Best 50" TV

gary29428

I have 1000euro to spend on a new TV, I want a 50" as we have a huge living room. Will be used primarily for watching TV (sky HD) and movies (blu-ray and multimedia). What is the best set out there for this kind of money, I haven't got a clue about all the ratio, contrast levels and so forth associated with plasma and LCD's.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

eddiem74

Well you can go for a look in DID, Harvey Normans, Currys, PowerCity, Peats, etc... and see what you like the look of, or what they try and sell you.

You can then take that information and check/compare online for reviews, some examples here:

http://www.avforums.com/reviews/index.php?parent=114&search_special=1

http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/

Or you can check reviews first, and then go to try and see the TV's in action.

Then find the best price and buy.

cnocbui

I would say look at the Panasonic TX-P50S20B, but check that it is capable of MPEG-4 decoding - pretty sure it is.

It's a Plasma TV and that technology still delivers the best picture quality available and will probably continue to do so until OLED becomes available.

Even though Plasma is better, it doesn't necessarily follow it is more expensive, it is often cheaper in large sives because of the technical difficulty in making defect free large LCD panels

Panasonic currently make the best Plasma panels. There are other models they make in 50" so that is not the only one you could look at, but just make sure that whatever you get is compatible with Irelands DTT standards. Some models even include integrated Freesat receivers which will give you everything the BBC transmits.

gary29428

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated. I've gone into a few of the stores but they will only sell you what they have, I guess I wil just do my homework online. I was looking at this one in Powercity

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-14-50PK350

and this one in DID

http://www.did.ie/Product/SAMSUNG-50andquot-600HTZ-PLASMA-TV-PS50C550G1WXX/18108/317

Both get good reviews and seem to be equal in ability so might trump for the LG.

Thanks again.

Zonda999

The LG is certainly excellent value but that panasonic that cnocbui mentions above is a far better tv, albeit it would be €400 more unfortunately! Plump for the LG if you know you'll be happy with it though

http://www.avforums.com/review/LG-PK350-50PK350-Review.html

This review sums it nicely, you get a great set, for the money, that is. To be brutally honest though a 50" set with full HD resolution from a reputable manufacturer, for 670€ really is a bargain

cnocbui

gary29428 wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated. I've gone into a few of the stores but they will only sell you what they have

True, which is why to get my Panny 50" with freesat a couple years ago I spent about 6 weeks looking till I found a UK seller on ebay willing to ship one to me.

superleedsdub

I`d advise you to ask the guys in richer sounds on their forum here on boards what 50" TV`s they have on offer...

I would strongly recommend a panasonic Plasma - I have the UK model 50" G20 and it`s an excellent piece of technology:-)

gary29428

Thanks guys, help is much appreciated. I guess it's down to an LG and maybe a nice blu-ray surround sound system or the Panasonic. Would the difference between the LG and Pana be very noticable to someone who has watched SD all there lives, I also was told the LG supports MKV playback which is good for watching movies from a media player.

Thanks
Gary

superleedsdub

gary29428 wrote: »

Thanks guys, help is much appreciated. I guess it's down to an LG and maybe a nice blu-ray surround sound system or the Panasonic. Would the difference between the LG and Pana be very noticable to someone who has watched SD all there lives, I also was told the LG supports MKV playback which is good for watching movies from a media player.

Thanks
Gary

A friend of mine has a 42" LG and I personnally can notice the difference BUT the LG is alot better than most TV`s i`ve seen and I`ve read alot of good reviews in the past year or so for LG TV`s that have been very favourable, MKV playback is a great feature too.
If you find a store that have the TV`s you are looking at on display, why not ask them to play one of your favourite DVD`s on each TV so you can see what the performance is like with a movie you are familiar with. Also, don`t judge a TV in a store that is showing a digital animated movie (like any Pixar movie) as these movies will look good on most TV`s. If you watch mostly SD TV, then get the shop to show you some SD content on the TV.

I would advise not buying an all in one blu-ray system as their are a number of reasons why a seperates system is better: connectivity, component upgrading, performance etc.
I think Onkyo have a reasonable priced AV receiver and speaker package on the market, i`ll try find a review for you...then you would just have to buy a blu-ray player (some great models available, some with media streaming capability too)

EDIT: The Onkyo HT-S3305 system http://hcc.techradar.com/reviews/new_reviews/review-onkyo-ht-s3305-delivers-amazing-value-money-06-12-10

cnocbui

gary29428 wrote: »

Would the difference between the LG and Pana be very noticable to someone who has watched SD all there lives

Yes, the black levels are chalk and cheese.

I was SD only until I bought mine and the difference in picture quality - even with SD - was dramatic. BBC HD is stunning.

Nononolan

I would say SD is better on plasmas and the S20 and UK G20 Pana models are good choices. Personally I am a bigger fan of LCD....and if the budget could be stretched Peats have a Sony 55" EX503 for 1400, used to be over 1900. The 37" of this set won What HiF's tv of the year. The tvs 100hz engine offers a smoother transition of frames than Pana's 12 subzone x 50hz =600hz nonsense. Alternatively if you prefer more lifelike colour then the v20 Pana's are around the 1299 mark if you can find on.....probably the best plasma on the market and their non 3d flagship. But as the first poster noted, go around to the shops make up your own mind, its a numbers game and manufacturers fill spec sheets with jargon and numbers. Best of luck with the purchase and post how you get on.

Sandwlch

eddiem74 wrote: »

Well you can go for a look in DID, Harvey Normans, Currys, PowerCity, Peats, etc... and see what you like the look of, or what they try and sell you.

I disagree.

Admit this seems like a good approach but I didnt find it any help to me.

I found it impossible to draw any conclusion on display quality by looking at a wall of screens. Or even by comparing the same input to different screens. They are all setup differently for brightness/contrast/tone etc. Even adjusting and playing with a few I was none the wiser.

Nor would I ever trust a sales persons recommendation on what to buy - if knowledgeable, they are useful to clearup specification queries, or model differences, but his/her motivation is to sell me what they want me to buy rather than what I want to. In several cases I knew more from a bit of internet research than the guy there to 'help' me anyway. Even the supposedly helpful comparison of screen technologies in Currys was a joke, showing different price levels of LCD/LED/Plasma with different screens settings. Far from a useful comparison that they make it out to be.

FWIW, in the end I bought an LG 50PK350. Based on online opinion, specifications, and a price, that bang per buck, seemed to have no competition in the size range I wanted. And very happy with it after a few weeks use - still find myself watching junk just to admire the picture quality. Looking at it in shops or chatting to the reps had no bearing on my decision - its just doesnt help.