I hate my new oled tv. but my plasma is dying. what to do?

I'm not looking forward to replacing my 42" Plasma. The wife is asking when we'll get a bigger set and 4K. I'd rather have a great picture.
As far as the previous posts, yes the default settings on most sets are awful. Yes most TVs are worth replacing caps and redoing solder joints once.
Well since we got a flat screen thing going!I get to ask! AFAIK the Plasma's have a better picture than the LED TV's. I have seen only one "Plasma" many years and it was on the "Golf Channel" (not my thing) but as it happened, looking at the grass ... growing?? (LOL I had to add that) was pretty cool! It was like you were there ...hmm my worst nightmare!

But you can't sell a "Plasma" new, for well next to nothing! Do you think it is worth trying to pick one up for cheap or even free??? They are on CL, cause they are kinda on the heavy side. They are all getting old these but I have seen some with low hours on them. Are they worth bothering with???
 
Used to have a Panasonic 55" plasma tv - lost it in the divorce. Lol! Was at ex's house recently, picking up my kids, and when I walked by the TV I could feel the heat coming off of it. WOW!! Heavy and hot (TV not the ex) - I'll stick with LED. To the OP, while I agree the plasma's motion is better than LED, you'll get used to it and not even notice. I think you'll like the newer technology better.
 
Wasn't all that happy with my Samsung, but I stopped by AVSforum and took some advice from the gurus on settings. You can usually find an exact match for your set, and someone who's gone thru all the work to get it right using real test equipment. I was constantly fiddling with it and missing it by THAT much, but haven't felt a need to do any tweaking since.

If you find something that works DO save a copy of the settings and keep it with your manual. They can be kinda hard to find again later on.
 
Have you tried the settings used by these guys? https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/b8-oled/settings#hdr main page https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/b8-oled
I have 2 functioning plamas and a spare that only has a few hundred hours on it for when one of my others need replacing. LCD and Oled may have sharper stagnant pictures but the problem is I like moving images when I watch TV. What is wrong with your current plasma, may just need a few capacitors replaced or cleaning and reseating of ribbon cables.
I will give those setting a try in the near future. My plasma is getting a rash of slightly darker spots,I believe it is the adhesive that holds the screen together.
 
I'm an audiophile but never was too picky about video. I could usually adjust the screen to good enough for me and forget it. My 10year old plasma is literally coming unglued. So I bought a lg 55b8 oled 4k set. The tv got great reviews but the color is terrible and movement is either vampire like or jerky. Hours of adjusting helped slightly. I even gave up and just copied settings from youtube! The picture is unacceptable. How can a new tv be this bad?
I have their 65" OLED.. the LG, and couldn't be happier. Absolutely excellent picture in every way. It replaced a Pioneer 50" plasma which I always thought had a better picture than any LED I've seen but this OLED is decidedly better, and it upscales a VHS tape much better than I would have thought, which involves more than the display of course, but still. I have to think there is something wrong with the unit you have, a malfunction. A standard Blu ray is of course very good but a 4K is like looking out a window. Something is wrong somewhere... if they, the lot of them, were as bad you report they couldn't sell them, no body would buy or keep them.
 
I would first try these suggestions on your TV from rtings.com for motion issues. 'Real Cinema' was left to 'On', as this will help 24p movies will be displayed at the correct cadence and should not affect negatively any other content (60p/60i). 'TruMotion' setting was left off, since we did not want to add any motion interpolation (soap opera effect). Both those last settings relate to the 24p playback and you can read here to know more about those options.'
I used there suggestions on my small 32" bedroom tv and it improved picture quit a bit.
 
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I would first try these suggestions on your TV from rtings.com for motion issues. 'Real Cinema' was left to 'On', as this will help 24p movies will be displayed at the correct cadence and should not affect negatively any other content (60p/60i). 'TruMotion' setting was left off, since we did not want to add any motion interpolation (soap opera effect). Both those last settings relate to the 24p playback and you can read here to know more about those options.'
I used there suggestions on my small 32" bedroom tv and it improved picture quit a bit.
I think this is the solution that I was thinking of ..
 
I'm going to track down a plasma tv that's in good shape. This oled set has turned me away from lcd's.
 
I have a 10 year old 46" Samsung LCD 1080P HDTV that I had the picture professionally calibrated. The result is nothing short of amazing. Every detail and color is bang on. Not overblown like on the showroom floor.

My new 65" Samsung Premium 4K UHD TV also produces an outstanding picture after some fine tuning. Even it's 40w 2.1 sound is much better than most TV's this size.

IMO if you cannot get the same outstanding picture my friend gets on his 65" LG OLED TV, then either the TV is defective, or is not properly adjusted. All it takes is having one setting incorrect to effect the picture.
 
Can the OP inform us who don't follow him of what plasma he currently has and the model OLED that he bought to replace it?

I have three Panasonic Plasmas from 2009 or so, two bought new, and one purchased used, all from the TC50 and TC54 Viera series of 1080P plasmas sold through Costco (from $999 to $1299 back in 2009). One 50" has been in literally continuous service since 2009 about average 8-10 hours per day in our family room for my handicapped daughter via DirecTV DVR and the other 54" models are in our living room and Master BR suite. Picture is still very good and yes, they all put out about 250-300W of heat per kwh as most plasma panel did/do. All remain stand mounted although I have tilt stands for all of them in storage. IMO, the cooling via the regular stand helps to keep the plasma panels ventilated well which is important for the power supplies to stay healthy. The power consumption has been mitigated somewhat by replacing all CFL and incandescent lighting with energy efficient LED lighting in the house.

While I have considered changing out to the newest LED or OLED display panels because of perceived improvements in picture quality, much lower power consumption, or significantly reduced prices for newer panels, I'm quite concerned about Samsung and LG panel longevity and overall service capability - IMO, I've read of a lot of difficulty with those manufacturers and overall service and warranty quality - however, that may not be the norm for many of you and I'm happy to hear of many folks who have had good luck with the OLED TV's they have bought. Like some audio products, I tend to gravitate and stay with what works for me, and the Panasonic Plasma TV's I've had have given me very good service life over 10 years of relatively hard work. One of the 54" models was picked up used with only about 2000 hours on the panel and has performed well in my LR for YouTube and Netflix viewing. I still like Sports on Plasma panels. When I see OLEDs displayed in stores, they look way over saturated and IMO, very unnatural, sort of like how Far Eastern Audio has a different frequency balance in the past.

I've been able to find used Panasonic Plasma TVs from 42-50-55" of the same vintage on CL here in OC for $40-200 or so complete with remotes and/or stands. IMO, if they have survived this long, they probably will continue to do so if not abused or already have screen problems. They are not particularly difficult to move around or transport if you have the correct vehicle (I have two minivans so very easy to put one rear seat down and slide it right in and secure.) There are also kits from various suppliers to recap the power supplies, replace whole boards or subsystems, and/or troubleshoot the units if necessary although for some, it may not be worth the time or money since another used unit is not particularly hard to source. In fact, there are currently 6-8 nice candidates in the 42-55" range on OC CL right now (I don't tend to look at any of the TH- series or those without tuners or only 2 HDMI input sources) for not a lot of money. Panasonic maintains very nice webpages on their previous Plasma models complete with online manuals and model numbers of remotes. Remotes can be had from Ebay or even the local Goodwill electronics outlet here in Santa Ana sometimes.

While plasma is now an obsolete technology from a current consumer and manufacturer standpoint, they still offer a very good picture and functionality if properly care for, calibrated, and used. Certainly there were problematic models from Panasonic and Samsung over the past 10-15 years before they were phased out and discontinued for the LED/LCD onslaught, but most all of those have already met their e-waste fate. In fact, I've already gone through 4 DirecTV receivers or DVRs in my plasma operational lifetimes.

panasonic-viera-tc.jpg
00101_aiZrrtIACPO_1200x900.jpg
 
Can the OP inform us who don't follow him of what plasma he currently has and the model OLED that he bought to replace it?

I have three Panasonic Plasmas from 2009 or so, two bought new, and one purchased used, all from the TC50 and TC54 Viera series of 1080P plasmas sold through Costco (from $999 to $1299 back in 2009). One 50" has been in literally continuous service since 2009 about average 8-10 hours per day in our family room for my handicapped daughter via DirecTV DVR and the other 54" models are in our living room and Master BR suite. Picture is still very good and yes, they all put out about 250-300W of heat per kwh as most plasma panel did/do. All remain stand mounted although I have tilt stands for all of them in storage. IMO, the cooling via the regular stand helps to keep the plasma panels ventilated well which is important for the power supplies to stay healthy. The power consumption has been mitigated somewhat by replacing all CFL and incandescent lighting with energy efficient LED lighting in the house.

While I have considered changing out to the newest LED or OLED display panels because of perceived improvements in picture quality, much lower power consumption, or significantly reduced prices for newer panels, I'm quite concerned about Samsung and LG panel longevity and overall service capability - IMO, I've read of a lot of difficulty with those manufacturers and overall service and warranty quality - however, that may not be the norm for many of you and I'm happy to hear of many folks who have had good luck with the OLED TV's they have bought. Like some audio products, I tend to gravitate and stay with what works for me, and the Panasonic Plasma TV's I've had have given me very good service life over 10 years of relatively hard work. One of the 54" models was picked up used with only about 2000 hours on the panel and has performed well in my LR for YouTube and Netflix viewing. I still like Sports on Plasma panels. When I see OLEDs displayed in stores, they look way over saturated and IMO, very unnatural, sort of like how Far Eastern Audio has a different frequency balance in the past.

I've been able to find used Panasonic Plasma TVs from 42-50-55" of the same vintage on CL here in OC for $40-200 or so complete with remotes and/or stands. IMO, if they have survived this long, they probably will continue to do so if not abused or already have screen problems. They are not particularly difficult to move around or transport if you have the correct vehicle (I have two minivans so very easy to put one rear seat down and slide it right in and secure.) There are also kits from various suppliers to recap the power supplies, replace whole boards or subsystems, and/or troubleshoot the units if necessary although for some, it may not be worth the time or money since another used unit is not particularly hard to source. In fact, there are currently 6-8 nice candidates in the 42-55" range on OC CL right now (I don't tend to look at any of the TH- series or those without tuners or only 2 HDMI input sources) for not a lot of money. Panasonic maintains very nice webpages on their previous Plasma models complete with online manuals and model numbers of remotes. Remotes can be had from Ebay or even the local Goodwill electronics outlet here in Santa Ana sometimes.

While plasma is now an obsolete technology from a current consumer and manufacturer standpoint, they still offer a very good picture and functionality if properly care for, calibrated, and used. Certainly there were problematic models from Panasonic and Samsung over the past 10-15 years before they were phased out and discontinued for the LED/LCD onslaught, but most all of those have already met their e-waste fate. In fact, I've already gone through 4 DirecTV receivers or DVRs in my plasma operational lifetimes.

panasonic-viera-tc.jpg
00101_aiZrrtIACPO_1200x900.jpg


We bought a 55" Panasonic Viera series plasma tv from Costco right around that time period, it sold for $1299 as I recall, and was the best price you could find for a quality plasma. Think this was right around 2008. We use the TV fr just movie and Netflix viewing, the kids never hooked games up to it, and it was not on all day playing a news channel or anything like that. Picture is still great, doesn't seem to run terribly warm, and have no issues with it. It is stand mounted on a TV stand, so ventilation is not an issue. We tend to keep TV's till they die, and are not heavy users, so this one could be around for a long time.

Friend of mine has a 50 inch LG Oled that has been professionally calibrated. Picture is great, the contrasts seem superior to me than our plasma, I would have no issue owning it at all. Except the wife would not be in the market for a TV upgrade until ours dies, and as well built as the Panasonic is, that is going to be quite awhile it seems.

Cheers
Mister Pig
 
I'm going to track down a plasma tv that's in good shape. This oled set has turned me away from lcd's.
OLED and LCD are not the same. LCD uses a backlight, OLED is self illuminating as are the phosphors on a plasma set.
 
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4K is nice but it's not the end all and be all

Since it seems you're in the market for a new TV, you should read this. I wish I had two years ago when I went 4k.

https://www.businessinsider.com/4k-...rence-2016-8#in-short-hdr-is-the-real-deal-18

I read it before buying my new 65" Samsung premium 4K UHD HDR TV 2 months ago. It doesn't change anything as I was looking for a New 65" TV and they are all 4K here in Canada by law.

What it does mean is I will not pay extra for a 4K Blu-ray disc, and have no interest in 4K Blu-ray Players as my Sony 1080p Blu-ray player does an outstanding job with DVD's too. And my cable provider has no plans for 4K material in the near future.

The 4K concept is 90% marketing IMO. It seems our government overseers didn't due enough research, or where otherwise influenced to make 4K mandatory.
 
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Netflix and Amazon Prime are starting to have 4K content which is why my parents wound up getting such a tv (though not OLEd since those were not as prevalent at that time). I do not complain as I got their old tv which was a nice upgrade for what we had.
 
So, all this hullabaloo for the "4K" is just that with the "HDR" the main feature one looks for? Interesting.

Did a read awhile back with extensive testing, wherein LG vs Samsung took place with both coming close to a tie, each having their respective strengths/weaknesses. Was interesting to see that the results between the two contenders were pretty close, except in the end prices. The Sony was also mentioned, as they are apparently watching the other two duke it out, while in the wings, making refinements to their own UHD format. I remember the writer indicating not to give up on Sony, as they often come back when least expected with the unexpected, taking the middle road.

Guess I'll just sit here with my 283 1/2 lb Hitachi rear gun, with the 1080i DIV and analogue three pin, and wait till the dust settles in this TV scrabble... the behemoth is like the proverbial rabbit. Then, there's always Vizio who quietly goes along selling the less expensive; that I just might look at.

Q
 
That’s one thing bad about pursuing the latest greatest updates in technology, assembly line inefficiency. That’s why I only buy Sylvania televisions.....
 
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