Plasma or LCD

[lincolndog]

I am totally confused. Thought I wanted LCD but some great prices out there for plasma. TV basically use going to be used mainly for PS3 and normal viewing. Any suggestions??

Thanks

[len_mullen]

No question for me -- at any given price point, plasma looks better. Especially for sports. If you are going to put your tv in a brightly lit room or where it will get light from windows, you will need to angle it down a bit to avoid reflections on the glass screen.

 

Good info here...

 

http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=8_nuC&m=1jNCsR6HuXQTuH&b=Q4ubsboseIKf_eWFTnsFmw

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6792632-1.html?tag=rb_content;rb_mtx

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6844370-1.html?tag=rb_content;rb_mtx

http://reviews.cnet.com/720p-vs-1080p-hdtv/?tag=rb_content;rb_mtx

http://www.daniele.ch/school/30vs60/30vs60_1.html

 

http://www.consumersearch.com/plasma-tv

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

 

Your eyes matter more than other people's opinions. Best thing to do is spend some time in front of sets. Start by measuring the distance from your viewing area to where the set will be. That matters because if you are sitting six feet back from a 42" tv, you will be hard pressed to distinguish 720p from 1080p (http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg212/hondar_2008/resolution_chart.jpg). Visit a few stores. My Walmart feeds s-video to their HDTVs, so the picture is not so good to begin with. Try to see a lot of programming. A blu-ray disc of dolphins frolicking is going to look good on all sets. High motion (sports) will challenge a lot of expensive TVs.

 

Most of the differences (price, image retention, picture quality) between lcd and plasma right now are slim.

 

- LCD will look better in a bright room (plasma is glass/reflective)

- LCD uses less electricity

- Plasma is better for motion

- Plasma looks better in a dark room (deeper blacks, richer colors)

- Plasma looks better from wide angles (when you are off to the side of the set or looking down on one)

 

There is more variation between brands than technologies. Most rate Pioneer and Sony plasmas at the top, but Samsung and Panasonic are right there for a fraction of the cost.

 

I have a 50 inch Samsung 720p plasma and I like it a lot.

 

BTW, there is a lot of information on this in the dedicated HDTV thread.

Edited November 23, 2008 by len_mullen

[allshoppedout]

Thanks, I am passing this info on to my sister who is trying to decide what to get on BF.

Len you really need to put TV expert under your name there, instead of just member...

[lincolndog]

Thank you for such great info.

[len_mullen]

Thanks, I am passing this info on to my sister who is trying to decide what to get on BF.

Len you really need to put TV expert under your name there, instead of just member...

Thank you for the kind words, but I'm no expert. I just happen to have purchased a HDTV and I'm just passing on what I discovered. I knew nothing when I started shopping and, by next BF, I'll be in the dark again. Glad I was able to help.

[DaleOSU#1]

Don't forget the heat generated by a plasma. I live in Florida and I had to buy a fan to help control the heat output from my 50" plasma. LCD is much cooler to operate.

[bluebearyh]

When we bought our tv from walmart a couple of weeks ago, the electronics manager told us that plasmas are affected by altitude above 4500 feet. We live at 5500 feet, so that was the deciding factor for us to go with LCD.

[annelay6]

also depends on how much time your going to be playing your ps3 or ifyou watch alot of espn any channel where something stays on the screen like at the bottom alot we bought our samsung a little over a year and everything i read said these things can stay like burnt into well my husband does both a whole lot so we went with the 1080p projection samsung youll have to replace the bulb every few years but the plasma or lcd can be just as much as buying a new one to fix it the bulbs are 150 and our tv only weighs i think 60 lbs

[mandygotdeal]

I have owned both def go with the LCD

[len_mullen]

Altitude and heat are definitely issues. Not so much as you think, though. My Samsung is designed to operate at altitudes under 6500 feet. Pioneer sets are designed to operate to 7500 feet. If you live at or below 6000 feet, altitude is not an issue. I'm 'breaking in' my set in a spare bedroom we refer to as Santa's Workshop. With the 50 inch TV playing the break-in DVD (which rotates solid screens of colors continuously), a 1200w home theater running, and all doors and windows closed, the room got noticeably warmer. In the same room, watching TV, I don't notice any temperature change. Next time I watch tv in there, I'll take a thermometer in with me.

 

Burn-in is less of an issue. Samsung says my set needs no break-in at all. I did experience some image retention when I left a DVD on the menu for several hours, but I was able to remedy this with the problem using the All-White function for a few minutes. Samsung says this can happen after viewing a static image for more than two hours. So far, using the PS3 has not caused retention (I use the pixel-shift function and set brightness/contrast to recommended levels). I'm more concerned about channels that do not use the full screen and run all programming full screen. Image retention is an issue with LCDs and even CRTs, though, so don't get too wrapped up in all that.

 

Happy TV shopping!

Edited November 24, 2008 by len_mullen