Panasonic GT60
Discussion
Trusty Pioneer 434 finally gave up the ghost in the playroom, so after trawling the forums I went to demo the well reviewed LED's and Plasmas. Looking for a 50 or 55" as the 434 had a very large bezel so a larger screen could now be fitted in the same area on the chimney breast - the Mrs will never notice 
Anyhow to cut a long story short the GT60 50" was the clear winner. I thought the latest gen LED's might have closed the gap - I looked at the F8000, but apart from massive brightness they couldn't get near the black levels, motion handling and overall quality of the plasma. Just looking very smeared and washed out.
I've been holding off changing the big plasma in the main room for the first of the sensible money 75"+ OLED 4K tv's but given how good the GT60 is, the final gen ZT65's must be truly stunning!
Anyhow to cut a long story short the GT60 50" was the clear winner. I thought the latest gen LED's might have closed the gap - I looked at the F8000, but apart from massive brightness they couldn't get near the black levels, motion handling and overall quality of the plasma. Just looking very smeared and washed out.
I've been holding off changing the big plasma in the main room for the first of the sensible money 75"+ OLED 4K tv's but given how good the GT60 is, the final gen ZT65's must be truly stunning!
StuH said:
Trusty Pioneer 434 finally gave up the ghost in the playroom, so after trawling the forums I went to demo the well reviewed LED's and Plasmas. Looking for a 50 or 55" as the 434 had a very large bezel so a larger screen could now be fitted in the same area on the chimney breast - the Mrs will never notice
Anyhow to cut a long story short the GT60 50" was the clear winner. I thought the latest gen LED's might have closed the gap - I looked at the F8000, but apart from massive brightness they couldn't get near the black levels, motion handling and overall quality of the plasma. Just looking very smeared and washed out.
I've been holding off changing the big plasma in the main room for the first of the sensible money 75"+ OLED 4K tv's but given how good the GT60 is, the final gen ZT65's must be truly stunning!
Find a decent pre-owned Pioneer KRP-500A (with some warranty left if you're lucky). Still the best plasma available IMO and will leave you some money in the bank. Yes, I'm in the trade!Anyhow to cut a long story short the GT60 50" was the clear winner. I thought the latest gen LED's might have closed the gap - I looked at the F8000, but apart from massive brightness they couldn't get near the black levels, motion handling and overall quality of the plasma. Just looking very smeared and washed out.
I've been holding off changing the big plasma in the main room for the first of the sensible money 75"+ OLED 4K tv's but given how good the GT60 is, the final gen ZT65's must be truly stunning!
I agree - the VT60 finally bettered the Kuro and I believe the ZT65 is even better. It must be remembered that the latest screens are bigger than the old Kuros, so the image is easier to resolve into pixels if you're too close.
Saw my first 4k OLED screen last weekend, looked amazingly sharp and bright but it was impossible to tell from the source material if it was LED-stylee oversaturated and overbright. No skin tones on their demo, was all macro closeups of flowers and raindrops on windows.
I'm having to buy another new screen soon and it will be one of the end of line Panasonics, no question.
Saw my first 4k OLED screen last weekend, looked amazingly sharp and bright but it was impossible to tell from the source material if it was LED-stylee oversaturated and overbright. No skin tones on their demo, was all macro closeups of flowers and raindrops on windows.
I'm having to buy another new screen soon and it will be one of the end of line Panasonics, no question.
StuH said:
I used to own a kuro - it was fantastic and way ahead of anything else at the time, but I think the latest gen panasonics have now surpassed that level.
Yep, it's the last plasma panel Panny are making (shame) so it's about as engineered as it can be. I'm still not convinced on the motion or black levels although we haven't had the opportunity to run both displays together. I have a KRP-600A with an older VT65 in the same room and the KRP seems to give the better viewing experience overall. Panny is the obvious choice though for ex-Pioneer owners if you want a brand new TV with smart features and warranty. Def. better than LED unless you like the artificial look. Production costs have eventually killed the plasma market unfortunately, one of the reasons why Pioneer pulled out the flat screen market in 2009! Anyway, it's the one I'd go for if it was a brand new TV I was after. Enjoy 
Pioneer said:
Yep, it's the last plasma panel Panny are making (shame) so it's about as engineered as it can be. I'm still not convinced on the motion or black levels although we haven't had the opportunity to run both displays together. I have a KRP-600A with an older VT65 in the same room and the KRP seems to give the better viewing experience overall. Panny is the obvious choice though for ex-Pioneer owners if you want a brand new TV with smart features and warranty. Def. better than LED unless you like the artificial look. Production costs have eventually killed the plasma market unfortunately, one of the reasons why Pioneer pulled out the flat screen market in 2009! Anyway, it's the one I'd go for if it was a brand new TV I was after. Enjoy
Hopefully one of the mags will do a review of the final Kuro against the final Panasonic! The biggest improvement to my eyes was the handling of motion, my Kuro was never completely convincing with footy whereas the Panasonic seems to have it completely nailed. Of course Pioneer were doing this years ago but not at a grand 
Im Still running a Pioneer 436 XDE and it is still a fantastic piece of kit.
I will however be replacing it with a Panny. i have a deal with my supplier to offload one of the last 50" GT60's just after xmas.
Unless of course he offers me a VT for the right price.
It will be a shame that Panasonic are stopping plasma production, it was a sad day when Pioneer stopped as had they of continued development they may of given us infinite black and a super sharp picture.
I will however be replacing it with a Panny. i have a deal with my supplier to offload one of the last 50" GT60's just after xmas.
Unless of course he offers me a VT for the right price.
It will be a shame that Panasonic are stopping plasma production, it was a sad day when Pioneer stopped as had they of continued development they may of given us infinite black and a super sharp picture.
Im Still running a Pioneer 436 XDE and it is still a fantastic piece of kit.
I will however be replacing it with a Panny. i have a deal with my supplier to offload one of the last 50" GT60's just after xmas.
Unless of course he offers me a VT for the right price.
It will be a shame that Panasonic are stopping plasma production, it was a sad day when Pioneer stopped as had they of continued development they may of given us infinite black and a super sharp picture.
I will however be replacing it with a Panny. i have a deal with my supplier to offload one of the last 50" GT60's just after xmas.
Unless of course he offers me a VT for the right price.
It will be a shame that Panasonic are stopping plasma production, it was a sad day when Pioneer stopped as had they of continued development they may of given us infinite black and a super sharp picture.
Salesy said:
Im Still running a Pioneer 436 XDE and it is still a fantastic piece of kit.
Am still using one of these and it constantly gets great comments from friends and family with the quality of the picture. It's been a superb purchase - have had it 8yrs nearly.It's getting very sensitive to poor signal quality now though, dropping its tuning if some of the signals it has stored get weak (in bad weather or if the sods at the transmitter frig around with the signal which I suspect is more likely the case!).
StuH said:
I used to own a kuro - it was fantastic and way ahead of anything else at the time, but I think the latest gen panasonics have now surpassed that level.
I should hope so, as the Kuro is now 5 years old but they're still not a massive leap forward.In 2004, I bought a Pioneer 434, which was a massive leap forward from my Sony 32FX60 CRT. In 2009, I bought a Kuro, which was a massive leap forward from the 434. I've looked at the latest from Panasonic and they're nowhere near being a massive leap forward from technology that's almost 5 years old.
Oh, my 434 is at my mothers and nine years on, is still providing a great picture from Freeview HD. Makes me wonder when I read about 1 year old Samsungs breaking......what happened to quality and why people don't want to pay for it?
Murph7355 said:
Am still using one of these and it constantly gets great comments from friends and family with the quality of the picture. It's been a superb purchase - have had it 8yrs nearly.
It's getting very sensitive to poor signal quality now though, dropping its tuning if some of the signals it has stored get weak (in bad weather or if the sods at the transmitter frig around with the signal which I suspect is more likely the case!).
Hey Murph - You still in the Wharf?It's getting very sensitive to poor signal quality now though, dropping its tuning if some of the signals it has stored get weak (in bad weather or if the sods at the transmitter frig around with the signal which I suspect is more likely the case!).
mp3manager said:
I should hope so, as the Kuro is now 5 years old but they're still not a massive leap forward.
How could it be? The Kuro was pushing the limits of plasma tech and was massively expensive as a consequence. When the Kuro came along there was still plenty of scope for improvement compared to previous gens, but the quality achieved and the maturity of the tech now means that the delta's between old and new are much less. So much so that it's come as far as it can, and now OLED will be left to takeover where plasma has left off.
However, the final gen Panasonic's are a considerable step up in certain respects - for instance, as I watch the rugby now, the motion handling and fluidity of the picture is way better than the Kuro would have managed. Plus the GT60 cost be about a quarter of what I paid for the Kuro, not even allowing for inflation.
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