Give your TV a new home from IKEA
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 74 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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20 out of 20 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Disagree with review"
Pros: Realistic HD picture
Cons: SD not as good as others
Summary: I've got to disagree w/ CNET not at least rating this even with the 42PX60U. I spent weeks reading online and after looking at several sets and considering price range, I decided on the Panasonic.
However, after going between various Sears, Best Buy and Circuit City stores looking at the sets and getting opinions from clerks, I decided to include this set in the running. Initially, I had no intention but to get the Panasonic but two things changed my mind.
The 42PX60U had really bright color but when it showed someone's face up close, it looked almost clay-like. I'm not sure what the technical terms are as this is my first new tv in ages but I couldn't get over that the people in the panasonic lacked realistic detail in their faces. It reminded me of a commercial I've seen for investments or something where the people were made to look somewhat cartoonish. I never saw that problem with the Samsung. The picture on the Samsung looked so realistic compared to the Panasonic that myself and the different people who accompanied me to the various stores could not help but notice.
At one store, I watched an HD news program on both sets and the broadcast had an inset picture of a man with grey hair with a blue background. In the panasonic, the background bled into the grey and the man appeared to have blue hair. On the Samsung, that did not occur and I could even make out the blemishes on the man's head.
The other problem was that the color seemed too rich on the Panasonic. Excuse the ignorance of proper terminology but what I mean is I was watching a soccer game on both sets and the grass was just way too green on the panasonic. Everything looked too lush. The samsung grass was by no means dull. It was just more of a real green. What's more,I could see the dead patches in the grass clearer on the Samsung and the issue with the people's faces came up again.
I do agree that the SD on the Samsung is not up to par with the Panasonic or some other sets I looked at but that was my only problem.
- 7 replies to this review
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I am thinking about returning my TV. Have had it for 1.5 months and the color on regular TV (Not HD) is really not good. The blacks are too black and too much green tinge in most of the screen. Though i do have to admit it looks great when viewing a DVD. Bought monster cables and running the cables through the cable box does nothing to improve it. Sigh! Is there a forum on how to adjust this?
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i have a dvr box furnished by my cable company. i too was not happy with the standard definition(sd) picture thru the cable box. i split the cable input and i use the direct cable connection to the tv for sd and the dvr for hd. gives me a better sd picture both in quality and screen size.
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thank you! i have been looking at sets for months and really wanted to buy into the panasonic due to it's price point, but every demo i saw, any store, i got the clay faces! It was driving me crazy and no store clerk would admit to it. finally, i am not loosing my mind. i trust you!
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While I wish that I also took the time to scrutinize these two sets (as is my habit), I was sucked into a black Friday Best Buy Fire sale. Here's hoping I still came out on top...
I like your candid descriptions, as they are as accurate as the professional descriptions could be. The word you are looking for to describe the grass is "saturation." It seems the panasonic panel is over-saturated; appearing unnatural yet lush; typical of many high-quality kodak film. Some like it; but people like you and I prefer a more natural, dull color.
Once I get an HD signal fed into this thing (I don't even have digital right now-just basic analog), I'll get a chance to see how it flies. Also, my DVDs aren't working..as my 5 year-old PS2 (my only DVD player...hehe) seems to disagree with movies these days.
Funny thing, I went to buy that very same Panasonic as it was advertised at 999.00. They sold out once I arrived, and slapped the same deal on the Samsung. I'm too much of a Samsung fanboy to resist...so I felt like I was stealing. I hope I did... -
I ran into the same situation on all accounts. I do not know how the Panasonic gets a better rating. 3 out of 3 reps I talked to at different stores all recommended the Samsung over the Panasonic.
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keep in mind that stores generally have the brightness, color etc set extremely high to counter the ambient light in the store. So while it is a good point (Pannys having unrealistic colors), make sure that the Samsung levels are set equivalent as well.
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the picture between this and the pani is close but the sam win this one with all the hd detail it offers it at the top of the hdtv's
