Is Plasma still king for 3D???

[Soundwave]

Hey guys,

My brother is moving into his new place this weekend & his 32" set just isn't going to cut the mustard anymore (his lounge is too big & it will get lost in the corner) so I've been the awesome big brother that I am & offered him my 42" G20 which means I'll be TV less

However what this means is that the whole world of 3D opens up to me with it's replacement

So I've started browsing & I'm not sure what's best

Ideally I'd like 46" (50" at a push...might be a little too big) & sub ?900 but not sure what I should look at.
I assume Plasma is still king but is Panny the best or do the LG & Samsung models hold up well these days??

Ta muchly

Neil

[koopatroopa90]

well it's not like you could sell it on, what with it being damaged goods now

I'd love to help but all my knowledge is now a year or two out of date!

[Brad]

Wouldn't it be better to go to a TV showroom, watch some 3d tv for 20 minutes to get the novelty out your system and then buy a really nice 2D screen? I'm half serious BTW!

[koopatroopa90]

These days aren't all the ?500+ TVs 3D anyway?

IMO really for the best 3D experience you need to go the projector route or mahoosive TVs at a pinch, my Dads 55" LG blows my 42" Tosh out of the water for example, but I realise both of these aren't always practical.

Personally I'd take the route of finding the model with the best 2D picture quality and look at the 3D as a bonus which is what many people seem to do.

Taking a look at the reviews on AVF is always a good start, although you've probably already done so Neil

[Soundwave]

well it's not like you could sell it on, what with it being damaged goods now

I'd love to help but all my knowledge is now a year or two out of date!

Lol I know...he's going to be paying me a little bit but I'm not asking him for loads

Wouldn't it be better to go to a TV showroom, watch some 3d tv for 20 minutes to get the novelty out your system and then buy a really nice 2D screen? I'm half serious BTW!

Oh I know but as Koop said pretty much everything is either 3D or 3D ready so I might as well buy something that has half decent 3D features & is good for everything.

But yeah 2D is the main focus but 3D would be nice as well.

Neil

[Lyris]

Taking a look at the reviews on AVF is always a good start, although you've probably already done so Neil

And HDTVtest (shameless plug) since we also do thorough tests of the 3D mode as well, not just 2D.

Especially pay attention to the reviews of Panasonic Plasmas where I discuss the fact that they're not Full HD in the 3D mode. Samsung's are.

LG are in third place for Plasma, so I don't see much point there to be honest.

The quality of nearly every flat panel display degrades quite a bit in 3D mode. The only ones that don't are the active shutter IPS LCD displays (basically Panasonic LCDs). The only problem there is that those same displays don't have very good contrast performance in the 2D mode, so there's no perfect solution.

[smouty]

Especially pay attention to the reviews of Panasonic Plasmas where I discuss the fact that they're not Full HD in the 3D mode. Samsung's are.

Hi Lyris. Could you clarify something for me as I know next to nothing about 3d.
The demos I have seen on our 55" D8000 are 1080p SBS. Does this mean that the resolution is 1920x1080 and halved for each frame?
I guess a bit like horizontal interlacing.
If so how do you get full HD 3D? By using 1920x 2160?

[Neon Ignition]

The prices have dropped a lot over the last few years and I'd say, off the back of near 3 years of owning mine, that LCD is the way to go. The 3D effect, is in practice, something that will get very little use. It's nice but it adds nothing and increasingly companies are moving away from providing support for it. Half the content is too dark and for gaming again half of it has big resolution or frame drops when running in 3D. That said, because of the 3D tech, my Samsung provides a brilliant 2D image. As it's that crystal clear image that you'll be using 99% of the time, I'd say LCD.

[QualityChimp]

Slightly off-topic, but Lyris is a star!

You could so easily just say "go to my site", but you take the time to answer our questions, which is appreciated.

(I can't remember if I said thanks before or just meant to. I couldn't spot it when I searched last and search was just bost when I tried it, so sorry if I'm repeating!).

As CTN says, Samsungs are great, but it'd be worth going to a big store to look at their demo units.

What with your tattoos, statues and 3D tellies, you're determined to spend your daughter's future College Fund, Neil!

[Soundwave]

Slightly off-topic, but Lyris is a star!

You could so easily just say "go to my site", but you take the time to answer our questions, which is appreciated.

(I can't remember if I said thanks before or just meant to. I couldn't spot it when I searched last and search was just bost when I tried it, so sorry if I'm repeating!).

As CTN says, Samsungs are great, but it'd be worth going to a big store to look at their demo units.

What with your tattoos, statues and 3D tellies, you're determined to spend your daughter's future College Fund, Neil!

Lol the Statues may well turn out to be her future college fund

In all seriousness though these purchases are happening while she's young & costs precious little to clothe & feed (Formula & Nappies are cheap enough & the sheer number of hand me downs & clothes bought by family & friends means Katie & me have to buy next to nothing so far) so I still have some disposable income...give it a year or 2 & that will all be swallowed up though.

Anyway, thanks for the advice so far guys.
Going to Currys this weekend armed with a few BD's for demo purposes...the store feed is next to useless & barely anything is tuned in right.

Neil

[Lyris]

Hi Lyris. Could you clarify something for me as I know next to nothing about 3d.
The demos I have seen on our 55" D8000 are 1080p SBS. Does this mean that the resolution is 1920x1080 and halved for each frame?
I guess a bit like horizontal interlacing.
If so how do you get full HD 3D? By using 1920x 2160?

Not interlacing (there actually are 3D systems which do that).

The resolution for Side by Side 3D is 960x1080 for each eye (horizontally halved).

Yes, Full HD would be 1920x2160, or easier expressed as two 1920x1080 images.

Personally, I would never recommend buying an LCD over a Plasma unless you had a very good reason to (very bright room where the extra light output is needed)>

[Soundwave]

Lyris,

How do the Samsung Plasma's match up against the Panny's these days?
Seen a good 2nd hand deal on a Panny 46" ST30 that i'm considering but if the Sam's are better I'll just save a bit longer for one of them instead.

Neil

[Shozuki]

not sure what the current prices are like but I thought the ST50 was pretty nice. My mate recently bought one and I was suitably impressed... Though much prefer my LX300

[QualityChimp]

In all seriousness though these purchases are happening while she's young & costs precious little to clothe & feed (Formula & Nappies are cheap enough & the sheer number of hand me downs & clothes bought by family & friends means Katie & me have to buy next to nothing so far) so I still have some disposable income...give it a year or 2 & that will all be swallowed up though.

Sorry mate, I really am only pulling your leg!

Besides, it's not me you have to justify your spending to, it's your missus!

[Soundwave]

not sure what the current prices are like but I thought the ST50 was pretty nice. My mate recently bought one and I was suitably impressed... Though much prefer my LX300

Unfortunately the ST50 is still a smidge too expensive
The ST30 I've seen is ?400 with 2 pairs of glasses which is almost too good to pass up.

I tried googling you LX300 & couldn't find anything...fancy hitting me up with a linky??

Sorry mate, I really am only pulling your leg!

Besides, it's not me you have to justify your spending to, it's your missus!

Lol it's ok buddy I know you are

I know but luckily she's still fairly ok with me not spending money on little madam...which reminds me I should really get a pic or 2 up...she's chaning so much...laughing a little bit now which is cute as f**k

Neil