2012 LG PM9700 Series Discussion Thread

LG appear to be keeping a low profile on this years plasma offerings, focusing instead on their OLED and Samart TV. It's a little ambivalent if the 30% deeper blacks is in regard to their filter which will not improve dark room viewing or if they took our LG panel tweaks seriously and lowered the MLL of the actual panel to match Panasonics, but to be taken seriously this year they would at least need to match Samsung's better offerings.
They still offer affordable units and have always been praised for their natural color so we'll just have to wait and see.
Here in Canada last years PZ950 was not even widely available and listed as discontinued before it was even available.

I can't wait to hear more about this TV. I mentioned it i the PM 6700 thread. Any reviewers out there? If it truly has better (tru) blacks and a non-reflective screen then I'm seriously comparing it the the Panny GT50 and Sammy E7000. I'm looking at 50", but all seem in the same ballpark to me - within $100. Wish I could find somewhere local where I could go see and touch!

any word on the release date was going for the vt50 but it seem that 2012 has the same problem like in 2011.

I am also kind of "waiting on" this Plasma to come out and wanting to read reviews to find out if LG will deliver on the supposedly greatly improved black levels.

Over in the LCD forum under the "LG 2012 TV line-up leaks! LM9600, LM8600 & PM9700" topic I mentioned an odd article I found which purported to be about the PM9700s, the article has been removed since I posted the link. It seemed to be saying the PM9700 is a hybrid between a LED and a Plasma -- which frankly makes absolutely no sense to me. Someone in that topic claimed to have spoken with LG support and reported they said there were two different products under the "PM9700" model number.

My guess, LG is launching some kind of "new" LED technology which is probably related to OLED somehow, but they are calling PLED. And someone at LG has managed to get their model numbers confused -- causing a mix-up between this new product and the pending release of the 2012 PM9700 Plasmas.

You can find some information about the PLED-based PM9700 on LG's Spanish site. Use Google Translate, if you don't speak Spanish.

PLED is just a funny marketing attempt to hide the word "plasma," seems to be used only by LG Spain.

so its actually a plasma tv if u r in US???

It's plasma everywhere.

Yeah, that's the article I had found previously. But now it seems a bit "cleaned up". The article in that link leads you to believe LG is essentially renaming/rebranding plasma as "Pixel Light Emitting Display". In the version I saw there was wording indicating "PLED" was a hybrid between plasma and LED tecnology. That language has been removed now. So, yeah -- this looks like marketing hype that someone got slightly messed up in the initial release...

I have found a video (of course in spanish) that shows the same model number PM9700 with PLED technology by LG on display at a showroom.

xxx.youtube.com/watch?v=xzuHfCdsYQc

also found an article (source from spanish website) that sates these models will be in stores on April 15th.
http://www.lcdtvrepair.us/news/PLED_TVs_from_LG--191

This makes me believe such a technology does exist that LG is coming up with. but may not be in US.or that we have to see.

As an LG owner of the past two models, I am highly skeptical that LG will catch up to Panasonic or Samsung with black levels this year.

Even with the Black Level tweak, I'm currently looking to sell my PZ950 for the ST50 or VT50. It just can't compare to these sets.

Unless the PM9700 has the best PQ and black levels of any plasma this year, the only way this tv would be enticing over an ST50 is with value pricing. I love the color accuracy from LG, but the only way they will keep me as a customer this year is if they can match the ST50 black levels at a similar or lower price.

and...... GADGETZ NEWS
http://gadgetznews.com/lg-tv-pled-lg...t-tv-pled.html
"LG TV PLED - LG launches its first TV PLED
Posted on March 29, 2012 by admin

LG TV PLED - As if that were not enough for some to decide between Plasma, LED and recent, expensive OLED, LG adds even more difficult to decide which TV to buy with the launch of a new proprietary technology called PLED.

Although termed as the platform PLED LG has nothing to do with the OLED polymer, but with the initials Pixel Light Emitting Display and it is a hybrid of technologies Plasma and LED aimed at getting the best of both worlds."

Interesting. That seems to be the language that was in the article I saw previously, but got removed in a later version. I'll say it again, it makes no sense to me how you could blend LED and plasma technologies. I guess only time will tell what is going on here...

I just started a new thread on this one, see if anyone can enlighten us.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=21904519

Hi bhazard

Have to agree you there although last weekend I did scrutinize the PM6700 next to last years Panasonic GT30 and PZ750 in a dimly lit showroom, the 6700 held up quite well in terms of the blacks, the PZ750 didn't quite qualify but it's grey-scale was very good but I would really need to see them in a dark room.
If the PM9700 can equal the GT30 then I would find that acceptable for most consumers but it would need to match this year's Panasonics for me to give up my tweaked PX950 otherwise the ST50 looks like the go to this year for me also if I decide to go up in size.

The question remains though what is the PM9700, on avforms LGs flagship is listed as the PM970 http://www.avforums.com/forums/lg-fo...3d-thread.html

So the PM9700 may indeed be a PLED, but this is all new to me and I cannot appear to find any more information on this new panel technology.

Just came across this, not sure if was garnered from impressions at CES, either way it's only a basic but positive review, nothing in depth.
*******************.com/lg-plasma-tv/lg-60pm9700.html
"The picture quality on the 2012 LG plasmas has improved significantly over the previous model plasmas. The 60PM9700 has a new black filter that has improved the black levels and contrast. Inky blacks improve a television's picture in more ways that just dark scenes. Better blacks and contrast improve color performance and picture depth."

Sorry the link is not accepted but it's at ( http :// reviews .plasma tv buying guide .com /lg-plasma-tv/lg-60pm9700.html ) just remove the spaces.

I spent about 30 minutes watching this set today. Switched settings around and played with it a little bit too. I'm no expert and this is purely based on comparison to the other 100 TV's around it, but I was left unimpressed. The screen is a true matte finish, which seemed to give off almost zero reflection or glare, but also seemed to wash out the image. The blacks, though promised to be 40% lower, didn't seem to be much better than the lower end plasmas. I had high hopes for it but was generally let down. I am curious to see the measurements from an actual calibration because to me it almost looked like a low end LCD. Maybe LG is trying to carve a niche in the "bright room" category with the matte screen but I was disappointed with the overall picture quality. Even the PM 6700 seemed to have more pop. Looks like a ST50 is in my future which is too bad, I really wanted to like the LG.

Did you get to take it out of Vivid or Standard?

Yes, I tried it in THX Cinema (no bright room option), vivid, etc...I ran the picture wizard and even used the Expert mode to try some settings. Turned off all the BS settings and set black level to low. Right behind me was a ST50 and a GT50 side by side on the wall. So it was easy to compare them all. Some people might think its fantastic...I just didn't get that feeling. Especially for a flagship piece.

Thanks.

Did you switch the "energy saving" mode to standard? This makes a huge difference and from your description of the "washed out" picture I have a hunch you didn't.

I had this TV for about 5 minutes but refused delivery due to it being damaged (that was a downer). I have a replacement coming next week. But I was finally able to see one in person and it's a design standout IMO.

Matte finish???!

Now, please better and finer pwm noise in the shades near black and I might give LG another chance.

From CNET, "For 2012 an LG company rep tells CNET that the new models, thanks to upgraded phosphors and other improvements, boast black levels up to 40 percent deeper than last year's."

Form Plasma TV Buying Guide (which you referenced earlier), "This plasma TV was off in a corner of LG's CES display but.... with an Innovations CES 2012 award! We're sure LG would have rather won for it's LED Cinema 3D Televisions or its OLED or 84 4K screen, but it was the old Plasma that came through."

They said that for my PZ950 and the black levels were no better than my PX950.