Well I took delivery of a 50" Panasonic S60 plasma yesterday. The picture so far is fantastic, and I love that I can finally read the messages Franklin, Michael, and Trevor get in GTA V.
I'm really glad I didn't splurge for a 60" screen... it would have been obscenely big. I'm also glad I went with the S60 rather than ST60. The picture is already fantastic; my Game of Thrones BluRay is stunning, and GTA V and Beyond Two Souls look great! I'll definitely need to break out Last of Us again...
I do think I'll have to re-arrange my livingroom a little bit. The TV is out of balance a little bit.
Thank you everyone in this thread for the great info and news!
+1
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
I need to get a new TV one of these days. I have a 30" CRT "HD" (1080i) non-widescreen POS from I don't know how long ago. Hopefully something great in the 50" range will go below 1K for Black Friday.
I need to get a new TV one of these days. I have a 30" CRT "HD" (1080i) non-widescreen POS from I don't know how long ago. Hopefully something great in the 50" range will go below 1K for Black Friday.
The TV I just posted about directly above you is well under $1000 for 50". I make my living in video production and I'm thrilled with the picture quality of the S60. It's not 3D, only has two HDMI inputs, and I guess the higher end models have better picture quality, but I'm thrilled with this TV, and I paid half of what I did for my 32" 1080p set I bought 7 or 8 years ago.
Of course black friday is only a few weeks away, it wouldn't hurt to wait to see what goes on sale...
+1
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
Yeah, that's the only reason I'm really waiting. :P I'll keep an eye on that TV, though!
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Just use it regularly for a few weeks, then get it calibrated.
If it turns out you only had 80 hours of burn-in, or you had 110 hours, don't worry about it.
+1
toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
So my Samsung plasma (PN51D450) has had some vertical lines of dead pixels for a while now. I found a parts diagram from Sears and then ordered a couple parts from ebay for pretty cheap. Well it ended up that the diagram wasn't very clear (and I guess I didn't look closely enough at the TV first) and I ordered the wrong buffer board. I ordered the Y Buffer board and a center logic board. Neither fixed the problem. Not sure why I thought that a "Y" buffer board would fix my vertical lines... I've now found out that I should have replaced the E and F buffer boards. But the way the stand works on my TV I would probably have to break it off to get access to those boards. Dumb. I may still try to repair the set and sell it though.
Fortunately (I guess?) that means its time for a new TV here pretty soon. I'm pretty much dead set on getting a Panasonic plasma before they're all extinct. Either an S60 or ST60. If I go S60 I want at least the 60". If I spring for the ST60 I may be able to stick with a 50" given how awesome the set is. A 55" ST60 would probably be perfect if I could find one for cheap enough.
Anyone here have a P60S60 and wish they had gotten the similarly priced but smaller P50ST60 instead? And any P50ST60 owners wish they would have taken a step down in picture quality in exchange for the bigger screen of the P60S60?
Pretty frustrated. I was originally promised that I'd get a free calibration from Best Buy for buying the TV, but calling them up and several disconnects, redirects, and call-backs later, I am now told that promotion was only for "elite" reward members and that the promotion no longer exists.
Looks like I'll have to try and manually calibrate this myself. Currently I'm not 100% satisfied with my picture, namely for two reasons:
1. Dark areas are too dark: I played a couple of games like Resident Evil Code Veronica X and Beyond. In the dark-lit areas the picture was so dark I could barely make out the characters.
2. Colors aren't quite "popping" enough. Hard to explain, but basically I'd like animated stuff to look more vibrant.
3. I also have a Comcast HD Cable Box (HDMI+coaxial), but the picture isn't that great. It might be due to my shitty Comcast service, but how do I at least make sure I've got it connected properly?
If you don't mind an OEM replacement it looks like they are $36-40. Just make sure to get the one specifically for your model number as well as making sure that you are getting the one with the whole enclosure(and not just a bulb).
Pretty frustrated. I was originally promised that I'd get a free calibration from Best Buy for buying the TV, but calling them up and several disconnects, redirects, and call-backs later, I am now told that promotion was only for "elite" reward members and that the promotion no longer exists.
Looks like I'll have to try and manually calibrate this myself. Currently I'm not 100% satisfied with my picture, namely for two reasons:
1. Dark areas are too dark: I played a couple of games like Resident Evil Code Veronica X and Beyond. In the dark-lit areas the picture was so dark I could barely make out the characters.
2. Colors aren't quite "popping" enough. Hard to explain, but basically I'd like animated stuff to look more vibrant.
3. I also have a Comcast HD Cable Box (HDMI+coaxial), but the picture isn't that great. It might be due to my shitty Comcast service, but how do I at least make sure I've got it connected properly?
When adjusting settings, are you just eyeballing it or are you going off of someone else's settings? Check out the Owner's Thread for your TV on avsforum and take a look at the settings cnet.com used for their review. Those will probably give you excellent shadow detail. Though their settings probably wont give you the poppy colors you're looking for. Maybe use their settings and then just bump up your color setting a bit.
Edit: Added the linkies.
toloveistorebel on
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
So I read the first post, and found it useful, but I have a question on brands... Crossposted from SEs tech thread.
"Anybody have any experience with Seiki TVs? Looking to upgrade from our old 720p tube TV, and it seems that Seiki is a no-frills TV for a decent price. I'm not looking for a smart TV or one that does 120hz unless I have to, so it seems that Seiki fits the bill. From what I read their big TVs are of good quality, but I was wondering if anybody had any first hand knowledge or experience with them. They have a 60" for $700 at Fred Meyers and that seemed a pretty good deal, also a 50" at Fry's for $400. "
If Seiki is the company that came out with that really cheap 4K TV earlier this year that was a real piece of crap then I wouldn't hold out hope for their 1080p TV's being any good. They are cheap but you're getting what you pay for. I wasn't able to find anything other than Amazon user reviews for their 1080p sets, and personally if it were my money I'd spend a bit (possibly a lot more) on a Panasonic plasma because they're no longer being made and offer the best picture quality for your dollar. If you're going to be using the TV for years to come, if you can afford it, buy the best TV you can feasibly/realistically afford.
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Whats the power usuage difference between plasma and LED LCD? I saw that the cons on the plasmas were that they sucked more power. In the end if Seiki is bad, I'll probably go with an LG LCD TV, as I've bought those for my folks and they have been pretty good TVs.
I don't have hard numbers but plasma do use a lot more power than a LCD. Depending on how much you have it on but it would add a few dollars to your electricity bill. However, if you're replacing a CRT TV it might not be much of a different (possibly a savings).
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Yea looking on amazon, it appears a 50" Panasonic plasma, and a 50" LG LED are about the same price. My wife and I are really about the lower electricity bills. We currently pay about $70 a month, and if switching to LED can save a few bucks, that will sell it over the plasma. In the next couple years we plan to go grid independent with a mix of solar and wind.
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Considering bigger plasma panels often use well over 300 watts/hour, I'd go with an LED backlit LCD panel in your case.
In general, a plasma panel will use approximately 3 times the electricity of an LED panel per square metre of screen area. For instance, my Samsung LED 60 inch television has approximately 1 square metre of screen area and the sticker on the back says 147 watts. The equivalent plasma could be reasonably expected to max out somewhere around the 450 watt per hour usage range, but the thing with plasmas is their power usage depends on what you're watching. They use more power to watch bright things like childrens programming than when you put The Dark Knight in your BluRay player.
Also, the larger the screen, the more power they use.
Pretty frustrated. I was originally promised that I'd get a free calibration from Best Buy for buying the TV, but calling them up and several disconnects, redirects, and call-backs later, I am now told that promotion was only for "elite" reward members and that the promotion no longer exists.
Looks like I'll have to try and manually calibrate this myself. Currently I'm not 100% satisfied with my picture, namely for two reasons:
1. Dark areas are too dark: I played a couple of games like Resident Evil Code Veronica X and Beyond. In the dark-lit areas the picture was so dark I could barely make out the characters.
2. Colors aren't quite "popping" enough. Hard to explain, but basically I'd like animated stuff to look more vibrant.
3. I also have a Comcast HD Cable Box (HDMI+coaxial), but the picture isn't that great. It might be due to my shitty Comcast service, but how do I at least make sure I've got it connected properly?
When adjusting settings, are you just eyeballing it or are you going off of someone else's settings? Check out the Owner's Thread for your TV on avsforum and take a look at the settings cnet.com used for their review. Those will probably give you excellent shadow detail. Though their settings probably wont give you the poppy colors you're looking for. Maybe use their settings and then just bump up your color setting a bit.
Edit: Added the linkies.
A combination of both, mainly going off Dashui's own settings which he PM'd to me. I'm reaching a place where I'm almost entirely satisfied, though I'll continue to look at other suggested settings.
Switching from Dynamic to Custom helped a lot, since a lot of advanced picture features are locked out for choosing the former.
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
edited November 2013
Nevermind, 720p. Ew!
Edit 2: What's a good TV to watch out for? I don't need anything huge (I don't think I'd have the room for it) and nothing I'd mount. I guess LED is better for electricity as well? I'm replacing a 32" "HD" 1080i CRT.
toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
edited November 2013
In a situation where you're eventually going off grid like @webguy20 LED makes sense. For me personally the power difference between plasmas and LED/LCD isn't a big deal. From what I'm seeing (at least on cnet based on calibrated TVs) it looks like a 55in plasma will cost around $54 a year while a 55in LED/LCD will cost around $13. So an extra $41 a year for what is a substantially better picture seems like a good trade off to me.
EDIT: And I think those numbers may be off/old or whatever so the difference may even be less in a real world situation.
Edit 2: What's a good TV to watch out for? I don't need anything huge (I don't think I'd have the room for it) and nothing I'd mount. I guess LED is better for electricity as well? I'm replacing a 32" "HD" 1080i CRT.
Depending on your lighting situation, the Panasonic P50S60 or the P50ST60 would be a great choice. The ST60 being the better model can be had for just under $1000 while the step down S60 is just under $700 most places. A Best Buy near me has a P50ST60 open box for $810 so maybe keep an eye open for those as well.
If you want LED/LCD check out the Vizio M series sets. Great budget TV with a great picture and lots of features. I think their 50in model was under $800 last I looked.
toloveistorebel on
+1
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
This is Wal*Marts ad, though I don't think any of those are a steal. My lighting situation is that the room I'd have the TV in has two windows, though I keep them mostly covered. Any chance of the ST60/S60 being on sale for Black Friday?
This is Wal*Marts ad, though I don't think any of those are a steal. My lighting situation is that the room I'd have the TV in has two windows, though I keep them mostly covered. Any chance of the ST60/S60 being on sale for Black Friday?
I'm really hoping they do. I'm holding out for a P60S60 (even a P65S60 if something crazy happens) or a P55ST60 if I can. I'll be ordering from Amazon if possible. I'm not sure how low prices are going to drop though if any *shrugs*. Basically if any of those drop below $1000 I'm pulling the trigger. We'll see..
The S60 is technically better for gaming as it has lower input lag. But from what I'm hearing though people are saying that the ST60 is fine unless you're playing retro side scrollers or competitive fighting games. For adventure games, and even FPS I think, the ST60's incredible picture quality will be worth a bit of lag. You'll get used to it in a few days anyway.
Edit: Oh and I'm not really seeing any good deals in there at all. The Vizios that are listed are the lower end models. The M series is much better. Everything else listed I wouldn't consider.
And your lighting situation sounds like a plasma will be just fine.
This is Wal*Marts ad, though I don't think any of those are a steal. My lighting situation is that the room I'd have the TV in has two windows, though I keep them mostly covered. Any chance of the ST60/S60 being on sale for Black Friday?
I'm really hoping they do. I'm holding out for a P60S60 (even a P65S60 if something crazy happens) or a P55ST60 if I can. I'll be ordering from Amazon if possible. I'm not sure how low prices are going to drop though if any *shrugs*. Basically if any of those drop below $1000 I'm pulling the trigger. We'll see..
The S60 is technically better for gaming as it has lower input lag. But from what I'm hearing though people are saying that the ST60 is fine unless you're playing retro side scrollers or competitive fighting games. For adventure games, and even FPS I think, the ST60's incredible picture quality will be worth a bit of lag. You'll get used to it in a few days anyway.
Edit: Oh and I'm not really seeing any good deals in there at all. The Vizios that are listed are the lower end models. The M series is much better. Everything else listed I wouldn't consider.
And your lighting situation sounds like a plasma will be just fine.
The ST60 has about 75ms of input lag. You typically want to have under 40ms for it to be unnoticeable. My F8000, before a firmware update, sat at 80ms in Game Mode. That's not unplayable with some games, but believe me when I say you really do feel that delay. It made aiming in any shooter or twitch-based game sluggish and frustrating. Samsung thankfully managed to bring that number down to the 30s and now I can actually hit things. If you plan to do a lot of gaming, the ST60 may not be the best choice. The S60 is a much faster panel and a great picture and price so long as you can fit it in a darker room.
As far as the Vizio M-series, Best Buy will apparently have the 50" on sale this Black Friday for 600 dollars. I'm not sure if that's in-store only, though, but I wouldn't be surprised if it also drops in price elsewhere.
Dashui on
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toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
This is Wal*Marts ad, though I don't think any of those are a steal. My lighting situation is that the room I'd have the TV in has two windows, though I keep them mostly covered. Any chance of the ST60/S60 being on sale for Black Friday?
I'm really hoping they do. I'm holding out for a P60S60 (even a P65S60 if something crazy happens) or a P55ST60 if I can. I'll be ordering from Amazon if possible. I'm not sure how low prices are going to drop though if any *shrugs*. Basically if any of those drop below $1000 I'm pulling the trigger. We'll see..
The S60 is technically better for gaming as it has lower input lag. But from what I'm hearing though people are saying that the ST60 is fine unless you're playing retro side scrollers or competitive fighting games. For adventure games, and even FPS I think, the ST60's incredible picture quality will be worth a bit of lag. You'll get used to it in a few days anyway.
Edit: Oh and I'm not really seeing any good deals in there at all. The Vizios that are listed are the lower end models. The M series is much better. Everything else listed I wouldn't consider.
And your lighting situation sounds like a plasma will be just fine.
The ST60 has about 75ms of input lag. You typically want to have under 40ms for it to be unnoticeable. My F8000, before a firmware update, sat at 80ms in Game Mode. That's not unplayable with some games, but believe me when I say you really do feel that delay. It made aiming in any shooter or twitch-based game sluggish and frustrating. Samsung thankfully managed to bring that number down to the 30s and now I can actually hit things. If you plan to do a lot of gaming, the ST60 may not be the best choice. The S60 is a much faster panel and a great picture and price so long as you can fit it in a darker room.
As far as the Vizio M-series, Best Buy will apparently have the 50" on sale this Black Friday for 600 dollars. I'm not sure if that's in-store only, though, but I wouldn't be surprised if it also drops in price elsewhere.
Yeah it's unfortunate that the lag is so bad on the ST60. I hear mixed reports though whether its noticeable or not. I'm pretty sure I'll notice it, but I could probably get used to it. I do all of my gaming on my PC that's connected to both my monitor and TV. So for me if I'm playing a game that is very twitchy or whatnot I'll probably just play on my monitor. Most FPSs I have to play on my monitor anyway because they require a kb/mouse. But I do plan on getting a PS4 at some point so that's a consideration as well.
The lag is definitely something I'm concerned about though as I read more and more. Does anyone have any experience with the Panasonic LxxE60 set? I know its not a plasma, but for my uses I wonder if it wouldn't be better anyway. From what I'm seeing it may have a slight lead of the Vizio M-series in picture quality and black levels. I know "burn in" isn't really an issue anymore for plasmas, but image retention is still a thing (at least with my two year old set). It just goes away after a few minutes usually. Being that I use my TV as a computer monitor for normal computing tasks as well, I'm wondering if the E60 might be a good choice.
According to reviews the E60 has very low black levels for an LCD; its image processing is good (it can handle 1080p/24fps better than the S60); its substantially brighter than a plasma. Overall brightness isn't a huge deal but the thought of not having to turn off lights and such to get a great picture intrigues me. As does the lack of my mentality that it will need to be babied. If I get another plasma I'm going to do it right and break it in for 100 hours. I'm subconsciously going to worry about "taking care of it" even though there aren't any worries with plasmas these days. With the E60 I would just plug it in, adjust the picture, and never have to worry about it again. That's starting to sound like a breath of fresh air.
But I would probably hate myself if I didn't get one of the last great plasmas.
(Sorry I'm almost just thinking out loud here trying to figure this all out)
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Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
Amazon has several TVs on pre-BF sale. Anything look good?
Our 37" Bravia is getting to the end of its life, unless I can figure out a cure for its constantly strobing horizontal black bands (loads of them, each about a single pixel high, all the way up the screen) and large dark patch down the centre, that eventually goes away after and increasingly long period of time (was a few minutes, now the better part of an hour if at all).
So we're considering a new TV and are thinking something like £500 is a reasonable amount to spend on it. Ideally we'd want something either the same size or bigger, supporting 3D (but not active, because sod batteries and buying expensive glasses for everyone), aaand.. that's about it, really. It would be mainly used for games, too, if that helps anything. I've no idea where to start looking. Any suggestions?
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toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
Our 37" Bravia is getting to the end of its life, unless I can figure out a cure for its constantly strobing horizontal black bands (loads of them, each about a single pixel high, all the way up the screen) and large dark patch down the centre, that eventually goes away after and increasingly long period of time (was a few minutes, now the better part of an hour if at all).
So we're considering a new TV and are thinking something like £500 is a reasonable amount to spend on it. Ideally we'd want something either the same size or bigger, supporting 3D (but not active, because sod batteries and buying expensive glasses for everyone), aaand.. that's about it, really. It would be mainly used for games, too, if that helps anything. I've no idea where to start looking. Any suggestions?
If you're wanting a passive 3D set for around that price, (I'm in the US and £500 works out to around $805, not sure how TV prices compare for you though) check out this Vizio I've mentioned. I'm not sure of any other sets that have passive 3D that are priced that low and have as good of a picture (supposedly).
Damnit to hell, Vizio don't 'do' the UK That's a pain.
Aw bummer didn't know that. Sorry. 3D isn't something I've really looked into so I don't know who else has a passive 3D display. I would recommend the Panasonic ST60 but its active, and probably a bit more expensive than you were looking for.
If anyone is planning to buy a TV soon, you may want to wait until the 2014 sets are out. Samsung just revealed the H7100. It supposedly uses a quote "real" 240Hz panel to eliminate motion blur. I wouldn't be surprised if that's achieved through a backlight strobing feature. If you've ever seen that on computer monitors, it's amazing and doesn't increase input lag much.
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toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
Yeah good point. I haven't even considered '14 sets as I've only been looking at Panasonic plasmas. Its sucks they're shutting it down. I'd probably be waiting if I hadn't made up my mind or if I wanted a LCD.
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Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
Chances are I'll be getting that (Panasonic TC-P50S60) however Amazon no longer seems to carry it. What's a good choice for getting it online and will there be any chance it'll be on sale for Black Friday?
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I'm really glad I didn't splurge for a 60" screen... it would have been obscenely big. I'm also glad I went with the S60 rather than ST60. The picture is already fantastic; my Game of Thrones BluRay is stunning, and GTA V and Beyond Two Souls look great! I'll definitely need to break out Last of Us again...
I do think I'll have to re-arrange my livingroom a little bit. The TV is out of balance a little bit.
Thank you everyone in this thread for the great info and news!
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The TV I just posted about directly above you is well under $1000 for 50". I make my living in video production and I'm thrilled with the picture quality of the S60. It's not 3D, only has two HDMI inputs, and I guess the higher end models have better picture quality, but I'm thrilled with this TV, and I paid half of what I did for my 32" 1080p set I bought 7 or 8 years ago.
Of course black friday is only a few weeks away, it wouldn't hurt to wait to see what goes on sale...
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That might force my hand. My shitty 42" Westinghouse LCD definitely needs an upgrade.
Blackfriday ads have been leaking for a while, ircc.
Check out the forums over at slickdeals.net and/or any other deal website of your choice.
Best Buy said I've got 15 days for them to adjust the price of my TV should a price drop occur at that time.
Also, is there a way to check how many hours I've used the TV? If I recall, I need it to be at least 90 hours before a professional can calibrate it.
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If it turns out you only had 80 hours of burn-in, or you had 110 hours, don't worry about it.
Fortunately (I guess?) that means its time for a new TV here pretty soon. I'm pretty much dead set on getting a Panasonic plasma before they're all extinct. Either an S60 or ST60. If I go S60 I want at least the 60". If I spring for the ST60 I may be able to stick with a 50" given how awesome the set is. A 55" ST60 would probably be perfect if I could find one for cheap enough.
Anyone here have a P60S60 and wish they had gotten the similarly priced but smaller P50ST60 instead? And any P50ST60 owners wish they would have taken a step down in picture quality in exchange for the bigger screen of the P60S60?
Looks like I'll have to try and manually calibrate this myself. Currently I'm not 100% satisfied with my picture, namely for two reasons:
1. Dark areas are too dark: I played a couple of games like Resident Evil Code Veronica X and Beyond. In the dark-lit areas the picture was so dark I could barely make out the characters.
2. Colors aren't quite "popping" enough. Hard to explain, but basically I'd like animated stuff to look more vibrant.
3. I also have a Comcast HD Cable Box (HDMI+coaxial), but the picture isn't that great. It might be due to my shitty Comcast service, but how do I at least make sure I've got it connected properly?
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Are there any other remarks/advice on the TV in general?
Thanks!
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Edit: Nevermind, Amazon says $40 :P.
Last question then. Is this a good deal? It seems nice to my untrained eye, but I figure some people here would know better.
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When adjusting settings, are you just eyeballing it or are you going off of someone else's settings? Check out the Owner's Thread for your TV on avsforum and take a look at the settings cnet.com used for their review. Those will probably give you excellent shadow detail. Though their settings probably wont give you the poppy colors you're looking for. Maybe use their settings and then just bump up your color setting a bit.
Edit: Added the linkies.
"Anybody have any experience with Seiki TVs? Looking to upgrade from our old 720p tube TV, and it seems that Seiki is a no-frills TV for a decent price. I'm not looking for a smart TV or one that does 120hz unless I have to, so it seems that Seiki fits the bill. From what I read their big TVs are of good quality, but I was wondering if anybody had any first hand knowledge or experience with them. They have a 60" for $700 at Fred Meyers and that seemed a pretty good deal, also a 50" at Fry's for $400. "
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In general, a plasma panel will use approximately 3 times the electricity of an LED panel per square metre of screen area. For instance, my Samsung LED 60 inch television has approximately 1 square metre of screen area and the sticker on the back says 147 watts. The equivalent plasma could be reasonably expected to max out somewhere around the 450 watt per hour usage range, but the thing with plasmas is their power usage depends on what you're watching. They use more power to watch bright things like childrens programming than when you put The Dark Knight in your BluRay player.
Also, the larger the screen, the more power they use.
http://www.rtings.com/info/lcd-vs-led-vs-plasma/power-consumption-and-electricity-cost
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A combination of both, mainly going off Dashui's own settings which he PM'd to me. I'm reaching a place where I'm almost entirely satisfied, though I'll continue to look at other suggested settings.
Switching from Dynamic to Custom helped a lot, since a lot of advanced picture features are locked out for choosing the former.
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Edit 2: What's a good TV to watch out for? I don't need anything huge (I don't think I'd have the room for it) and nothing I'd mount. I guess LED is better for electricity as well? I'm replacing a 32" "HD" 1080i CRT.
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EDIT: And I think those numbers may be off/old or whatever so the difference may even be less in a real world situation.
Depending on your lighting situation, the Panasonic P50S60 or the P50ST60 would be a great choice. The ST60 being the better model can be had for just under $1000 while the step down S60 is just under $700 most places. A Best Buy near me has a P50ST60 open box for $810 so maybe keep an eye open for those as well.
If you want LED/LCD check out the Vizio M series sets. Great budget TV with a great picture and lots of features. I think their 50in model was under $800 last I looked.
This is Wal*Marts ad, though I don't think any of those are a steal. My lighting situation is that the room I'd have the TV in has two windows, though I keep them mostly covered. Any chance of the ST60/S60 being on sale for Black Friday?
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
I'm really hoping they do. I'm holding out for a P60S60 (even a P65S60 if something crazy happens) or a P55ST60 if I can. I'll be ordering from Amazon if possible. I'm not sure how low prices are going to drop though if any *shrugs*. Basically if any of those drop below $1000 I'm pulling the trigger. We'll see..
The S60 is technically better for gaming as it has lower input lag. But from what I'm hearing though people are saying that the ST60 is fine unless you're playing retro side scrollers or competitive fighting games. For adventure games, and even FPS I think, the ST60's incredible picture quality will be worth a bit of lag. You'll get used to it in a few days anyway.
Edit: Oh and I'm not really seeing any good deals in there at all. The Vizios that are listed are the lower end models. The M series is much better. Everything else listed I wouldn't consider.
And your lighting situation sounds like a plasma will be just fine.
The ST60 has about 75ms of input lag. You typically want to have under 40ms for it to be unnoticeable. My F8000, before a firmware update, sat at 80ms in Game Mode. That's not unplayable with some games, but believe me when I say you really do feel that delay. It made aiming in any shooter or twitch-based game sluggish and frustrating. Samsung thankfully managed to bring that number down to the 30s and now I can actually hit things. If you plan to do a lot of gaming, the ST60 may not be the best choice. The S60 is a much faster panel and a great picture and price so long as you can fit it in a darker room.
As far as the Vizio M-series, Best Buy will apparently have the 50" on sale this Black Friday for 600 dollars. I'm not sure if that's in-store only, though, but I wouldn't be surprised if it also drops in price elsewhere.
Yeah it's unfortunate that the lag is so bad on the ST60. I hear mixed reports though whether its noticeable or not. I'm pretty sure I'll notice it, but I could probably get used to it. I do all of my gaming on my PC that's connected to both my monitor and TV. So for me if I'm playing a game that is very twitchy or whatnot I'll probably just play on my monitor. Most FPSs I have to play on my monitor anyway because they require a kb/mouse. But I do plan on getting a PS4 at some point so that's a consideration as well.
The lag is definitely something I'm concerned about though as I read more and more. Does anyone have any experience with the Panasonic LxxE60 set? I know its not a plasma, but for my uses I wonder if it wouldn't be better anyway. From what I'm seeing it may have a slight lead of the Vizio M-series in picture quality and black levels. I know "burn in" isn't really an issue anymore for plasmas, but image retention is still a thing (at least with my two year old set). It just goes away after a few minutes usually. Being that I use my TV as a computer monitor for normal computing tasks as well, I'm wondering if the E60 might be a good choice.
According to reviews the E60 has very low black levels for an LCD; its image processing is good (it can handle 1080p/24fps better than the S60); its substantially brighter than a plasma. Overall brightness isn't a huge deal but the thought of not having to turn off lights and such to get a great picture intrigues me. As does the lack of my mentality that it will need to be babied. If I get another plasma I'm going to do it right and break it in for 100 hours. I'm subconsciously going to worry about "taking care of it" even though there aren't any worries with plasmas these days. With the E60 I would just plug it in, adjust the picture, and never have to worry about it again. That's starting to sound like a breath of fresh air.
But I would probably hate myself if I didn't get one of the last great plasmas.
(Sorry I'm almost just thinking out loud here trying to figure this all out)
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So we're considering a new TV and are thinking something like £500 is a reasonable amount to spend on it. Ideally we'd want something either the same size or bigger, supporting 3D (but not active, because sod batteries and buying expensive glasses for everyone), aaand.. that's about it, really. It would be mainly used for games, too, if that helps anything. I've no idea where to start looking. Any suggestions?
If you're wanting a passive 3D set for around that price, (I'm in the US and £500 works out to around $805, not sure how TV prices compare for you though) check out this Vizio I've mentioned. I'm not sure of any other sets that have passive 3D that are priced that low and have as good of a picture (supposedly).
Aw bummer didn't know that. Sorry. 3D isn't something I've really looked into so I don't know who else has a passive 3D display. I would recommend the Panasonic ST60 but its active, and probably a bit more expensive than you were looking for.
Chances are I'll be getting that (Panasonic TC-P50S60) however Amazon no longer seems to carry it. What's a good choice for getting it online and will there be any chance it'll be on sale for Black Friday?
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