Please Help With My Tv Choice - Panasonic Th46pz800a Or The Sony Kdl46x

[boogietommo]

Hi all. I have spent many weeks researching which TV to buy and have spent many hours dragging the wife around JB's, The Good Guys etc. I have finally come up with the following shortlist:

Panasonic TH46PZ800A or the Sony KDL46X.

My situation is this: We sit about three and a half metres away (hence the 46 inch and not 50) from the screen in a reasonably well lit room. Mainly watch free to air TV, the odd movie. Kids watch (too many) kids shows. I have a PS3 but only play a couple of hours a week of Fifa and COD4 so I am not too worried about burn issues.

To start with I was very keen on the Sony as I have only ever only two TVs since I was 14 – both Sony and both going strong. However, a lot of forums I have read indicates that the Panasonic would be a better buy.

I am interested to hear the opinions and experience of others on these two choices.

[djilyo]

Its easy, if u can handle motion blur of LCD go for Sony. Imo, although plasma has good PQ, there's no doubt the PQ of Sony is much better.

Ive got Sony 46x btw. I must admit motion blur can be annoying sometimes.

[boogietommo]

Its easy, if u can handle motion blur of LCD go for Sony. Imo, although plasma has good PQ, there's no doubt the PQ of Sony is much better.

Ive got Sony 46x btw. I must admit motion blur can be annoying sometimes.

Thanks for your honesty. I have read about the motion blur issue in other posts, and of course when you look at the "demo" Sony disk that they tend to play in the shops it appears to be a feature that you couldn't live without.

On another point, I have so been told that there is 30000:1 native contrast on the panasonic vs 2200:1 on the Sony. Does this mean that black colour on the Pana should be deeper? Can someone explain this for me?

[RS2000]

Hi all. I have spent many weeks researching which TV to buy and have spent many hours dragging the wife around JB's, The Good Guys etc. I have finally come up with the following shortlist:

Panasonic TH46PZ800A or the Sony KDL46X.

My situation is this: We sit about three and a half metres away (hence the 46 inch and not 50) from the screen in a reasonably well lit room. Mainly watch free to air TV, the odd movie. Kids watch (too many) kids shows. I have a PS3 but only play a couple of hours a week of Fifa and COD4 so I am not too worried about burn issues.

To start with I was very keen on the Sony as I have only ever only two TVs since I was 14 – both Sony and both going strong. However, a lot of forums I have read indicates that the Panasonic would be a better buy.

I am interested to hear the opinions and experience of others on these two choices.

i have the panasonic 46pz and am very happy with it, from your viewing distances of 3.5m i would seriously be looking at going to the larger 50" model. you will be amazed how quickly you adjust to the size and i now regret not going the 50" as my viewing distances are very similar to yours.

[ritzav]

i have the panasonic 46pz and am very happy with it, from your viewing distances of 3.5m i would seriously be looking at going to the larger 50" model. you will be amazed how quickly you adjust to the size and i now regret not going the 50" as my viewing distances are very similar to yours.

Agreed, I am an happy owner of the 46pz too but having watched a few blu-ray disks now, I think I would have loved to get a 50'' screen, even at my viewing distance of under 3m... Took us just days to adjust to the 46 and to adjust to 50 would not have been any different IMO... If the budget allows then get the 50 would be my advice.

And I find the picture on plasma a lot more natural than on an LCD, this is purely based on my experience of course, but others may think otherwise.

goodluck

[50mxe20]

As others have said, you are comparing apples with oranges.

The first thing to do is to decide which you like better LCD or plasma best,

THEN go compare t.v.'s.

50 inch at 3-metre is ideal viewing.

It only takes a day (one night) to get used to it and then it's

[RyanP1503560385]

When you see these TV's you notice most of the LCD's have a backlight setting. This can be turned up and down, which in turn will make your screen go brighter and darker.

Dynamic contrast (in a very basic sense) turns the backlight all the way up and measures the white there, and then turns the backlight all the way down, and measures the black there.

This is fine for your blacks in a dark scene or whites for a white scene, the backlight is on full or 0.

Static contrast is measured in one screen, and is the 'real world' figure (if any contrast ratio could be called that).

What that means is a measurement of the white and black on the screen at once.

Why its significantly less is because any backlight moving up / down will of course hurt the opposite colour. (I.e. turning the backlight down will decrease the whites, turning the backlight up will decrease your black).

I googled this, not that that makes it correct. but it seemed to make sense to me, not that that makes it correct either...

read at your own risk and do yourself a favour by not asking me for health or investment advice...

[Arron]

I have a panny 800a and I think the motion blur is horrible. especially on panning shots. Im not sure if i own a dud. But I hate it.

[Guest Mat Mann]

Arron - try turning off intelligent frame creation

I've got a 50" 800 couldn't be happier lcds imo dont have as nice a picture overall as plasmas

Edited September 17, 2008 by Mat Mann

[nzhang]

Arron - try turning off intelligent frame creation

I've got a 50" 800 couldn't be happier lcds imo dont have as nice a picture overall as plasmas

Price wise Panny is also a better buy. The difference between 46 X bravia and 46px800a is about 800AUD. You can upgrade your HT by that money and be entertained more.

[jimmymeup]

+ 1 PZ800 (I have had this for over a month now and could not be happier)

+ 1 upgrade to 50" (I sit ~3m away and I adjusted to the size very quickly. In fact I could even go bigger).

[Nevyn72]

+ 1 PZ800 (I have had this for over a month now and could not be happier)

+ 1 upgrade to 50" (I sit ~3m away and I adjusted to the size very quickly. In fact I could even go bigger).

Agree entirely, I have the 46" Pana @ 2.8 metres and couldn't be happier!

I would love to have gone for the 50" but couldn't fit it in the space available.......

[Owen]

My situation is this: We sit about three and a half metres away (hence the 46 inch and not 50) from the screen in a reasonably well lit room.

How did you come to the conclusion that a 46" as a good idea for a 3.5 meters viewing distance? If you think sitting in the back row of the cinema with the movie projected half normal size looks good then it is.

A 65” is inadequate for a 3.5 meter viewing distance, so you may want to reconsider a 50” or larger over a 46".

Edited September 18, 2008 by Owen

[Abaddon]

I actually own both the TV's you are considering buying, well almost anyway. And am happy with both, but for different reasons.

Have the Panasonic TH-46PZ800A in the living room and the Sony KDL40XBR in the bedroom.

I own both because they have different uses. This is how I rate them

Television - Pana (no contest, handles SD and HD TV better. Much smoother picture. Less noise in the picture)

Blu-ray - Pana (the plasma gets the points based on its superior motion. No noise in either and a brilliant picture on the LCD, but the motion blur and ghosting on the LCD is a little annoying)

DVD - Pana (similar to television)

Photos - Sony (Brilliant vibrant still images)

Xbox 360/PS3/Wii - Sony (Sharper edges, brighter colours, just a nicer picture on the LCD. Still get some motion blur though)

PC - Sony (as per above)

I owned the LCD first and loved the PQ, but the motion blur annoyed the crap out of me when watching blu ray movies on the PS3, which resulted in purchasing the plasma (we needed a new TV in the lounge room anyway)

[Arron]

i do have IFC off. I think i just have naturally picky eyes, im one for picking faults out everywhere. I turned my old tv back and got up close and looked for similiar problems (CRT) and i can see some similar issues. not all the ones im experiencing with the plasma though. So im hoping im just seeing issues with the braodcast that are on all tvs however they stand out more on a high qaulity screen which is much bigger. god im rambling

[boogietommo]

I actually own both the TV's you are considering buying, well almost anyway. And am happy with both, but for different reasons.

Have the Panasonic TH-46PZ800A in the living room and the Sony KDL40XBR in the bedroom.

I own both because they have different uses. This is how I rate them

Television - Pana (no contest, handles SD and HD TV better. Much smoother picture. Less noise in the picture)

Blu-ray - Pana (the plasma gets the points based on its superior motion. No noise in either and a brilliant picture on the LCD, but the motion blur and ghosting on the LCD is a little annoying)

DVD - Pana (similar to television)

Photos - Sony (Brilliant vibrant still images)

Xbox 360/PS3/Wii - Sony (Sharper edges, brighter colours, just a nicer picture on the LCD. Still get some motion blur though)

PC - Sony (as per above)

I owned the LCD first and loved the PQ, but the motion blur annoyed the crap out of me when watching blu ray movies on the PS3, which resulted in purchasing the plasma (we needed a new TV in the lounge room anyway)

Brilliant. Great to hear the plus and minus points of both from someone who has experienced both!