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I know my opinion of the Panasonic plasmas has changed dramatically in the past few weeks. I love the picture quality, but I am unconvinced that they will remain trouble free long term. At this point, I am betting that ALL 50 series displays will at some point have the issue I am having with the yellow blobs to some extent. It's a design defect. There's insufficient thermal management in the TV. The yellow blobs are centered exactly over where the driver boards are in the TV. They apparently got hot enough to age the phosphors differently in those areas which as lead to an insufficient discharge from the blue cells. If the voltage is ramped up, you can get the yellow to disappear, but you can also start introducing some other artifacts and there's no way of knowing if it won't creep back in again as the panel ages further. Panasonic is fully aware of this defect since they added additional heat sinks to the boards in the 60 series of the TV as well as putting higher performing fans in the TV. This has lead to complaints of fan noise though and it's hard to say if those improvements will actually solve the issue or just delay it a bit longer. Seeing as how this is their final design iteration, I'm betting they did just enough to get them out of warranty trouble free. Panasonic has also issued a technical bulletin over the yellow blob issue that tells the techs to change the VSUS setting in the service menu from LOW to HIGH (increasing the sustain voltage) and then increasing the blue drive to cover up the yellow. If the yellow is really light, the VSUS may cover it up and increasing blue drive will also cover it up further, but it also throws the white balance out of calibration. Basically, Panasonic is trying to dupe people into accepting a repair that may only last a few months (enough to get them out of warranty coverage.) So, as much as I love the image quality of my TV and will be disappointed by going back to LCD, I just don't want to deal with it anymore. As soon as I get my repair estimate submitted to American Express, I'll be buying a Sony KDL-55W900A as a replacement. I just hope I can get one before they are all sold out as the 2014 model is a step down.
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Jan 13, 2014 21:14
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BonoMan posted:Most image retention should go away in like..a few minutes. Absolutely not true. One hour worth of watching Adult Swim a night for a week left an afterimage of the [adult swim] logo in the corner of my ST50 that took about a month and a half to fade. Hell, even watching Daily Show and Colbert Report for a full week (4 days) with the translucent Comedy Central logo would take 2 or 3 days to fade completely for me. That said, if that TV was run for 3k hours with that STORE in the corner, it's probably burn in by now and won't fade over time.
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Jan 13, 2014 23:30
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BonoMan posted:Uh that is absolutely not normal. According to Panasonic it is (and a ton of other owners.) Some have panels that exhibit no IR at all, but a good chunk of us have ones that behave this way and it's all deemed completely normal panel response. You can't see it unless you are looking for it with slides, but it's there. It seems like a crapshoot lottery as to whether or not you get a panel that's 'ideal.' There seems to be a huge manufacturing variance in these things. Mine didn't start behaving this way until I got well over the 2k hour mark. bull3964 fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Jan 13, 2014 |
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Jan 13, 2014 23:35
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morestuff posted:This seems so far outside the realm of normal usage that it's hard to care about. The only reason why I cared about it is the worry that it's cumulative. If I managed to get enough IR over something in the course of a week that takes more than a few days to go away, then it won't have gone away fully before the new cycle starts the next week. It compounds week over week and then I get something that IS noticeable on every day viewing and isn't going away. So, the IR didn't bother me so much that it was there. It was, however, a constant reminder to keep track of my viewing habits because it could cause the problem to become permanent. Panasonic themselves say follow a 10% rule which seems totally reasonable at first glance, but it honestly doesn't take much to exceed that. If you watch 4 hours of TV a night, just 2 hours of programming on one network a week could cause you problems depending on the opacity of the network bug.
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Jan 14, 2014 00:13
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Argyle posted:US retailers will probably have some decent sales before the Superbowl, yes? It's possible. However, if you have a TV in mind now, I wouldn't wait to buy. Any sale will be starting Sunday the 26th, so you'll be within a price match window if the price drops for a sale and won't have to worry about stock supplies. I should be snagging a KDL-55W900A tomorrow. Frys apparently has it for $1699 which is $300 under Best Buy's price. I should be able to get them to price match it. Repair estimate on my $1600 55ST50 is $2100 after tax if it were possible to fix it. However, the panel is no longer available, so it can't be repaired. bull3964 fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Jan 16, 2014 |
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Jan 16, 2014 00:01
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rizzo1001 posted:Does everyone here buy warranties on their TVs [squaretrade on Amazon specifically]? I've traditionally had excellent luck with electronics so I tend not to purchase extended warranties. My American Express credit card automatically extends warranty coverage for a year past manufacturers warranty. I usually find that if something doesn't break within two years, it's probably good for a long time.
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Jan 16, 2014 00:40
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rizzo1001 posted:Oh, so was this through Panasonic or AmEx? I only ask because I too bought an 55ST50 w/ my AmEx (~15mo. old). Amex. To be clear, I haven't had my claim approved yet. I started the process last week and the step I'm on right now requires the receipt and repair estimate to be faxed over which I did this afternoon. I had to resort to getting Geek Squad to come out to give me a repair estimate since the closest repair place that Panasonic referred me to apparently won't make house calls any further than 10 miles away and I had no means to transport a 55" 70lb TV 37 miles to a shop that was only open 9-5 Mon-Fri. Amex just wants a quote from a verified repair facility, so I'm hoping Best Buy counts as that. I knew it was uneconomical (actually impossible now due to lack of parts) to fix from the start of the problem, I basically just need someone in authority to rubber stamp a statement to that effect for American Express. I'm not waiting for the Amex claim to go through before I buy a new TV because at this point, they either approve or deny. Regardless of the outcome, I need a new TV because the yellow is very distracting when it shows up, so there's not much point in waiting. The TV will be 21 months to the day tomorrow when I go buy its replacement.
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Jan 16, 2014 02:09
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Viewing angle as been described as decent on these TVs. There's some contrast loss off axis, but it's not hugely distorted. The two big differences between the 900a and the 802a are the motion processor and the triluminos display. I doubt the refresh rate is going to matter much for gaming at this point. You need to enable motion processing on each set in order to take advantage of the refresh rate to increase motion resolution and you won't want to do that while playing games since it will introduce lag. I know you talk about a difference between 60hz and 120hz for your monitors you use, but I can assure you they hurt for a different reason. That refresh rate has NOTHING at all to do with flicker and is simply the rate at which things can change on the screen. Your difference in eye fatigue is either environmental, the backlight used in the display, or due to different display settings. No console is going to push beyond 1080p60 (and that needs HDMI 1.4b), so 60hz is just fine for gaming. The 802a has better lag numbers than the 900a, but both are excellent. You are talking ~16ms for the 802a and ~19ms for the 900a. So, it's pretty much a wash. The only other thing is the triluminos display and it actually isn't a gimmick. The color reproduction of the 900a is nearly reference quality when calibrated. It uses glowing crystals excited by the LEDs to have a RGB backlight rather than simply a white one. So, if you are fine with the color reproduction of the 802a, then that seems like the easier bet. Just to make things a bit more difficult though, people have had success with getting Amazon to match Frys on the 900a. They are currently (until the end of today) selling the TV at $1699 so your difference would only be $213.
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Jan 16, 2014 22:35
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Syves posted:Do you happen to have a link for that? I just see the 990a listed on Fry's right now for $2999... You have to create an account and add it to cart for it to show up at the lower price. I just know that apparently people have had success in getting Amazon to price match it.
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Jan 16, 2014 23:52
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BB priced matched me as well. Viewing angles, as expected are a bit of a disappointment after the ST50. Blacks, when watching dead on, aren't a TON different. I'm still dialing in the set and don't expect to really get it fully reigned in until the weekend. It's going to be an adjustment coming from plasma since their 'look' is a bit different even when you take everything else out of the equation. However, initial impressions of the TV are good. I will say this thing destroys the Panasonic at 3d.
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Jan 17, 2014 06:13
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Boards are all pretty modular on these TVs and fairly easy to swap out. You just need to figure out which is the one that was likely fried by the storm, find a replacement, and see if it's worth the cost.
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Jan 17, 2014 16:10
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I spent an hour and a half with my new TV and my new toy that arrived today, a Spectracal C3 and Calman 5 Tutorial. And now I'm done and I feel MUCH better about this TV coming from my ST50. Uniformity on bright screens still isn't perfect and the viewing angles are normal LCD stuff, but now the TV feels spot on and extremely close (if not better in some ways) to the viewing experience of my ST50. I also noticed one dead pixel when I was up close to the TV which is interesting because I threw slides up as soon as I got it out of the box and didn't notice it. Can't see it from any of the viewing positions so I'm not going to sweat it.
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Jan 18, 2014 06:00
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The only way you are likely to get one at this point is to troll open box sales at big box retailers. They are pretty much otherwise sold out. I'm pretty sure they built every drat last panel too as I saw someone on AVS mention that his needed a panel replacement under warranty and they were already out of stock for parts.
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Jan 20, 2014 20:27
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I think the Samsung F5500 has similar input lag numbers in game mode (~35 ms) as the S60. The picture isn't quite as good in some ways, but it's pretty affordable too. That seems to be the next decent budget plasma to turn to at this point. Samsung is still in the game (for now), they will probably exit plasma near the end of this year.
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Jan 20, 2014 21:19
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It depends on if your receiver supports ARC (audio return channel). If so, it should be able to send the audio back through one of the HDMI connections. If not, you usually use an optical cable.
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Jan 22, 2014 06:49
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You might want to consider picking up the Samsung F8500 instead. They are pretty comparable in picture quality and the Samsung is capable of getting quite a bit brighter. The Samsung TVs are also reportedly a bit more resistant to IR. Also, they are going to continue making them at least through the end of 2014 so you have fewer warranty concerns. Most importantly, you can actually buy one. I don't know where you were planning on getting a 60VT60, but they are pretty much all gone on Amazon. Best Buy in my area claims they can get one in 7-10 days, but I'm doubting it quite a bit.
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Jan 23, 2014 04:10
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Well, the Samsung F8500 is more than remotely comparable. In fact, it's won several shootouts against the VT60 (and even the ZT60) over the past year. They are all very very close. The Saumsung is just a bit more expensive though.Syves posted:OK, I've had my Sony kdl-55w900a set up for a few days now. And I'm really liking it. I will have had mine a week today and I'm extremely happy with it (and that's coming from a Panny plasma.) Black levels in completely darkened rooms obviously don't match my ST50. However, color reproduction is just as good if not better (hard to fully compare since I have color meter now where I didn't when I was using the ST50) and brightness is top notch. Shadow detail is excellent. Uniformity when viewing a full screen of solid colors isn't quite as good as my ST50 (discounting the yellow splotches) but it's nothing that can usually be seen while watching content. About the only artifacts I see while watching content are some bands on vertical panning due to the different LED zones and a bit of DSE on full white backgrounds you sometimes see on commercials. However, even when operating fine, the ST50 wasn't perfect there. For every instance of banding I could see due to the backlight zones on this TV, there were an equal number of scenes on my ST50 that would produce line bleed. Mine also always had a faint bar running down the right hand side of the screen that is fairly common and you see a lot of people report. It's basically just trading some picture artifacts for others. If there was one thing I really wish I could change on the Sony is viewing angles. However, that's not something that usually impacts me since I'm nearly always watching the TV front and center. bull3964 fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Jan 23, 2014 |
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Jan 23, 2014 16:09
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Keep in mind that most places have like 2 weeks to price match. One bit of input I have is, aside from Vizo, all the "new" models shown at CES are either a lateral to step back from their 2013 models. Most are cannibalizing their high end 1080p sets and shifting that market to low end 4k now. MSRPs are also pretty much lower across the board for 2014 models, but the current 2013 prices are better now (even if their original MSRP was higher.) So, my recommendation is probably not to wait as the prices probably aren't going to get much better and the 2013 stock is going to start drying up soon.
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Jan 30, 2014 03:44
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merk posted:What tier would the Samsung F8500 be comparable to on the Panasonic side? ST? VT? VT or ZT. It's usually compared to the ZT under most circumstances. I wouldn't even consider an LG plasma, they are the bottom of the barrel. If the F8500 is too rich for your blood, I would look at the F5500 or F5300 (really the same as the F5500 but no 3d.)
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Jan 31, 2014 19:55
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One thing I JUST found out is that you may not want a 60" F5500 or F5300, they apparently use a pentile subpixel arrangement. The 51" and 64" are normal. The F8500 is really just a different class of device. It's a near studio level quality panel with all of Samsung's top of the line smart TV features. Color accuracy, black level, and peak brightness are all better on the F8500.
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Jan 31, 2014 20:32
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Yeah, that's the main thing. If you were attempting to get a VT before, then presumably you want something a bit higher quality than the LG. LG just hasn't done anything R&D wise for years on their plasmas. They are the lowest end plasma, but not a horrible TV in the grand scheme of things for the price. I'm just not sure I would want to accept the shortcomings of plasma if I didn't have the top of the line picture quality to balance it out. bull3964 fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Jan 31, 2014 |
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Jan 31, 2014 21:38
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Doctor Butts posted:Are dead pixels a thing that still happens frequently with LCD displays? Yeah, it can happen. My new Sony has a single dead pixel. You can't see it at all once you get about 4ft away from the display so it wasn't worth returning over it. I know Sony's policy is you need to have >3 to warranty the TV. Other manufacturers have different policies.
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Feb 3, 2014 16:52
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Aphrodite posted:Those Sonys are on sale all the time. You can just wait a bit and it'll drop again. Only caveat here is that it's a 2013 model so it might start disappearing from stores.
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Feb 11, 2014 17:16
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rizzo1001 posted:Did you ever get that warranty sorted with AmEx? My ST50 does have some slight discoloration on the right side of the panel, greenish tint. I'm just wondering if it's worth the effort to get someone out to look at it. Did you end up sending it out to get scrapped or what? Yup. It was mostly painless, but they have some goofiness in the system. I had Geek Squad come out to give me a repair estimate on the 15th. Estimate was for a panel replacement + labor ($2100, which was moot since they had no parts) I faxed over the estimate and my original receipt to AMEX on that day. I then heard nothing for awhile. The online claim checker still read "Pending receipt of documents." On the 28th, I faxed over another copy (stating on the cover sheet that I had previously faxed the 15th) and dropped a copy in the mail for good measure. Since I initially filed the claim on the 5th, they only give you 30 days to get them the documents. That Thursday, the status changed to "Documents received on the 16th" which I thought was odd, but whatever. Early Friday morning, they sent me two emails. The first was a reminder that they needed the documents (which they already acknowledged as received) and the 2nd email was a statement that the claim had been closed and they credited back the $1642 purchase price of the TV. So, in the end I got credited back the full amount of the TV with minimal hassle, their systems are just a little screwy. The whole thing ended up costing me about $320 between the $150 site fee from Geek Squad for the estimate and the higher purchase price of the W900A, but that's not too bad. I still have my ST50, they did not request it back. I may try some of the more invasive fixes later like messing with the voltage POTs to see if I can't minimize the blobs and then put the TV in one of the extra bedrooms.
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Feb 11, 2014 17:52
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Got Haggis? posted:I currently have a 42" Samsung Plasma that is about 5 years old or so. I don't have the model number offhand. I'm thinking of upgrading - my max budget is around $1500 (would like lower of course). I sit 8' away from my tv and my room has lots of windows, so lots of light. I mainly watch cable and game a bit. I've been looking at the Sony 55W900A - looked at it in store and thought the picture was great...also has low input lag. I just missed it on sale for $1579, now its back up to $1799 or so. I don't care about 3D or smart apps at all since I have the xbox + tivo for that. Any suggestions? J&R apparently has it for $1599 and people have said best buy will price match. http://www.jr.com/sony/pe/SON_KDL55W900A/?JRSource=CJ
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Feb 12, 2014 06:54
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Yup, I'm loving mine as well. About the only thing I wish was better are viewing angles.
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Feb 12, 2014 20:47
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Smaller TVs demand a lower cost so they are less likely to put high end features in them. Average TV size purchased today is slightly higher than 40 inches, so you are most likely to find newer tech on TVs that size or higher.
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Feb 17, 2014 21:23
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I'd still bring in an SD card with slides on them and give it a good once over at every grey and color just to be sure.
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Feb 20, 2014 03:25
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Break in is usually just a thing so that you can get the phosphors to stabilize quickly so that you can do your calibration. They undergo brightness shifts in the first 100-300 hours so many 'videophiles' want that to pass as quickly as possible so they can get a calibration done. Running slides just gives them consistent content to run during that time period. There is also some indication that chance for IR is heightened during the first couple hundred hours of use and that you should avoid static logos for that timeframe. I'm pretty much convinced at this point that the level of IR you experience is entirely a manufacturing variance. Some panels are susceptible, some are not.
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Feb 20, 2014 17:39
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I wouldn't say don't use it. Just avoid static images like game HUDs, network bugs, or letterboxed/windowboxed content.
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Feb 21, 2014 23:29
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Acceptableloss posted:This may not be the right thread for this, but I'm looking for a receiver to use with an existing home theater system that can convert a 1080p HDMI signal into component (Y, Pb, Pr) signal to connect to a projector that will accept 720p and 1080i. Can anyone tell me the feature that I should be looking for in the receiver? You are unlikely to find anything that does what you want. Everything passing over HDMI is going to be protected by HDCP which prohibits passing the signal to an unencrypted analog output.
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Mar 6, 2014 01:51
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Reviews of the new Sony TVs are starting to come in. I'm glad I went with my gut and jumped on the W900A rather than wait for its replacement. http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/kdl55w955b-201403103661.htm quote:There’s just no sugarcoating this: the KDL-55W955B is the worst-performing Sony Bravia flagship HDTV we’ve reviewed in terms of picture quality. It’s a disappointing departure from the excellent heritage of high-end Bravia TVs, all because of the use of IPS-type LCD TV panel that’s notorious for shallow blacks – perhaps it’s a strategic decision by Sony to funnel potential buyers towards the company’s 4K Ultra HD models?
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Mar 10, 2014 18:29
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FYI, Samsung has apparently scrapped the H7000. So, their only new plasma this year is the H5000 and they will continue to sell the F8500 through 2014. At this point though, I think they are in stock run-out mode. I'm betting Samsung will quietly exit plasma in early 2015.
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Mar 19, 2014 15:41
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I'm using one right now, I love it. You can assign a custom short press and long press function to nearly every button on the simple remote and those can be commands or macros. So, you can get away with using the simple remote for the vast majority of the things you do with it and then break out the mobile app for any edge cases.
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Mar 23, 2014 19:12
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You really don't need to use it at all though. Pretty much all of the setup can be done from the mobile apps.
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Mar 23, 2014 19:17
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I have my hub buried in my entertainment center and it still manages to control all my devices without the use of any blasters. It's really powerful. I'm pretty sure if you put that on the bottom shelf it will have no trouble controlling everything, including the TV.
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Mar 24, 2014 15:23
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Yeah, most TVs get firmware updates for app updates. My W900a just got a completely revamped Hulu+ app about 2 weeks after I bought it. A few of the higher end Samsung TVs have what's called an "Evolution Kit" which is a hardware module that can be swapped out to give newer smart features down the road. That's not to say that the smartTV features are all that great on most TVs, but they are passible. I still use my chromecast for most things. SmartTV features are just best left ignored when buying a TV. Don't buy a TV for them and don't NOT buy a TV because they have them. Choose the TV for budget and picture quality.
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Mar 26, 2014 16:48
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Wilford Cutlery posted:Well, that didn't last long: That's an especially odd email since you ordered a Sony rather than Samsung TV.
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Apr 4, 2014 19:09
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There are RUMORS that Sony is going to continue making the w900a at least into summer since it's been so popular. As far as I'm concerned, as long as you are fine for the 55" size, it's drat near the perfect TV right now and if you are in the market and can snag one, do so.
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Apr 9, 2014 15:45
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Stealth Tiger posted:I've 99 percent made up my mind already, but just to get an official opinion from the thread: Is there a good reason to buy a smart TV vs. a dumb TV + chromecast combo? The latter option is cheaper and every review I've seen of the chromecast says it just straight up makes your TV smart. Do not make a choice on a TV based on smart features, for or against and with or without. Most TVs don't come in a SmartTV and non-SmartTV version with everything else being the same so you can't directly compare them. Buy a TV based on image quality, size, and price and ignore whether or not it has SmartTV features.
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Apr 12, 2014 17:53
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