now I just need to find a wall mount that can support this fatty...
lessardrp
Member
posted: Nov. 28, 2011 @ 12:49p
On the Best Buy web site they have a "wall mount finder" tool that lets you enter in the TV model and it gives some compatible mounts (that they sell of course). Nothing says you have to buy it from them though. Here's an example of what it came up with on this set. The same mount on Amazon costs about 40-50 bucks less.
I think the question should be do you notice a difference between Plasma and LCD tvs? I'm a plasma guy and believe the picture is better (darker blacks) on a plasma tv. Further, CNET and other reviewers use a plasma tv (Pioneer Elite) as its "reference tv" against which it test all other tvs. Yes, the Pioneers are long gone, but the Panasonic bought the "Elite" technology from Pioneer and supposedly has incorporated it into its high level plasma (VT series and perhaps the GT series).
If you can not distinguish between the two, get the LCD; after all, who can argue with a 70" screen Good Luck!
If you are serious, you'd better put a little thought into how far you are sitting away from the sets and what material you watch on them most often. Those 70" Sharps give big shock value for the sheer screen size but anything less than stellar source material looks like poop on them, and you need to be a certain distance away for it to start to look right. They have them at most BB Magnolias so you can check it out in person fairly easily (along with the new 80's around here).
Just my .02, but I'd stretch for the 65" GT30 before going with the 70" Sharp, especially for a hard core movie room.
Both are too big for my current room, the 54" is going to have to do for a while.
lessardrp
Member
posted: Nov. 28, 2011 @ 5:45p
Make sure you go and spend time at a store watching that Sharp! Yes, it is a nice BIG picture that I would love to fill a wall. But I have watch those sets in multiple stores over the last week and was not impressed with the way it deals with motion at all. To me, motion shots looks quite grainy. I don't know if the experts call that artifacts or ghosting. All I know is that I didn't like what I saw. The other thing was that I thought the Sharp's special use of the yellows looked over saturated and unnatural.
lessardrp
Member
posted: Nov. 28, 2011 @ 6:36p
freeze1617 said: why not just get the P60ST30 and save a few hundred, if you can deal with the styling. same guts though I want to wall mount the thing and the GT is slimmer, has more HDMI inputs and has THX mode.
TheFonz
Member
posted: Nov. 29, 2011 @ 2:06p
I own the 55" and paid under 1500 for it. The THX mode is pretty good out of the box, but upping the contrast and a few other settings made this picture fantastic. Better and richer than most. Don't go to Best Buy to check this out. It looked horrible given their settings and signal when compared to the LEDs. At a normal dealer, it is heads above comparably priced LED TV's. The glare control for this TV is the best I have ever seen for a plasma. Bright rooms are not a problem.
TheFonz
Member
posted: Nov. 29, 2011 @ 2:15p
I agree that the sharps do not deal well with motion right out of the box.
There are some pretty good settings changes (the simple ones) that make a huge difference. I went with the GT30 anyway due to the color and black performance. The Sharp was dimmed considerably to get the motion issues under control and increase to EXCELLENT black performance on the model I was viewing (835?). It lost its color mojo along the way though. A good professional calibration might help that, but the Panny was great for everything.
I stated it in my other post, but I cannot express how happy I am with the glare control on this plasma. Perfect viewing at any angle, and VERY little issues even with the lamp on next to me.
I would have moved to the 60 at this price.
The samsung plasmas had me until I read about the screen pealing issues due to their anti-glare coating, so I looked at the panny. I did not sacrifice anything to go to this TV besides a better looking glass bezel and their user interface. I use the Pandora and youtube apps on this TV all the time and it is great. Its all subjective, but I believe the GT has better colors and brightness than the top of the line Samsung. People focus too much on black these days for some reason. This TV has great blacks, and great color. The reported floating blacks on some reviews haven't appeared to me in movies or TV.
Its a power hog compared to and LED when calibrated, but who gives a crap about an extra 5 bucks a year at the rate I watch my TV. Its still an energy star appliance.
It does put off some heat. Nothing substantial, but I notice when I'm less than 12" away. It doesn't seem to alter my heating bills, so that is a drag...
orenelrad
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 29, 2011 @ 4:27p
Appears to be dead .
Should have hit it yesterday but was worried about FBR issues, didn't know they had been resolved ...
steveinnh99
New Member
posted: Nov. 29, 2011 @ 7:36p
I ordered the ST30 yesterday instead of the GT30. It was $1299 which was $85 less than the current EPP price. Charged it to my Amazon store card and got two years 0% financing as a bonus.
orenelrad
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 30, 2011 @ 10:33p
The STs are far worse panels -- no infinity black to speak of. Be patient.
zhn2011zhn
Member
posted: Dec. 1, 2011 @ 1:26a
the price is a little higher!
zstryder
Frivolous Member
posted: Dec. 1, 2011 @ 4:24a
orenelrad said: The STs are far worse panels -- no infinity black to speak of. Be patient.
Actually, the ST share the same panel as the GT. It's the VT that's the step up model, the GT only has THX and better styling over the ST.
You might be thinking of the S-panels, which are indeed quite crappy.
orenelrad
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 1, 2011 @ 9:10a
Oh, thanks for the explanation. SO VT > (GT ~ ST) > S ?
While we are at explaining Panny's numbering scheme, what's the difference between -30 and -35?
zstryder
Frivolous Member
posted: Dec. 1, 2011 @ 2:02p
Yep, you got it.
The GT and ST share the same glass and filter too, so as long as you don't mind the ST's uglier bezel it's a very very good bang for the buck. If you plan on calibrating the set, then the ST's lack of THX mode is not a big issue either. The VT does have a better panel, but it's also significantly more expensive.
I don't think the -35 generation panels are out yet, but for the last three generation of panels it's gone something like: XXXX10 (08 or 09 models, I believe) XXXX20 XXXX25 XXXX30
So you could reasonably expect the 2012 models to be labeled 35 or 40.
steveinnh99
New Member
posted: Dec. 1, 2011 @ 3:37p
zstryder said: The GT and ST share the same glass and filter too, so as long as you don't mind the ST's uglier bezel it's a very very good bang for the buck.
Yep. Believe me, I don't spend $1300 on a TV without knowing exactly what I am getting into. I'm a big fan of "bang-4-the-buck"
zstryder
Frivolous Member
posted: Dec. 1, 2011 @ 3:49p
steveinnh99 said: zstryder said: The GT and ST share the same glass and filter too, so as long as you don't mind the ST's uglier bezel it's a very very good bang for the buck.
Yep. Believe me, I don't spend $1300 on a TV without knowing exactly what I am getting into. I'm a big fan of "bang-4-the-buck"
Right there with ya - I picked up a 60ST30 at around $1350 - not quite as good as yours, but I just couldn't wait. The prices on these sets have been fluctuating like crazy the last two weeks!
lessardrp
Member
posted: Dec. 1, 2011 @ 4:06p
FYI- back up to $1995 for now.
lessardrp
Member
posted: Dec. 14, 2011 @ 3:11p
Received this set and it has a great picture and does very well with motion scenes. The built in picture modes, ecept for THX mode, kind of suck imo but after some simple tweaks to the picture settings, the scene comes to life.
zstryder
Frivolous Member
posted: Dec. 14, 2011 @ 3:20p
BTW, here's a great thread on AVS forums worth checking out if you want to "prep" your panel and do a good calibration prior to viewing:
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