Shopping for LCD/Plasma

I am planning buy lcd/plasma.

Last week visited Panasonic dealer and eZone in Koramangala.

Looked at 42PV80H, asked the person at shop to switch to sports channel and watched F1 live (Singapore GP, the first under the lights) for few mins. I could see the small square patches on screen. When I questioned, the guy told me that single TATA Sky connection is provided for all the TVs, and that is causing this. Is that true for Plasma's? There was 42PV700 (Full HD) TV next to it, which looked lot better than PV80.

Then went to eZone, and asked them to switch to F1 and observered that Sony-40v400 and Samsung 40A650 almost similar and didnt like what I saw. I could see more number of square patches on this.

Now I am really confused which one to buy. As Pan 42PV80H is not full HD, and if in next one year if we get HD feed from satellite broadcasters, am I going to loose something? Or, go for Full HD LCDs?

PS: Mods, if this topic is repeated please close this thread.

Panasonic has an excellent model PV8 it's surprising you didn't audition that, at the panasonic showroom in kormanagala when u went to ezone.

I will recommend to audition the same , pv8 is costing under 60 k for 42" screen. its worth the price ...

Dushie,

I thought PV 80 is an higher end model of PV 8. It is supposed to have an SD card slot and an extra HDMI.

I am in the process getting 42" plasma under 65k or if there is an lcd to match.

sorry selective for piggy back.

You are right pradski.

No problem as long as we are not deviating too much from the main topic. Pradski, I guess you dont have good options left for 65k in LCDs unless you are comfortable reducing the size to 32".

My question to the experts is, If I have finalized on Pan PV80H and Sony 40V400, which one I should pick and why (atleast 3 +ve points)? :-) Is that tough, but I guess this detailing will help future buyers as well.

for sd viewing the panasonic plasma have the advantage bcause of its lower resolution i.e 1024x768 but for HD viewing sony has the advantage in contrast and being a FHD television can show 1080p HD at its best.

plasma which are FHD even a pioneer which are FULL HD are no better in SD viewing. the 1080p plasma models from panasonic and pioneer have the advantage in contrast and black level too.
but if u are going to use the tv for gaming its better to go for the lcd,since even in the review of the panasonic plasma they said the model suffers from burn in issue and they cautioned not to use it for gaming.

Selective

What you are requesting out here is a totally out of way question.

I think you may not be aware of the difference.

One side, you are stating 42" Plasma - Panasonic - PV8/80/700
Where
On the other hand you are comparing it with Sony.

Sony is only in LCDs, and Panasonic, concerned models are Plasmas.
So, there is no question, of comparing the two different technologies.

If i am not wrong your basic motive for the Screen is HT. For that there is nothing better than a Plasma.
A LCD may have a very impressive look/brightness/sharpness in places like EZone and all, but that is because of the ambience that is the bright light round the way.
Where, in home, the lights/brightness, is very low.

If you are comparing between a LCD and Plasma, then go again to Koramangala Panasonic Showroom, than tell the person, out there, to switch the 37" LCD, and 42" Plasma, only.. and close all others, and all other lights...
then only you will come to know, the difference...
And dont worry, they will not deny that, unless, they have a huge crowd, as they even are concerned about quality.

Now, the question, of Full HD, and HD Ready.

Then, buddy, it will take not less than 2-3 yrs, for the Full HD Broadcasting to launch in India. And even once they are launched it will take them atleast a couple of years to be cheap enough to be distributed to public...
So, dont worry much about that unless, you are planning to watch Bluray or Full HD disks on that.

Now, regarding the Panasonic PV8 & PV80, then, according to me, PV-80, serves better picture than PV-8, apart from the SD Card and HDMI option, as these things hardly, matters. What matters most is the PQ.

So, audition the things at few more places, then you will get it by yourself, what actually suits your HT.

Hi, Mridul,

Between PV 8 And 80. if the difference in features are only SD card slot and extra HDMI. Is it worth the money to pay extra 8 to 9k. Is the PQ really better than PV 8. ( I was thinking both are from same platform ).

Thank you

Buddy...
the thing is .... its my personal experience...about the PQ...
i dont know, how much it will effect you...

Paying extra is not worth if you consider only SD card slot and an extra HDMI input...

But, its really worth when it comes to PQ...

so have look at them again...

And please do mention your experience..

Mridul, I do understand the difference between these two technologies. The reason for putting these two technologies in the same context is, I am a buyer looking for a tv and I have these two TVs in mind irrespective of technology. And from what I have experienced from the showrooms and their settings (both tv settings and the ambience), the difference between these two is very thin for my eyes when I watched F1. And I did not like what I saw on both the TVs. So right now I have no strong opinion for any of these.

Yes, you are right.

This is a good idea, I should try this. Else I should visit someone's house to see the real effect.

HD broadcasting may or may not take time. As the competition in this field is getting hot, dont be surprised if you see the HD feed (atleast for selected few channels) by next year end.

Thanks for your inputs on this, hopefully I will get over the confusion soon.

well dont forget doordarshan itself is going to transmit the common weath games in HD in 2010,my guess is we will have HD channels in 2009 ,since there are around 5 Free to air HD channels over india currently,and all one needs is a HD capable STB,reliance IPTV already offer STB which is HD capable and since there is a channel called VOOM HD which feed is present in the same sattelite has one which u get big tv signal and beiin a free to air channel,i would be suprised to see HD channels in big tv or reliance iptv,and u can even use the xbox 360 as stb with reliance iptv.so HD will be sooner then u think already there is one cable tv service which is giving HD channels in india which was mentioned in the sattelite and tv magazine.


besides u can always download HD movies either legally or illegaly,there are tons of HD movies which are being downloaded illegaly every day.

and about comparing a panasonic 37inch lcd to a panasonic 42 inch plasma isnt fare bcause the panasonic lcds have one of the lowest contrast barely crossing the 1000:1 contrast mark where as the panasonic plasma like 42PV80H has a contrast of around 1800:1.but sony and samsung lcd have a static measured contrast of 2500 and 2300 respectively.also the black levels of panasonic lcds cannot match that of a samsung or sony.