Hey Guys
I've spent a few days with the PZ950 and here are my thoughts in comparison to the Panasonic 50GT30, which I had for a month before I took it back for a refund.
These comparisons are based on my own experience, after real time spent with both units.
I'll try my best to address most of the commonly asked questions people have been asking in regard to their concerns with buying this unit.
First off Line Bleeding
I have ONLY seen line bleeding when Iv watched a few movie trailers.....you know the green splash screen that says 'This preview has been approved by blah blah blah'
The Panasonic 50GT30 also demonstrated Line Bleeding here too, so its certainly not a weakness exclusive to the LG, All real world content I have seen has shown NO line bleeding whatsoever and so it shouldn't be any cause for concern for any potential buyer. Case Closed :-)
LG's 'weakness' (I use that term lightly) does seems to be its black levels, but from what iv seen so far, its not that the levels are that poor, its just that Panasonic's are EXCEPTIONALLY black, therefore the LG is only weak when compared side by side.
In my experience, there is a trade off here, The Panasonic suffered with fluctuating brightness which was distracting and far more bothersome (although there is now talk of a firmware fix for this), and mine also had a large green splodge running down the centre of the screen, which although subtle still managed to taint whites and greys.
However the LG is totally uniform and totally stable and therefore a lot more pleasing to my eye as I can just sit and loose myself in a movie.
Sat on its own I think most people will be happy with LG's Black level considering its other strengths as a TV over the likes of the GT30
For example the LG does not suffer with Panasonics 50hz issue on UK TV broadcasts and PAL DVD's, it has less dithering noise with smoother transitions between colours whilst also having a more detailed and stable picture.
When watching Transformers on Blu-Ray I swear I can see more intricate detail on the robots than I had EVER seen before. It really is a joy to watch :-)
The picture on my GT30 suffered with slight double imaging and minor phosphor trailing on horizontal pans, the LG does not exhibit this at all.
The only niggle I can spot with the PZ950 is its sensitivity to Image Retention, but it does fade VERY quickly...a lot quicker than the on GT30 (although to be fair the Panasonic seemed to resist IR a lot better in the first place)
3D on both sets is very very good, with Panasonic having a slight edge in night-time conditions as the LG suffers a little more with crosstalk (although we are talking about such a small amount its barely worth mentioning) But on the flipside the LG seems to have a greater sense of depth.
With the Panasonic, watching 3D in daytime conditions was a pointless exercise as the flicker caused by the glasses shutting out external light became uncomfortable. The LG's 3D during daytime viewing, although not at its best, is MILES better, as there is far less 'strobing' seen through the glasses and a greater light output emitted from the screen.
I think this is where LG has really succeeded, with its glasses.
The Panasonic glasses look and feel more expensive, and come with a nice protective storage case, however in my opinion their overall design is flawed as they sit too high on the bridge of the nose and as a result of having such narrow lenses, the bottom of the lens frame sat just enough in your field of view to be distracting.
I also found their glasses to be heavier and increasingly uncomfortable over time.
The LG's glasses are a LOT lighter, have a better frame/lens design and as a result it’s easy to forget you are even wearing them, making watching 3D content more immersive.
I have read that the LG glasses loose sync after 10 mins if you don’t move your head, I haven’t experienced this myself, and it could prove to be an annoyance, but once again when talking about trade offs, I think I may prefer this option against the Panasonics.
If you like to dabble with menus and settings the LG has lots to offer with lots of settings and calibration controls.
The Panasonics menu's are cleaner and easier to navigate but less in-depth, with less calibration options.
In my personal opinion, after having numerous image related issues with the Panasonic I truly couldn’t be happier with the LG and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an alternative to the highly rated GT30.
There are a few compromises along the way i.e. Black Levels and MINOR amounts of crosstalk in 3D, but all in all the LG PZ950 wins out where it matters.....OVERALL IMAGE QUALITY :-)
A matter of note regarding problems with 1080/24 playback.
I unfortunately have to confirm there are issues here...but on BOTH units.
The Panasonic suffered with an unwatchable strobing (not your usual 24p judder) and double imaging.
This was one of my primary reasons for finally deciding the TV had to go back.
All I had to compare it too was my 3 year old 40inch Sony LCD, which displayed 24p content with no issues at all.
The Panasonic looked HORRIBLE in this mode, but showed considerable improvement when I resorted back to 1080/60.
The LG is also problematic in 24p mode, as a few people have reported, it does seem to hitch and stutter along like a PC struggling to handle too much video information.
Both TV's are equally unwatchable in this mode (albeit for different reasons).
If I hadn't seen the Panasonic GT30 exhibiting its own issues in this mode beforehand, I would feel the need to complain and possibly return the LG too.
BUT, as it stands, despite being disappointed that the LG doesn’t seem up to this task either, I've decided to cut my losses and live with it, and forget about 24p playback.
The LG gets too many things right over the Panasonic which has got its own issues in this department anyway.
I don’t want a VT30 even with its 96 Hz mode, as it still suffers with Panasonics other issues, I don’t want a Samsung unit, and I don’t want another GT30.
So apart from exploring this years LCD market I really am out of viable options.
And so despite this, I’m happy with the LG PZ950.
It's not ideal but it doesn't seem like anyone else in this years Plasma market can offer a better alternative.
24p is over rated anyway :-P
Cheers Guys
