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What (today's pricing) $1200 PDP is good for a windowed room?

post #1 of 26
3/10/13 at 9:16am
Thread Starter 
As the title said, if you were spending $1200 or less at today's prices, which PDP will do good in a room with windows, getting the best picture for the money?
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post #2 of 26
3/10/13 at 9:57am
Where are the windows in relation to the TV? will there be direct sunlight? ect ect.....Most of the lower models wont do as well with a very bright room......

Is there a size reqirement?

Id look at the ST50s (if you can find one)
Possibliy even the Panasonic UT50
Samsung E 6500\7K\8K (if you can find them)

Size will determine price of course, just becasue a room has windows doesnt mean its "bad" for plasma as you can control with blinds, curtins, etc...we'll need more information from you in order to help you out...
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post #3 of 26
3/10/13 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
No direct sunlight. All the light is indirect. The patio door in the room faces north east - that entire wall is french windows, but it's a large covered porch. There are no southeast or northwest windows, just southwest and northeast windows on our home. There is an archway to the left of the seating area that leads to the front room of the house, which has south east facing windows. Personally, I think the room is pretty dim - you can't read in it during the day without lights on. Arizona houses are made to stay cool, which usually means dark. The house is angled so direct sunlight only comes in the southeast windows in the winter mornings.

From the seating area, looking at the TV turned off, none of the windows mentioned are reflected in it.

We mostly watch TV in the late evening. With our LCD TV with CCFL we need to leave on overhead lighting to enjoy it, otherwise it hurts our eyes, and even the black is illuminated. It's a real cheapie - a westinghouse 32" 720P LCD.

Reciever is a AVR-2106 Denon, connected via component cables to the TV, and the Blu Ray is a Denon DBP-1610. We do have an HDMI on the blu ray running straight to the TV, in case we want to upscale a DVD. For native blu rays, we just run over component, as there's no difference in quality and we can switch inputs with the AVR. The AVR also has an XBOX360 connected to it via component cables, and that's connected to the internet via a hardwire to our router. We have 25mbit cable service.The Blu Ray is also connected via hardwire. Speakers are all boston accoustics VR1. Obviously this system is a few years old!

All our online movie services are watched over the XBOX.
Edited by Mickey_C - 3/10/13 at 10:30am
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post #4 of 26
3/10/13 at 10:34am
Thread Starter 
One other note - my actual budget is $1500 but I need to replace the TV stand with one of comparable quality, which will cost a good $250. The whole thing really annoys my wife. The existing stand is 40" wide, picked with excruciating shopping by my wife, which is why I started out looking at smaler sets, like a 43" plasma, but I found they were all lacking in critical picture quality features. Besides that we sit at about 8', so I think a 50" would be better.
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post #5 of 26
3/10/13 at 10:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

As the title said, if you were spending $1200 or less at today's prices, which PDP will do good in a room with windows, getting the best picture for the money?

The LG 9700 series plasmas have by far the least reflective screens available. The stock of the 60" is drying up and the price has actually gone up in the last couple weeks. You can still get the 50" model for under $800 which is a steal. Unless you are buying into the "Panasonic is the only choice in plasma" arena, there are other less costly options that will meet most peoples needs.
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post #6 of 26
3/10/13 at 1:26pm
Thread Starter 
I just saw the GT50 at Magnolia/best buy. It was pretty impressive. $1199 includes delivery, installation, and a professional calibration after 30 days use.

Could I really do any better?
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post #7 of 26
3/10/13 at 1:38pm
You could try a Sears near you if you have one. They may have a 50ST50 left at a closeout price.
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post #8 of 26
3/10/13 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

I just saw the GT50 at Magnolia/best buy. It was pretty impressive. $1199 includes delivery, installation, and a professional calibration after 30 days use.

Could I really do any better?

Cant beat that deal. Jump on it
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post #9 of 26
3/10/13 at 2:13pm
That's probably the best deal right now on a 50GT50. Or there's 1 LG 50PM9700 left at Amazon for just over $700. That's over a $500 difference with sales tax on the GT50 from BB. Sounds like you are only considering Panasonic however.rolleyes.gif
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post #10 of 26
3/10/13 at 2:36pm
Thread Starter 
I considered the lg 9700 however the reviews i read said they are not as good of a oicture. No question the 700 is a screaming deal - but my main concern is picture quality. All roads seemed to lead to the panny gt or st. If the new s60 had pro black I'd get it, as i dont need 3d.
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post #11 of 26
3/10/13 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

I considered the lg 9700 however the reviews i read said they are not as good of a oicture. No question the 700 is a screaming deal - but my main concern is picture quality. All roads seemed to lead to the panny gt or st. If the new s60 had pro black I'd get it, as i dont need 3d.

Went through the same thing as you the last 3-4 weeks deciding. Went with the LG and no regrets. Try it. If you like it you've saved a ton of $. If you don't like it, return it the Amazon and buy a 2013 Panasonic. Just my $.02.smile.gif
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post #12 of 26
3/10/13 at 2:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

I considered the lg 9700 however the reviews i read said they are not as good of a oicture. No question the 700 is a screaming deal - but my main concern is picture quality. All roads seemed to lead to the panny gt or st. If the new s60 had pro black I'd get it, as i dont need 3d.

Pro black? The blacks on the U50 were just as good as the ST/GT. I'm sure the S60 will be great.
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post #13 of 26
3/10/13 at 5:48pm
Thread Starter 
I went home and adjusted my little 32". The picture is very good. What I don't like about the 50" screens is the picture looks grainy. I don't know maybe I should stick with my original plans to move up to 42" at 1080p. I prefer quality of picture over size.

This is my 32" westinghouse (6 years old now?) at 720P on troy blu ray:

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post #14 of 26
3/10/13 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

I went home and adjusted my little 32". The picture is very good. What I don't like about the 50" screens is the picture looks grainy. I don't know maybe I should stick with my original plans to move up to 42" at 1080p. I prefer quality of picture over size.

This is my 32" westinghouse (6 years old now?) at 720P on troy blu ray:

The larger sizes are just as good, you just can't sit on top of them. biggrin.gif
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post #15 of 26
3/10/13 at 7:16pm
Thread Starter 
My viewing distance is 9' from the screen to the tip of my nose. So what's the perfect screen size for 9'?
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post #16 of 26
3/10/13 at 7:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

My viewing distance is 9' from the screen to the tip of my nose. So what's the perfect screen size for 9'?

32" would be tiny to me from that distance. I would say no smaller than a 50", maybe even larger.wink.gif
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post #17 of 26
3/10/13 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

No direct sunlight. All the light is indirect. The patio door in the room faces north east - that entire wall is french windows, but it's a large covered porch. There are no southeast or northwest windows, just southwest and northeast windows on our home. There is an archway to the left of the seating area that leads to the front room of the house, which has south east facing windows. Personally, I think the room is pretty dim - you can't read in it during the day without lights on. Arizona houses are made to stay cool, which usually means dark. The house is angled so direct sunlight only comes in the southeast windows in the winter mornings......From the seating area, looking at the TV turned off, none of the windows mentioned are reflected in it.......We mostly watch TV in the late evening.

Based on everything you said about your room info and viewing habits i think you could probably get away with Plasma with no AR Filter at all - like the outgoing U50 or UT50 series (2012 models), but the ST50/GT50 do have better picture quality and more picture adjustments. The new ST60 series is coming out soon will have a revised/improved AR Filter and will supposedly be a slight improvement in PQ over the ST50/GT50, and will have more picture adjustments.

And at 8 feet i'd consider upping the screen size to 55 inches, especially considering you watch movies. I sit 8 feet from my 50" GT50 and although i'm not a "big screen" guy and i rarely watch movies on it, when i do watch movies i do think the TV needs to be a bit bigger. A 55" ST60 will debut at $1499 MSRP so that's one i'd definitely consider.
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post #18 of 26
3/10/13 at 10:59pm
Thread Starter 
Is there a noticeable picture quality gain from the ST50 to the GT50? I can get the ST50 for almost $300 less... which would make replacing my denon with the newer model with HDMI a possibility.

The big difference between the two (I thought) was the infinite black pro and the THX certified display modes. What else am I missing?
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post #19 of 26
3/10/13 at 11:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

Is there a noticeable picture quality gain from the ST50 to the GT50? I can get the ST50 for almost $300 less... which would make replacing my denon with the newer model with HDMI a possibility.

The big difference between the two (I thought) was the infinite black pro and the THX certified display modes. What else am I missing?

Also a 4th HDMI input, and I believe the design is a bit sharper. Overall the most common take is that if you plan on getting it calibrated, you can save money for the calibration and buy the ST50. If not, get the GT50, throw it in THX mode with some settings off the forums, and enjoy away. The PQ on both sets after calibration is basically identical.
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post #20 of 26
3/10/13 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

Is there a noticeable picture quality gain from the ST50 to the GT50? I can get the ST50 for almost $300 less... which would make replacing my denon with the newer model with HDMI a possibility.

The big difference between the two (I thought) was the infinite black pro and the THX certified display modes. What else am I missing?

No, there really isn't. For that price difference, get the ST50, hands down. smile.gif
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post #21 of 26
3/10/13 at 11:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Omni009 View Post

Also a 4th HDMI input, and I believe the design is a bit sharper. Overall the most common take is that if you plan on getting it calibrated, you can save money for the calibration and buy the ST50. If not, get the GT50, throw it in THX mode with some settings off the forums, and enjoy away. The PQ on both sets after calibration is basically identical.

Not quite. The majority of GT50 owners prefer the Custom setting to the THX modes.
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post #22 of 26
3/11/13 at 8:29am
Thread Starter 
The professional calibration comes free with the GT50 from magnolia; the ST50 pricing is just Amazon, no calibration included.

Is there anything else worth looking at in this price range? I am getting ready to pull the trigger on the GT50 and move on to shopping for a new TV stand...
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post #23 of 26
3/11/13 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
I just read a couple of negative reviews concerning this plasma about Burn-In (ghosting images).

My daughters play XBOX games for hours on end - and I've read some gamers saying that they got ghosted images from as little as 10 hours play time on a game, due to some persistant images (like control boxes) in the game. My 15 year old has put in easily 100 hours on Skyrim.

I'd like to know if that's really an issue still.
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post #24 of 26
3/11/13 at 12:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

I just read a couple of negative reviews concerning this plasma about Burn-In (ghosting images).

My daughters play XBOX games for hours on end - and I've read some gamers saying that they got ghosted images from as little as 10 hours play time on a game, due to some persistant images (like control boxes) in the game. My 15 year old has put in easily 100 hours on Skyrim.

I'd like to know if that's really an issue still.

You should look at LCD/LED models instead, especially since you are only considering Panasonic Plasmas.
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post #25 of 26
3/11/13 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by StevenC56 View Post

You should look at LCD/LED models instead, especially since you are only considering Panasonic Plasmas.

I am not 'only considering' panasonic plasmas. Are there other plasma displays that do not have issues with ghosting after long gaming sessions?
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post #26 of 26
3/11/13 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickey_C View Post

I am not 'only considering' panasonic plasmas. Are there other plasma displays that do not have issues with ghosting after long gaming sessions?

It's going to be a potential issue with any plasma, however after reading most of the plasma threads over the last couple years it appears to me that IR issues are more prominent on the Panasonics.
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