[jaivee]

okay, i recently have a th-50pc77u from costco, and i just saw a newer model up on the costco site the TH-C50HD18, its suppose to be a warehouse model of the px80 but without the front hdmi and it only has 10,000:1 contrast ratio compared to the px80 with 15,000. But there is another model which is a 1080p at 42" model TH-C42FD18 and this one has a 20,000:1 contrast ratio and has the front hdmi and vga input. I was wondering what i should do. The 50pc77u i have has been recently annoying with the floating black level problem.


Should i go smaller with the 20,000:1 contrast ratio and extra inputs, or should i stay at the same size with the same contrast ratio in hope that the th-c50hd18 wont have floating black level? Or should i just go LCD? please help me!!!!

 

[jaivee]

bump

 

[bigdavy]

I'm not familiar with any of these models, but here are my thoughts:


1. If you are satisfied with the 50" size you have now, I wouldn't go smaller.


2. Contrast ratios are overrated IMHO and may not have anything to do with the floating black level problem you are seeing.


3. If you were able to hook up all your equipment without needing additional inputs, then you apparently don't need additional inputs! If you planned to add more equipment in the future (PS3 etc.) then more inputs might be helpful for your future expansion, depending on how many open slots you have now....


Some other posters might be able to tell you about the merits of these different models. Good luck-


Dave


P.S. Most folks in this forum will tell you that Plasma is way better than LCD.

 

[jaivee]

thanks for the response.


All i know is that the newer 50" at costco has a 11th generation 1080p panel even though its 720p, and the 42" 1080p uses the same panel. The one i have at the moment has a 10th generation panel. Do you think if i was to swap my last year model with the newer one i would get better black levels even though the contrast ratios are the same?


i dont know, i might just swap it out for the newer 50" model just to eliminate the floating blacks that i had.

 

[burnsalkire]

You don't really know what you're getting when you buy a Costco Panasonic. Panasonic builds to Costco's desired specifications and that is a fact.

 

[RandyWalters]



Quote:
Originally Posted by burnsalkire /forum/post/14253591


You don't really know what you're getting when you buy a Costco Panasonic. Panasonic builds to Costco's desired specifications and that is a fact.

Panasonic did not build to Costco's specs - the same models were also sold at Sams Club. Costco doesn't dictate how their models are designed.


I don't know about the current models, but last years Costco/Sams Club models had the exact same plasma panels, video boards, power supplies, etc, as the regular models did. The components all shared the exact same part numbers, confirmed on Panasonic's parts websites. There is no reason to think that the Costco models are of any less quality than the regular models.

 

[Sonimax]



Quote:
Originally Posted by burnsalkire /forum/post/14253591


You don't really know what you're getting when you buy a Costco Panasonic. Panasonic builds to Costco's desired specifications and that is a fact.

 

[TopShelf17]



Quote:
Originally Posted by burnsalkire /forum/post/14253591


You don't really know what you're getting when you buy a Costco Panasonic. Panasonic builds to Costco's desired specifications and that is a fact.

Well if it is a fact, perhaps your could enlighten us on what the Costco specifications are and how they differ from Panasonic's.

 

[jaivee]

i was talking to a panasonic concierge tech and he told me that the "up to" contrast ratio of the club models are not native contrast. Is this true?

 

[chrisherbert]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jaivee /forum/post/14259850


i was talking to a panasonic concierge tech and he told me that the "up to" resolution of the club models are not native contrast. Is this true?

huh?

 

[jaivee]

sorry edited

 

[jaivee]

he also told me that even though that the panel is a G11 1080 progressive panel, that it wont have a 100,000 half life because its native resolution is 720p. Only the tvs that have a 1080p native resolution will have a 100,000 half life even if they use the same panel. Is this guy talking out of his ass?

 

[chrisherbert]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jaivee /forum/post/14260066


he also told me that even though that the panel is a G11 1080 progressive panel, that it wont have a 100,000 half life because its native resolution is 720p. Only the tvs that have a 1080p native resolution will have a 100,000 half life even if they use the same panel. Is this guy talking out of his ass?

I don't understand what you're talking about, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[jaivee]

well the concierge tech told me that all of the club panasonic models (ones sold at costco and sams club) dont have a NATIVE contrast ratio. The contrast ratios are actually only "UP TO" what even number is listed. Is this true? I dont even know what "UP TO" means.

 

[coukos34]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jaivee /forum/post/14260172


well the concierge tech told me that all of the club panasonic models (ones sold at costco and sams club) dont have a NATIVE contrast ratio. The contrast ratios are actually only "UP TO" what even number is listed. Is this true? I dont even know what "UP TO" means.

When they say "UP TO", this is referring to Dynamic Contrast. Native Contrast is the more important number. Even then, Don't listen to the numbers. Always skewed...............

 

[chrisherbert]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jaivee /forum/post/14260172


well the concierge tech told me that all of the club panasonic models (ones sold at costco and sams club) dont have a NATIVE contrast ratio. The contrast ratios are actually only "UP TO" what even number is listed. Is this true? I dont even know what "UP TO" means.

What he's telling you doesn't make any sense.

 

[jaivee]



Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisherbert /forum/post/14260474


What he's telling you doesn't make any sense.

Yeah thats what i was thinking. Do you know what the "up to" means? is it really dynamic contrast?

 

[chrisherbert]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jaivee /forum/post/14260494


Yeah thats what i was thinking. Do you know what the "up to" means? is it really dynamic contrast?

All contrast ratio figures from manufacturers are nonsense, I wouldn't pay any attention to them. The best way to get real CR figures is to read reviews. Find the "real" model that's closest to the club model and check out reviews.


For the most part the panels will be the same as the real models so the contrast ratio should be the same.

 

[burnsalkire]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters /forum/post/14253855


Panasonic did not build to Costco's specs - the same models were also sold at Sams Club. Costco doesn't dictate how their models are designed.


I don't know about the current models, but last years Costco/Sams Club models had the exact same plasma panels, video boards, power supplies, etc, as the regular models did. The components all shared the exact same part numbers, confirmed on Panasonic's parts websites. There is no reason to think that the Costco models are of any less quality than the regular models.

I called Panasonic a few weeks ago and spoke to a marketing rep. He said they indeed build to Costco specifications. He wouldn't go into the the details as to what was different. Why would the gentleman lie? I never said Costco Panasonics are of less quality. I said you don't really know what you are getting versus a Panasonic built to Panasonic specifications.

 

[boswd]



Quote:
Originally Posted by burnsalkire /forum/post/14309616


I called Panasonic a few weeks ago and spoke to a marketing rep. He said they indeed build to Costco specifications. He wouldn't go into the the details as to what was different. Why would the gentleman lie? I never said Costco Panasonics are of less quality. I said you don't really know what you are getting versus a Panasonic built to Panasonic specifications.

They're all built to Panasonic's specifications, costco's wouldn't dictate how they are engineered. It would a bell here or a whislte there that is either included or left out as compared to the Panasonic's sold at regular retail stores so the model number would be a bit different.


This is done primarly to appease the retailer's more than a warehouse stores, to combat price matching and competition against the warehouse stores that can sell them for less.