Quote:
Originally Posted by
tpollagi 
You are probably in a better position to tell us if the GT50 can compete. Very few (if any) of us have ever had a in home side by side comparison with a 950. For the price difference, I would have to hope the Sony is leaps and bounds ahead of the Panasonic.
As for some of your questions: 1) DSE is not a plasma only issue. It is a wide spread issue with all forms of flat panel displays. I have see crazy bad DSE from edge lit LCD that would make you want to cry. My GT is much cleaner than most of the displays I have seen but its certainly not perfect. IR has been talked to death here. Some have it some don't. Personally I'd say zero is the acceptable limit. To me, zero means you can't see it unless you unleash a host of uniformity tests and search for it. Mine has less than zero; meaning that you can't find any even if search aggressively for it (I've looked).
2) slides won't effect DSE anymore than running your car through a car wash would remove dents. Slides could help erase IR but so will the internal wiper, static, normal video, and time.
3) VT is essentially the same panel with a slightly darker filter. It will have the same issues.
Only you can judge if the degree of any of these things is unacceptable. If it bothers you, it's unacceptable. No two panels are going to be exactly the same so if you feel the one you have is a problem then you should try an exchange or if you like the 950 better just bounce the GT out the door. It's at the end of its production cycle now anyway. The only people shopping for a GT now should be those looking for a price drop. The GT could be a real bargain here or it could be a mistake depending on what the 2013's have to offer.
Tpoll,
Thanks for reply. I guess from reading the forum I became somewhat conditioned that I should expect to live with some degree of imperfection with the GT and plasma in general. I was thinking I got lucky that my right side vertical band cleaned up and that the buzz issue can only be heard when i stick my ear up to the tv. So the DSE was only 1 out of 3 issues-doing good right? Overall I think plasmas present more grainy picture noise vs LED from all that I have seen. I think i could live with that to some degree.
As for comparison I am happy to share since some may be interested, BUT I don't t want to appear to be selling the Sony and slamming the GT on a GT thread. I really would like for the GT to work out.
As you stated, the Sony is far superior. My wife nor I can find a single issue with the Sony's picture. I don't have to fight with settings to get what i'm looking for. I did my best to set each display at their best yet tried to dial in so the overall color, gamma, warmth, saturation, brightness, contrast, noise reduction were all similar for a fair comparison. I made sure to try at least 3 of the most popular settings from the forum for each then made minor tweaks for my room and taste using a variety of content. I have also dimmed the backlight on the Sony a bit so it's not unfair or unrealistically bright.
The Sony has amazing contrast, deep inky blacks and beautiful whites. At times the GT looks more gray than black and a little washed out directly in front of me almost like what an LED would look like in off angle viewing. The Sony does wash out slightly from off angle but for my room I don't plan to watch off angle so non issue.
There are zero motion issues/soap opera effect on the Sony. I have noticed zero blooming, banding, or DSE on anything I have watched although I haven't gone out of my way with slides or blu ray menus to try and find it.
Color saturation on Sony is richer with more pop. As currently set the GT does hold it's own. However in custom mode the minute you take brightness, sharpness, or color beyond 50%, or take panel brightness beyond mid, color saturation, contrast, and black levels start to diminish. The Sony on the other hand has the ability to get much brighter and even more colorful while maintaining it's attributes. The GT is kind of a one trick pony if you will.
What really impresses and excites the most about the 950 is the ability to accentuate such finite detail in dark areas or a brick wall etc...without the need to use any enhancement features. Perhaps the extreme contrast of black/white is responsible for the superb grayscale and detail. Gt is not bad, not quite as crisp, but again integrity of detail on GT diminishes and blurrs somewhat the moment you start to tweak the picture out of that very narrow comfort zone.
The Sony displays almost no pixelation or noise which is really nice on non HD content. Watching HD movies or sports, the Gt does almost as well, though it does a better job smoothing out the noise and accentuating detail when motion smoother is set to medium or strong. Doing so matches the Sony closer in detail and less grainy backgrounds. This works well on football for example but movies, shows etc display an intolerable degree of soap opera effect on the Gt whereas the Sony has none using zero enhancement features. Everyday non HD movie viewing is where the GT's precision starts to lose the race.
As neither are calibrated, nor am i a seasoned pro settings guy, I hesitate to comment and sound ignorant but setting the best I can using various content here is what I notice: blue's and greens are similar on both with greens having a tad more bite on the Sony. Yellows and oranges on the Sony are much better and richer. Reds are very similar on both. Earth tones on the Sony are superior. However flesh tones on the Gt have a slight edge. At times the Sony will seem pasty. Grayscale, blacks, whites are superior on the Sony
I will tell you the GT has decent sound and I could live without a sound bar if I could eliminate the rear panel vibration taking place occasionally. The Sony is absolutely without a doubt the worst sounding TV of any size, quality, or year that I have ever heard in my entire life. Sony may as well have not even bothered to install speakers and spared us all a few bucks since a sound bar is required anyways.
Our only complaint with the Sony and it's a big one for us... 55 inches. We really love a 60" TV. 55 looks small and I cannot afford a 65 inch Sony. I want to avoid price talk but both were spectacularly discounted deals. That said at 55" being somewhat a disappointing size i feel that perhaps I should save a few bucks and consider the HX850 which is said to perform almost as well as the 950 for so much less. The Samsung E8000 is perfect in a 60" but doesn't sound like it performs and soap opera effect is difficult to eliminate fully while maintaining a quality image. The only other option would be to give a 65" VT a shot for same price as the 950, or try to swap the GT for a replacement. If I could avoid buzzing, DSE, and banding I could live some degree of pixelation and less superior color to achieve price point and size. OR wait for the new models to be released and start this agonizing adventure all over again.
The last consideration is that I feel a plasma would require calibration and the $300 Panamax power filtration (that made a noticeable difference in pixel noise) whereas a top line LED would perform pretty darn well without either. Obviously part of the overall cost consideration.
Again thanks for the input and I hope that some find the comparison helpful if you have yet to make your decision.
Edited by LoD80k - 1/26/13 at 1:05pm
