42" LG PQ60 Vs Samsung B450 Plasmas - Home Review.

Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier
Thanks for the detailed write up. I'll probably come back to you little later since I'm not clear on what exactly I want to buy :)

Vj@HiFi said:
I'll elaborate whatever little I know about my HT. I have a 2.1 setup consisting of a Denon 1909 AVR driving a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.6 tower speakers and an active Subwoofer SW150. I went for a decent setup on the sound front before I thought I needed the TV.

To my inexperienced ears I find that these speakers are good with considerable bass (and I mean, considerable) of their own, but I wanted that seat to shake in the odd (Transformers) movie, so I went ahead and bought the sub. Some of my music is not HD content (read, its mp3) so the sub is not even throwing out anything.

The AVR and the Tower deals that I was getting were temptingly attractive (or maybe I was foolishly impatient), so for the price I paid, I am happy. While I am sure their are better speakers out there (I certainly want to hear the RS6), this combination sounds musical, involving, and detailed enough to my untrained ears. But honestly I may have taken a slightly different route today, which is thus: if one is going to buy the sub anyway, you could look to buy a pair of good bookshelves (15-20k range) and an AVR. (I found the Wharfedale Diamond 10 series better than the 9 series, so the 10.1 was better than 9.2 and so on). And then later when one has the 'ears' and the money, buy the towers, and use the bookshelves as surrounds. I for one am still debating the center channel, and till then using the TVs own speakers fill in the center!

Many aficionados argue in favour of a dedicated two channel amp over the AVR, because for the same price point the amp has better circuitry than an AVR. But that is a choice one makes only when your requirement of listening to music has far higher priority than the visuals. Mine wasn't so clear cut. So while I may never buy the surrounds, though my avr is a 7.1, but having the capabilities that an AVR offers at hand was a must for me. This is not to say that AVRs are not good. I bought the Denon after reading a smattering of reviews giving it a high rating in the music capabilities. However, I was (and am) a novice in this field.

I am sure you will find many threads and posts, particularly those written by Venkat (mbr, dinyaar, and so many others) to be far more informative. There is however one advice that I took to heart, which was: 'Let your ears decide'. No matter how lucidly the sound is described in words, it can never match up to an actual audition. And your ears can disagree with others! I was lucky to join an audition of Viren's Tube amps pitched against SS amps that people brought and I did note that some of my (mental) notes did not match with what others were saying.

I'll also take the opportunity to add a little about the other stuff I bought later (though you have started a separate thread elsewhere). When I bought the Pio 410 dvd player, I wasn't really aware of the media players available. Now having got the WDTV I don't use the DVD player at all, except for the odd movies. I converted all of my favourite music for which I had CDs, into flac. So no more physical changing of disks and you can play tracks as per your choice/playlists. The music CDs too stay less prone to scratches and wear and tear. I wish WDTV had a nimbler menu navigation and wifi capability (which BTW can be hacked). The 'WDTV live' has it built in. One can use the laptop to drive the visuals and the sound, but they do not have a remote! In short If you don't watch too many movies, then use your laptop, and buy the media player for all your music.

I've little else to add, but feel free to come and have look at my system if you ever visit Delhi.
Click to expand...
 
Some more points to add with regards to USB playback if you do not already know.

1) Photos look ultra sexy.. Suggest owners to view some photos through the TV. I was astonished. A 7" digital photo display costs 7k.. :o This is a 42" digital photo display and we often overlook it.. (Try slideshow with background music).

2) While playing movies via USB, The left and right arrows skip backwards and forwards by 10 minutes. So Rewind and FF buttons are needed only if you are skiping within the 10 minutes window. If you want to skip the first hour of the movie, click the right arrow button 6 times and you are done in 5 seconds.

3) It is a known fact that this TV cannot play mkv, but you can rip any mkv video with 720x392 resolution xvid format to play it full screen in the TV. You will be surprised at the quality!!

Iam using "Any video Converter" and select xvid as encoding format, and configure everything configurable to highest values (from the pulldown) for video and also sound and select aspect ratio 720x392 (found this through trial and error for full screen). The output is a full screen SD divx file with almost HD quality. The size ranges from 540 - 650 MB only!! and quality is multiple times higher than 700 mb divx files from the net.

Try it youself and let me know.

Will add when I get to see more.
 
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Update:
Sold the PQ60 and got a B450.

To cut a long story short, Moved to a different/bigger house, felt 50" will be good, sold the PQ60 and waited and waited for the 50" B450.. No stock everywhere (Grr..) Lost patience and got the 42" instead along with a friend who was looking for 1.. Lost only 3k (:ohyeah:) in the process.. 2 days passed now..

Same materials which Iam used to on the PQ60 looks much better on the B450.

1) Better Black levels (Well this is an understatement! Few things I dismissed as flaws in the material comes out good with B450)
2) COLOURS COLOURS COLOURS.. Caliberated settings eats LG inside out. Couldn't see this as clearly in the showroom or in addagalla's house.. Great!!
3) No temporary image retention that I can see even after trying hard!! (Always happened in the LG and you can see with a casual glance)
4) IMO, Looks like better in handling glare (This can be due to full glass not being present in the samsung, also I might be biased..)
5) On screen Menu sucks big time.. Spoils the feel of the TV!!
6) Overall user experience much better with the remote. (Quicker etc)
7) Wifey is able to tell the PQ difference pretty easily.. That is saying a lot..
8) Ton of configuration options (Half of which I don't understand yet :mad: )
9) Missing the USB functionality multi fold. :sad:
10) The inbuilt speakers are worth 50/- Rs atmost!! :mad:
11) No buzzing sound (I wonder what this is and why all the fuzz?!?!)

Will post the fotos tomorrow..

Now that I have owned them both (Yeah first one in the forum :ohyeah:), Throw your specific questions and I will answer..
 
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hey blasto.. congrats on your purchase.. :)

please share the details about price (any offers) and the shop in Hyderabad..
I am also interested in this set..

Still to decide whether go for 40B550/B530 LCD or this plasma.. (My usage: 50% HD/FullHD movie via Xtreamer, 50% tatasky)

I have to use it sometimes as my laptop display and for gaming on ps3 as well..
would there be issue with plasma?
I don't have any issues with light in my room or power consumption..

what do you suggest?

Thanks
 
alokbharti said:
hey blasto.. congrats on your purchase.. :)

please share the details about price (any offers) and the shop in Hyderabad..
I am also interested in this set..

Still to decide whether go for 40B550/B530 LCD or this plasma.. (My usage: 50% HD/FullHD movie via Xtreamer, 50% tatasky)

I have to use it sometimes as my laptop display and for gaming on ps3 as well..
would there be issue with plasma?
I don't have any issues with light in my room or power consumption..

what do you suggest?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I got the 42" for 44.5k with free Sun DTH and 3 months subscription from bajaj electronics..
The 50" was quoted 57k and was not on stock!! :(

You can visit my house and have a demo this weekend before you buy if you want.. ;)
 
Congrats BLASTO!! I never knew that you were impressed to this extent (that you'd replace your existing one) when you saw the sammy at my place.

I tried some settings from avforums, they looked good, but not highly impressive. Do you have any settings that you can share? Haven't been able to google enough for them yet.
 
Welcome to the Samsung PLasma family!


BLASTO said:
Update:
Sold the PQ60 and got a B450.

To cut a long story short, Moved to a different/bigger house, felt 50" will be good, sold the PQ60 and waited and waited for the 50" B450.. No stock everywhere (Grr..) Lost patience and got the 42" instead along with a friend who was looking for 1.. Lost only 3k (:ohyeah:) in the process.. 2 days passed now..

Same materials which Iam used to on the PQ60 looks much better on the B450.

1) Better Black levels (Well this is an understatement! Few things I dismissed as flaws in the material comes out good with B450)
2) COLOURS COLOURS COLOURS.. Caliberated settings eats LG inside out. Couldn't see this as clearly in the showroom or in addagalla's house.. Great!!
3) No temporary image retention that I can see even after trying hard!! (Always happened in the LG and you can see with a casual glance)
4) IMO, Looks like better in handling glare (This can be due to full glass not being present in the samsung, also I might be biased..)
5) On screen Menu sucks big time.. Spoils the feel of the TV!!
6) Overall user experience much better with the remote. (Quicker etc)
7) Wifey is able to tell the PQ difference pretty easily.. That is saying a lot..
8) Ton of configuration options (Half of which I don't understand yet :mad: )
9) Missing the USB functionality multi fold. :sad:
10) The inbuilt speakers are worth 50/- Rs atmost!! :mad:
11) No buzzing sound (I wonder what this is and why all the fuzz?!?!)

Will post the fotos tomorrow..

Now that I have owned them both (Yeah first one in the forum :ohyeah:), Throw your specific questions and I will answer..
Click to expand...
 
addagalla said:
Congrats BLASTO!! I never knew that you were impressed to this extent (that you'd replace your existing one) when you saw the sammy at my place.

I tried some settings from avforums, they looked good, but not highly impressive. Do you have any settings that you can share? Haven't been able to google enough for them yet.
Click to expand...

Lol.. Not quite right but close.. :lol:
I was wary of the performance of the 50" 720p plasmas but my friend/collegue and I analysed and he bought 50B450 irrespective. It has stunning performance for 720p for the few movies I watched.. That is when upgrade fever caught me.. :ohyeah:

I also got a good offer for my PQ60 so sold it.. As fate would call it.. It was not available.. :indifferent14:

Waited for a month now and got the 42". Essentially not a bad deal.. :yahoo:

Regarding settings, I think our frame reference is different.. :) I was comparing to PQ60..
However, reset all settings to <50 now.. Will let you know when the initial preiod is over.
 
Update after a week of ownership.

1) No IR. Infact, Iam no longer going to use lesser contrast.

=====================================

When I changed the screen with top and bottom black bars to 4:3 mode, I saw what seemed like leftover black bar in the side grey bar. Changing the channel to a channel with no black bars revealed that it is not there.

When I changed the channel back to the original one with black bar, I could see the bars again in the side grey bar. Close observation revealed that it is not IR. Samsung displays the picture from middle of the screen very very lightly on the side bars also to avoid IR. The side bars are not static grey bars.

====================================

2) The Picture grew on me. I remember picking up the remote and adjusting settings often with PQ60. No more. Great colours and more than sufficient black levels are what makes this set stand out. Using SUN DIRECT and experience is great. Fotos to follow.

3) Cell light function is unknown yet. Using it at 10 makes me feel good as opposed to the technician who recommended 7.

4) Switched off the power saving as it gave me good picture. Sorry, I am no environmentalist.

5) No Buzzing sound yet.. Maybe I got a good set or my speakers over-power the sound. Always on external speaker (mode), so cannot comment if it is the inbuilt speakers.

Overall much more satisfied than the LG. Living with the set gives me a feeling of this TV being on a different league than the LG though they are marketed in the same segment. Highly recommend.
 
navino87 said:
Man, how iz B450 compared to X10? Iam in hunt for a 50" plasma... which 1 would you suggest???
Click to expand...

Both are great.
In US/UK, the X10 sells for less than the B450.

For what it is worth, the 50" X10 should be sold of ~55k alongside the B450 which sells for ~57k.. But the street price of 50" X10 is still ~75k.. An utter waste of money in this price range!!

For 42", Both B450 and X10 are great choices and cost the same.. but in 50", X10 loses out heavily due to bad pricing..

BTW, If you can find a 50" B450, Just book it!! These have become rare sightings nowadays.. No one has stock.. I waited for a month in vain and got the 42" instead..

If you can find the 50" X10 around 55 - 60k, consider it too..

The baseline is -

X10 for slightly better blacklevels and better HD motion resolution.
B450 for great colours and large number of picture settings. SD processing is better too.

The X10 has a problem with colour accuracy. In my demo, LG PQ60 had better colours than X10 albeit the blue push.
After bringing home the samsung, I could see it has much better colour accuracy than LG. Hence B450 is better in colour reproduction tha X10. No doubt.

Also, I personally feel that the B450 has equal or more black level than the X10 but it is just me. The whole internet cannot be wrong.
 
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hi blasto i m trying to find a 50b450 too. but i got a question. what if samsung stops plasmas this year and we do not get service for the coming years, even if we do it will cost us a bomb simply because they do not produce them anymore.

do you think it is wise to go for a samsung now? or jus wait till the pana comes to realistic pricing? in my demo i don see a big deal of difference in both. so my only problem was pricing and how long will samsung go with plasma.

thanks
 
floyd4ever said:
hi blasto i m trying to find a 50b450 too. but i got a question. what if samsung stops plasmas this year and we do not get service for the coming years, even if we do it will cost us a bomb simply because they do not produce them anymore.

do you think it is wise to go for a samsung now? or jus wait till the pana comes to realistic pricing? in my demo i don see a big deal of difference in both. so my only problem was pricing and how long will samsung go with plasma.

thanks
Click to expand...

Samsung already released the 2010 range slim plasmas with 3D.

SAMSUNG Unveils Slim 2010 Plasma Series HDTVs | News from SAMSUNG Electronics America, Inc.

LCDs have a long way to go when it comes to marketing the 3D TV. Their motion resolution is still not up to the mark. So samsung is going to hang around with plasmas for some time now.

Well, If you ask when samsung is going to pull out of plasmas, I dont know!
But then no manaufacturer is going to be around producing plasmas till the advertised life of ~20 years..

Support should be there legally.. But the cost part is still there. Especially in TVs where the then selling TVs will be mush cheaper than the repairing cost and replacing will be a better option. Usually companies take the replacement approach with nominal cost than to repair an discontinued item.

My guess is, with all the innovation samsung is putting on plasmas, it will be around for next 3-4 years atleast. Bet when Kuros are pulled off, No one can guess anything.

We can alsoonly guess that panasonic is going to be around for more years than the samsung as it is not pursuing LCDs as aggresively.
 
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I am the proud owner of Samsung 50B450 since about 3 weeks.

So for I am very impressed with the overall quality and have no regretts with my purchase.

The picture quality is stunning, the colors are awesome. Someone else in this forum put the price of speakers (sound quality) at Rs 50, which I think too much should have been Rs 5 or Rs 0 :ohyeah:

I am using Airtel DTH
 
samvijay said:
I am the proud owner of Samsung 50B450 since about 3 weeks.

So for I am very impressed with the overall quality and have no regretts with my purchase.

The picture quality is stunning, the colors are awesome. Someone else in this forum put the price of speakers (sound quality) at Rs 50, which I think too much should have been Rs 5 or Rs 0 :ohyeah:

I am using Airtel DTH
Click to expand...

I always thought that the 50B450 is the best VFM TV in the market. :)
But for the non availability, I would have been a proud owner too.. :rolleyes:

Anyways, Very happy with the 42" too.. Had I not hunted for the 50B450, I would not have ended up replacing my 42PQ60 with the 42B450..

Overall happy.
 
BLASTO said:
You will have problem playing with XBOX and PS3 with LCDs not with plasmas as a whole.

I don't have a gaming console yet. People who have one please comment.
Click to expand...

I thought playing games in plasma wud result in IR... is tat rite?
 
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