HELP!!Panny TH-50PX60U or Samsung HP-S5073

I'm curious too Chris; what would you say are the factors that make you pick the Sammy over the Panny (besides looks)?

The Samsung has two forms of burn-in protection: pixel shft and white screen. Panasonic offers their customers nothing to protect them from burn in. I also think the Samsung video processor does a better job handling macroblocking and artifacts.

Personally after comparing the panasonic to the samsung. It was a clear winner to me in picture quality and that's why I went with the panasonic. Much more natural and accurate picture on the panasonic compared to the samsung. Also, I don't consider Samsung to be a reliable brand. I've had way too many Samsung products fail on me in the past (DVD player, LCD moniter, and DVD-drive). But again, whatever floats your boat. It's your money, so buy what YOU like, not what we like.

The best advice is to view them side-by-side and buy what you like. In my opinion the video world is changing and Samsung is becoming the leader in both plasmas and LCDs. Samsung is the largest electronics company in the world and they have made tremendous strides and are dedicating lots of resources to their plasma offerings. The HPS 53 and 73 series is only 6 months old. The Panasonic series (60U) is exactly what they were offering 18 months ago with no enhancements. Samsung offers their customers 2 forms of burn-in protection, but Panny offers nothing. Samsung offers a modern piano black housing while Panasonic offers a silver housing which looks like it was made by Mattel.

From a picture quality standpoint, the Samsung offers a clearer, crisper picture. View them side-by-side and you will see more detail in the Samsung. Additionally, stand 3 feet from both sets and you will see less pixelation, screen door effect, noise and artifacts on the Samsung. Look at the coloring on people's faces and you will see the infamous panasonic clay face. The problem was so bad that Panasonic had to develop a firmware update to correct the problem. Unfortunately, the average consumer doesn't know how to download and install a firmware upgrade. Again, Panasonic is offering 18 month old technology which is a lifetime in the plasma market.

Ask the store salespeople which are the best selling sets and they will say the Samsungs are flying off the shelves. Panasonic has been hurt by Samsung and has had to drop their prices dramatically to compete. If you have the best product you don't have to drop your prices to compete. The world is changing and a lot of people are having a hard time beleiving that Panasonic is no longer the leader.

^^^^^ omeletpants sounds like a samsung sales representative ^^^^^^ HAHAHA

I'm not trying to sell anybody anything here. Everyone will have their own opinions on products. Go view both products, change the settings for the best picture on both sets, then make up your mind. You will see more people comparing Pioneer and Panasonic when you are talking about the best picture quality. I wonder why?

Just hate when the marketing hype is stronger than the product performance. Like in the golf world where everyone wants a Scotty Cameron putter because the marketing is strong. Face it, Panasonic is selling an 18 month old design and trying to live on their laurels while others are passing them by. Where's the innovation on their entry level products? Why no burn-in protection? Why did it take them so long to develop a fix for their clay face problem? The answer is arrogance and they felt they didn't need to because of the hype built around the product. But now they are in catch up mode and practically giving away their plasmas because at the same price and viewed side-by-side people are now choosing Samsung

I actually see absolutely no marketing hype done by Panasonic. I do however see all kinds of commercials by Samsung. I think Panasonic doesn't really do much marketing to hype up their products whatsoever. I don't even know if i've ever seen a commercial for a Panasonic plasma TV. And the clay face problem you are talking is about is just as easy as switching from vivid mode to normal mode....problem solved. Like I said earlier, i'm not a salesman here so I'm not trying to push a product (as you obviously are). People will by what looks the best, it's their money. And from what I understand, Panasonic is the number one selling plasma display. right?

So I have a Pioneer 5070 and there is no Burn in protection on it. Maybe Panny and Pioneer don't need this burn in protection for a reason. Better quality Hardware? Aside from that I would take the Panny over the Samsung for performance but I liked the Samsung 5073 cause of the black finish. Had the 5073 for a week and then brought it back and went for a Pioneer 5070. A great decision.

So what's the "special" protection that Panny has? If they have the "very special" burn-in protection then why do they warn people about burn-in in their manual and why is it considered abuse on their warranty program?

FWIW, I traded in a Pioneer 1040 Elite for a Samsung

I own a Hitachi CRT RPTV, Toshiba DLP, and then Panny plasma. I considered Sammy in every decision. Sammy's PQ is kind of unreal in term of sharpness and color accuracy. It catches your eyes at the beginning, but lacks of smoothness and depth.

If you are looking for color depth, color accuracy, and smoothness, Panny is your right choice. I have the same conclusion in choosing between a Sony or Sammy LCD.

Omeletpants, I understand you own a Samsung and want to "protect" it or make yourself feel better about your purchase. But you make it seem as if Samsung plasmas are the ABSOLUTELY best plasma on the market today. Many people will disagree with you, and I am one of them. But as long as YOU are happy with your Samsung, that's all that counts.

Is burn-in a big problem with the panny? I am also looking at the same panny because their is a sale on it tomorrow. It is for my parents, but I will play games on it some when I visit from college. Will game systems cause burn-in on the 60U?

Burn-in is not a problem with any specific maker (Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung, etc...), but with the technology itself. However burn-in on all of the newer generation plasmas are pretty much non-existent. I have the 60U plasma and game with my Xbox quite often with absolutely no problems whatsoever. I normally play for about 2-3 hours and again, no problems.

Orbital, it's not my intention to claim that Samsung is best. I think that all the manufacturers have different design philosophies. For example, Pioneer builds to a lush color specification and a relatively soft picture that emulates film. It's a great set and I really wanted to keep it but I just didn't like the look. Samsung's philosophy is to build a set with a lot of detail and a crisp picture. Panasonic's deal is great blacks. Each customer has to decide what "look" they like.

I'm just sick of the constant claims that Panasonic is the best. When I visit various stores, the Panasonics are always the worst looking sets (picture and cosmetically). I see clayface and video noise and the housing looks like a kid's toy. I also see them living off the Consumer Report's reputation when we all know the lousy job consumer Reports does in testing anything. Yet, people buy Panasonic based on this report when their eyes tell them something else.

Finally, I hate when companies do nothing to improve their products, omit important features and live on their laurels.

My posts are not as a cheerleader but in response to the blind loyalty towards panasonic and a lazy company that is being passed by others.

The Panny 50px60u is similar in price to the Sammy 5053.
One of the most objective and trusted reviewers, CNET, writes:

"While the Samsung HP-S5053's picture doesn't rank among the best of the 50-inch plasmas we've reviewed, its sweet style and scads of inputs help it compete...Prevalent artifacts and video noise, especially in dark scenes; subpar standard-def processing"

CNET's editor rates the Panny 60u among the top performers, with "very good black level, accurate color, good detail, very little video noise, and very little false contouring."

The satisfaction from a set should come from its amazing picture quality, and reliability. Exterior styling is for this guy .

I wish Panasonic had done a better job cosmetically. I wish the floating black level could be turned off.

Every Samsung I have played w/ has needed the majority of it's enhancements turned off and many have had noise issues I could not get around.

The Pioneer's look nice.

The Samsung's just don't fit for me into any category that I'd consider purchasing.

Clayface, clayface is fixed w/ a firmware update. This is the wrong audience to explain that it is too much of a problem.

I agree 100%

I own both a 55 inch Fujitsu and a 42 inch Panasonic. I am in the market for a bigger TV. At a local Best Buy I saw the Pioneer 60 inch 1540, the panasonic 58 inch 600U and the 63 inch Samsung 6073 all sided by side and I have to say the Samsung had the best picture. The Panasonic was by far the worst. I have to agree that Panasonic has not improved over that last couple of years and in fact I think they have taken a step back with their video processing. Samsungs new 73 series really moved them up a notch in picture quality in my opinion.

They should compare to 5073 not the 5053, the 73 series sets have improved picture quality over the 53 series.

The processor on the 5053 is identical to the 5073. The non-glare screen is the difference. There is no picture quality differences

I researched both and chose the Samsung. Much deeper blacks and a little more more natural colors than the Panny. Also like that the Sammy's screen is slightly less reflective and they are incorporating some technologies to make them burn-in resistant (auto pixel shift). I thought the Pioneer was the best (but out of my price range) and the Panasonic came in right behind the Samsung. But, that's my opinion. In the end I don't think you could go wrong with any of these three TV's.

Jon