Panasonic 42'' ST50 - Good choice ?

koolpc · 12 Dec 2012 at 10:43

42ST50 is what I am looking at getting. Still a good choice guys?

Somnambulist · 12 Dec 2012 at 13:38

Yes, although prices may drop further once the 60 series is announced in 4 weeks or so at CES.

imginy · 12 Dec 2012 at 14:16

koolpc said:
42ST50 is what I am looking at getting. Still a good choice guys?

I love my st50

Think there is talk of a price drop soon though so might be worth waiting for a deal

Benihana · 12 Dec 2012 at 14:21

Broken Hope said:
How did you get a ST50 for so cheap?

It was on a Black Friday offer, usually the most expensive place in Copenhagen to buy AV gear, but they knocked over 200 pounds off for that one day. Proper chuffed

(getting the missus to lug it home with me was another matter)

I think my main issues with it at the moment are only 3 HDMI ports, no VGA/DVI/PC socket, and the media browser is slow and poorly organised. The picture quality is stunning, and i'm planning to build an HTPC/Steam Box that will take care of the media part.

Broken Hope · 12 Dec 2012 at 17:37

Benihana said:
It was on a Black Friday offer, usually the most expensive place in Copenhagen to buy AV gear, but they knocked over 200 pounds off for that one day. Proper chuffed (getting the missus to lug it home with me was another matter)

I think my main issues with it at the moment are only 3 HDMI ports, no VGA/DVI/PC socket, and the media browser is slow and poorly organised. The picture quality is stunning, and i'm planning to build an HTPC/Steam Box that will take care of the media part.

I figured most people who own a TV of this quality would have an AV receiver, so the 3 HDMI ports isn't an issue, I could just have the 1 and be fine.

Benihana · 12 Dec 2012 at 17:43

True, i'm just a cheapskate using a stereo amp, works fine for me as I only have 2 bookshelf speakers. I'm using one for the Xbox and another for the Wii U, the last one will be for the HTPC which will do everything else I need, so unlikely to need more, and I can always get a switch or proper receiver. The consoles never need to both be active at the same time though.

Paul_cz · 12 Apr 2013 at 10:55

Ordered 55ST50 yesterday. Really looking forward to connecting my PC to it and playing Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider on it. Hopefully my unit will not have any noticeable flaws, fingers crossed.

Psycho Sonny · 12 Apr 2013 at 17:58

Paul_cz said:
Ordered 55ST50 yesterday. Really looking forward to connecting my PC to it and playing Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider on it. Hopefully my unit will not have any noticeable flaws, fingers crossed.

generally not a good idea to use a plasma screen for gaming or as a pc monitor, due to image retention. it's only recommended to use it for such things occasionally.

imginy · 12 Apr 2013 at 18:02

Psycho Sonny said:
generally not a good idea to use a plasma screen for gaming or as a pc monitor, due to image retention. it's only recommended to use it for such things occasionally.

mine is 24/7 pc monitor

Game and desktop perfectly

Azrael1 · 13 Apr 2013 at 10:26

I have one of these as the main cinema room but I'm sensitive to phosphor trails and rainbows effects. This ruins many films and games for me, hence in my games room I had to downgrade to a 55 LED Tv for console gaming. Not as good as a plasma but no trails or rainbow effects in games or movies. I'm one of the unlucky ones to see this.

deuse · 13 Apr 2013 at 11:11

I was looking in to buying a Panasonic Plasma but then I found out this
"Panasonic has developed its last plasma panel" "company is now focusing on OLED"

http://www.nextpowerup.com/news/1145/panasonic-officially-halts-plasma-r-d.html

Psycho Sonny · 13 Apr 2013 at 11:26

deuse said:
I was looking in to buying a Panasonic Plasma but then I found out this
"Panasonic has developed its last plasma panel" "company is now focusing on OLED"

http://www.nextpowerup.com/news/1145/panasonic-officially-halts-plasma-r-d.html

lol so what?

why would that stop you from buying one, i bought one purely because they were going to stop manufacturing, so i wanted a tv to last me 5-10 years until OLED became cheap and the niggles were all ironed out.

imo, now is the time to be buying, before they sell out forever. i usually buy year old models and i got the 50" GT50 last week for £800 (price matched, then used £105 of vouchers, then for 2 x 3d glasses for free, cost of tv = £600). i also got a free 5 year warranty, which is usually worth a few quid too, bargain of the century imo.

imo no other tv will come close to this in terms of bang per buck for the next 5 years, maybe even 10 years. OLED is going to be very expensive sets are what several £K atm, will take many many years for them to come down to what i paid for my GT50

deuse · 13 Apr 2013 at 15:44

Psycho Sonny said:
lol so what?

why would that stop you from buying one, i bought one purely because they were going to stop manufacturing, so i wanted a tv to last me 5-10 years until OLED became cheap and the niggles were all ironed out.

imo, now is the time to be buying, before they sell out forever. i usually buy year old models and i got the 50" GT50 last week for £800 (price matched, then used £105 of vouchers, then for 2 x 3d glasses for free, cost of tv = £600). i also got a free 5 year warranty, which is usually worth a few quid too, bargain of the century imo.

imo no other tv will come close to this in terms of bang per buck for the next 5 years, maybe even 10 years. OLED is going to be very expensive sets are what several £K atm, will take many many years for them to come down to what i paid for my GT50

Yeh you could be right I will look in to it more. I have got a Bush 42" 3D(LG Panel) that will do me for a few more months.

MAllen · 13 Apr 2013 at 16:24

You can also read "End of R&D" as meaning "Well, we worked out all the clever tricks we can and it all works as good as we can get it."

I am certainly happy with my year old TX-P50ST50B. The image is still blowing me away. It makes me cringe seeing the price drops on this screen... what a bargain you can get it for now!

Somnambulist · 13 Apr 2013 at 17:52

The Studio Master panel they created for the ZT is the last PANEL they'll make for plasma. They will continue to make plasma using the panels they already created, which means improvements in the 2014 range and, if they keep going, beyond, won't feature and major differences, only minor tweaks/performance improvements (in the same way the lower range of models this year are revisions of last years models that don't have the new tech in the top of the range does).

Psycho Sonny · 13 Apr 2013 at 19:19

I think basically they pumped everything into the ZT65 and they are now just going to keep producing that panel and changing the electronics every year, or produce two panels whatever is in the ZT65 and the VT65/GT60, this should at least turn a profit rather than having to design new panels every year until OLED is ready to be mass produced.

imo it is a good decision they have made since the ZT65 is now the clearly best TV you can buy, no more Kuro fanboys battering on about how their tv is still the best.

Somnambulist · 14 Apr 2013 at 00:02

The only thing the ZT has going against in, in realistic terms, is that the sizes are fixed (65 for the US market, 60 for the EU), so if you were after a 50 or 55, you're out of luck. I think at this point, if you're going to only have one TV for the next fews until 4K OLED is viable, it should really be one of these Pannys. As we're not getting any new panels, only the possibility of bettering what already exists through tweaking, it feels like PDP has re-reached the summit again - this time at even more affordable prices - and from here it's going to be a gentle stroll into the sunset as new tech starts to supersede it.

Psycho Sonny · 14 Apr 2013 at 10:48

that could change next year though, i don't know why they would release it in one size but a different one for either region, that just seems stupid to me.

so people in america can enjoy the 65 inch yet in the uk we cannot? that is retarded to say the least, it's not as if they are saving money by doing this.

i am glad i got my 50" GT50 for a bargain price at the right time imo.

i am waiting for my wireless remote dimmer to come from asia before setting up the BIAS lighting and then taking some pictures.

Somnambulist · 14 Apr 2013 at 15:13

I think it's because the TV is hard and expensive to make, compared to the VT/GT/ST. Bigger profit margin if they only have to manufacture a single model.

Bias lighting is unfy - I'm getting an Ideal Lume imported because true d6500k lights w/adjustable brightness (as it should be 10% of peak whites) are hard to come by, and if I'm going to get a 2013 plasma and get it calibrated properly, non-d6500k lighting would make calibration worthless.

Psycho Sonny · 15 Apr 2013 at 01:11

Somnambulist said:
I think it's because the TV is hard and expensive to make, compared to the VT/GT/ST. Bigger profit margin if they only have to manufacture a single model.

Bias lighting is unfy - I'm getting an Ideal Lume imported because true d6500k lights w/adjustable brightness (as it should be 10% of peak whites) are hard to come by, and if I'm going to get a 2013 plasma and get it calibrated properly, non-d6500k lighting would make calibration worthless.

your wrong about 6500k lighting not making calibration worthless, any lighting change at all within the room will make calibration worthless, it doesn't matter if it is a 6500k bulb, as soon as you put it behind the tv you have changed the local environment, therefore putting the calibration out of sync.

when a tv is calibrated it is calibrated under the local environments conditions, therefore if you move the tv from one room to another or even move the tv from one space to another within the room, it essentially needs re-calibrating again.

any change what so ever to the environment effects the calibration.

e.g. even re-decorating, such as different paint on the walls, changing the flooring, carpet, etc.

imo calibrating a tv is a waste of money because of all of the above and the fact it is so expensive in the first place.

my 50" GT50 cost me £799, then i used £105 worth of vouchers i received as a gift, so money out of my pocket was £694. i have also applied for the free 3d glasses promotion, which i may sell on for £90, meaning the tv could end up only costing me £604.

a calibration would cost me roughly £300 which isn't exactly cheap compared to the tv cost.

people get hung up on looking for the best of the best, what they need to do is find a compromise between quality and enjoyment and just enjoy their tv instead of constantly trying to make it better.

look at all the people who constantly tweak their smartphones or pc's on a daily basis trying to get that extra 1% of power. they never actually spend much time playing games or actually enjoying their equipment.

therefore i will set up my supposedly 6500K led lighting kit and remote wireless dimmer kit which cost me less than £25 as BIAS lighting, then wait 2 months for my set to be "run in", then tweak it using some of the guides over at avforums.

i will save myself £500 (on things like ideal lume and calibration) yet still have pretty much the same PQ as someone who does have ideal lume and a calibrated set.

it's the law of diminishing returns, the more you spend, essentially the less you get for your money, imo you would have to be mad to get a tv calibrated unless you knew for a fact it's environment wasn't going to change over the next 5 years at least.

also say your tv stops working after 6 months due to a manufacturer defect, that's effectively £300 down the drain when you receive a replacement set, or say if it gets stolen or a factory reset happens when the firmware upgrades or something. you would want to keep a copy of the settings somewhere just in case.