Originally Posted by
Roadking1962 
Got my Panny 54G10 today delivered by Sears. The price was the best I could find with free delivery (after rebate) and 3 years no interest financing to boot. The delivery was on time and the guys who brought it also put the stand on before they left.
This is my first flat-screen. I gave my Mitsubishi 48 inch projection TV (6 years old) to a friend.
I am running the break-in slides w D-Nice's settings. I did watch a few hours of Comcast cable TV and some of the BD version of the Dark Knight and SD-DVD of Gladiator (watched on new Panny BD60K player). Here are my observations:
1. No buzz. If I put my head behind the TV there is a very slight buzz at times but nothing audible from the front.
2. No stuck pixels or phosphor trails noted.
3. I really like the look of the TV. It seems solid and well-built. I debated going with the V10 but the looks and 96HZ were not worth it for me.
4. Sound from the TV's speakers is not bad - better than I thought it would be after reading this forum. I am running a 5.1 system for the BD player though.
5. SD broadcasts do not look bad. Again, better than I thought based on reading this forum.
6. HD broadcasts look really nice and, as others have noted, there is a real difference depending on the channel. Really good HD broadcasts look REALLY GOOD.
7. SD DVDs look almost as good as BD! The Panny does a great job upconverting - I was surprised at how good they look.
8. BD is AMAZING! The quality is 10 of 10 to my eyes. Wow, wow, wow....
9. I am using "custom" for my viewing and some of the settings discussed in this forum. THX is just what others have said although not as dim as I expected.
10. Black level looks very good and so do colors. I looked at last year's 800 and 850 Panny's and the 54G10 seemed to have slightly better black levels and was a little brighter.
11. The remote is ok although just the volume and channel buttons light up.
12. The TV gets hot running the break-in slides in vivid mode. I could feel the extra heat in the room and coming off the TV. Custom mode generates less heat.
13. The screen reflects more light than the Pioneer's but a bit less than the Sammys I looked at. Regardless, it's a lot better in that regard than the 48 inch Mitsubishi projection TV it replaced.
A few final comments which may be helpful for those debating the purchase of this TV versus others:
Other TVs I looked at were Pioneer 5020s and FD111s and Sammy B series 560 and 650 plasmas and the 7000 series Sammy LCD. The Pioneers were all that's been said on AVS. I did not like the whites though ("dirty"), plus a lot of complaints about buzzing made me nervous and so did the fact that Pioneer was going out of TV business. I also got the 54G10 for less than the 5020 was on sale for before at Best Buy. I loved the 111 but I wanted something bigger and the money I saved on the 54G10 paid for a lot of extras. To be honest, even with the "whites" issues, the 111 was the nicest TV I saw next to the 54G10.
The Sammys surprised me, even the LCD. They were all very good in the picture department. Great colors and adustability but with blacks a bit lighter that the Pannys. I know this is very subjective, but I just did not like the look of the Sammys. The stands and clear plastic around the edges of the bezel looked cheap to me and their build quality (seams and materials) was below the Panny. Finally, I was somewhat concerned about the plasma models' IR, buzzing (seems to be an issues based on reading the Sammy forums) and overall quality. However, I have other Sammy products and their quality has been excellent. So, I think the Sammys could give the Panny a run for the money and they certainly seem to have come a long way from last year's sets. As for the LCD, I really liked it but the picture quality did drop off a bit (not as much as I thought it would) at angles and the cost was way too high.
To conclude, I am very happy with the 54G10. I appreciate all the information on AVS that helped guide me to this purchase and look forward to learning more.
