LG 60PA6500 vs Samsung PN60E530

I own the 60PA6500 and I don't have any regrets.

The biggest "so called knock" on LG sets, has been black level performance. The 2012 models are greatly improved. For most users, the set will be a good combination of performance and value.

For a mid range set, the LGs are very nice. The are also quite adjustable, and pretty easy to dial in good color without needing a full on calibration. Either set will be a solid performer. You could get better performance by looking at some higher end sets, (Panasonic ST50, Samsung E6500) but that may be a budget buster.

I have seen both out of torch mode, and set up, the samsung was a brighter set with more "Pop" from my view. I ended up buying the Samsung. Colour accuracy is pretty good, blacks are better than my 3 year old Samsung as well.

A few things bother me though, I went through a few returns and could not get a set that did not have what I assume is DSE. On pure white scenes you can see slight pink splotches, its unnoticeable unless pretty much the whole screen is pure white. Also I could not get even close to optimal contrast for my whites, but black was pretty spot on calibrating, that being said it is not close to a 50 series Panasonic panels for those inky blacks. It also suffers some motion blur(phosphor trailing) and panning judder worse than I have seen on better sets which is slightly annoying but I guess you get what you pay for and is still much better than LCD sets I have seen on the blur any ways. There is buzz on my Samsung, although you can only hear if the sound is muted and you turn your ear to the TV. The last gripe I have is the set does not have the sharpness of other plasmas I have seen and raising it past 5 produces artifacts and going further then than causes bad noise forcing you to keep it between 0-5 (where it should be at on almost any other plasma) causing it to lose detail/ slightly muddy blurry faces. Like I said a Panasonic at 0 will be as sharp as this on 25 but without the artifacting/ noise.

On the plus side, I have seen no IR at all, even after pausing for long periods of time or watching football for 8 hours straight. Samsung panels seem to be immune to IR unlike the 2011/2012 Panasonic models. If you have any other questions let me know.
Edited by lmtech - 8/18/12 at 10:52am

i bought the PN 60E530 AND CALIBRATED IT. I LOVE THIS SET FOR THE VALUE OF JUST OVER $1000 DOLLARS. BUT THE ONLY THING THAT I HAVE NOTICED IS THE WHEN I AM WATCHING THIS SET THERE SEEMS TO BE A SMALL BUZZING NOISE THAT CAN BE HEARD. I DIDNT NOTICE THIS WHEN I BOUGHT THE SET BOUGHT WILL SEE AS TIME GOES BY AND WILL CALL THE MANUFACTOR O SEE IF ANTHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS. GOOD LUCK AND CHOOSE WISELY

I have these exact 2 TV's and actually found this thread for comparison before getting both of them. Here's a quick rundown of my impressions. Just a side note, I 'did' tweak my LG to get better blacks via the procedures outlined here: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1372479/lg-plasma-panel-tweaks-for-better-blacks

The Samsung is brighter. On brighter scenes, it does appear that the Samsung has more 'pop' in its picture. It has slightly better color saturation, although the skin tones on the LG seems more natural to me during certain scenes. The E530 does have more noticeable buzzing if that's a big issue for anyone; it wasn't for me.

The tweaked LG clearly has better blacks, a few distinct shades darker on a mostly black screen, in fact (sorry for not being able to compare stock black levels; maybe I'll change it back for stock comparison's sake). The LG has better motion handling. The difference isn't noticeable most of the time, but during the dark city scene in "Samsara," (middle part of Scene 10), panning on the LG was smooth; on the Samsung, it was decidedly jerkier and had remnants of motion blur. This was tested using the same blu-ray player for each, by the way.

So if I could simplify it, the Samsung looks better in a bright environment, and the tweaked LG looks better in a darker environment. I use the LG as my main movie television as the jerky motion handling on the Samsung was a deal-breaker for me. Most of the time, however, side-by-side, the picture quality is pretty similar.