Curious if before purchasing, did anyone consider or compare the ZT w/the Samsung F8500 plasma. Also how is the white level in a dim or dark room?
1775545
Richard, yes I considered the Samsung F8500 plasma, but the Panasonic ZT60 is 10 times better. The Samsung does not have the excellent black levels the give you the depth and eye popping color and great shadow detail. The brightness is great with the Panasonic even in bright rooms plus it has a filter to minimize reflections as I have no issue with the ZT at all. I am just amazed each time I sit down and watch it how great it really is. The ZT is definitely a studio panel. There is no question, it beats the Samsung hands down. Hope this helps. Gary A
1775546
@ R. Barg. I directly compared the ZT with the F8500. The F8500's extra brightness was readily apparent in the high ambient light room I saw both sets set up in but I doubt you'd miss any brightness if you had the ZT or VT without a side by side direct comparison with the 8500. My ZT is plenty bright for my needs and during the day I have a bright living room in which its set up. In the very bright environment of the dealer's shop the ZT and VT Panasonics did look a little dimmer than the F8500 when they were all set to equal picture modes but the difference wasn't striking. The F8500 can be calibrated to be a lot brighter though if that's what someone is looking for. For me it was the ZT all the way. The VT60 and F8500 both looked really great no doubt about that and really they're all at the top performance wise but I wanted "the best" (to what I can afford) and from everything I've read, everything I saw when I saw them all in the same room and what I have experienced so far since purchasing the ZT, I made the right choice based on my preferences and how I watch TV. This TV displays gorgeous images, the better the source, the greater the picture quality. As for whites, they look truly white to my eyes on my ZT in all lighting environments, day/night. In the shop the whites did look "whiter" on the F8500 and the LCDs in the room but outside the direct comparison of that showroom, my ZT's white look brilliant. Hope that helps.
295057
When it's off you will see your furniture or whatever is in the room but for me, it makes it look evern more stunning. And once it's on, you won't notice it because the picture is so captivating it will blow you away. Take the LNT-4071F with its glare and the 25,000:1 contrast over the LNT-4061F with its matte finish and 20,000:1 contrast. Once you get it hooked up and see the HD, email me at gc.martin@insightbb.com and tell me what you think. Remember, its all in the Contrast. I have friends who think I bought a Plasma after seeing the picture on this puppy.
1259429
Overall "brightness" is about the only perk of an LCD set. You would not even notice that a plasma is "dimmer" once you got it home and plugged it up. The best way to experience the overall quality of an HDTV is in a dark room. A dark room is where Plasma shows its real beauty and LCD shows its ugly side. The issues with LCD technology like bad viewing angles, ghosting, flashlighting, clouding etc. were enough to send me to plasma.
969385
I have both the 8500 series LED by samsung and the PN58B860 plasma. The plasma has much nicer and deeper colors. It's viewing angle is also much better and does not wash out as fast as the LED one. The only downside with the plasma is that it drains almost 3 times as much energy but if you are willing to pay this much for a TV, your electric bill should not break your bank
326621
Its really bright if you put it in the vivid preset. To tell you the truth when i watch tv i cant tell if its a plasma or an led...the only thing that gives it away is at night time when its really quiet, i can hear a faint humming coming from the tv. Other than that, i believe this is one of the best tvs on the market today!
2016355
I bought the 50" Samsung Plasma 3d and have never been happier. Don't believe the hype with LED tech... I do not think it is worth it. The 720p plasma looks better than the 1080p LCD. Turns out most signals are 720p. Also the burn-in has been fixed so if you watch ESPN and the ticker at the bottom is ghosting when you change the channel it goes away soon. Ummm... I also know that with the LCD you have to pay a ton to get a refresh rate that is any good. I paid $900 at Sears for my 50" 3d with a refresh rate of 600 Hz with 2 pairs of glasses. Once again... pull the trigger on the plasma. I bought the 50" Samsung Plasma 3d and have never been happier. Don't believe the hype with LED tech... I do not think it is worth it. The 720p plasma looks better than the 1080p LCD. Turns out most signals are 720p. Also the burn-in has been fixed so if you watch ESPN and the ticker at the bottom is ghosting when you change the channel it goes away soon. Ummm... I also know that with the LCD you have to pay a ton to get a refresh rate that is any good. I paid $900 at Sears for my 50" 3d with a refresh rate of 600 Hz with 2 pairs of glasses. Once again... pull the trigger on the... » Read More I bought the 50" Samsung Plasma 3d and have never been happier. Don't believe the hype with LED tech... I do not think it is worth it. The 720p plasma looks better than the 1080p LCD. Turns out most signals are 720p. Also the burn-in has been fixed so if you watch ESPN and the ticker at the bottom is ghosting when you change the channel it goes away soon. Ummm... I also know that with the LCD you have to pay a ton to get a refresh rate that is any good. I paid $900 at Sears for my 50" 3d with a refresh rate of 600 Hz with 2 pairs of glasses. Once again... pull the trigger on the plasma. « Show Less
1637937
they are all answering in generalities and unfortunately its irrelevant, this and quite a few of the best plasmas this year suffer from just unacceptable input lag, the f8500 to a horrendous degree, it can be tamed to much more moderate levels by using a pc mode trick but its less than optimal for many reasons, but i suggest checking with avsforums and places with very in depth accounts to fully get a understanding of all the options. Actually i am just seeing you found displaylag.com and their database so this may not be of any use to you, oh well. Good luck
359953
I just ordered the ZS7. I first tried the F80 but returned it after finding pictures had a remarkable amount of compression artifact. All the files come out around 4 MP (max) and faces start to look like pastel when you zoom in. That said, it does perform better in low light. If you don't care about HD video consider the F70, which I read is better. (For that matter, the ZS3 is supposed to be better, but I want the bells and whistles.)
1083446
quick one that comes to mind is if you have a dark room, plasma should be better. But i personally like LED, aside from being a new technology, on a side by side comparison, the picture looks a lot awesome in LED than in plasma...
2032211
I own the UN55B8500 and the picture is fantastic. DO NOT buy an edge lit set to achieve 3D. Early adopters will pay through the nose for 3D with minimum viewing material available. Edge lit will sacrifice picture quality.Wait for the full local dimming led technology with 3D. Wait one year to 18 months and there will be plenty of inventory with both features and the prices will start to come down. Both Samsung and LG will have sets soon with both features. Worth the wait and if you can wait a little longer prices will come down.
974043
I did a side by side comparison at Best Buy in their calibrated Magnolia center. They also had Samsung's flagship LED HDTV from 2013 right beside it (the one I originally intended to purchase.). There was no comparison, the VT just looked better in the dark room. Blacks were truly black with no noticeable light bleed like there was from the LED. The F8500 looked good as well, but the VT won me over. The white level is fine in my living room where I have it wall mounted. It's not in direct sunlight, but the overall picture quality is nice even in moderate lighting.
2260056
I picked up the Samsung set for $1355 free shipping and no tax, so I saved more than $175 by purchasing the Samsung over the LG. Also, when I looked at the LG model, I thought it ran on 60 mhz refresh. The Samsung is at 120 mhz. When I compared the pictures in the store, the Samsung looked "glossier" to me, and I like that appearance. The LG was more of a "matte" finish, for lack of a better description. The picture of the Samsung is much more superior. I viewed it in a showroom with a special dark viewing room, and the difference in the dark room was VERY noticeable. Moreso than in a bright showroom. You will like the viewing angle of the Samsung much better. It is worth it. Check out the prices online. Mine even came with a free wall mount. Nice.
687700
How would you compare the Sony KDL-XBR6 with the Samsung LN32A650? I'm not too crazy about Samsung's so-called Touch of Color Design (TM) for its bezel (amber/black), however. But I'd like to know which model should I buy for my daughter's birthday. She lives in an apartment in Chicago.Thanks.Len Bloom
2010485
I am not sure how helpful this reply is, but I am in the process of upgrading an existing TV and spent about half an hour just looking at the 55" and up TV's at Best Buy yesterday for about half an hour. I watched about 8 different sets which included both Plasma (Samsung & Panasonic) along with LED edge-lit tv's from Samsung, LG, Sharp and Sony. I have to say that I only saw this on one TV and that was a Sharp 60" set. This set was set to ultra-torch mode and looked pretty crappy in general. I attributed the issue to the settings being cranked too high. I can't guarentee you that the problem would completely disappear with either a DIY adjustment or with professional calibration but I am sure it would be much, much less noticeable. My guess is that the lower end Sharp sets are going to be a little more tempermental and need more adjustments and tradeoffs. I would really like to see one of these sets in a real world set up and adjusted properly (I want a 60" TV with a smaller bexel due to space restrictions (Panny 60" ST30 is just a little too big). I really did like the looks of the LG 55LW5600. I have plasma right now and like it, but I am not convinced the blacks really are that good despite what David K. says on CNET. Some of the edge-lit LED sets do have decent black levels and detail in darker scenes. Maybe not as good as the Panny's, but they are so much brighter (will be used in a well-lit living room) and whites are white and not gray!
55192
No way. My ZT 60 has been the best TV I have ever owned. (Better than my old Pioneer Kuro Elite) I actually just bought a second one for another room in my home. I am a very critical viewer and there is no IR whatsoever.
459728
Thanks Dylan! That's great info.Acc. to this CNET posting, a 46"inch LED Samsung is around 106watts while a Panasonic Plasma is around 160 watts. Both Samsung LED TVs and Panasonic Plasmas have improved over their last year models by an impressive margins. I am still inclined towards a Plasma for reasons of black and contrast on plasma over LCDs (LCDs are improving, but not sure if they can match Plasmas yet). If Plasmas are still consuming 400watts, then the choice would have been very clear, but now bet. 100 and 150, it is not clear.
1306643
I honestly am not all that interested in Smart TV as much as I am in getting the best picture quality for my own media collection. I will say that my 7600 chugs under the weight of the apps and that the 8600 with dual core would work much better. I also have a G2 which is very snappy due to having a dual core but has a lower refresh rate and no local dimming or control over tru motion. Personally I would buy the 9600 if it had NO apps at all and just did 3D and 1080p 2D. I have tried Netflix with many devices and have never been very impressed with the stream they give you. Vudu however has a much better codec and looks reasonably well, in many cases even better than my Fios HD DVR service gives me. I am hoping within the next 2 to 3 years OLED will be down in my upper price range. When that happens I will jump on it and also they will have ironed out any bugs that system may have for early adopters. What I am hoping is OLED will be as good or better than my Sony 34 inch HD CRT , only with higher resolution and perfect geometry. For motion, contrast levels and viewing angle, nothing STILL can beat the last Sony Trinitrons that rolled off the line. I have one and my only complaint is poor geometry. Good luck with whichever model you decide on. Cheers! Marty G