Samsung PN59D550 or Panasonic P55ST30? [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Poultrygeist
06-21-2011, 02:51 PM
Which of these plasmas should I spring for?

Woochifer
06-21-2011, 03:13 PM
Go over to the AVS Forums. They got more people who've likely purchased and/or tested both sets, particularly the newer ones. They also might be able to give you some insights on how close you can get to the reference picture standard without having to go with a professional ISF calibration.

In general, the Pannys have higher maximum light output and deeper blacks, while the more recent Samsungs have been getting high marks for their colors. In my experiences, I tend to prefer the menus and available controls on the Samsungs, but give a slight nod to the Pannys for overall picture quality. The Pannys' picture is excellent in the Cinema mode, but your range of picture controls is a bit more limited than with the Samsungs. Keep in mind that my information might be old because I don't have any hands-on experience with this year's newest models.

FWIW, the Panny plasmas have historically had better reliability than the Samsungs, with a three-year failure rate of 1-2%, while Samsung is closer to the industry average of 3-4%.

TheHills44060
06-22-2011, 06:09 AM
Last year I had narrowed down my plasma choices between a 63" Samsung and 65" Panasonic. The picture looked best to me on the Panasonic but really either one was good enough for me picture wise. The menu's on the Panasonic stink and anything worth while on the model I bought is in the service menu. As far as styling goes I preferred the Panasonic and of course i liked that it was larger in size. The floating blacks on the Panasonic do really tick me off but may be minor to some.

Unfortunately it turned out to be the single worst video purchase I've ever made. The thing buzzed so badly I got headaches from it. Then 2 months later the A-board went bad. Panasonic's customer service was very impressive but nevertheless it was a pain in the arse.

Sir Terrence the Terrible
06-22-2011, 09:40 AM
This is easy....I vote the Panasonic.

BadAssJazz
06-22-2011, 10:17 AM
Can't say that I've auditoned either model, but I've owned 4 Panasonic flatscreens and never had any problems with any of them. PQ and reliability matter most to me. If I had to make a blind decision, I'd likely pick the Panasonic based on present/past experiences alone.

pixelthis
06-22-2011, 01:07 PM
The only type of "plasma" you should get should be after a
serious car wreck.
THE DIFFERENCE between plasma and LCD even a few years ago was slight, today there is practically none , except that LCD
is brighter, longer lasting, and more practical, with a much better
picture.
GET A plasma and you will be left behind as the years roll by,
and if that big glass envelope falls off the wall, hope nobodies
standing under it.
GOOD LUCK, in any event.:1:

GMichael
06-22-2011, 01:51 PM
The only type of "plasma" you should get should be after a
serious car wreck.
THE DIFFERENCE between plasma and LCD even a few years ago was slight, today there is practically none , except that LCD
is brighter, longer lasting, and more practical, with a much better
picture.
GET A plasma and you will be left behind as the years roll by,
and if that big glass envelope falls off the wall, hope nobodies
standing under it.
GOOD LUCK, in any event.:1:

But they sure will enjoy the picture quality. For some, that's what matters most.

TheHills44060
06-22-2011, 04:28 PM
But they sure will enjoy the picture quality. For some, that's what matters most.
That's what sold me on plasma and the off axis viewing is soooooooo much better than LCD. That was also very important. In those 2 areas the Panasonic did really well, it was the shrieking harpy-like buzzing and the horrific reliability that keeps me from recommending a television set of theirs.

BadAssJazz
06-22-2011, 05:32 PM
That's what sold me on plasma and the off axis viewing is soooooooo much better than LCD. That was also very important. In those 2 areas the Panasonic did really well, it was the shrieking harpy-like buzzing and the horrific reliability that keeps me from recommending a television set of theirs.

I've never had a single set stricken with this defect. Both of the Panasonics that I currently own run virtually silent. I have a 54" in the main room and a 42" in the bedroom. If you turn on the set and mute it, you will actually hear the whirring of the Comcast DVR hard drive, or the fan on the Blu Ray player above any noise the flatscreen makes.

Clearly you stumbled onto a defective set. No manufacturer is immune to that.

pixelthis
06-23-2011, 01:57 PM
But they sure will enjoy the picture quality. For some, that's what matters most.

LOOKING like the CRT that they are basically disguised as
is not "picture quality".
SOME CAN'T LEAVE THE PAST.:1:

pixelthis
06-23-2011, 01:59 PM
I've never had a single set stricken with this defect. Both of the Panasonics that I currently own run virtually silent. I have a 54" in the main room and a 42" in the bedroom. If you turn on the set and mute it, you will actually hear the whirring of the Comcast DVR hard drive, or the fan on the Blu Ray player above any noise the flatscreen makes.

Clearly you stumbled onto a defective set. No manufacturer is immune to that.

The buzzzing is from the 30,000 volt high voltage, which means it will
die early.
ENJOY.:1:

BadAssJazz
06-23-2011, 05:38 PM
The buzzzing is from the 30,000 volt high voltage, which means it will
die early.ENJOY.:1:

Pix, really, just stop. Die early?

My oldest plasma, a Panny EDTV, was purchased in either 2002 or 2003. It's still going strong. The Sony WEGA and Samsung tube televisions that I owned before that actually died or suffered severe degradation in performance in less time.

If by die early you mean in 8+ years, you're probably right. But I'm not one of those individuals who believes that a TV is built to last until the universe achieves entropy. Ditto for planes, trains and automobiles.

Poultrygeist
06-27-2011, 05:07 AM
Over the weekend I ordered the Panny 55ST30 which is on sale at Amazon today for $1,252. I paid a little more than that but it comes with two pair of glasses and the 3D "Avitar" release exclusive with Panasonic. It has more features than the 59 inch Samsung which I fear might be a tad too large to view from my sofa which is only 11 feet away. I don't think I'll care much for 3D but you do these things when you have grand kids.

I was fortunate to find a beautiful heavy duty 3 in 1 Kennedy console stand from Sam's Club for only $199. It has room for all my gear plus the large Athena center channel speaker.

For a 3D blu ray I went with the Panny DMP-BDT210. For the present I still use the Panny Class D XR55 receiver but I know there's an AV receiver upgrade in my future.

pixelthis
06-27-2011, 03:18 PM
Pix, really, just stop. Die early?

My oldest plasma, a Panny EDTV, was purchased in either 2002 or 2003. It's still going strong. The Sony WEGA and Samsung tube televisions that I owned before that actually died or suffered severe degradation in performance in less time.

If by die early you mean in 8+ years, you're probably right. But I'm not one of those individuals who believes that a TV is built to last until the universe achieves entropy. Ditto for planes, trains and automobiles.

SORRY if you misunderstand me.
YOU HAVE ALREADY stated that you hear no high voltage hum
coming from your set, so you probably will have no problem with
this.
SOMETIME the whine coming from a set is high voltage(most of the time), I HAVE heard this several times from a new set(crt)
and have always took them back.
BUT if it starts up several years down the road your goose is cooked.
ONE of the main problems I have always had with plasma is
it is basically a CRT MASQUERADING as something new,
with all of the problems of a CRT, AND THIS IS WHY PLASMA FANBOYS luv luv luvvvv plasma tv, it looks like the CRT they grew up with.
WHICH is fine, but doesn't change the fact that their set is going to wear like a CRT.
PLASMA is advertised as lasting as long as an LCD, which is
ridiculous, especially now that the FL backlight is being replaced
with LED.
PLASMA will probably last ten to fifteen years, you can claim it will last any length of time, and use that to sell sets(until they start failing at their true rate) but I HAVEN'T SEEN one that has lasted fifteen years.
LCD LED , on the other hand, will probably outlast the owner,
and I THINK the picture is outstanding, and so do a lot of people, witness the dying sales of plasma.:1:

pixelthis
06-27-2011, 03:20 PM
BTW a friend had a SAMSUNG LCD fail after a year...FYI.
Wouldn't buy one of their plasmas on a dare.:1:

Jack in Wilmington
06-27-2011, 05:26 PM
BTW a friend had a SAMSUNG LCD fail after a year...FYI.
Wouldn't buy one of their plasmas on a dare.:1:

Pix I don't think they care. Out of the top 10 selling plasmas, 5 are Samsung. 4 are Pannys and 1 LG. Doesn't sound like they are hurting.

And on the LCD side of things. Samsung has 5 sets in the top 10. Sony has 2. LG has 2 and Toshiba has the other 1.

bobsticks
06-27-2011, 05:59 PM
Over the weekend I ordered the Panny 55ST30 which is on sale at Amazon today for $1,252. I paid a little more than that but it comes with two pair of glasses and the 3D "Avitar" release exclusive with Panasonic...

Congrats on cracking the code and making the decision! I'm anxious to read a full report upon arrival but I have little doubt you'll be pleased with the purchase.

Let us know when you're ready to step up with a new reciever. We'll be more than glad to help you spend more money :D

pixelthis
06-28-2011, 01:59 PM
Pix I don't think they care. Out of the top 10 selling plasmas, 5 are Samsung. 4 are Pannys and 1 LG. Doesn't sound like they are hurting.

And on the LCD side of things. Samsung has 5 sets in the top 10. Sony has 2. LG has 2 and Toshiba has the other 1.

so I SEE that others have figured out about TOSHIBA what any
owner knows.
SAMSUNG sets have a beautiful picture, but no matter how beautiful
the picture, reliability issues will shoot that down, and I AM HEARING a few rumors hear and there. And a friends did
fail after a year or so(he got a new one).:1:

Johnny B. Galt
06-29-2011, 01:27 PM
Poultrygeist- I've got the same gear in my Amazon cart (along with the Panny 50GT25 which I'm still comparing to the ST) and am waiting for the carpet to be installed in the new room before I pull the trigger. I'm anxious to hear your impressions after you've set it up. A couple of reasons why I'm planning on the Panasonic plasma: Superior off-axis viewing angle, picture quality, its going into a basement room where light isn't an issue, reputation, and how I've seen a friend's Kuro handle HD sports.

TheHills44060
06-29-2011, 05:30 PM
...SAMSUNG sets have a beautiful picture, but no matter how beautiful
the picture, reliability issues will shoot that down...
not just Samsung pixelthis...my Panasonic crapped out after just a few months. When the Panasonic tech came to my house he knew exactly what the problem was as soon as i described the symptoms. He had seen the same damn thing happen to a Panasonic set earlier that week. It was so bad that the board which failed was on back order because it blew so frequently and stock cleared out quickly :(

Still happy with the choice to go plasma just not happy with Panasonic.

pixelthis
06-30-2011, 07:02 AM
not just Samsung pixelthis...my Panasonic crapped out after just a few months. When the Panasonic tech came to my house he knew exactly what the problem was as soon as i described the symptoms. He had seen the same damn thing happen to a Panasonic set earlier that week. It was so bad that the board which failed was on back order because it blew so frequently and stock cleared out quickly :(

Still happy with the choice to go plasma just not happy with Panasonic.

Well, heres the thing...
I AM SITING here looking at an eight year old DVD\DVDA player
from PANASONIC, still going strong. I HAVE a 25 year old clock radio from these guys also, and TWO TECHNICS turntables,
both made in the eighties.
WHAT I am saying, and have been saying, is that plasma is flakey tech that even a company like PANASONIC can't make
reliable, basically a squished CRT that has a plasma because a
vacume in such an envelope is hard to do.
Are there plasma's that run for awhile ? Sure. But my point is,
why buy a glass envelope full of gas, which emits ultraviolet,
is dim, and will last nobody knows how long, when you can get
a LCD LED with a much better form factor.
IT JUST galls me, a complicated kit like a plasma when am LCD
is just simpler and lasts longer. PLASMA won't be here in ten years, maybe not five, it is one of those technological mistakes that people make every once in awhile, like steam powered
cars, or APPLE computers.
In other words, its not the company, its the tech.:1:

Woochifer
07-01-2011, 01:41 PM
Over the weekend I ordered the Panny 55ST30 which is on sale at Amazon today for $1,252. I paid a little more than that but it comes with two pair of glasses and the 3D "Avitar" release exclusive with Panasonic. It has more features than the 59 inch Samsung which I fear might be a tad too large to view from my sofa which is only 11 feet away. I don't think I'll care much for 3D but you do these things when you have grand kids.

I was fortunate to find a beautiful heavy duty 3 in 1 Kennedy console stand from Sam's Club for only $199. It has room for all my gear plus the large Athena center channel speaker.

For a 3D blu ray I went with the Panny DMP-BDT210. For the present I still use the Panny Class D XR55 receiver but I know there's an AV receiver upgrade in my future.

Good price on that TV, especially for that bundle that includes the glasses and the Avatar 3D Blu-ray. At 11' distance and 1080p resolution, 55" is probably an optimal size, although a 59" screen size is definitely not too big. My TV is 50" 1080p and I sit about 8' away from the screen, and sometimes I wish the screen was a little bigger.

When you get Avatar queued up, let us know how it looks. The 2D Blu-ray releases for Avatar are reference quality, and having seen the movie in 3D IMAX, I'm curious as to how the experience translates to home 3D viewing.

pixelthis
07-05-2011, 11:52 AM
Did not like AVATAR, looked like a cartoon of adult SMURFS,
THE whole purpose of computer generated video is to be as
realistic as possible, people could have drawn a better cartoon.
AND the whole thing was the latest installment of eco propaganda coming of lefty HOLLYWOOD. There is nothing that would justify traveling to a different star to mine, btw.:1:

Poultrygeist
07-07-2011, 02:16 AM
I watched "Avatar 3D" on the 55ST30 last evening and what I thought was just a gimmick proved to be a near epiphany. My wife and I were just overwhelmed. I almost passed on 3D judging by the lousy demo's in the big box stores but I'm so glad I didn't. It's more than just a novel feature it's a justification to upgrade.

I used the custom mode settings as found on CNET and the picture is just off the charts.

Woochifer
07-07-2011, 11:43 AM
I watched "Avatar 3D" on the 55ST30 last evening and what I thought was just a gimmick proved to be a near epiphany. My wife and I were just overwhelmed. I almost passed on 3D judging by the lousy demo's in the big box stores but I'm so glad I didn't. It's more than just a novel feature it's a justification to upgrade.

I used the custom mode settings as found on CNET and the picture is just off the charts.

Wow, that's quite an endorsement! Glad that you're enjoying the TV and taking full advantage of its capabilities. The 3D demos I've seen in stores have been mixed. Some look great, others suck (and that's no different than how stores have fared with HD demos). A lot of the time, I'm left wondering if someone forgot to charge the batteries in the shutter glasses.

Compared to other 3D movies, Avatar got it right. It was truly an immersive experience when I saw it in IMAX 3D, and Cameron's team scrutinized the post production to a fanatical level of detail. According to the article linked below, 22 different color grade profiles were created for the Avatar deliverables, each for different theater configurations and the differing light levels for the different 3D formats.

The 2D Blu-ray for Avatar is reference quality demo material, so it's not surprising that the 3D Blu-ray is just as good.