What would you pick in a 50"plasm ???

Samsung 'cuz stuff.

Panasonic g is better because i own one and say so.

I went with the G15, but both are good TVs. You're less likely to have problems with the Panasonic.

Despite my prior recommendation, OP should heed this post because I love it.

Get a Pioneer 500m if you need 50 Inch display for movie watching. Best movie watching display you can buy for ~2000 or less ( if you look hard enough you can find this for 1800ish)

I don't know anything about those two models. But I picked plasma because it looked better in normal room light, Off access viewing was much better and I have little ones and plasma seems a little more rugged for little hands. Now after having it for awhile people who visit are impressed by the color vibrancy compared to their sets. I picked a LG50pg60 not a very well respected set.

The two sets are very close. According to CNET, the Panasonic will give you deeper black levels, while the Samsung has more accurate colors.

The Panasonic has THX Mode, which will give you a great picture if you don't plan on having the display professionally calibrated.

The Samsung's internet features are similar to the Panasonic, if a bit sluggish, but you can make the set wireless with the addition of an optional wireless dongle.

So, if you're not planning on having a calibration done go with the Panasonic. If you are, then ask your lady which one has a prettier frame and go with that one.

Pioneer KRP500M won the flat panel shootout. It's also not all that expensive. Price/performance ratio makes it a no-brainer IMO.

I own the Pioneer 111FD. Amazing display. With the KRP500M you will not be disappointed, in my opinion.

Keep in mind that the g15 has no better picture over the g10, so you should get the g10 unless you like the bezel of the g15 or can get it for same price.

I was actually thinking about the g10 and b650 about a month ago but went with the panny.

I feel panasonic was better for me because i don't like the tint on the samsung b650, it seems to crush black shadow detail. I tried adjusting in store, but didn't look as good as the panny. Some say the tint makes daytime viewing better, but i still don't like it. You may like it, i dunno.

To me the panasonic g10 colors are accurate enough in CUSTOM mode. Skin tones look pretty damn accurate for me.

Black level and shadow detail were the biggest deciding factor for me, so i chose panasonic. Also i'm a big gamer, and i didn't test it out but i hear that there is input lag with games if you don't use gaming mode with the samsung. Both have issues with 24p playback. G10 has some flicker, which i don't find bothersome. Samsung has some bug which changes black level on 24p playback when you change settings in menu, dunno if it's been fixed with firmware, i think there is workarounds for it.

One thing about the samsung i really liked was the bezel to me looks so much better than the panasonic and the samsung has swivel stand.

After a month of ownership i have no regrets.

I disagree, around 2000 bucks, i would start looking for larger sizes.

I just wish Panny had a panel that swivels and is as thin as the Sammy 860 for the same money.

There's nothing that touches the KRP-500M and 101FD sets in picture quality....NOTHING. This is the experts' consensus. Now, if you can get close with a 58" or larger set for $2000 or less then a slight trade-off may be warranted.....but...what's out there that comes close? Nothing under $2000 that is larger than 50" can come close enough IMO.

You can get a 54" G10, but the extra 4" is barely noticeable while the lesser picture is very noticeable. Not a good trade-off IMO. You can get the 58" Samsung 5 series, but again the lesser picture quality is very noticeable especially in regards to the black level. Again, the trade-off for 8" isn't worth it IMO.

Yeah, I myself wanted a 58" or larger set to replace my current 50" Panny, but greatly improved black level and color accuracy is much more important so I grabbed a KRP-500M the other day on Ebay for $1700 shipped with the tabletop stand.

If Samsung's blacks were pretty close to Kuro levels then I probably would've gone that route, but they're nowhere near it so that made the decision pretty easy. Now, if the 58" Panny V10 would have been under $2000 that would have been hard to ignore since the blacks are close enough that I could live with it, but its much more expensive than that which again made the Pioneer decision pretty easy. Ideally I would have went with the KRP-600M, but I had budget constraints and for $2000 or less I just don't see anything worth getting over a KRP-500M.

Exactly.


If you're looking for the best PQ available, there's no way around it. If you're looking for a good TV but want a good bang for the buck, then you're probably better of with a Panny.

That said, the price for the KRP500 is amazing IMO. Yes, you get larger displays from other brands but then again what's the point? Reference PQ & blacks or best price/performance ratio?

For me it was the reference PQ hands down...

+1 I got my 500m for $1900 delivered and it IS the BEST! NO other plasma maker comes close to this yet. Maybe in a few years they will, but not their current models. Ya, you trade off a bigger size for the picture quality for sub $2k. However it is worth it big time! I am completly submersed by the picture sitting at ~10ft away because the picture is so unbelievable. Try to find an actual hometheater store, and not bestbuy type store. The actual hometheater stores that calibrate their sets and put them in an actual 'home' type environment will show you how great these sets are!

I guess people just have different opinions. Sure the 500m is probably the best 50" plasma, but 50" size is pretty dinky.

The picture quality from panny to pioneer may be more important to you. But a 54" size to 50" would be more noticeable to me over the picture quality difference between a pioneer or panny. Size isn't everything though but i probably would get a larger size panasonic, don't like the samsungs as much.

I went with 50" g10 due to wife budget limits. I would have definitely bought the pioneer 500m but price was way over the price i paid for the g10.

Like I said I would love to get a bigger set, but after looking at so many TV's over the last few months I found that it would have been too much of a compromise in picture quality for me. I too considered a 54" G10, but after seeing one beside a 50" in the store the size difference was barely noticeable and I'm afraid that if I brought one home I wouldn't notice a size upgrade at all. I would have just regretted not going for the better picture at that point which is the main reason I'm upgrading in the first place. It may be more noticeable to others, but the leap I took from 42" to 50" was way more of a jump than 50" to 54" for me.

I've seen the V10 series and I must admit that its very impressive, but the pricing still doesn't do it for me. The 50" costs just as much as the KRP-500M and there is still a sizable performance gap. If it were 58" at the $2000 price point then the trade-off would be warranted to me since the V10's black level is close enough that I wouldn't be disappointed and I would be getting a very noticeable increase in size. Unfortunately my ideal price for that set is not even close.

In fact, the best Panny that I've seen of recent is the Z series. I haven't seen any in depth reviews, but I looked at one at my local Magnolia Best Buy sitting next to a Samsung 860 with a Pioneer 141FD above it and its very impressive. The difference in black level from the Pioneer was very small....noticeable when heavily scrutinized, but noticeable nevertheless. The picture was still very impressive and the sleek styling with it being very thin is very attractive.

At the right price I could easily live with it, but there are two problems. One is that it only comes in a 54" model and two is that its $4500. If it were 58" or 60" and below $3000 then it would be an attractive alternative. Even Samsung's very thin 58" 860 can be had for under $3000 online which would be another good option if black level were better. So even in the under $3000 price point there's nothing touching the KRP-600M.

I think Panasonic would have given us better pricing on their better models had Pioneer decided to stay in the TV business, but with the best making an exit they know that they command these prices. And even though Panasonic is the new black level champ with Pioneer going the way of the dodo they better get their act together with color accuracy. The new models disappoint me greatly in that department.

My 10G Panny is way more accurate than the new models save for the Z series which I find to be very accurate. This oversight has sent a lot people Samsung's way this year where a small sacrifice in black level gave us a much more accurate picture...even more accurate than most Pioneer sets. If Samsung could have matched Panasonic in the black level arena Panasonic would be in big trouble this year since Samsung's pricing is very competitive. After the TV Shootout this year I think Panasonic will correct this with the 13G sets because I'm sure that they were very disappointed to have the V10 come in behind the Samsung 860 and the LG LED LCD in most people's eyes. I know that I was disappointed when I saw the greenish/yellowish push on all but the Z series myself.

Thank you so much for this response. You just made my decision for me. I was considering a 50 inch sammy, or a 54 in panny. After a few short hours researching this tv, I wondered why I hadn't seen this tv before?

Thanks guy!

I'm glad I could be of some help. By the way, the Ebay seller that I bought from has nine more available right now for $1700 shipped with the stand. His ID is quickclicksales if you or anyone else is looking to grab one now. You can get the 3-year SquareTrade warranty for $119 too.

I have the KRP-500M, and it is awesome. Just be aware that it is a monitor, not a "TV". It has no tuner, and no speakers. It does have an amp to drive speakers, and they are available online.

Well, I went into the local High End place to compare a Panni G15 to the Kuro 500m. I walked in and the saw the 500m boxed on the floor with a special pricing including the pedestal. They did not have the Panni G15 on display. The sales person who helped me said that they were not going to open any up since they only had 10. He told me hands down it was the best Monitor/TV for the money and he bought one. I said its hard to buy a TV without viewing it first and his price was too high compared to just about any Online Retailer.

He said he would come as close as he could to any OL retailer and told me if I was not happy or if I saw a set I liked better in the next 30 days I could bring it back for a 100% refund. He also gave me a decent price on a 5 year warren-tee that his store sells, It includes a loner TV if mine is down for repairs and replacement if it can not fixed or if parts are not readily available all with them picking up from my house. It's backed by the company's parent corporation worth give or take a billion dollars. It even has a great feature I have never seen, they'll refund 100% of the price of the warren-tee if not used. I think I did well, I paid a just a little more than the BEST OL price but I supported the local guy who has excellent service. I will get it fired up later and I'll am sure I will be happy.