42X3030DB Review… & PS50Q97HD

Samsung PS50Q97HDX

Haha, was doing some layout changes to the completed Toshiba 42X3030D review before releasing it but someone guessed the URL, so kudos to the person. :) We took our time with this as we explored its colour management system in depth to do it full justice.

Also, I know this is a bit late, but we managed to get our hands on a Samsung PS50Q97HD 50″ plasma TV as of yesterday, so we’ll begin our array of tests to see if it can give Samsung its third consecutive “Recommended” award from us…

22 comments

  1. Thanx guys that you took my guess not too personal ;)
    You gave the 42X3030D a fair treatment.

    I’m looking forward to guess your next steps ….

    Cheers,
    Ron

  2. Haha…no problem. It wasn’t there 2 days ago.

  3. How long before ./Toshiba-42X3030D-Settings/ goes live? ;)

  4. Please can you advise me which is the best buy out of the following? I will mainly be using PS3 and Sky HD Sports

    Sharp LC42XD1E or Toshiba-42X3030D although the sharp was given a good review, it did not have the recommended approval stamp from yourselves???

    Or is it worth me waiting for a review of the PHILIPS 42PFL7662D/05 ( i cannot find a review anywhere!!) as it has a 100HZ Processor? and is 1080p??

    Thanks, and great reviews! i using this site to make my choice

  5. Hello Vincent,

    I´d like to ask you, if the Samsung PS50Q97HD is able to display 576i signal, which is led through the HDMI cabel? Samsung says, that this plazma is able to display just 575p, 720p and 1080i signal through HDMI, but I want to watch the 576i signal led through HDMI from my HDTV satellite receiver too.

    Sorry for my bad english,

    thank you very much for your answer,

    Pavel

  6. Oh my god Paul! I was gonna order the X3030 tonight, but now you’ve showed me the 42PFL7662D :D and I’m back to “Can’t decide”.. ;)

    There’s absolutely no info what so ever on the 42PFL7662D out there. I wonder why that is?

  7. Here is the first part of the PS50Q97HDX review:

    http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Samsung-PS50Q97HDX

    Great work guys.

  8. If anybody was interested i took delivery teusday 22nd may of the PS42Q97HD 42 inch version and a Samsung HD870 upscaling dvd player, the picture quality was unbelievable and SD picture was superp as well and that was without any tweeking of the controls, i will leave it a few weeks before i start fiddling or i might try using the settings results for the 50 inch version first,,, keep up the good work you Guys

  9. Are you still going to post the Settings of the X3030?

  10. Hi!

    I’m so close to buying the toshiba set :) but I was wondering… now that the PS3 can output a 24p signal, does anyone have tested this new feature on the 42x3030d ? Is it working properly ?

    thx a lot guys !

  11. I saw the 42PFL7662D/05 in Comet in Edinburgh yesterday, and it was just amazing. There is no words I can really use to describe the picture quality.

    This screen by philips made all the other screens look utterly terrible: it was just that good. The brightness, contrast and colour was hard to believe. My eyes felt like they were having an orgasm.

    I looked at a 50 inch Pioneer plasma, then laughed at how terrible the picture was. It looked like a bad recording. The Philips looks like real life, 3D, or like looking through a window. Even the Comet worker agreed it was the only tv there worth buying.

    Even the other Philips screens, such as the 50 inch Ambilight, or their 37 inch LCD’s looked dark and pretty bad compared to this new one.

    Philips are now outselling Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba in this store! It is a 100hz screen, with 1920x1080p resolution. Give it an HDMI cable and prepare for your retinas for a major overload.

    The assistant then told me the source was an old badly-recorded Discovery HD feed from a Philips Hard Disk demonstrator. He said to me “if a bad source is that good, imagine Sky HD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD or even upscaling dvd via hdmi”. He had a good point.

    I spoke to him about the price of £1300. I then went online and found it for £1100 with a 3yr manufacturer warranty from Lamda-Tek.

    http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop/index.pl?origin=gbase2.1&prodID=1381282

  12. I totally agree with Peter saying on the PHILIPS 42PFL7662D/05. I saw this TV in demo in comet in slough and it was totally amazing. I was a close shot between this and the toshiba, but the philips blew it away.
    I have found it online for £999 laskys, alot cheapers than comets £1299. I also found john lewis sell it for £1199 with 5 year warrenty and free delivery, comet wanted £349 EXTRA! for the warrenty. Thanks for the viewing comet but no thanks on the deal.

  13. Hi Richard Smith,

    Glad to hear somebody agrees with me on what an excellent screen it is. I was, at the time, so blown away I forgot about the entire issue of price to be honest.

    Comet sell it instore for £1299, Comet Online £1199, Empire Direct are £1099.

    However, I recently found Pixmania.co.uk who are selling it for £933.08 (inc vat!!!)(plus £16 for delivery). I seriously doubt anyone will beat that price.

    http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/570682/art/philips/42pfl7662d-lcd-television.html

  14. The Philips 42PFL7662D/05 really does look good but, along with a lot of you, I’m finding it hard to find any reviews. If anyone knows of any, it would be great to hear from you! In the meantime, Amazon are offering it for £939 including P+P and there’s a number of places advertising less than £950.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Q66KD4/ciaouk-ce-21/ref=nosim

  15. I went back to Comet a week ago, and found they had lots of new Samsung, Philips, Sony and Toshiba 1080p sets in.

    Still, the 42PFL7662D/05 blows everything else out of the water!

  16. what does this internet slot mean, are you inferring that these guys are just trying to sell Philips for some commercial gain? Don’t know this terminology please reply

  17. Hi Gordon, those were just some spammers bombarding this website, I’ve deleted their posts.

  18. Hi guys, Can anyone give out the calibrated picture settings for the samsung PS50Q97HD as i am having some trouble setting mine up, thanks!

  19. It should be noted that the 42X3030D is NOT the same beast as the 42X3030DB. Clearly Toshiba listened to criticisms and have increased the contrast on the later model to 6000:1 as opposed to the original 1600:1 however most reviews are of the earlier model but quote the current model’s specifications. That is not right.

    The 42X3030DB is a relatively budget TV compared with some of the higher spec models but seems to get a ‘recommended’ by default on the basis that although flawed, it is less flawed than the cometition at the same price bracket.

    The slightly smaller Sony KDL-40D3500 (Full HD, 40″ not 42″) can currently be tracked down at almost the same price (£721 incl VAT but plus deliv) and is worthy of consideration too, and will subjectively out-perform the competition at the size & price.

  20. Hi Vincent

    im going to be buying a new TV in the next 4 weeks, i want a 37″ 40″ or a 42″ for my bedroom
    i cannot decide on which to get, plasma or LCD?
    i dont watch sports at all, i watch a few movies and lots of music concert dvds….
    i have a budget of no more than £800

    can you help me with your expert knowledge my friend?
    it has to have 1080p, or is this not needed?

    Wayne Harris
    Oxfordshire

  21. Well i’ve just been into comet and the 42PFL7662D/05 is one of the worst displays i’ve seen. Shops rarely set the display up correctly but this was awful and it was being fed with a HD input.

    Peter says “The assistant then told me the source was an old badly-recorded Discovery HD feed from a Philips Hard Disk demonstrator. He said to me “if a bad source is that good, imagine Sky HD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD or even upscaling dvd via hdmi”. He had a good point.”

    Badly recorded discovery HD? How could it be badly recorded. What a load of c**p!!

    Pioneer panels are the best out there hence the price. But you need to buy what you can afford and what suits you. Never go on how it looks in the store as the picture will look totally different when you get home. Dont be sold on big sales or discounts. Think why is it reduced? If it’s so great why are they selling them cheap?

    Use your common sense, shop around and do your homework!