In any event, both are a shade of very dark gray in a pitch black room (I own the A550 and previously had the 85U before returning it).

As for color accuracy, the A550 wins absolutely hands down vs the 85U. The 85U has over saturated greens (contrary to what was said above) and some red push. The 85U had a slightly better reflective screen if that's important to you.

In any event, if you got either you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference without having them fully calibrated side by side.

The only question is (for me anyhow), how much better is the Pio Kuro black levels and is it worth the premium?

If I wanted to spend KURO cash I would buy the 50" 800U

So A550 is probably the best for that price range?

I'd say for the price, yes, the A550 is hard to beat. Oh, and if I was going to spend "Kuro cash", I'd definitely buy a Kuro, not the 800, personally (the 800 can be had for quite a bit cheaper).

hey all, long time lurker 1st time poster.
i just got back from the local Fry's in Burbank, CA and i'm having the same dilemma.

i noticed the greens as well, and i think it had everything to do with its "dynamic" mode....

one thing i noticed that's making me lean towards the sammy, is that i found motion to be much much smoother compared to the panny.
the colors and PQ overall were much better on the panny, however i don't want to bring home something that's gonna bug me in terms of motion(ghosting? tracing? blurring?), since i'm a gamer. scrolling text, like a ticker, in the bottom was actually nauseating on the 85u compared to the a550. standing far(>12") and close. (un)luckily the 50PZ85u and the 50A550 were next to one another in the store.

can anyone tell me why the motion is handled better on the sammy? or if it's just a setting they both have that can be turned on/off/up/down?

what is "IR"?
can i do a proper calibration myself w/ a "Fry's at home calibration disc"?

i'd also like to add that here in the Hollywood area, Fry's Plasma sets are atleast $300 cheaper than they are at BB.

I wouldn't trust the set up at BB or Fry's or whatever. The Samsung has a more accurate color decoder, period. Try the CNet settings for the PZ85 vs the A550 next time you're there.

Having had both, I can't recall the Panny having any trouble with motion, or at least, don't remember it being better or worse than the A550 I have now?

Cnet settings? could u possibly drop me a link for that. i'm gonna go and dig around for it, but if you could leave a link for me... nice thanks. i'm totally down to go over there and setup both TV's and re-speculate.

also, i found the 85u to be much brighter altogether.
having had both, and they both cost the same, which do you recommend for someone new to HD?

85U CNet settings:

http://help.cnet.com/9602-12576_39-0...sageID=2510684

A550 CNet Settings:

http://help.cnet.com/9602-12576_39-0...sageID=2510662

For someone new to HD, both would be great sets to own. You're probably not going to notice the red push on the Panasonic or the incorrect greens (Panasonic does this because apparently most consumers prefer that picture better with the oversaturated colors).

For the same price it's a tough choice, I'd still go for the Samsung for the purely accurate colors and comparable black level performance. Considering you should be able to get the Samsung for $300 or so less, that's the icing on the cake for me.

If you can swing the extra cash, the Panasonic 800U model looks like an even better set. Panasonic black levels with great color (in THX mode).

Why would tell him to compare using CNETs horrible settings, Tom Huffman's are much more accurate, it's already been confirmed that Cinema is only mode with acceptable gamma and gray scale. Obviously they didn't go through much effort to get the setup TV properly. They also recommend turning noise reduction on (loss of detail anyone?) and their reviews are generally for people of little or no technical knowledge.

That was a useful post. The CNet settings are a good starting point. I'm sure Tom's are better, but not being an owner of the 85U any longer, I can't recall where his settings are (why not link them).

As for the A550, that reminds me, put the Cell Light setting to 10, not the 8 recommended by CNet. The other settings will do without a having a calibration disc on hand.

Tx

Nevermind, found them, here are Tom's settings:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1019763

oh! awesome!
i'm gonna take these settings back to the store, and although we're probably just going to to get the samsung, we're hoping the tom's settings will do away w/ the motion issues which are not present on the samsung...

...TBC...

edit: fry's didn't have the 800u yesterda, and we might even sit out this sale and not get anything today, perhaps even wait for the 800u w/ it's "true 24fps".

the URL's for CNET and tom settings have been saved on my mobile and will apply them next time we go to the store. who knows, we might or not buy anything today... in any case, i'm very grateful for the help here.

Have fun, still not sure what motion issues you're referring to with the Panny, I don't recall them when I had the set.

I think he's talking about the phosphor trails, I find it much improved after burn in. On a sidenote I think that you'll be disappointed if you use the proper settings under the bright store lights, you'd have to bring one home to know for sure.

ok, purchased the 50A550 from best buy.
it was $30 cheaper than in fry's and we got it w/ a 4 year extended warranty type plan and the calibration.
couldn't bring it home due to us going in a sedan, so ETA is thursday.

ultimately went w/ samsung because of the motion issues from the panny, however the greens on the samsung are wildly vivid.
both of which issues for a football fan, but i'd rather see the ball in contrast than having the tickers and motion **** w/ my sight.
i'm an arsenal fan, so the passing game would not have been optimal on that panny.

thanks for your help all. i've made my decision and have 30 days to commit. lol.

Awesome. That green issue may as simple as a mode/hue setting.

Sorry to bump the topic again

What is the power consumption on each of these sets like? Is there a big difference?

TCO is always important.

I've seen all of these sets right next to each other (ABT here in Chicago has basically the 85U, 800U and the 550 all right next to each other, probably knowing that people probably want to compare those themselves) and I don't see a HUGE difference