Samsung LCD vs Panasonic Plasma

Dave5158 · 17/01/09 - 10:04

This is a bit longwinded but please bear with me.

After deciding to move up from my 32" CRT TV I did some checking online and, eventually, decided to get a Samsung set the LE40A556P 40" LCD TV.

This is listed as HD Ready 1080P. I thought it would be a good balance of cost and performance as my budget could just about stretch to this. I intend to get SkyHD and I have a PS3 to use as a Bluray player.

A local store, whose website listed this TV, didn't have it in stock and I was told that a Panasonic Plasma TV (TH42PX80B) they had was a better TV. I went ahead and accepted this advice. When I got home I did some checking, on the spec of this TV, and found out that it is only 720P and the sound spec seemed worse.

Could anyone advise me; have I made a big mistake? As deleivery is a week away I still may have time to cancel or choose another set.

Any comments would be gratefully appreciated.

Nigel Goodwin · 17/01/09 - 10:09

Personally I would prefer a Panasonic over a Samsung, it's a far better brand. Can't comment on the Panasonic specifically as we don't sell them, but many Samsungs have absolutely appalling sound.

If you're watching SD I would suggest the Panasonic is going to be better, but for HD the Samsung is probably better - as most viewing is SD, the Panasonic may be the better choice?.

Ragnarok · 17/01/09 - 10:18

Nope good decision and good advice. A good 720p( or in this case 1366x768) is always better than a bad 1080p. Panasonic the best non 1080p sets are with out doubt the best you can get especially for watching SD without spending a small fortune on a Pioneer!

Samsung are the turd of LCD's. They look good and that sells apparently. They are only any good if you can turn Samsung's God awful picture processing off and are really only any good for HD( with all picture processing off of course). Even then the SD upscaling is barely watchable at best.

I just can't stand the SD pictures Samsung produce, and nether can a few friends who don't really care about HD and one who can't even tell the difference between HD and SD. but every time he see's a Samsung he mentions that SD picture looks awful and he understands upscaling is never going to be great on cheep tv's

late8 · 17/01/09 - 13:25

Go for the plasma. I went from a Samsung LCD to a Panasonic PX80 - Best move I ever did.

[Deleted User] · 17/01/09 - 13:46

For £30pp you could try the Samsung Series 8 from QVC for 30 days, it's today's special value, albeit £950 might give you an idea before you go for the plasma.

bobcar · 17/01/09 - 14:11

I'd go for the Panny plasma every time (I did). Unless you sit closer than 7' or so way then the full HD will make no difference and it's a far better telly (imho).

jasperjones · 17/01/09 - 15:44

I have a Samsung 40" LCD and a Panny 42" plasma (but with 1080p).The built in freeview PQ is better on the Panny,but the tunner is not as sensitive as the Samsung.
Nigal will correct me if i am wrong,but only the PS3 can output 1080p,$ky-HD etc is only 720p anyway,myself if i change the output on my PS3, i can not tell the difference anyway!

bobcar · 17/01/09 - 16:13

jasperjones wrote: »

I have a Samsung 40" LCD and a Panny 42" plasma (but with 1080p).The built in freeview PQ is better on the Panny,but the tunner is not as sensitive as the Samsung.
Nigal will correct me if i am wrong,but only the PS3 can output 1080p,$ky-HD etc is only 720p anyway,myself if i change the output on my PS3, i can not tell the difference anyway!

Sky HD is 1080i not 720p and since that is the same resolution as 1080p then whether there is any benefit from a full HD TV is still determined by the TV size and viewing distance. The Panny will accept 1080p anyway so viewing Blu-rays without de-interlacing is not a problem.

Some of us would have preferred Sky to be 720p for sport and other fast moving programmes.

Dave5158 · 20/01/09 - 21:18

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply to my query. Sorry for not posting this 'thank you' earlier.

[Deleted User] · 20/01/09 - 21:23

Ragnarok wrote: »

Nope good decision and good advice. A good 720p( or in this case 1366x768) is always better than a bad 1080p. Panasonic the best non 1080p sets are with out doubt the best you can get especially for watching SD without spending a small fortune on a Pioneer!

Samsung are the turd of LCD's. They look good and that sells apparently. They are only any good if you can turn Samsung's God awful picture processing off and are really only any good for HD( with all picture processing off of course). Even then the SD upscaling is barely watchable at best.

I just can't stand the SD pictures Samsung produce, and nether can a few friends who don't really care about HD and one who can't even tell the difference between HD and SD. but every time he see's a Samsung he mentions that SD picture looks awful and he understands upscaling is never going to be great on cheep tv's

I've got a 40" Samsung LCD and the upscaling is fine on my set. It's actually alot better than alot of other tv's I've seen out there. And it's really easy to turn off Samsung's picture processing system.

[Deleted User] · 23/01/09 - 18:30

People always compare Panasonic Plasma to LCD Samsung, but what about Samsung Plasma Tv's, I was looking at a 50 inch Samsung Plasma 410 series and it was as good as anything in the shop, they were all playing BBC HD!

bobcar · 23/01/09 - 19:18

baarree wrote: »

People always compare Panasonic Plasma to LCD Samsung, but what about Samsung Plasma Tv's, I was looking at a 50 inch Samsung Plasma 410 series and it was as good as anything in the shop, they were all playing BBC HD!

The key is whether it's as good when it displays SD as that is much harder.

[Deleted User] · 25/01/09 - 17:05

well I have a 40" samsung LCD and it is fantastic. I spent a couple of months researching TVs online and looking at them in shops (with SKY+ HD and XBox 360 plugged in) before making a choice of what to buy. Money wasn't really an option so virtually any TV could have fit the criteria I wanted. Anyway, I found the samsung to present the best HD picture quality when used with SKY+ HD and XBox 360. I honestly found the picture quality was far superior on nearly all manufacturer's LCDs as opposed to the plasma ones.

So anyway, I prefer the Samsung.

[Deleted User] · 25/01/09 - 17:19

WAPhate wrote: »

well I have a 40" samsung LCD and it is fantastic. I spent a couple of months researching TVs online and looking at them in shops (with SKY+ HD and XBox 360 plugged in) before making a choice of what to buy. Money wasn't really an option so virtually any TV could have fit the criteria I wanted. Anyway, I found the samsung to present the best HD picture quality when used with SKY+ HD and XBox 360. I honestly found the picture quality was far superior on nearly all manufacturer's LCDs as opposed to the plasma ones.

So anyway, I prefer the Samsung.

I could not have put it better myself, I too researched & viewed just about every TV possible over a few months & have never regreted buying mine, still bowled over by it at times slmost two years on & have seen nothing to beat it on HD

wacky joe · 26/01/09 - 14:56

How do you turn of samsung picture processing

Dave5158 · 27/01/09 - 21:37

Just a little update.

I've had the Panasonic for some days now. On the whole I'm pleased (and relieved) with its performance. Viewing a Blu-ray movie; I was suprised how sharp the image was.

About the only thing that annoyed me involved the HDMI sockets. The specification, on the shop's website, said it had three sockets. It does but what the ad did not mention was that two were audio only. This meant I had to buy a HDMI switch box to connect both my upscaling DVD PVR and PS3. The salesperson tried to sell me an expensive HDMI lead but I didn't go with the one he suggested; instead I got a £6 lead from Tesco which does the job.

Anyway; I would now say I prefer Plasma to LCD. My dad has a 40" Samsung LCD set and the picture on my TV is far superior to his.

Once again; thanks to all those who took the time to reply.

russellelly · 27/01/09 - 21:42

Dave5158 wrote: »

Just a little update.

I've had the Panasonic for some days now. On the whole I'm pleased (and relieved) with its performance. Viewing a Blu-ray movie; I was suprised how sharp the image was.

About the only thing that annoyed me involved the HDMI sockets. The specification, on the shop's website, said it had three sockets. It does but what the ad did not mention was that two were audio only. This meant I had to buy a HDMI switch box to connect both my upscaling DVD PVR and PS3. The salesperson tried to sell me an expensive HDMI lead but I didn't go with the one he suggested; instead I got a £6 lead from Tesco which does the job.

Anyway; I would now say I prefer Plasma to LCD. My dad has a 40" Samsung LCD set and the picture on my TV is far superior to his.

Once again; thanks to all those who took the time to reply.

Audio only? That doesn't sound right at all. If you've tried the other two and there's no picture then there's likely a fault somewhere.

b.lever · 27/01/09 - 21:49

Dave5158 wrote: »

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply to my query. Sorry for not posting this 'thank you' earlier.

i have both prefer the panasonic Beter picture .

Dave5158 · 27/01/09 - 22:09

russellelly wrote: »

Audio only? That doesn't sound right at all. If you've tried the other two and there's no picture then there's likely a fault somewhere.

:oWent and swapped the leads around and you're right; they do work.

:o

I don't know what I did the first time but there was no picture then. Ah well; that's taught me.

Hey there!

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