I'm comparing this TV with an 2005/2006 Panasonic 50" TH-50PX60U 720p Plasma that I also have in another room. The Panasonic was considered the second best available vs. the pricey Pioneer standard available at the time. The newer model Panasonic plasmas are the primary competition for this TV.
Despite my happiness with the Panasonic, I purchased the Samsung because of reports of declining black levels after moderate usage on the 2009 Panasonics, and no similar report on Samsung. Despite being an early adopter of the flat panels, I was not ready to spend 2-4x as much on a 3D Plasma or LCS TV and am waiting for the price to drop and available 3D material to increase and hoping for removal of the expensive glasses requirement in a family of five, before making a 3D choice.
I am using this TV with very high quality Verizon FIOS (fibre optic) HD and SD sources.
Plus:
- Great value, especially compared to comparable LCD's of similar picture quality or more expensive plasmas with features you may not need; remember you can get all the internet features much more inexpensively through a blue-ray player or home theater in a box if you are adding a sound system than through a TV.
- Great picture, but see below for small qualification
- Very thin for a low priced TV - thinner than almost any other LCD or plasma except the higher end Samsung models.
- Power requirement is much lower than older plasmas and lower than prior years (at least the spec, I didn't measure!)
- Volume is much louder than expected - I never use more than 15% of full volume in a large (22x15, cathedral ceiling, 4000 cu feet) room with lots of fabric.
- "Grey" touch of color barely noticeable (looks like piano-black high gloss) for those who don't like the previous year's red touch of color design
- Controls (not visible in photos) are in front, not side, and operate with light touch.
- Amazon shipping was faster than expected and courteous inside, 2nd floor delivery at no extra charge.
Minus
- Connectors are perpendicular (not parallel) to TV, so you have to use a regular (not slim) mount or up to $100+ worth of right angle connectors for all connections. this somewhat defeats the purpose of a slim TV.
- Like Panasonic, source (input) selection "rotates" and cannot be selected individually, which makes it impossible to use macros e.g. on universal remotes to select the input, power up the source in one command.
In between
- Picture out of the box is excellent, on HD and SD, though not quite as sharp on HD as 5 year old Panasonic, even though black levels are better on the Samsung.
I do not have the equipment to adjust the picture to see if it will come up to the level of Panasonic, and have not spent the $ on a professional though the Samsung has more picture adjustments than the Panasonic.
- Connectors are limited, e.g. two HDMI, two component, no VGA (though some newer laptops like Macbook Pro have HDMI output, but not sound over HDMI). However, in most cases this shouldn't be an issue, and you can use it with a receiver with more HDMI ports and switching if required. I connected FIOS (Cable box), computer (and future blue-ray or similar), DVD/VCR combo and DVD recorder.
PS Like most professional reviews, I could not tell the difference (besides price!) between 720p and 1080i or P in side by side comparisons on a 50" TV with 1080p sources, at any normal viewing distance. However, see a slight difference in 55" TV and it becomes more obvious in 60" but is more apparent in 10' projectors. I can also see the difference between the higher priced models, but only in side by side comparisons, they are pretty subtle in most material. From what I saw, you have to pay 3x more for LCD for the same quality picture as this plasma in 50" category. Yes you get more features, lower power consumption (though not nearly justifying the price difference, even with expected power increases) and perhaps even a thinner TV, but its your money!
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