Moving on to a more modern TV from a Pioneer plasma

[SteveS1]

I have a late Panny from after they inherited some of the Pioneer tech and at the 46-48 range which is all I need, 4k over 1080p is not a thing for me. I have seen some good TVs that friends have bought lately, including OLED but none that have me wanting to rush and buy one. There is still something very natural looking about this plasma having spent the time getting it calibrated correctly.

 

[Rack Kit]

I have a late Panny from after they inherited some of the Pioneer tech and at the 46-48 range which is all I need, 4k over 1080p is not a thing for me. I have seen some good TVs that friends have bought lately, including OLED but none that have me wanting to rush and buy one. There is still something very natural looking about this plasma having spent the time getting it calibrated correctly.

I never got round to having mine 'professionally' calibrated but used some settings the AVFcrowd put on the site but still really impressed with the picture quality. The only thing I've seen over time is a slight bit of red/orange colour noise in the Black areas so I might have a look at trying to sort that at some point.

Most of the content is regular HD channels and Netflix, it's when you put a Blu-ray Disc and and realise just how good the screen is. Wouldn't mind seeing a 4k UHD disc on a decent sized screen though. Or maybe I shouldn't.

 

[Konteebos]

I've just bought a Panasonic JZ980 OLED TV, the 48" one. I'm very pleased with it - the Auto AI picture mode actually works and optimises the picture setting dependent on the content you are viewing. The sound isn't great but I run the audio through a small hi-fit so it's irrelevant to me. By all accounts, the LG, Philips and Sony OLED sets are also excellent.

 

[Fatmarley]

Richer Sounds and Argos have excellent returns policy IMO (With Argos, just make sure the item is returnable to the store because some have to go directly to the manufacturer). AO.com didn't want to know when my Playstation 5 controller was faulty, and It was well within the warranty.

LG OLEDs seemed to be the most popular when I bought mine. My 10-year-old LG plasma still has an amazing picture, and TBH I was a bit disappointed when I first plugged in my OLED because I was expecting a big improvement in picture quality. It has better blacks, it's brighter in daylight, and the Netflix app is very handy, so worth it for me. But as said above, there's something very natural about plasma.

 

[Jezzer]

You can’t beat the liquid smooth motion of a plasma… but you can certainly beat the power consumption.

 

[peter bj]

It helps to heat the room in winter !

 

[Hook]

The Kuro is on of those products that stood head and shoulders above its contemporaries, longer you leave it the better the replacement will be. OLED has a problem being bright enough, the new LG panels for this year are 20% brighter, each year they improve the tech.

We’re still watching our 60” Kuro 141-FD monitor. Haven’t detected any degradation in picture since it was new (18 years ago), so really hard to justify replacing. We watch from a distance of 10-12’, so our next set will likely be 65” (or larger if I can convince Mrs. Hook). We watch mostly at night with minimal lighting, so OLED should work well. Based on reviews, I’m leaning towards Sony but that could easily change.

 

[Amber Audio]

In the UK the top Sony A90J lacks filmmaker mode so that alone ruled it out for me, it launched without terrestrial Apps like BBC cos they swapped from Android to Google TV OS, hence the lack of UK Services. Good sound though cos it uses the whole screen as a speaker.

LG and Sammy have nice user interfaces, our last few sets have been from them. Philips is worth a look, dunno what like they are in your locale, their latest sets are really good all rounders.

 

[starbuck]

How do modern high definition screens handle shall we say less than perfect DVD images? Some of the older films and TV shows we watch (Buffy the Vampire Slayer as an example I've been watching today) look tolerable if a little ropey on the Pioneer; will an improved modern screen render the old DVD stuff unwatchable, or do they cope with the older format in a sympathetic way?

 

[Amber Audio]

How do modern high definition screens handle shall we say less than perfect DVD images? Some of the older films and TV shows we watch (Buffy the Vampire Slayer as an example I've been watching today) look tolerable if a little ropey on the Pioneer; will an improved modern screen render the old DVD stuff unwatchable, or do they cope with the older format in a sympathetic way?

Early ones were crap the new ones are much better at upscaling standard def tv, you're still better watching it on an old style 32" Sony CRT though The expensive sets have more CPU horses to improve things like scaling/interpolation.

 

[Hook]

In the UK the top Sony A90J lacks filmmaker mode so that alone ruled it out for me, it launched without terrestrial Apps like BBC cos they swapped from Android to Google TV OS, hence the lack of UK Services. Good sound though cos it uses the whole screen as a speaker.

LG and Sammy have nice user interfaces, our last few sets have been from them. Philips is worth a look, dunno what like they are in your locale, their latest sets are really good all rounders.

Had to look up filmmaker mode. It sounds like a very good feature for Prime customers, so definitely a plus for LG and the other manufacturers that support it.

I’m in Minneapolis. You have to hunt to find Philips. For higher end, it’s all Samsung, Panasonic, Sony and LG up here.

 

[TheDecameron]

BTW OP, that link above to AV forums is really where you should start, I was recommended my TV there and have absolutely no regrets but they'll likely tell you to buy last year's models rather than the new models due out this year, apparently May is the time to buy a new TV.

The prices for some of those top of the range TVs are eye watering, the next TV up in the Philips range ie the 65OLED806 is nearly £800 more for not much better features it's the same screen but a different remote and four sided ambilight as opposed to three on my TV plus a couple of other things.

I’ve always wondered what extra ( to the casual viewer) you get for your money spending a lot more on say an OLED of the same size.

 

[Amber Audio]

I’ve always wondered what extra ( to the casual viewer) you get for your money spending a lot more on say an OLED of the same size.

To the casual viewer pretty much squat.

The money goes on a faster CPU/Silicon Engine, more capable, faster and feature rich software and small but noticeable improvements in pic quality when fed a top end source. If all you watch is Emmerdale and UK Gold it's a waste of dosh, the online services are really upping their game especially Disney and Apple as far as pic and sound quality goes.

 

[SteveS1]

Yes that's a good point, quite apart from the fact that top plasmas still deliver outstanding results with top sources and I include the Firestick in that - they are also more watchable if you include some SD content in your viewing.

Yes they use more power but the late ones are not as bad as the early plasmas for that and it has to be weighed against how 'environmentally friendly' it is to scrap a perfectly good screen for a new one with very little actual improvement - espcially at the smaller sizes. I'm happy to wait until mine dies.

 

[starbuck]

Yes that's a good point, quite apart from the fact that top plasmas still deliver outstanding results with top sources and I include the Firestick in that - they are also more watchable if you include some SD content in your viewing.

Yes they use more power but the late ones are not as bad as the early plasmas for that and it has to be weighed against how 'environmentally friendly' it is to scrap a perfectly good screen for a new one with very little actual improvement - espcially at the smaller sizes. I'm happy to wait until mine dies.

I am going to be properly thinking about all that first before deciding on whether we do replace it, or if I simply take it down from the wall and move the wall bracket position a bit. If I'm lucky I may get to re-use some of the drilled holes in the wall for one side of the bracket when I put it back up. There is nothing actually wrong/faulty with the Pioneer we already have (if you ignore some slight scuffs to the black bezel which were there when I bought it s/hand) and we have been/are very happy with the picture quality. We don't watch broadcast TV via aerial or internet and haven't needed a TV licence in 20 years, our use of the screen is limited to a movie or maybe a few episodes of something highbrow like Buffy in the evening from either DVD or Blu Ray disc.

Plenty of options/recommedations to think about, thank you to all who have answered my questions and made suggestions.

 

[Amber Audio]

I am going to be properly thinking about all that first before deciding on whether we do replace it, or if I simply take it down from the wall and move the wall bracket position a bit. If I'm lucky I may get to re-use some of the drilled holes in the wall for one side of the bracket when I put it back up. There is nothing actually wrong/faulty with the Pioneer we already have (if you ignore some slight scuffs to the black bezel which were there when I bought it s/hand) and we have been/are very happy with the picture quality. We don't watch broadcast TV via aerial or internet and haven't needed a TV licence in 20 years, our use of the screen is limited to a movie or maybe a few episodes of something highbrow like Buffy in the evening from either DVD or Blu Ray disc.

Plenty of options/recommedations to think about, thank you to all who have answered my questions and made suggestions.

Depending what Blu Ray player you own an option would be to get a new/used top end Blu Ray and feed the Pioneer the best pic possible. Unless you have a hankering for 4K UHD there's little point bar power consumption/heat to swap out a decent plasma.

 

[starbuck]

Blu ray is a Sony BDP-S760. A few years old and not the top model of the time so probably outclassed by a newer machine. Happy for suggestions on what to replace it with, s/hand suggestions also appreciated; you can probably tell we are not exactly early adopters.

 

[Amber Audio]

Blu ray is a Sony BDP-S760. A few years old and not the top model of the time so probably outclassed by a newer machine. Happy for suggestions on what to replace it with, s/hand suggestions also appreciated; you can probably tell we are not exactly early adopters.

That's a good player, not sure you'd see a significant improvement with a newer mainstream player, the obvious choice before prices went sky high was the Oppo 103D (Darbee) edition, has a fine tuned video circuit. Maybe a flagship Denon or Marantz if one came up at a bargain price.

Getting geeky, a used video processor like a Lumagen but you'd need it and the screen calibrated to get the best out of it.

 

[Bananahead]

I tried giving away a Pioneer plasma a couple of years ago. In the end, it went to the cargo tram.

The LG OLED is much better.

 

[gintonic]

I tried giving away a Pioneer plasma a couple of years ago. In the end, it went to the cargo tram.

The LG OLED is much better.

ours went down the skip in about 2015. Our LG OLED is way better in every way.