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

[adder]

my actual viewing distance is 17 ft. so i think the 50" is best.
have you tried HD movies?

i'm a bit confused.
i did the math on price + power consumption(10 years) for a plasma & lcd:
plasma 50" @ 60k
lcd 42"LED/46"normal @ 85k

i checked cnet's power consumption comparison & did the calculation.
For the above parameters it comes out to be: (with 9-10 hours of daily usage)
plasma 50" - 1.18L
lcd 42"LED/46"normal - 1.11L

so only a difference of 7k.

now my options are:
Samsung B450 50"
LG 42SL90
Sony 46W550A

which one should i go for, taking into account that it will remain for a long time??

a lcd roughly consumes close to half of the power of a similar sized plasma at the same brightness.
so lcd power bills would be half of a plasma,in terms of money it ain't much for now.
i would pick the 46w550A.

 

[sir_peter]

a lcd roughly consumes close to half of the power of a similar sized plasma at the same brightness.
so lcd power bills would be half of a plasma,in terms of money it ain't much for now.
i would pick the 46w550A.

the calculation i made is for a 46" LCD & 50" Plasma
1.18L=Cost of the tv+ power consumption cost

The Sony 46W550 cost 85k, so the calc is 1.11L=85k + 26k(electricity cost over 10 yrs)

 

[BLASTO]

hey BLASTO how much should i spend for a 50" Samsung B450.
i checked out a shop yesterday (here in mumbai)
it had the 50" B450 for 70k
i had gone to check out the LG 50PQ30. they didnt have the 50" LG but said they would order it. 50PQ30 @ 54k with exchange
i didnt ask about the sammy but i'll go there again to do some haggling.
which tv do you think i should get?

i checked the specs of both & they are similar.
the b450 has a 18bit panel.
dunno bout the PQ30 (may be 10bit)

the 50PQ70 was @60k with exchange. but i prefer a 50PQ30 + external speakers over the 70.

pls enlighten me on the sammy more.....(i did check what you posted earlier)

You entered the wrong shop. (probably chroma?)
50" B450 costs 57k here and PQ30 54k both without any exchange.

Check the price thread on where people got such prices in mumbai and visit there.

At 17 feet anything below 50" is a compromise and FHD is a waste. I would say even 50" is a compromise. But you are viewing your CRT at that distance hyeah: . You should be having an eye of an eagle..

To simply put, B450 is a better set than any PQ series ones. It has more black level and better colours.

Sony W550 is a great LCD too. But if you are confident about your room lighting (as mentioned in my previous posts), get the B450 instead. 46" TVs are notably smaller and 46W550 is considerably more costly than the 50B450 and hence cannot be actually compared. But since your viewing distance is 17 feet, you will be paying for the wrong functionality (1080p) if you choose the W550.

P.S: Are you sure B450 is quoted for 70k? Check if it is the B550 instead. If yes, it is a great deal. Grab it. This is sold out in india and people were not able to find it. There is also a chance that the shop keeper mis quoted B550 price instead. B450 can be 57k to <60k. Not more than that.

 

[BLASTO]

the calculation i made is for a 46" LCD & 50" Plasma
1.18L=Cost of the tv+ power consumption cost

The Sony 46W550 cost 85k, so the calc is 1.11L=85k + 26k(electricity cost over 10 yrs)

You did not account for the extra screen area of 50" TV and the better picture quality associated with B450.

 

[Reds4ever]

You did not account for the extra screen area of 50" TV and the better picture quality associated with B450.

the B450's extra screen size is definitely a plus and it's by all means a good VFM set but saying that B450 has a better picture quality than W550 is stretching things way too far, in my opinion.. i'm sure our friend adder would have some pretty strong words to say on that as well..

sir_peter, u need not necessarily stretch ur budget to 85k for an "led" set.. check out if u can grab one of the LH90s.. all reviews suggest they are fantastic LED backlit sets.. one of the forum members recently got the 42" one for 68.5k..

 

[BLASTO]

the B450's extra screen size is definitely a plus and it's by all means a good VFM set but saying that B450 has a better picture quality than W550 is stretching things way too far, in my opinion.. i'm sure our friend adder would have some pretty strong words to say on that as well..

Iam sure, you can you be a bit more specific?

So, With a viewing distance of 17 feet, in a controlled environment, what picture quality benifits do you see with W550?
Black level?
Colour accuracy?
Motion resolution?
Better viewing angles?
SD processing with 720p?
HD video output?

Did you have any kind of demo from >12 feet to base your comments?
I really want to know your observation and demo experience.
For the record I have seen both the TVs though not side by side.

If you are talking about a highly lit environment, I have already mentioned to go for a W550 instead.

Passing generic comments like this and calling for support does not really help anybody.

 

[sir_peter]

You entered the wrong shop. (probably chroma?)
50" B450 costs 57k here and PQ30 54k both without any exchange.

Check the price thread on where people got such prices in mumbai and visit there.

At 17 feet anything below 50" is a compromise and FHD is a waste. I would say even 50" is a compromise. But you are viewing your CRT at that distance hyeah: . You should be having an eye of an eagle..

To simply put, B450 is a better set than any PQ series ones. It has more black level and better colours.

Sony W550 is a great LCD too. But if you are confident about your room lighting (as mentioned in my previous posts), get the B450 instead. 46" TVs are notably smaller and 46W550 is considerably more costly than the 50B450 and hence cannot be actually compared. But since your viewing distance is 17 feet, you will be paying for the wrong functionality (1080p) if you choose the W550.

P.S: Are you sure B450 is quoted for 70k? Check if it is the B550 instead. If yes, it is a great deal. Grab it. This is sold out in india and people were not able to find it. There is also a chance that the shop keeper mis quoted B550 price instead. B450 can be 57k to <60k. Not more than that.

my sofa is at a distance of 17feet from the tv. but it's easily movable. so i'll move it closer for watching HQ & HD movies.
it will remain the same for watching cable.
The W550 does cost more, but the power consumption is less (as i stated earlier) so it's on par with the total cost of the plasma (less by 7k)

B450 = 60k(cost) + 58k(electricity cost over 10 yrs/10hrs daily) = 1.18L
W550 =85k(cost) + 26k(electricity cost over 10 yrs/10hrs daily) = 1.11L

my room is well light. there are windows opposite the tv, but i have curtains & can cover the windows well.

btw i'm more inclined toward the plasma. so anyways the 720p plasma sounds good to me. i was not looking for the sammy plasma when i visited the shop so i didnt really check it out properly. i'll get only if its 60k.

 

[Reds4ever]

Iam sure, you can you be a bit more specific?

So, With a viewing distance of 17 feet, in a controlled environment, what picture quality benifits do you see with W550?
Black level?
Colour accuracy?
Motion resolution?
Better viewing angles?
SD processing with 720p?
HD video output?

Did you have any kind of demo from >12 feet to base your comments?
I really want to know your observation and demo experience.
For the record I have seen both the TVs though not side by side.

If you are talking about a highly lit environment, I have already mentioned to go for a W550 instead.

Passing generic comments like this and calling for support does not really help anybody.

First things first, I did not mean in any way to offend you or question your judgement, Blasto.. if my post made u feel that way, i apologize.. we are all delighted to have you here and many of us, including myself, have learned and benefited immensely from your experience and observations.. heartfelt thanks for that!

i merely said that while B450 is a great TV, it might not be fair to say that it's PQ is better than W550.. when we look at these TVs from 17 ft, just like all advantages of W550 like a sharper picture and higher resolution cease to matter, the disadvantages such as limited viewing angle (assuming it's a house with reasonably wide rooms) or motion resolution or SD processing on a 1080p screen don't matter either.. black level performance will at times work in favour of the Samsung and at times the Sony depending on what time of the day it is that sir_peter is going to use the TV.. with a 9-10 hr use every day, i'd assume that a significant portion of that viewing would happen during the day when the Samsung might not be at its best..

From all my demos in showrooms (admittedly not as good as in home environment, such as you've had) for these and other TVs, as you move farther away from the TV, the relative performance of one TV as compared to another becomes more and more indistinguishable..

to summarize, had u said something like "at a 17" distance, there's no point paying for the W550 over the B450 since the latter is considerably cheaper, and it makes perfect sense to go with the the B450" i wouldn't have posted anything.. i only posted because your post read "better picture quality associated with B450" which i felt might not be a fair representation..

once again, thanks for your inputs on the forum.. i, for one, am considerably more knowledge because of it..

 

[adder]

Iam sure, you can you be a bit more specific?

So, With a viewing distance of 17 feet, in a controlled environment, what picture quality benifits do you see with W550?
Black level?
Colour accuracy?
Motion resolution?
Better viewing angles?
SD processing with 720p?
HD video output?

Did you have any kind of demo from >12 feet to base your comments?
I really want to know your observation and demo experience.
For the record I have seen both the TVs though not side by side.

If you are talking about a highly lit environment, I have already mentioned to go for a W550 instead.

Passing generic comments like this and calling for support does not really help anybody.

at 17 feet yes one can't make out the difference b/w HD and FHD.
size wise no contest here,the samsung obviously is the better choice.

but when one say that the PQ is better then W550A ,i don't agree.
even with the low light the black levels of the W550A can easily match or surpass the samsung,the only plasma that manage to show slightly better blacks in dark environment is the G10 within is budget(which offcourse after some time looses its black level in some cases as reported even worse then a el cheapo lcd monitor).
the motion resolution is pretty similar since the B450 is 720p panel.but at 17feet one can't even see the benifits of a tv thats shows 1080p of static resolution let alone motion resolution.

at 17 feet viewing angle won't be an issue,unless offcourse the person has to sit at a very steep off axis location.

SD at 17 feet isn't a issue for either of the tvs.for the sake of the info if one were to sit at a close distance the sony still has the edge in SD even though it has a 1080p panel.has one gets closer to a plasma one can see its dithering,so no matter how good a image processing it still won't look as sharp as a lcd.

size does have the edge,but so does brightness when viewed from long distances.

 

[BLASTO]

First things first, I did not mean in any way to offend you or question your judgement, Blasto.. if my post made u feel that way, i apologize.. we are all delighted to have you here and many of us, including myself, have learned and benefited immensely from your experience and observations.. heartfelt thanks for that!

i merely said that while B450 is a great TV, it might not be fair to say that it's PQ is better than W550.. when we look at these TVs from 17 ft, just like all advantages of W550 like a sharper picture and higher resolution cease to matter, the disadvantages such as limited viewing angle (assuming it's a house with reasonably wide rooms) or motion resolution or SD processing on a 1080p screen don't matter either.. black level performance will at times work in favour of the Samsung and at times the Sony depending on what time of the day it is that sir_peter is going to use the TV.. with a 9-10 hr use every day, i'd assume that a significant portion of that viewing would happen during the day when the Samsung might not be at its best..

From all my demos in showrooms (admittedly not as good as in home environment, such as you've had) for these and other TVs, as you move farther away from the TV, the relative performance of one TV as compared to another becomes more and more indistinguishable..

to summarize, had u said something like "at a 17" distance, there's no point paying for the W550 over the B450 since the latter is considerably cheaper, and it makes perfect sense to go with the the B450" i wouldn't have posted anything.. i only posted because your post read "better picture quality associated with B450" which i felt might not be a fair representation..

once again, thanks for your inputs on the forum.. i, for one, am considerably more knowledge because of it..

Well, I wrote the previous two comments with a time gap of 2 minutes and assumed the 17 feet measurement applied for the second comment as well.

Also, I reply with the context to the original poster and assume his requirements are understood when reading my reply.. But sure, reading through the whole thread might mix up things..

 

[BLASTO]

B450 plasma settings.

Current Settings on my B450 plasma with SUN DTH component-in.

Picture Settings

Picture Mode Movie
Black Tone: Off
Color Temp Warm 2
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Brightness 56 (In screen with no black bars. If there are black bars, 50/52 until it appears black)
Gamma: 0 (-1 looks good too)
Contrast 90 (In dark/medium lit room. 95-100 for bright room)
Color Space: Auto
Color 52 (47 to 52 depending on your preference)
Flesh Tone: 0 (Does not work for indian skin tones. Adds pinkish hue for international movies)
Tint G35/R65 (Makes indian skin tones better + better browns)
Edge Enhancement: Off (Any other value makes the picture look unnaturally sharp and LCD-ish)
Sharpness 10 (Depends on your DTH connection. Airtel required much more like 25-30)
Digital NR: Auto
Cell Light 8 (Not 10)
Film Mode: Auto

White Balance Settings (Dont know what these are for. Took from some other site but looks good)

Red-Offset 22 Red-Gain 33
Green-Offset 25 Green-Gain 25
Blue-Offset 12 Blue-Gain 33

Try it and let me know how it looks.

 

[jogidada]

BTW, 40.5k is the lowest anyone got the TV for. Is it the B530 instead?

Thanks,

I can confirm its the B450!

 

[addagalla]

Re: B450 plasma settings.

Current Settings on my B450 plasma with SUN DTH component-in.

Picture Settings

Picture Mode Movie
Black Tone: Off
Color Temp Warm 2
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Brightness 56 (In screen with no black bars. If there are black bars, 50/52 until it appears black)
Gamma: 0 (-1 looks good too)
Contrast 90 (In dark/medium lit room. 95-100 for bright room)
Color Space: Auto
Color 52 (47 to 52 depending on your preference)
Flesh Tone: 0 (Does not work for indian skin tones. Adds pinkish hue for international movies)
Tint G35/R65 (Makes indian skin tones better + better browns)
Edge Enhancement: Off (Any other value makes the picture look unnaturally sharp and LCD-ish)
Sharpness 10 (Depends on your DTH connection. Airtel required much more like 25-30)
Digital NR: Auto
Cell Light 8 (Not 10)
Film Mode: Auto

White Balance Settings (Dont know what these are for. Took from some other site but looks good)

Red-Offset 22 Red-Gain 33
Green-Offset 25 Green-Gain 25
Blue-Offset 12 Blue-Gain 33

Try it and let me know how it looks.

Any idea why Tint is disabled for me?

 

[BLASTO]

Re: B450 plasma settings.

Any idea why Tint is disabled for me?

It is disabled for composite video. Airtel DTH has it disabled and SUN through component has it enabled. Changing tint makes good difference to picture.

Thanks,

 

[addagalla]

Re: B450 plasma settings.

It is disabled for composite video. Airtel DTH has it disabled and SUN through component has it enabled. Changing tint makes good difference to picture.

Thanks,

ah ok, good to know, thanks. I heard tata sky has component out only in tata sky+, so I guess I'll have to live without it for now.

 

[BLASTO]

Re: B450 plasma settings.

ah ok, good to know, thanks. I heard tata sky has component out only in tata sky+, so I guess I'll have to live without it for now.

There is talk about new 'black' STB with component out in the DTH section. This is not TATA sky+ but a new STB with component out.

 

[layman]

Joined B450 club this weekend. Thanks to Blasto for tons of info on B450 and to Addagalla for Home Demo !

Did initial set-up myself (could not wait Sammy guys to come, and they have not yet) and started with blue ray rip of Dark Knight. Could not agree more with what Blasto said 'Colors colors colors' Connected it to Airtel DTH, most of the channels look amazing (Star movies, zoom etc). Currently I am using Movie mode till set reaches 100 hrs break in, though found standard mode more appealing.

I am not sure if you guys are facing this, but my wife found picture clarity bad in soap operas. E.g. Faces appeared bit faded/lacking details in some frames on Colors/NDTV Imagine. In case anyone faced this and fixed this, please post details.

Does this 100Hz this support Motion Flow as I believe they must be doing frame insertion ?

 

[alokbharti]

layman,

which shop in hyd? and how much did you pay?
i am about to finalize on 42B450.

 

[BLASTO]

Joined B450 club this weekend.

Congrats.
Do you see the glare that you were conserned about before buying?

 

[layman]

Congrats.
Do you see the glare that you were conserned about before buying?

Thanks. About glare, definitely a non-issue now Even in day time absolutely fine to watch.

Alok, I got it from Bajaj Kukatpally @ 47.5K. Without camera he was ready to give this @ 44.5K.

Did anyone explore 100Hz feature ? Picture settings menu has only 100Hz DEMO mode. Do not see DNIE option too while one post on AVForum suggested switching it OFF (B450 settings page).

I am planning to compare my goold old CRT with Plasma to find out if Airtel box is responsible for plasticy images in soaps.

Seems lot to explore, may be good fun on weekend