My next HT screen, Pioneer Plasma out, curved LED in

[Peter Breuninger]

So long Pioneer Elite 60" plasma, hello Samsung 78" curved 4k.

Just saw this at Best Buy, it blows away the old Pioneer plasmas.

Also, just bought the 27" curved monitor for the computer and LOVE it.

Samsung curved rules.

 

[audio.bill]

Peter, I'm glad that you like the new curved screens so much but I don't really understand their purpose or advantages. Maybe you can help me to understand the benefits as you see them. I know that with movie projection screens they have been curved to improve focus by keeping the distance from the lens to the screen's surface more uniform. Flat screens that we now use for computers and video have no distortion or focus issues, so I'm not sure what purpose a curved screen design has. I would appreciate and welcome your perspective. TIA!

 

[Peter Breuninger]

Very good question. I am a newbie with the technology but as an observer and reviewer, I experience a far higher degree of immersion and truer colors. During pan shots I feel more a part of the experience and more of the motion. Perhaps it's because our eyes are curved and the world is curved and not flat like before Columbus. I bet it will be the new reference. We will "see".

 

[Joe Whip]

Wow Peter, I could not disagree more. The immersion you are experiencing is due to the size of the screen. Yes 78" is much bigger than a 60 inch screen so that is a factor no doubt. The curved screen adds nothing to the feel of immersion, unless I guess if you are sitting very close to the screen. You will have the same sense of immersion if the screen you had was flat. Movie screens are curved, not for immersion, but due to the fact that the projectors can't throw an image that big that is focused properly on the edges. They have to bring the edges closer to the projector to maintain proper focus. The image captured on motion picture film is FLAT. The same for the image captured by the sensor in a video camera. Do a test and take a picture of a flat screen TV and display it on your curved set. It will look curved not flat. Which is closer to reality? No contest. The Sammy curve really distorts the image and for me, is unwatchable. The Sammys have the steepest curved in the industry and distort the image the most. The LG sets, at least on the OLEDS have a much gentler curve that is not as obnoxious as the Sammys. Plus, the Sammy is a LCD which has poor blacks and is probably edge lit. Don't watch the set in a dark room. While your Pioneer was a fine set, it was a 720p set and did not have the black level or color purity of the later 9G or 9.5G Pioneer sets or the last 2 generations of the Panasonic plasmas which topped out at 65 inches or the Samsung 8500 at 64 inches. I have a 9th generation Kuro which has been tweeked by an expert calibrator who has special software from Pioneer that lowers the blacks to 9.5G levels, almost on par with an OLED. You haven't seen it but I can assure you that is has a stunning picture in a dark room. Deep blacks, and fantastic colors. I wish it was bigger but that will have to wait for an OLED. As for 4K, it is way to early for me to adopt it as the sets available today won't support all the specs of the standard. Maybe in 2 years. Enjoy your set by all means. However, I want no part of any LCD TV or one that is curved. As you can tell, this whole curved TV fad really gets under my skin. IT is the dumbest TV idea ever, even worse that active glasses 3D. Curved screens add NOTHING to the image and only detract from the image. The screen is curved as the market for TVs was saturated and the CEs had to try to convince people they needed to buy a new TV so they made them curved. For decades videophiles like me drooled at the possibility of a flat TV with no geometric distortion. Now we are moving backwards from that reality. It is truly dumb. If you must get a curved TV, get the LG OLED it has a much better picture than the Sammy even though it does have issues with crappy processing and uniformity issues due to the stresses induced by curving the OLED panel. If you need a 78" screen, LG has a 77" OLED which I have seen but it is $25,0000. Even with its issues, it blows away the78 Sammy. It even seems that Sammy is getting back into the OLED TV business. GO with OLED, you will be much happier with it IMHO. I will be going with a FLAT 4K OLED in 2016. Sorry for the rant.

 

[DaveyF]

I'm using one of the older Pioneer Plasma's and I think the black levels are superb....actually on a par with my new 4K Sony.However, the color purity isn't quite on a par with 4k. BUT since the Pioneer is several years old, it is amazing that it can still hold its own. The immersion thing has to do with the size ( Like Joe alludes to)....I was looking at a 70" curved Sammy 4K and it has that down pat....better than my 50" Pioneer.

 

[FrantzM]

Very good question. I am a newbie with the technology but as an observer and reviewer, I experience a far higher degree of immersion and truer colors. During pan shots I feel more a part of the experience and more of the motion. Perhaps it's because our eyes are curved and the world is curved and not flat like before Columbus. I bet it will be the new reference. We will "see".

Joe said it all.. The 720p Pioneer may lose a few things on the Sammy curved display but black levels would not be one of these ... I have not experienced a large OLED yet so will not talk much about them .. A good Plasma such as the last Pionner Elite or the last Panasonic , literally blow any LED out of the water in most parameters related to Picture quality both subjectively and objectively ... Now ..for the curved thing ... Re-read Joe's post

Wow Peter, I could not disagree more. The immersion you are experiencing is due to the size of the screen. Yes 78" is much bigger than a 60 inch screen so that is a factor no doubt. The curved screen adds nothing to the feel of immersion, unless I guess if you are sitting very close to the screen. You will have the same sense of immersion if the screen you had was flat. Movie screens are curved, not for immersion, but due to the fact that the projectors can't throw an image that big that is focused properly on the edges. They have to bring the edges closer to the projector to maintain proper focus. The image captured on motion picture film is FLAT. The same for the image captured by the sensor in a video camera. Do a test and take a picture of a flat screen TV and display it on your curved set. It will look curved not flat. Which is closer to reality? No contest. The Sammy curve really distorts the image and for me, is unwatchable. The Sammys have the steepest curved in the industry and distort the image the most. The LG sets, at least on the OLEDS have a much gentler curve that is not as obnoxious as the Sammys. Plus, the Sammy is a LCD which has poor blacks and is probably edge lit. Don't watch the set in a dark room. While your Pioneer was a fine set, it was a 720p set and did not have the black level or color purity of the later 9G or 9.5G Pioneer sets or the last 2 generations of the Panasonic plasmas which topped out at 65 inches or the Samsung 8500 at 64 inches. I have a 9th generation Kuro which has been tweeked by an expert calibrator who has special software from Pioneer that lowers the blacks to 9.5G levels, almost on par with an OLED. You haven't seen it but I can assure you that is has a stunning picture in a dark room. Deep blacks, and fantastic colors. I wish it was bigger but that will have to wait for an OLED. As for 4K, it is way to early for me to adopt it as the sets available today won't support all the specs of the standard. Maybe in 2 years. Enjoy your set by all means. However, I want no part of any LCD TV or one that is curved. As you can tell, this whole curved TV fad really gets under my skin. IT is the dumbest TV idea ever, even worse that active glasses 3D. Curved screens add NOTHING to the image and only detract from the image. The screen is curved as the market for TVs was saturated and the CEs had to try to convince people they needed to buy a new TV so they made them curved. For decades videophiles like me drooled at the possibility of a flat TV with no geometric distortion. Now we are moving backwards from that reality. It is truly dumb. If you must get a curved TV, get the LG OLED it has a much better picture than the Sammy even though it does have issues with crappy processing and uniformity issues due to the stresses induced by curving the OLED panel. If you need a 78" screen, LG has a 77" OLED which I have seen but it is $25,0000. Even with its issues, it blows away the78 Sammy. It even seems that Sammy is getting back into the OLED TV business. GO with OLED, you will be much happier with it IMHO. I will be going with a FLAT 4K OLED in 2016. Sorry for the rant.

 

[Peter Breuninger]

All I know is what I see and I like. The 27" curved monitor was sitting in a row of other 27s at the store. Both Terry and I knew right away we preferred it. Having now edited a review video and watched two movies on it I can assure you it still amazes us. We watched on Netflix last night the movie about that alpine trek up K2, it was breathtaking.

I also thought it was going to be a gimmick but it really works for us. Perhaps we like it because we are not "videophiles", we just like what we like. I think it's a cool idea but that's just me- the market will decide over time.

 

[Joe Whip]

Too each his own. But I never thought I would ever hear someone with a 60" screen say a movie on a 27" screen amazed them. Enjoy!

 

[Asamel]

My only question is how well you can see the puck?

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

My only question is how well you can see the puck?

I've been asking the Leafs that same question for 48 years! LOLOL!

 

[Joe Whip]

The Flyers are hot on your tails!

 

[TBone]

The Flyers are hot on your tails!

Even as a Leaf fan (hated the Flyers), I greatly admired Bobby. Big hockey fan, love the playoffs no matter what team (although the Blackhawks are my current fav).

Haven't watched the Leafs since Pat Quinn ... but I have no doubt that the hiring of the brilliant and superbly connected Brendan Shanahan will change everything ...

As for the 4K 78 inch Samsung, not even close to the best HDTV I've witnessed.

Hell, it's not even the best Samsung, the 1080p based Plasma 8500 is considerably better.

I luv the Kuro and Pioneer plasma's, but I like the LG OLED 1080p HDTV even better.

Not a big fan of flawed LCD technology, poor backlighting w/obvious black inconsistencies are standard fair, even at the highest price levels. That said, I'm on my third LCD HDTV, a 70' Sharp ... calibrated to achieve more accurate colors/details past 235, rather than the typical clipped hi-contrast settings most calibrators seem to prefer. I do enjoy it, I was lucky enough to have Sharp deliver this TV direct from factory to my living room, crated in a box the size of a small room. You'd be surprised how easily LCD can deteriorate due to bad transport, they are very delicate devices.. This Sharp compares favorably with my friends Samsung plasma's (two, both older versions) and the even more expensive 240hz Sharp LCD.

However, I'll have higher expectations with my next TV ... most likely LG OLED.

 

[Joe Whip]

My next TV will be an OLED as well. Just not this year or maybe next as I want ALL the 4K advancements implemented before I will consider a 4K set. All OLEDS will be 4K by then. You won't be able to buy a 1080p OLED in a year or two. For now, I will be keeping my Kuro with its D-Nice tweaked blacks, excellent contrast and color. In many ways it is superior to any of the LG OLEDs I have seen and I have seen them all. It is surprising how black my blacks are now after DeWayne's calibration, damn close to the OLEDs and in some ways better, as the set comes out of black much better than the LG OLEDs with better shadow detail. MY only wish was that it was bigger. I would like to see LG add a 70" to their OLED line up but that will never happen as it generates too much waste so we will have to stick with 77" at insane prices and 65".

 

[TBone]

My problem with the 4K's I've had a chance to witness, so far; the additional 1080p processing produces more motion artifacts compared to a good native 1080p set. Otherwise, those static 4K demo's w/sunsets and beautiful landscapes look awesome ...

 

[Joe Whip]

That may be true, but the industry is phasing out 1080p sets in favor of 4K sets, at least at the top tier. If you want one of the better sets in a year or 2, you will have no choice. Just like the transition from 720p sets to 1080p back in the old days. I always have to laugh when the set reviewers rave that 1080p looks better upscaled on a 4K set than on a native 1080p. Not to these eyes.

 

[TBone]

true, the same can be said for the number wars, 120hz, 240, 480 ... reviewers claimed superior performance with every jump. Yeah, let's introduce even more weird motion artifacts, plus all that extra frames/processing un-synchs the audio stream more & more from the picture content. Most of these 240+ LEDs, plus the current calibration trend of clipping colors at 235 for highest potential contrast ratio's, causes me much eye/ear fatigue.