Options for 50-inch Full-HD Flat Panels??

Hi All,

I am in the market for a 46" to 50" Full-HD TV for my home theater. My budget for the TV is about 1 lakh. Needless to say, the bigger the better

Viewing room has controlled lighting, and content is exclusively DVD & HD content served from a HTPC. I am partial to Plasma for the black-levels, refresh rates and price. But I am open to LCD recommendations.

I have looked at LG & Panasonic plasmas (both 42" & 720p, but unfortunately not side-by-side) and both looked really good. I couldn't locate a dealer in my town (Visakhapatnam) who carries a 50" Full-HD plasma

Apart from LG & Panasonic, who else sells decent Plasmas in India? And which LCD models should I be considering for comparison? I did some research and like the Samsung, Hitachi & Philips specs. Of course they all look brilliant in the showroom with the demo content. I plan to take my own content on a disc or USB drive and test the options.

I will probably be traveling to Hyderabad soon on work and will take a day off to visit the stores there to evaluate my options. Any & all inputs/suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks,
Teja

Hey Teja

Welcome to the forum buddy...!!!
Have a pleasant stay here...!!!

Buddy...
First of all a question..
Which Controlled System you got in your house...???

Now, coming to your point...
50" Plasma...

When it comes to Plasma..
You get only three names to be considered...
Panasonic, Pioneer & Hitachi...

They are best when Plasma is considered...

Now, regarding the Full HD Plasma...
In Rs.1L, exact its hard to get Full HD Plasma..
It will be upto 5-10 grands more..

Anyways, Panasonic & Hitachi are very reasonable,
where the Pioneer's 720p itself will be descent enough as others 1080...

But, as your total content is HD only, its recommended that you go in for a Full HD Plasma only...

Get a DVD, and start auditioning it...

hey mridul, at the budget end of the plasma spectrum samsung does give panasonic a run for its money!

50-inch Full HD plasma, you will not find for a lakh. So the best you can hope to get for your money is a 46" Full HD LCD such as the 46A550 (80k) from samsung or the 46A610 (90-95k).

Another really good way of spending your lakh would be to go for the Pioneer 428XG.....granted it is not as big as the others, but it's a lovely TV.

Bro...

Fine with you...
That sammy is VFM comparable to Panny...

But, do you really think the pioneers in Plasma technology, The Panasonic, The Pioneer, The Hitachi and The NEC, who were the only four, the fantastic four behind this technology...???

Though Hitachi & Panasonic have moved to China, except for few of there High End Models.
And, NEC manufacturing only Plasma Panels not TVs...

But, still these four tops the ratings...

Now coming to the Full HD LCD thing, then there is no point in that as we are considering Plasmas, for HT...

Even though he will not get 50" Full HD Plasma @ that price, but he will be satisfied with the technology...

Even you agree with that..right...????

Hey Mridul & 'psychotropic',

Thanks for the replies. So you don't think LG is a good value in Plasma? I got a quote for Rs 1.05 lakhs for the LG 50PG61. I have seen pretty nice reviews for the 50PG60 in US and am hoping that the 50PG61 is similar. Anyway, haven't seen the piece in demo - not available in my town.

Haven't visited Panasonic dealer. Spoke to the Hitachi guy on the phone, he said he had some "great" deals for Diwali, but he wouldn't give any prices on the phone. Will probably visit him tomorrow.

Demoed the Samsung 46A550 (quote I got was 82K, I think there is a some room to haggle if I decide to buy it). It was very nice (stunning in fact) with the Samsung demo disc - but they were all brightly lit scenes with no rapid action.

Then I tried my sample disc. Fast action scenes (from Cars 1080p & Bourne Ultimatum 720p) were quite nice, I didn't notice any blurring or image shudder. And then some dark scenes from Lord of the Rings (1080p) and Iron Man (720p). This is where I was not satisfied. The image was too bright, even after reducing the brightness significantly I felt that the display had too much brightness for my liking. I didn't have much time to spend there so I told the guy I will return in a couple of days. He was trying to push me towards a Sony Bravia - which I felt was way too overpriced.

Anyway, will update you when Have more info.

Thanks
Teja

About the lighting, nothing fancy - just a few ceiling recessed lights with dimmer controls. It is still in planning stage. I am preparing a dedicated room for home theater.

I realized that 1 lakh might not get me what I want, I am debating whether to stretch my budget or settle for a lesser size/model or postpone the purchase for another 6 months and see prices come down.

My brother got a 52" Samsung Series 5 last month for $1650 in the US. It sucks that we have to pay such a huge premium for it in India - and even then we usually end up with yester-year's technology.

Cheers
Teja

This has been a disappointing week in my hunt for a 50" Full-HD Plasma. I asked my friends in Hyderabad to inquire for me and they said that most dealers are not carrying Plasma at all and definitely not a 50" size. It has to be ordered specially. So no chance of viewing it before buying.

And cost is really out of my budget. Cheapest is the LG at 1.15 lakhs. I was eyeing the Samsung PS50A550 (read quite nice reviews about it). Its MRP is 1.4, and most dealers are giving a 20% - 25% discount on MRP for LCDs, and I expected it to be the same with Plasmas which would mean I could get it at just over 1 lakh. But Nooo, the lowest quote I got for the Sammy was 1.25 lakhs - ridiculous. Plasma is supposed to be cheaper than LCD. In US, the 50" Sammy Plasma is cheaper than the 46" LCD

And to top it all, the salesmen were relentless in thrashing the Plasmas....
"Why sir? Plasma is dead technology, go for LCD"
"Plasma gas escapes and has to be refilled every couple of years"
"Plasma is bad for your eyes and gives you headaches"
"Plasma is very hot and can burn if you touch the screen"
"Plasma needs double the current of an LCD"

...and so on. Interestingly no-one mentioned the real issues with Plasmas like screen burn-in, glare, low brightness etc.

Seems like while Plasma is making a come-back in US & Japan, it is being actively stifled here in India. Anyway all this - especially the price, has put me off buying a plasma. No way I can justify spending 40K+ for just four extra inches of screen size. So I am now considering the Samsung Series 5 46" and the LG Scarlett 47" LCDs.

Quote I got for the Samsung is 80K + Free TataSky + Free Wall Mounting. And the salesman dropped a couple of hints that there is room for a bit of bargaining. Considering the MRP of the LA46A550 is Rs 1 lakh, I thought this was a pretty good offer

The LG 47LG60FR has an MRP of 1.02 lakhs, so I thought it would be the same as the Samsung. But the dealer was not that enthusiastic. He quoted 88K and no freebies either. Didn't even bother to make a sales pitch. I guess I will take my business to Samsung.... or maybe find another LG dealer in town who is serious about selling TVs.

The best part was that we could demo them both (not side-by-side though), and the Samsung seemed to do a bit well in the dark scenes. So, if there are no new developments, will probably go for it in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers
Teja

I agree with you....it's shockng to see the ignorant salespersons talking rubbish about technology that they don't know about.

BUt yes it makes sense for you to go for a 46 inch LCD. THe sammy should be far superior to the LG, so don't waste your time with the LG.