[irodex]

What would be your guys recommendations for the best 1080p Plasma around 50" for about $1300?


The TV will be used mostly for watching Bluray movies, watching sports, and my Xbox 360.


I don't care who makes it, as long as it delivers the best picture quality and has great blacks.


Any of your input would be very valuable!


Thank you!

 

[CaptainOily]

Panasonic G10 50" often goes on sale for about that price and is one of the top-rated plasmas.

 

[H_Prestige]

Either the Panny G10 or Sammy B650.

 

[ink124]

I just got a Samsung B650 myself. Though, as H_Prestige mentioned, the G10 is also a good option (a slightly cheaper one at that).

 

[irodex]

I am sort of leaning towards the Sammy because it has picture in picture.


Does anyone have any opinion as to which one they would choose?

 

[[Irishman]]

Do you need PiP or does it just seem like a cool feature?


I ask because I used to think it was important, too. Then I realized when I stood back and looked at it logically that it's not the way I watch HDTV. When I watch HD, I want to soak in all the awesomeness of the picture. A second window with other content playing distracts from that. I can do prev channel just as easily, and it doesn't detract from the picture.

 

[Twinsen]

I just purchased my new 50S10 just under $1100.

 

[NOAMattD]

Since you'll be gaming you'll want to look for input/gaming lag numbers. The only time I've seen a proper test done for one of these sets was for the G10 which had 40ms of lag which is average (~2.4 frames), although I believe it whatever panny's equivalent of intelligent frame creation on, so turning that off could lessen your lag even more.


Have yet to see a single proper lag test done for the B650.

 

[cleh19]

Along the same lines, if your 360 does not have an hdmi port, some screens like the G10 dont accept 1080p on anything besides HDMI, if you care haha.


And i agree about the PIP, its a cool feature to have but i doubt i personally would ever use it, especially since the tv has only 1 tuner/defeats the purpose imo.


You said you watch blurays, so would a 96hz function be something you want? (edge to the b650)


Those are just some of the smaller things im considering when i make my purchase. Besides them, there is a ton of info about PQ of the tvs on this forum, with certain people preferring the slightly different look of each set.


good luck

 

[irodex]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Twinsen /forum/post/16867469


I just purchased my new 50S10 just under $1100.

Where did you get it for that price? Seems like a great deal.


My 360 uses HDMI, so that's not a problem.


What does it mean that the b650 is 96hz? What does that do?


As for PiP...I use it on my parents TV when I am watching football or other sports. You said it only has 1 tuner...does that mean if I am on cable I can only watch 1 channel at a time and could not do PiP?


Thank you guys so much! =)

 

[Twinsen]



Quote:
Originally Posted by irodex /forum/post/16868535


Where did you get it for that price? Seems like a great deal.


My 360 uses HDMI, so that's not a problem.


What does it mean that the b650 is 96hz? What does that do?


As for PiP...I use it on my parents TV when I am watching football or other sports. You said it only has 1 tuner...does that mean if I am on cable I can only watch 1 channel at a time and could not do PiP?


Thank you guys so much! =)

Keep an eye out on SlickDeals.

 

[cararte]

I don't know but maybe if you wait for a while you can buy the Pioneer PDP-5090H for that price or very close.

And as you may know already the Pioneer Plasmas are the best.

 

[cleh19]

Sorry I was a little vague before

Im pretty sure that while the samsung b650 has PIP, it only has one tv tuner inside, so while you could watch tv as one picture, the other would have to be from a movie, or videogame. (cant have 2 different tv shows at once)


As for the 96hz, this is called cinema smooth on the b650. When watching a bluray movie, the standard 60hz operation of most tv's can display a judder or "not so smooth" picture in certain scenes, especially panning shots. The cinema smooth feature is there to remove the judder. i think this is a more enthusiast feature and many people cant tell the difference, but it is another feature to note.


*i may be mistaken about the PIP, so maybe an owner could confirm this

 

[djnsmith7]

I'm a big fan of the Samsung displays & have yet to be impressed by a Panasonic...So I have to recommend the Samsung...brighter, crisper & clearer, in my eyes...Enjoying my 58A550 every day.

 

[Gandu]



Quote:
Originally Posted by irodex /forum/post/16868535


As for PiP...I use it on my parents TV when I am watching football or other sports. You said it only has 1 tuner...does that mean if I am on cable I can only watch 1 channel at a time and could not do PiP?


Thank you guys so much! =)

If you use the same cable box as your parents, you will have PiP.


In this case, the PiP is generated by the dual tuner cable box, not the TV. Using, for example, a HD DVR cable box you will have PiP avaliable to view 2 channels. It does not matter which TV you choose. If you are getting your signal OTA via an antenna, or want the ability to PiP with a PS3/Xbox or DVD player, then a TV supporting PiP is needed.


Check with your cable provider to ensure you get a PiP capable box.

 

[damba98]

Yeah, the problem is the Motorola (etc.) boxes w/ Comcast is they can only output one channel at a time to a display. There was a *possible* workaround I discovered (probably at this forum). Anyway, I helped a friend add a splitter before the cable box. This way her Sammy could utilize two channels, one having to be analog though. It probably limits you in this sense since w/ many current cable systems the only analog channels left (if any) are 2-13. Otherwise, you are indeed relegated to the other Pip source being a non-cable/non-satellite input.


-Pedro

 

[irodex]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Twinsen /forum/post/16868667


Keep an eye out on SlickDeals.

Yea - I am an avid watcher at slickdeals.


What website did you get your TV from? Was that the price from the site or did you use a combination of cashback and other stuff?

 

[[Irishman]]



Quote:
Originally Posted by irodex /forum/post/16868535


Where did you get it for that price? Seems like a great deal.


My 360 uses HDMI, so that's not a problem.


What does it mean that the b650 is 96hz? What does that do?


As for PiP...I use it on my parents TV when I am watching football or other sports. You said it only has 1 tuner...does that mean if I am on cable I can only watch 1 channel at a time and could not do PiP?


Thank you guys so much! =)

Some of the Scientific Atlanta cable boxes can do PiP internally, making the capability on the tv irrelevant.

 

[DocuMaker]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Twinsen /forum/post/16867469


I just purchased my new 50S10 just under $1100.

Does it really say S10 on the box, and on the manual? or did you mean S1? I am trying to figure out if there really is an S10 model, or are people just being careless by adding a "0" after the S1. I've seen a few people speak of the "S10"--but I'm not sure if they just got mixed up or if this is just another one of the plethora of confusing model numbers issued by Panasonic.


P.S. To the other poster: I can get a B650 locally for just as cheap as a G10. I can get both for under the price listed in the title of this thread.

 

[Twinsen]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DocuMaker /forum/post/16873568


Does it really say S10 on the box, and on the manual? or did you mean S1? I am trying to figure out if there really is an S10 model, or are people just being careless by adding a "0" after the S1. I've seen a few people speak of the "S10"--but I'm not sure if they just got mixed up or if this is just another one of the plethora of confusing model numbers issued by Panasonic.


P.S. To the other poster: I can get a B650 locally for just as cheap as a G10. I can get both for under the price listed in the title of this thread.

Yes, I meant 50S1.