Video Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on September 27, 2002 at 14:13:58

In Reply to: Sony Grand Wega LCD vs Plasma posted by uzun on September 26, 2002 at 09:24:36:

...I'd say the Sony has a ways to go not just on "black level", but more importantly on shadow detail - there was essentially no detail in deep shadow areas that I could see on these current LCD Grand Wegas. Dark shadow areas looked blueish or greyish to me on this set. I wouldn't buy this GW at any price. The new ones may be a different story.

If the new ones are better, they'll still have to be LOTS better for me to buy one. YMMV.

I've seen a lot of plasmas in the past 8 weeks. The vast majority look great on HD. Not all of the preceding look as good on other sources. Pannasonic, Pioneer and Fujitsu were the winners of what I saw. Panasonic plasmas had superior black levels to the LCDs IMO, and better shadow detail, although with their high contrast levels, the Panny's did sacrifice some ultimate shadow detail compared to a good CRT. The Pioneers were better at shadow detail, but the blacks were not as deep as the Pannys. The Fujitsus were great looking, but expensive.

Yes, you will see some artifacts...from 1 foot away. Most sources have artificats IN the source material. All HD sets have compromises, especially with SD. BYW, you can get 52" plasmas under 5K online - the Panny 42WD5UY is $3500 at some vendors.

Before I shelled out major bucks for an LCD, I'd do research at avsforum, then look at the better plasmas, then look at the new SOny Grand Wegas. I would FOR SURE test these displays with different sources, DVD and SD content, and certainly not make a decision based on the HD loops that most stores feed sets on the showroom floor. Take a nice, shadowy DVD like Blade Runner, Dark City or LOTR (Moria sequence) to do the torture test.

You might also check out the lastest DLPs from Samsung and Optima later this year...or maybe even wait for Toshiba's flagship RP LCoS set, which is due in December - 1080p!