S1 vs. S2 vs. G25 vs. $$$

I feel the G25 produces a much better picture and is close to the top in picture quality at a decent price. I've also heard that the S1 actually had a better picture than the S2 and there is a big difference between the S2 and G25 in picture quality. So I would definitely go for the G25 as I did. And THX Mode is great as well as Custom and Game Mode. All good for different reasons.

I'll take the 4 extra inches. Look also at the LG 60pk550, it's a nice one in your price range. People complain about the glare on LG, but is better in a bright room than my old WS65513 rear projection set.

The S1 also has a NeoPDP too by the way.

Anyways I'd take the bigger S2, but the G25 has a better reflection filter from what I heard.

I had the 58s2 for a few days and it had a very grainy picture. When I went back to BB, I noticed that it showed a lot more graininess than nearly every tv surrounding it on the wall. Blacks however were excellent, much better than I expected from a TV of its price. I would consider just spending the extra dough on the g25, since it's not too much more and I hear it's quite close to the quality of the top of the line vt25. You will be missing a bit on the screen size, but the graininess really bothered me enough that I would sacrifice the extra size.

I am looking at same thing, leaning toward 58". Price went back up on these sets though with 149.00 shipping on Amazon.

15% more screen real estate on 58" compared to 54".

http://www.displaywars.com/54-inch-16x9-vs-58-inch-16x9

What about the S2 vs the G25 for the same screen size?

For someone like me who mainly watches sports, Discovery HD, etc, with a lot of SD watching by the kids and very little movie watching, will the increase in PQ of the G25 be worth the extra coin vs the S2 (looking at 46" units BTW).

Are the S2 sets really that bad? I'm looking to go for a big screen this time around, but the options are pretty slim once you go to 60" and above. The opinions on the S2 models seem pretty mixed, but the 65VT25 is way out of my price range. I was also looking at the Sammy 63C550, but the input lag is apparently atrocious, and along with some other caveats, that pretty much leaves me with the 65S2. If the G25 came in any size larger than 54", I think my choice would be obvious, but as it stands, giving up 11" for better features is a tough pill to swallow. I suppose that I could wait for the 2011 models to show up, but my old DLP really needs to be put out to pasture, so I was hoping to purchase within the next few weeks.

It's not that the S2 is "that bad", rather the G25 and VT25 are "that much better". The S2 is a admittedly a lower-end model, and the jump in overall picture quality and performance between an S2 and a G25 is WAY bigger than the jump from a G25 to a VT25 (which is only slight for regular 2D content).



It's extremely unfortunate that Panasonic does not offer the G25 in 58" and 65" as it leaves a huge hole that is begging to be filled. Just based on other threads and discussions like this here over the past 5 years, i think there would be a good market for a mid-priced 58"-65" big screen for those who want much better than lower end performance 2D set but don't want to pay a substantial premium for the top-of-the-line 3D model to get it. If i were in charge, the S2 would have been capped out at 54 inches and make the G25 into the 2D alternative to the VT series by offering it in the 58" and 65" sizes.



I imagine the 65S2 would still be a huge improvement over your DLP no?

There is some talk here that in 2011 Panasonic may be releasing their 58" and 65" models in the springtime instead of their usual late summer release dates and if that's true, then the 65S2 may get scarce before Panasonic makes it's usual January press release about the new model lineup where they outline what they'll be offering. Right now nobody really knows what kind of model lineup is planned for 2011. For all we know, they may get a clue and start capping the S3 out at 54 inches, then offer the G35 in the 58"-65" range, or consolidate their model lineup from the current 6 or so series to only 3 and offer the big sizes in all of them to compete with Samsung.

Just about everything everyone has written in the above posts is accurate information, which in itself is a little unusal. It really comes down to you, if you really think the bigger the better I would go with the biggest you can afford. As far as picture quality it also comes down to your past experience with tvs. If your like randy walters who knows the best picture quality and will not be happy with a little less picture you definetly want to sacrifice size for a better picture. But from what I read about you you wont miss a little better picture cause your fram of reference, from past viewing experinces, is from a novices just like my own. I have a panasonic 42 x1, and it is one of panasonics lower price sets, and Im happy. Could I be happier yes but Im satisfied. Like the one post says above I would look at the lg550 if you dont have a bright room.

Thanks for the reply. There's no doubt that the S2 would be a big step up for me, but unless there's an irresistible sale price on the 65S2 in the next couple of weeks, I think I'll hold out and see if Panasonic does indeed introduce some mid-tier sets at the 58" or 65" sizes. I don't buy new large sets very often, so I can wait a few months if there ends up being some higher-quality options to choose from.

I bought the 65s2 and couldn't be happier. I looked at the VT25 but couldn't justify the price difference because I really didn't think the picture was much better. This TV replaced my Sony 60" SXRD and so far the picture is superior to the SXRD.

I've seen a handful of comments about grainy picture on the S2's, but they're sporadic enough that it makes me think that those users had defective sets. If Panasonic doesn't announce a 58G35 in a couple of weeks, I think the 65S2 is gonna be my new set.

It could be due to defective sets but I haven't seen similar complaints for the G series or any Samsung or LG plasmas. Go and demo it yourself. Put on a dvd with an average amount of grain and see whether you can deal with the output. Animated movies or crystal clean sources won't have any grain issues so don't bother with those.

I have a 58S1 for a little over a year now, and I couldn't be happier.

Well actually you could've, but it would have cost you a lot more

Standard Mode is the only real dim mode. Custom and Game are brighter than THX. Game Mode has the flashy colors that are good for video games, sports, cartoons, and stuff like that. Custom is like a brighter version of THX.

I think THX looks better. I don't use Custom so maybe I wasn't totally accurate by saying Custom is like THX but brighter. I think it sacrifices PQ by making it brighter. But many do like Custom. S2's Custom might not be exactly the same as the G25 either. Blacks are slightly better on the G25. I would assume that would apply to all the modes. Btw I like Warm 1 much better than Warm 2. I don't know why they use Warm 2 as the setting for THX. Oh yeah and way better AR Filter and 1 less piece of glass to avoid distortion that the S2 supposedly has issues with.

You may want to remove the prices from your OP. I started a similar thread a few days ago and it was removed and I received a warning for posting "non-MSRP prices." I definitely do not see the harm in it but apparently some mods for this forum like to show how big their e-peens are.

On a side note, I am still considering the G25 as well. I have read that this Panasonic cannot properly process 1080p/24 material. Would this effect games on PS3 or only blu-rays? What type of problems does it cause?

So, the graininess would be a result of the source content, then? This set will be used probably 75% for HD gaming, and the rest of the time for new-release DVD and Blu-ray movies, so I'm not sure I would even come across it. And, I unfortunately live in a podunk town with one Best Buy, and not much else, so I'm not sure if I would even be able to do much demoing, anyway.

Also, regarding the game mode discussion: Is it true that the Panasonic sets don't need to be played in game mode at all in order to maintain low input lag? The Samsung equivalent to the S2 apparently has the sweet spot of 1-2 frames of lag in game mode, but that mode is said to absolutely gut the picture quality. Even worse, lag in other modes is supposedly well over 100ms, which is right out. Being able to play twitch games in any picture mode on the Panny would be huge bonus for me.

It's not about that. AVS is here only for technical discussions, not price discussions. The mods, administrators, and the owners of AVS have very good reasons why Price Talk isn't allowed and 99% of us here wholeheartedly agree. The forum rules, which you and i agreed to when we registered here, prohibit price talk. The mods here are actually pretty cool and give us a lot of leeway if we discuss the technological merits of a particular TV vs others as long as the thread doesn't turn into a pricing thread.

Price threads such as yours clog the forum and are off topic. If you want to talk about pricing, there are other AV forums like Highdefforum that do allow it.

It processes it well enough imo. Not perfect but hardly noticeable. At least to my eyes. And PS3 doesn't do 1080p/24 for games.

My thread was not about pricing, I was simply asking for recommendations (very similar to this thread.) I mentioned the prices at the end of my thread because I thought it would help aid those making the recommendations. I just wanted to warn the OP because my entire thread was removed (instead of simply deleting the line with the prices) and I think this one has some good information in it.

Do LCD's suffer from the same problem? I have a 32" Samsung LCD (720P 60Hz) and I have not noticed any significant problems with BD, however I have only watched a few on it since I purchased this TV.

Nothing. Maybe you won't notice the deep blacks in a lighted room at Sears. A darker room would be where the Cinema experience is most enjoyable similar to the movie theaters. If you can't tell the difference, maybe the S2 is better for you. But I think the G25 looks a little better. But if you are willing to calibrate it, maybe you can get a similar picture to the G25.