Panasonic Plasma ST60: Ownership thread

[just4kix]

the panasonic st60 does not perform well with SD....better go for the samsung plasma ps51f5500 which offers excellent picture with both SD and HD

I beg to differ with that statement. The ST60 has the infinite black pro filter that significantly reduces the screen glares and 12K shades of grey which by alone improves the quality of colour reproduction. Both the features together produce much better pictures at a slightly sacrificed white balance. I am basing my experience on ST50 and E550 (2012 models). The ST60 and F5500 have improved on their respective predecessors but I would rate F5500 near equal to S60 with F5500 better on overall colours and whites while the S60 wins on blacks. But I am not arguing on anything - it is an individual opinion.

 

[zouresh]

what is the use of reduction of screen glare and 12k shades of grey when the SD looks hazy on the panasonic st60 or the s60

 

[just4kix]

I never felt that SD looks hazy on ST60. It was crisp, sharp and beautiful and I checked myself. But as I said this is individual opinion.

 

[Dirac]

Hmm. I am assuming st60s prowess with SD is same or better than st50.
Coming to st50, only thing I can say is this.
Let alone SD, you throw dung at it. It still manages to give you back something to be delightful about.

 

[zouresh]

panasonic plasmas are legendary with their black levels.....that's why
they are rated well than their competition.....but they are well behind samsung plasmas when it comes to colours,brightness,clarity,sharpness,clean and clear image rendition and of course SD....i'm an ex-panasonic plasma owner.....so i can clearly tell the difference...

 

[manzb]

May be again I would not agree with others here. For me mostly any HDTV more than 40" size are not upto the mark in SD, yes they are at acceptable levels if in few with lots of calibration etc, but still it is not a treat to watch. Only smaller TVs and non full HDs are a bit better. In any case we are buying our new generation TVs for their wonderful HD capability and in that I think Pana ST60 is no doubt a wonderful set. But if it can beat a smaller LCD/LED of smaller size while reproducing SD picture is something I will doubt.

BTW, I have never ever seen a ST50 or ST60 TV in my life -courtesy Panasonic, which is yet to figure out how to make it available at showrooms (not even Pana showroom has it). My observation is based on S60, UT50, GT50 & XT50 E5000, F8500 and F5500 apart from all kinds of LEDs and LCDs of last 1.5 years.

 

[zouresh]

manzb how do you compare the picture of s60 and ps51f5500....give me your honest opinion.....which one did u like..

 

[shanmune]

panasonic plasmas are legendary with their black levels.....that's why
they are rated well than their competition.....but they are well behind samsung plasmas when it comes to colours,brightness,clarity,sharpness,clean and clear image rendition and of course SD....i'm an ex-panasonic plasma owner.....so i can clearly tell the difference...

As far as I know, it's almost neck-to-neck performance between Samsung and Panasonic plasma this year. I am not sure if there is a huge difference to say that a particular one is the best. After seeing so many comparisons and debates, I have these questions.

1) Is Samsung plasma so bad (in relative terms) to be well behind Panasonic plasma in terms of black levels ? .

Is it "well behind" or "close behind" ? .

2) Is Panasonic plasma so bad (in relative terms) to be well behind Samsung Plasma in terms of colors, brightness, clarity, sharpness ????

Is it "well behind" or "close behind" ? .

3) When we pass judgments on comparing Samsung plasma vs Panasonic, were the judgments made on individual's preference for certain attributes of PQ (e.g. some one might like more brightness, some other might like more deep black levels, some like more natural colors, some like more color pop than natural colors, etc..) ?

4) Are our eyes so sharp to find the very narrow difference in the black levels or for any other picture quality attributes (except for brightness) between Samsung and Panasonic for all video contents ?

Well I always believe that the actual judgement will be made based on how good it looks to your own eyes and not others.

Yes, we all can debate on what the best is and nothing wrong in that, but the ULTIMATE TRUTH is present in the way how the PQ looks good in your own eyes. Some times, the ULTIMATE TRUTH is also based on what you individually perceive. :cheers:

NOTE: I have seen in the past where making too much of the comparison part lead to some friction among forum members. Some times it is best to avoid that

 

[manzb]

manzb how do you compare the picture of s60 and ps51f5500....give me your honest opinion.....which one did u like..

I demo'ed S60 and 64F8500 and 51F5500 all together but available in two different stores. First I saw S60, it is good but somehow could not catch my eye as it was missing the detailing of colour or even black level. Then next door was Samy store, where the majestic 8500 was there. It just was too good. You will feel like getting it almost immediately (except I found the SD even worse then the rest, may be because of the size the not so good quality just accentuates- my view only). The next set was 5500 which was almost 90% of the 8500 and liked the colour detailing. As always Samy has a tendency to provide more brightness than the black. I liked it, and the deal made me drool.

Please note all my demo was based on Airtel HD and SD. As of now I am using Tatasky HD for 51F5500, SD is perfectly at acceptable level and not exceptional level (like HD channels). The BRs are the ones which takes the beauty to glow the most. Even DVDs are really charm apart from any downloads of 600MBs and higher (BRrips). Anyway, as ST50 was one of the star performer of last year, there is a possiblity that it might be exceptional in producing SD as well, but I am sure GT50 & UT50 was not producing exceptional PQ for SD. In fact, I like UT50 SD quality more than GT50. Please note that I never did anything to the calibrations and it is based on the whatever calibration the shop is keeping for the sets.

BTW, as Shanmune has mentioned, the difference in details for all the sets are not much that you can say it is like GOOD & BAD. It is more like if one is excellent in black level the other one is Very good or so. So finally it boils down to the level of affordability. If you can afford, then go for the 8500, which is really excellent in my view (have not seen ST60 or any higher model from Pana so far) or else settle for something which is Very good and save the difference. The choice is yours.

 

[zouresh]

i definitely can't afford the 64f8500....so that's it....i have to settle down for 51f5500 or 50s60....mostly the former because i want to have a complete different viewing experience compared to my previous panasonic plasma v20....

 

[Dirac]

It is only due to the apathy of panasonic towards india that people are forced to go to samsung. Had we the opportunity to get easily a gt60 or last year's st50 , then one would not have the necessity to turn away from the big daddy of plasma.
And by the way what I want to say is that st60 is very good even in moderately lit rooms according to cnet.
As for me , the tag of best plasma is more worthy than a bright plasma. I know that good leds are always better alternatives to plasmas if one likes a bright picture.

 

[zouresh]

your big daddy gives a very dull picture even when all the lights are switched off.... a tv should be at least reasonably bright for a good viewing experience...but your big daddy is so dull that you feel something is wrong with the tv......

 

[Dirac]

...but your big daddy is so dull that you feel something is wrong with the tv......

In the garb of brightness, the small daddy hides his inconsistencies.

 

[hfvtush]

Hi Manzb

Can you please tell me the price of Samsung 51F5500

Also please tell about the screen reflections in day light viewing

Thanks

 

[just4kix]

Indicating that the 51F5500 is better than 50ST50 or 60 is a tall order.

 

[Dirac]

Personally I hate bright screens. I switched from my sammy led just by once seeing the demo of st50.
Now I wanted to take my movie experience to the next level.
I am more bent towards deep blacks without losing details.
When I saw the bd of the movie "Legion" which has the entire movie shot in murky blacks for a reason, I took the darkest scene as reference and further reduced brightness.
Now I have an immersing picture where things just pop.
A small lighted region with very deep blacks adjacent to it with no details lost in the dark gave an unparalleled joy.
Things shone like stars with their own intrinsic brightness keeping the surroundings jet black.
Now cinema appeared more than cinema.
Who buys plasmas for their brightness.
Sometimes the ULTIMATE TRUTH comes as details in the dark rather than a shot of brightness hitting the eyes.
Long live the plasmas and long live the big daddy.

 

[shanmune]

...
Long live the plasmas and long live the big daddy.

When we say "Long live plasmas" in the era where there are speculations/gossips/rumors about the end of plasma, I think it is the "small daddy" who is instilling some hope that plasma is there to continue for some more years to come. When every one was/is shutting down their plasma line, "small daddy" has jumped leaps and bounds this year to produce one of finest plasma TVs. It is not a big thing for "big daddy" to come out with the kuro killer as already they are the pioneers in plasma, but it is a very big thing for "small daddy" to keep producing and improving it's plasma line year over year and too in the time where the plasma market is bad. I am afraid to say that "big daddy" might have contemplated to shut their entire plasma line if "small daddy" hasn't pushed their plasma aggressively.

As plasma lovers, we must first say Big Thanks to "small daddy" and "small thanks" to big daddy

 

[manzb]

i definitely can't afford the 64f8500....so that's it....i have to settle down for 51f5500 or 50s60....mostly the former because i want to have a complete different viewing experience compared to my previous panasonic plasma v20....

zouresh - in your case it is a no brainer. The only answer is 51F5500.

It is only due to the apathy of panasonic towards india that people are forced to go to samsung. Had we the opportunity to get easily a gt60 or last year's st50 , then one would not have the necessity to turn away from the big daddy of plasma.
And by the way what I want to say is that st60 is very good even in moderately lit rooms according to cnet.
As for me , the tag of best plasma is more worthy than a bright plasma. I know that good leds are always better alternatives to plasmas if one likes a bright picture.

When I said bright, I meant brighter than the Pana plasmas, not as bright as an LED. I really doubt any plasma has the capability of producing an imgae brighter to the level of an LED. Atleast I have not seen any. May be others have better opinion on this. But with the brighter PQ, Samy had sacrificed black level to some extent. So for may be 10-15% additional brigtness, you may have to loose 10-15% of the black level. So the choice is yours. So if you want additional black, go for Pana, else Samy. It is good that we have a choice here.

Hi Manzb

Can you please tell me the price of Samsung 51F5500

Also please tell about the screen reflections in day light viewing

Thanks

The price we paid 65K, but that was on the basis of old MRP. Now the MRP has gone up due to currency devaluation ( I think the current MRP is 80K or so) so the best price possible should be around 68-70k, and if you are lucky you might get a sweeter deal around independence day.

Regarding screen reflection, yes it is bad if you have any light or a window opposite or very close to it. The reflection is almost very much mirror type. But luckily my installation has no window nearer and all my lights are on the ceiling and covered in PoP recesses. But anyway, like any other plasma, it is brilliant, if you have a dark room or a dimly lit room (I use a small chandelier type light with LED for my movie viewing pleasure).

 

[zouresh]

Personally I hate bright screens. I switched from my sammy led just by once seeing the demo of st50.
Now I wanted to take my movie experience to the next level.
I am more bent towards deep blacks without losing details.
When I saw the bd of the movie "Legion" which has the entire movie shot in murky blacks for a reason, I took the darkest scene as reference and further reduced brightness.
Now I have an immersing picture where things just pop.
A small lighted region with very deep blacks adjacent to it with no details lost in the dark gave an unparalleled joy.
Things shone like stars with their own intrinsic brightness keeping the surroundings jet black.
Now cinema appeared more than cinema.
Who buys plasmas for their brightness.
Sometimes the ULTIMATE TRUTH comes as details in the dark rather than a shot of brightness hitting the eyes.
Long live the plasmas and long live the big daddy.

dirac my friend we both love plasmas....both panasonic and samsung plasmas are good in their own ways....it is just that i wanted a complete different plasma viewing experience i am going for a samsung this time....in fact i was seriously thinking to get 42gt60 for my bedroom which has got the hexa processing engine which produces the ultimate SD and HD pictures.....even you could try the 64f8500 for a complete different movie experience....ultimately we all love the plasma technology for its realistic and natural images and colours much better than any led on the planet....

 

[hfvtush]

Hi,

Just my views.

For some people who are videophiles/who wants best PQ, plasma with best black level like panasonic st60 will be an ideal choice.

But for an average person who also want best PQ and VFM product , samsung f5500 is a good choice.

Reading the reviews and forum comments from members using these TVs, one cannot go wrong with any one of them. It can be said that st60 is definitely ahead of f5500 in PQ, but it still boils down to how much money you want to spent, 75K for f5500 or above 1 lac for st60