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Is This A Good Plasma TV?

R

Ronin64

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 3, 2012
42
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1080p would be better, but definitely not a "requirement" for a 42"... but otherwise, not bad for a low-end set. I have a 50" plasma and love it. Wouldn't trade it for any LCD I've seen... and my PS3 looks GREAT on it. :)

Have you looked at Samsung? Mine is actually an Insignia (Best Buy store brand), but it's simply a re-branded Sammie. My sister has the same TV with the Samsung badge on it; mine cost 50% less AND came with a standard 2-year warranty. Something to consider, assuming Insignia plasmas are still made by Samsung...
 
I had an insignia a year ago... crapped out in a month. Went for a dynex next. Same thing. The speakers stopped working from everything but component.

Now I use Vizio (very nice TVs. Walmart/Sam's Club brand I think) and RCA. I also hear good things about Westinghouse and anything Samsung.
 
Honestly thats just a waste of money on old technology that never really went anywhere. you can save your money and buy an LED backlit HDTV for nearly the same price for the size you're looking for and it will last undoubtedly longer.

Browse amazon for LED HDTV Samsungs are nice, Toshiba, Sony, Vizio even has some.
 
I can't agree with that.

Panasonic and Samsung to name a couple are still developing Plasma technology year on year. Plasma sets might not have the eye searing brightness and overblown colours that give LED sets showroom appeal, however black levels and motion clarity on a Plasma far surpass any LCD technology.

I have one of last years Panasonic 1080p models and it's a stunning picture. Power consumption is down on what they used to be also - the 42" uses less than my previous 32" LCD Panasonic.

It's worth checking the manual before you buy that Panasonics. Mine has a game mode which disables all the extra processing and noticeably reduces input lag. Forza 4 on the Xbox looks epic! If you can afford the extra for a 1080p set then it's worth it.
 
Just a caution regarding Panasonic plasmas - burn-in does still happen, and it's not covered under warranty. We bought a 55" ST30 last year after taking back an LG LED (hated the edge lighting), and have babied it ever since. It now has the netflix pause bar burned in to the point where repeated usage of the built-in screen wiper doesn't take it off, even though we never leave it turned on with the pause bar up. I called Panasonic for warranty service and they told me to take a hike, it must be user error, and burn-in is explicitly not covered.

So, take all the reports that "burn-in is a thing of the past" with a grain of salt, because it's not and it's not covered under warranty. Then again, LEDs have image problems, so I have no good suggestions for you :)
 
I think it's a decent set. I own a 52" Panasonic Viera 1080p and a 42" Panasonic Viera 720p. Both are plasma and the picture is great on both sets. I did not like the brightness and color qualities of the LED's that MagicBoy mentioned in his post. The black levels on the plasma is about the best you can find and the viewing angles are much better than on an LED set. I have had no problems with burn in on either set, power consumption is about average for large screen sets, and I don't baby my plasmas as some claim you must do. Both are out of warranty and have never required any service. The 720p picture is nice and you won't be disappointed, but go 1080p if you can. I'm not a gamer so I can't address what effect that might have on the plasmas.

Everyone has their opinion on plasma vs LED. I did my research and knew I was buying Panasonic before I hit the stores. I intentionally directed my attention at other brands and away from Panasonic when talking with the salesperson. More than once when I asked what they were using at home the reply was Panasonic. However, I purchased my units from http://www.buydig.com.

Forgot to mention that I own a 32" Panasonic LED that I use in the bedroom. It has an adequate picture but the plasmas are much, much better. Guess I'm a Panasonic junkie.

Just my .02 worth. Good luck on making your final decision.
 
DrTwoFish said:
Just a caution regarding Panasonic plasmas - burn-in does still happen, and it's not covered under warranty. We bought a 55" ST30 last year after taking back an LG LED (hated the edge lighting), and have babied it ever since. It now has the netflix pause bar burned in to the point where repeated usage of the built-in screen wiper doesn't take it off, even though we never leave it turned on with the pause bar up. I called Panasonic for warranty service and they told me to take a hike, it must be user error, and burn-in is explicitly not covered.

So, take all the reports that "burn-in is a thing of the past" with a grain of salt, because it's not and it's not covered under warranty. Then again, LEDs have image problems, so I have no good suggestions for you :)
Click to expand...
I have the exact same TV, it's been on pretty much 16 hours a day since November without issue. Netflix, Hulu+ and iTunes are the only items used on it (iTunes through the ATV2 and now ATV3). Not the slightest hint of burn in.

Seems odd that you would have that issue considering the built in Netflix app goes into screen saver mode after a few minutes on pause (Netflix logo bounces around the TV). I would definitely consider that a defect and pester their support department with details on how Netflix works for the TV. If the pause bar is burned in, it isn't from leaving it on the display for any period of time due to the screen saver.

EDIT: I also had an LG 42" plasma previously without any burn in problems. If I played a video game all day I turned on the washout feature and put a sleep timer of 30 minutes. That would always clear out the ghosting for the old LG model.
 
This thread's dead and buried by this point, but just in case anybody stumbles across it figured I'd post an update. A few months ago (just outside of the factory warranty), our ST55 developed a vertical blue bar an inch or two wide down the entire screen. Luckily we'd bought the best buy protection, and they let me trade it toward the P60ST60 that's been receiving phenomenal reviews. I have nothing but awesome things to say about this tv, but I made sure to buy the protection plan for it too! It's possible my original tv had panel issues from the start and the burn-in was somehow related. No retention so far with this one, and I didn't bother to do any panel break-in this time around.
 
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