What can we expect from 2013 Panasonic Plasmas? - Page 45

Originally Posted by JimP 

I've got a 65VT50 and use the 60 hz mode the most as its least likely to have flicker. I think other VT50 owers are doing the same.

Originally Posted by jh901 

Anyone think that Panny hurts themselves by letting the new flagship Sammy come to market so much quicker? If the F8500 proves to be better than that VT50 as reports come in over the next few weeks, then the ZT60 is really going to have to "bring it".

Originally Posted by jh901 

Anyone think that Panny hurts themselves by letting the new flagship Sammy come to market so much quicker? If the F8500 proves to be better than that VT50 as reports come in over the next few weeks, then the ZT60 is really going to have to "bring it".

Originally Posted by pred1973 

From the sounds of it, it seems like they might not have had much choice. If you are significantly changing the manufacturing process, it takes time to work out the issues that inevitably come with that. Apparently they use an autoclave in the panel process and that is sure to add time as well as cost. Up here in Canada I have seen less press and heard less hype over the F8500 so it may fly under the radar a little. I recently bought my first LCD ( 75ES9000 ) which I have been less than thrilled with, when I contacted the dealer I bought it from and told them I would be returning it, he immediately began discussion on the ZT as a replacement. When I called back to ask about the F8500 after reading about it from CES and here, he didn't seem to know much about it. He doesn't have a brand preference, does carry Samsung (my 75ES9000 IS a Samsung LOL) . None of this scientific, just my experience, but I would point out the traffic on the ZT vs F8500 "anticipation" threads, post counts and content as secondary indicators. The F8500 thread really only starting picking up steam AFTER the set was actually showing up in store inventory systems. Before anyone jumps on me, I am NOT saying the F8500 is better OR worse, I also have no brand loyalty, I have a quality preference , just saying that the advantage the F8500 has by being first out of the gate may not end up significantly hurting ZT sales. Especially if the ZT has limited production. At my dealer there is about a thousand dollar price difference listed (which I know means very little when it comes down to "out the door" price) between the two sets and I think THAT might be a bigger factor than release dates in driving sales of one over the other, assuming similar PQ of course.

Originally Posted by remush 

I might have just waited if they released the VT60 sometime in April, but from initial 8500 impressions, it could be better than the VT60, so not sure if the wait is worth it or if it even makes sense to wait in my situation.

Originally Posted by jh901 

Isn't the F8500 priced to compete with the ZT60? I'm not sure if Sammy has set out to make a huge leap from last year, but it seems that way. Surely, they have the budget to hire the best and brightest so it's more of "will" thing than a "way" thing.

Originally Posted by jh901 

Anyone think that Panny hurts themselves by letting the new flagship Sammy come to market so much quicker? If the F8500 proves to be better than that VT50 as reports come in over the next few weeks, then the ZT60 is really going to have to "bring it".

another former Pioneer Kuro engineer who wished to be unnamed – also a friend of mine during our Pioneer-tenure, now with Panasonic, re-iterate Spike Komatsu’s claim. “Yes, it is better than Kuro,” he confirmed.


A so-called Hexa processing engine combines six-image enhancement techniques (including noise reduction, Intelligent Frame Creation and MPEG re-mastering), while a 3,000Hz Focused Field Drive (FFD) promises improved motion resolution and from the QTEC pattern blu-ray disc (used by NHK and some other broadcast studios worldwide) the motion resolution is an astounding full 1920×1080 (i.e.: full-resolution regardless of the direction the image is moving), something that have never been achieved by any TV regardless of technology until now!

Originally Posted by pred1973 

To be fair though, what do you expect them to say ? They are not going to say that their old bosses 5 year old tv is still better than their new bosses newest, best ever tv. Not saying it can't be or isn't true, just saying that I take it with a grain of salt.

Folks tend to have an allegiance to their paycheck

Originally Posted by pred1973 

In my neck of the woods, it seems like the F8500 is priced against the VT60. The ZT60 list price at my dealer is about a thousand more. Of course those numbers could change closer to the VT60 and ZT60 release dates, but as of now, that's where the prices are where I am.

Originally Posted by sheshechic 

The ZT should be above the F8500 in rank. The 8500 is in the VT category. Anything else purports that the VT50 has moved to fill the GT slot and this is not true. Certain models are just gone this year. The ZT creates a new level. Now, whether it lives up to that is another thing. Heck the shootout may prove me wrong, but I'd bet a little dough that the VT will meet, if not beat, the 8500.

Originally Posted by sheshechic 

The ZT should be above the F8500 in rank. The 8500 is in the VT category. Anything else purports that the VT50 has moved to fill the GT slot and this is not true. Certain models are just gone this year. The ZT creates a new level. Now, whether it lives up to that is another thing. Heck the shootout may prove me wrong, but I'd bet a little dough that the VT will meet, if not beat, the 8500.

Originally Posted by sonyfan 

How did you miss this?

"from Robert with V.E.
Okay, I let a little snip-it out. We received the 51" and 60" F8500s last Friday and we've been running break-in slides ever since.
In between we'll all been viewing video content and doing comparisons as we have the 51" F8500 butt next to the 55" F8000 and VT50 and here's a few comments on what we are seeing.

The F8500 is the best of the lot.

The F8500 is clearly blacker (without crushing)
Brighter than the VT50, but not the F8000
The F8500 has better color accuracy and color saturation than the VT50 and F8000."

Originally Posted by pred1973 

Bold prediction, be interesting to see how it pans out. I think the pricing on the Samsungs is pretty agressive if the PQ on the F8500 is as good as early indicators are suggesting. History has shown repeatedly that the market favors price over quality, so it will be interesting to see down the road how Panasonics limited production on the ZT turns out. For the thousand dollar difference between the 65" F8500 and ZT60 folks will expect a pretty big jump in PQ.

Originally Posted by sonyfan 

Why does the ZT matter that much anyway?
Only 20,000 units will ship worldwide and Panasonic is deep in the red.
Potential buyers are getting nervous over how the warranty will carry over, etc.

Originally Posted by skro 


Yeah, but this is vs. the VT50 and not the VT60. The VT60 and VT50 may perform similarly, but that still doesn't mean the ZT60 won't be in a different class. No one knows, but this doesn't make shesheshic's assessment incorrect, because it is possible that once the ZT60 is thrown in the mix, the 8500 will be closer to the VT series than the ZT series. Who knows...interesting times!

Originally Posted by sonyfan 

Why does the ZT matter that much anyway?
Only 20,000 units will ship worldwide and Panasonic is deep in the red.
Potential buyers are getting nervous over how the warranty will carry over, etc.

Originally Posted by sonyfan 

Why does the ZT matter that much anyway?
Only 20,000 units will ship worldwide and Panasonic is deep in the red.
Potential buyers are getting nervous over how the warranty will carry over, etc.

Originally Posted by DavidHir 

This is just my speculation...

But given Panasonic's financial issues, I think the F8500 is an attempt by Samsung to finally "break" Panasonic and their plasma hold here.

As a result, Panasonic said, "Oh Sh*t....we better come out with the ZT60!" Think about it. Usually they go two years before releasing a new panel, but only waiting one year this time with the ZT60.

If the F8500 lives up to its hype (and I believe it will), it's earlier release may be an advantage this year and the fact its street price seems to be a bit less than the ZT60 doesn't hurt either.

Originally Posted by pred1973 


There is a certain logic to your speculation, and I won't debate that it could be possible, however I think that while it could be possible, its more probable that A) Panasonic caught on that the GT series was kind of "too in betweenish" for the market, and bumped up the features on the ST to compensate for whatever loss in sales they might have seen from the demise of the GT's, and thusly felt it was a good time to introduce something new and different. B) the engineering involved in making the cell walls as thin as Samsung has in the F8500 (which if I was a gambling man, which I'm not, is the main reason for the increased brightness and contrast) and Panasonics different manufacturing process for the ZT take time. The planning, engineering and production take time and those things RARELY get thrown together last minute. If anything, I think the pricing is more likely a shot across the bow as it were. They could be playing the volume/price game to "break" Panasonic, and that wouldn't surprise me at all as it would seem that they have the financial position to have lower margins and survive a bad quarter or two, Panasonic, not so much.