LCD and Plasma Bargains and Discussions thread

Alkit, what did you watch on it, HD material (720P)? The reason I ask is that if the material is hi-res, you will quickly get used top the screen size - no-one ever goes to the movies and says "Hey, the screen is too big", unless its when they are showing the ads at TV res. So watching SD on the set, and sitting too close will be disappointing.

Buy HD? Should suck you in:) And then its very difficult to go back to a small screen!
Ian
 
Ya, but am trying Gumtree, junkmail and here before having to fight that card.
As I did open the box, I might have lost my CPA claim as it is now "not sealed"?
 
igeorge said:
Alkit, what did you watch on it, HD material (720P)? The reason I ask is that if the material is hi-res, you will quickly get used top the screen size - no-one ever goes to the movies and says "Hey, the screen is too big", unless its when they are showing the ads at TV res. So watching SD on the set, and sitting too close will be disappointing.

Buy HD? Should suck you in:) And then its very difficult to go back to a small screen!
Ian
Click to expand...

I did watch HD material, and it was crystal clear.
However, when subtitles or something came on the screen, I found myself glancing at the picture and back at the subtitles, as it was too big.

Also, remember that in a cinema, you can sit in a row further back. Unfortunately, I can't move my couch further back :(
 
Hi Guys,

TV sold ;) didn't take too long...

Now to get the 43 inch version. Will go on Sunday/Monday to buy it :)
 
So, I'm in the market for a new TV and I thought I might as well go 3D... hopefully I won't have to buy a new TV in the next decade after this. I've looked through a couple of threads here but there are over a 100 pages of posts and there is no way that I have time to read through it all.

Now, TVs have changed a bit since I bought my previous Sinotec HD LCD TV. From what I remember, the Plasma TVs used to weigh a ton and was quite heavy on power consumption. I walked through Hifi corp quicky today and noticed that the Plasma TVs are quite thin these days. Are they still as heavy (in weight and on power) as before? Any other drawbacks I should know about?

I've noticed a Hisense 47" LED 3D tv on special for R8000 I think. Picture looked pretty in store, although I'm a bit sceptical over HiSense (especially after noting the post on the 55" HiSense on this forum). So I'm tempted to go for Plasma as it seems that I should be able to get a branded TV of the same size for close to the price of the Hisense.
 
alkit said:
And lose half the horizontal res over active?
Click to expand...
Strictly speaking active does currently achieve the best 3D picture fidelity, most pro review sites use the Samsung X8000 LED or Panasonic VT Plasma for reference 3D PQ, both of which are active.

But this comes at a penalty that most would not be willing to bare (for extended periods). The high speed oscillation of the active 3D lenses is quite fatiguing on the eyes. On balance passive is probably a more usable system even though it doesn't quite match active on sheer PQ.
 
Out of interest, how does SBS 3D format work with passive glasses? Does it effectively quarter the res? What about Top/Bottom 3D formats?
 
Surely both half the resolution? My preference would be SBS since the # pixels that way is higher.

From my POV, that's just hair splitting and halving the resolution of an HD device does not take anything valuable away from the overall effect (perhaps it's my age and eyesight talking lol). Also, you don't watch everything in 3D.

For me what would rob me of a good experience is poor depth/realism of animation and objects and certainly eye fatigue. By far the biggest turnoff is (surprise surprise) in a movie or game is not remotely related to the graphical factor, but rather a poor storyline or (in the case of a game) poor playability. Not much has changed there since the days of 20c coin-op machines. Hence why I can still be entertained by a simple game like Gyruss or Bubble Bobble :D

Just try using the TVs in 3D mode in the shop - but don't watch smurfs, rather try it with imax or nat geo titles IMO... something recorded deliberately with real 3D cameras.
 
Been looking online.

Game has the Samsung PS-43E450 for R4999.
Hirsch's have the Samsung LA40D503 for R3999.

Besides the following differences:
1) The LCD being full 1080P
2) The LCD being 3 inches smaller
3) The LCD not having a built-in media player
4) The plasma having (debatable) better contrast, motion handling and SD content handling. (I will be playing mostly 480p and 720p video files from a media player, so not a big issue)

which of the 2 would you recommend? Is the Plasma worth the extra R1k, even though it is only HD ready?
 
alkit said:
Been looking online.

Game has the Samsung PS-43E450 for R4999.
Hirsch's have the Samsung LA40D503 for R3999.

Besides the following differences:
1) The LCD being full 1080P
2) The LCD being 3 inches smaller
3) The LCD not having a built-in media player
4) The plasma having (debatable) better contrast, motion handling and SD content handling. (I will be playing mostly 480p and 720p video files from a media player, so not a big issue)

which of the 2 would you recommend? Is the Plasma worth the extra R1k, even though it is only HD ready?
Click to expand...

I'd say yes. You say you're going to be watching mostly 480p and 720p so you're not losing anything by having a 720p TV. Just to throw a spanner in the works - you can get a Panasonic TH-P42X30Q (HD-ready plasma) for R5499.
 
alkit said:
Been looking online.

Game has the Samsung PS-43E450 for R4999.
Hirsch's have the Samsung LA40D503 for R3999.

Besides the following differences:
1) The LCD being full 1080P
2) The LCD being 3 inches smaller
3) The LCD not having a built-in media player
4) The plasma having (debatable) better contrast, motion handling and SD content handling. (I will be playing mostly 480p and 720p video files from a media player, so not a big issue)

which of the 2 would you recommend? Is the Plasma worth the extra R1k, even though it is only HD ready?
Click to expand...

If you were sitting close and had a large Blu-ray collection or wanted to use as a PC screen then FHD would have benefited you.

The plasma's HD media player is already worth R500+, extra HDMI port, most likely better menu and remote. Without a doubt better contrast and PQ. 3" bigger. Fluid motion.

My advice is to take 2 USB drives with some identical video files and play them at a dim shop on both TVs with shop settings disabled (LA40D503 should have same/similar PQ to LA40D550 with media player).
 
PostmanPot said:
If you were sitting close and had a large Blu-ray collection or wanted to use as a PC screen then FHD would have benefited you.

The plasma's HD media player is already worth R500+, extra HDMI port, most likely better menu and remote. Without a doubt better contrast and PQ. 3" bigger. Fluid motion.

My advice is to take 2 USB drives with some identical video files and play them at a dim shop on both TVs with shop settings disabled (LA40D503 should have same/similar PQ to LA40D550 with media player).
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying. Definitely made things clearer.
I will use it 99% of the time for series/TV in 480p and 720p, so 1080p is a complete waste. Also, another priority is PQ and contrast, so Plasma wins again.
And as a bonus I get the 3 extra inches. So gonna go get the Plasma :).
Got a price match to Foto Catz for R4860, so didn't even have to pay a full R1k more ;)
 
reactor_sa said:
I have to ask, but WTF did you bother plugging in and turning it on??
Click to expand...

honestly, i didnt see the crack until i turned it on. only once i turned it on, and back off again, i walked to the side to look at it from a angle and saw lines/cracks running across it
 
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