pansonic 500b to g20 ? worth it or not

[Rosso Rebel]

I currently have a 42" panasonic 500b which is about 4 -5 years old, and I am considering a new purchase of a 50'' G20.

I have a good AV set up with a blu ray player, a yamaha 2700 AV amp with built in up scaler and sky hd and some myryad power amps. I have no real complaints with the 500b but want to know if i would see a big improvement with the G20.

The points i am considering are:

1) Larger screen size 42" to 50" - I sit about 10 feet from screen

2) Current plasma is 1080i not 1080p (blu ray runs 1080p i know sky HD is 1080i)

3) Budget of up to £1100

4) 3D is out of budget, and OLED is likely to be a long time before it is in my price bracket

I have been advised that my current 500b is a good panel, even though it is 1080i/720p and i'm not in a massive rush to upgrade, however the current good reviews for the G20 have got me thinking.......

Honest feedback / advise would be appreciated.

[Plotloss]

1080p @ 10ft from a 50" will provide NO benefit over 720p/1080i

So its down the processing.

On that point, spend a few quid more and buy the 50V20 which with the Kuro engine will outclass your 500b

[Rosso Rebel]

I live in Northampton any idea of a retailer that could show a V20 in action and roughly what do they sell for ?

[E31Shrew]

Got to panasonic.co.uk and search for dealers via your postcode. Give them a buzz in advance as would be surprise dif any have 50V20 on demo yet

[PJ S]

1080i as a resolution is a complete ruse - the only TV's that used 1080i were the long since gone Hitachi Plasmas - ALiS was the acronym used.
And that 1080i, even with deinterlaced correctly, rather than cheaply, is equivalent to only 810 lines of resolution, so any HD Ready TV will have to throw away 42 of those lines (90 for the 1024x720 37" Panasonic Plamsa) to fit the 768 pixels it has, and there's negligible difference in scaling 720 to 1080 and 810 to 1080.

So forget everything you thought you knew about 1080i - set the SkyHD/Virgin box to 720p, and the BR player to 720p or 1080p depending on native resolution of the TV it's connected to.

[bonsai]

I have the G10 - which is great. Can only assume the G20 is better?

All I'd say re: your other point is that since you're already upgrading from a pretty decent screen you should also upgrade size-wise. 50" may seem large at first but it gets accustomed to very quickly and you may even end up asking yourself whether 60" may have been better.

Edited by bonsai on Wednesday 19th May 18:12

[only me]

Wife says NO !

[headcase]

The sound from your 500 will knock spots off the G20 any day of the week!

[bonsai]

headcase said:

The sound from your 500 will knock spots off the G20 any day of the week!

Do most people who indulge in 40"+ TVs use the audio from the TV? I'd imagine the majority would have a separate A/V Amp and speaker setup.

If they don't, then I would recommend it thoroughly as something to consider! It does more to better the whole "experience" than anything else.

Edited by bonsai on Wednesday 19th May 20:15

ah he has an A/V receiver anyway I just noticed.

Edited by bonsai on Wednesday 19th May 20:16

[headcase]

The majority of the population are without surround systems believe it or not

[.Mark]

headcase said:

The majority of the population are without surround systems believe it or not

Really? Had surround sound for longer than I care to remember now.

We are just reworking the 'home cinema' so got myself a Panasonic BD-80, hence the other post about Panasonic TV's and a very generous PHeader has let me long term babysit a Pioneer AX10iS for the sound - can't wait to get my hands on that!

Will be in touch Phil I promise mate!

[only me]

have to admit its the recent purchase of a blu ray player that has got me thinking about a new screen.

[headcase]

Yup, I deliver TV's all week long, a very small percentage have a cin kit with it.