ELITE TV's are back

[SurferRosa]

Here is a fun story...

So my wife calls me at work one day and says, "I have something to tell you."... You know in that ominous voice that makes you think, "oh crap someone is dead." Now that the hair on the back of my neck is standing up, she proceeds to tell me MY son(not hers or ours) has taken his big Lego flat plate, ~12"x24", and thrown it in to OUR pioneer elite plasma. It has a Little crack, BUT it was still working. She obviously thought I would kill the boy, who was only 5 at the time. He says, something "scared" him, and apparently an uncontrollable force impelled him to chuck the Lego plate into the screen. So I got home from work and see this crack which, by the way, goes across the whole screen, but the set still works....for about 5 mins then it fades to black with a little pop.

Long story short (too late), I was so relieved that no one we knew was dead that I really could not have cared less. Now a couple of years later and a few more plasma TVs, I am still looking for a monitor that could match that one....DAMN I could kill that boy!!!

[prepress]

I attended a HDTV panel shoot-out yesterday in Scarsdale, NY. The top 55–60" panels from Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic and Elite were there (Elite is a distinct brand, though Sharp is behind it).

The consensus was that the Elite's only drawback (excluding price) is the color problem with blues, which tended to look cyan. Contrast ratio and black level were the best there. Panasonic's ANSI contrast ratio was 6620:1; the Elite's was double. I have a Kuro 111FD and no plans to part with it, but if I were in the market for a TV, the color problem was solved, and I had the money, I might go for the Elite.

[esteban]

I was able to spend more time with the 70" variant this weekend at a local Magnolia store. I switched the set to THX mode and black levels were indeed impressive. Overall motion and viewing angles were also surprisingly good for a non-plasma set, and the color balance seemed natural enough to my eyes, but the viewing conditions were not ideal, to say the least, so take all of this with a grain of salt. I'm impressed with the quality, though, but can't get around the price issue. If the set were 4K resolution ready it'd be a different story, in the sense that your purchase would be future-proof for the next few years. But for $8K I'd rather stick with my Panasonic 65V10 for a while until 4K-res sets become the new standard, black levels stay consistently low, screen sizes increase and other issues are taken care of.

[bakerman]

Originally Posted by prepress

I attended a HDTV panel shoot-out yesterday in Scarsdale, NY. The top 55–60" panels from Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic and Elite were there (Elite is a distinct brand, though Sharp is behind it)...

Were these all LCD/LED sets or were some Plasma's? What would have been your runner-up?

[Masterlu]

We sure love our Kuro's

[bakerman]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

We sure love our Kuro's

+1

I sure love my 4280, I just wish it was the 60" instead of 42"

[Masterlu]

My wife went off on me a bit when the 60" showed up, but now not a peep.

[bakerman]

Ivan, I guess bigger is better

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by bakerman

Ivan, I guess bigger is better

As I get older, I even need a larger faced watch! Life can be cruel...

[prepress]

Originally Posted by bakerman

Were these all LCD/LED sets or were some Plasma's? What would have been your runner-up?

Here's the list:

Elite PRO-60X5FD, Samsung UN60D800, Sony XBR-55HX929 (LCD)
LG 60PZ950, Panasonic TC-P65VT30, Samsung PN59D8000 (plasma)

All were calibrated by professional calibrators and were in the best modes as appropriate to each set. The LG and Samsung plasmas had the best (most accurate) color. If that were my sole criterion, the LG and Samsung plasmas would be 1–2. Black level, it'd be the Elite and Panasonic 1–2. My personal preference overall might be the Samsung because of its color; the Panasonic was too red. The technical results from the shoot-out should be available soon; those will be worth looking at. Runner up, despite the color issue, would be the Panasonic. The Elite would be my first choice if they can solve the blue issue.