Simple Question - Plasma or LCD
polycounter lvl 11
I'm in the market for a new tv. My old one is about 8 years old it's a GIANT 40 inch CRT. The thing is like 2 feet deep and weighs a million pounds.
I'm not looking to break the bank, but now is a pretty decent time to buy a tv as the prices seem to still be dropping. 40-48 inch tv's run about 999 in Canada which is about my budget. I might even cross into Buffalo if I can save THAT much on a tv.
But the question is do I go for Plasma or an LCD or any other types. I'm pretty new to flatscreens and really don't know the advantages or disadvantages of either.
The TV is primarily for Movies/Sports/Xbox (in that order).
Any suggestions?
edit: While we're at it anyone particular with a certain brand? I'm looking at an Aquos (which is Sharp). But I've also always been a fan of Panasonic. Not the biggest Sony fan though.
I'm not looking to break the bank, but now is a pretty decent time to buy a tv as the prices seem to still be dropping. 40-48 inch tv's run about 999 in Canada which is about my budget. I might even cross into Buffalo if I can save THAT much on a tv.
But the question is do I go for Plasma or an LCD or any other types. I'm pretty new to flatscreens and really don't know the advantages or disadvantages of either.
The TV is primarily for Movies/Sports/Xbox (in that order).
Any suggestions?
edit: While we're at it anyone particular with a certain brand? I'm looking at an Aquos (which is Sharp). But I've also always been a fan of Panasonic. Not the biggest Sony fan though.
Replies
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/
ive done alot of research on forums,
posting 2 links above i use,
went into store and looked at lcd and plasma both,
asked around alot on people who own them both,
ive heard sports games look better on plasma,
for gaming plasma doesnt lag what ive been told and lcd does sometimes,
dont let plasma burn in scare you away,
the new one have a white wash to fix the burn in if it happens,
after looking at both i think plasma has more true colors,
every one has there own opinion,
here are 2 plasma im looking at getting soon,
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015PFUO0/ref=s9_sims_c4_s2_p23_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0AJZYXPPADTCTTSQ54SK&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383411&pf_rd_i=507846[/ame]
Samsung PN50A650
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Viera-TH-50PZ85U-1080p-Plasma/dp/B00142MUEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233264854&sr=1-1[/ame]
Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ85U 50" 1080p Plasma HDTV
ive looked at both plasma listed above and they look the same on picture quality etc,
just waiting for the price to come down little more to buy the cheaper one,
maybe this link will help as well LCD vs. Plasma,
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-MbZgQVcyjP9/learn/learningcenter/home/tv_flatpanel.html
hope this helps some,
Thanks,
I game on two of them (52" and 46") and I don't notice any lagging. I'm sure if I were paying attention, I might be able to see bits of motion blur, but in all reality, when you're playing, you don't notice anything.
In all reality, plasma is probably a better product for picture, but there are so many negative things that I hear about plasma, that I honestly have little confidence in buying one. IMO, there wasn't enough of an image difference to make me willing to deal with any plasma related issues down the road.
I actually heard word that Europe may ban Plasmas... can anyone from Europe confirm this?
My recommendation... go to the store and look at the TVs. Make sure you stand back from the TV the same distance that you'll be viewing it at. Some look crappier close up, but great from 12ft away.
I recommend staying focused on Sharp, Pioneer, or Sony. Sharp is usually the most affordable though. Also, make sure to look at reviews at http://www.cnet.com
Then again, i still have an old monitor that is frying my brain by shooting electrons at me.
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/TVs_And_Large_Display/Industry/F4B3J3M5
i guess we'll see
lol... lcd burns pixels too you know.
facts about both to be considdered:
LCD displays colour via a backlight, which means black is never truly black, because it's lit.
Plasma displays colour by reflecting light along with a backlight through a gas, and can achieve a better contrast because of it.
LCD has a lifespan of 70,000 hours, or there abouts. which is about 38 years of 5 hours a day, every day of the year viewing.
Plasma has around 30,000 hours lifespan, or about 16 years.
LCD is lighter, and if you're going for wall mounting, the bracket will be cheaper... though if you want a good one, price shouldn't be an option there anyway.
Viewing angles on Plasma tend to be better because of how they display colour.
finally, try not to trust the in-store readings of contrast ratios, they are HIGHLY inflated.
best piece of advice i can give is find a set which is asthetically pleasing, but make sure it's one of the big brands. a lot of manufacturers source their materials from each other, very few make their own gear exclusively.
example: samsung sell their LCD panels to LG, Sony, and other lesser known names. while LG and Sony use their own chipsets for the actual display (sony tend to look better because of this).
Philips sell audio parts to other brands, but buy in their screens.
Pioneer, and Panasonic manufacture all their parts exclusively. and are shit hot when it comes to Plasma technology.
if you want to use it as a pc screen at any time, make sure you find out the native resolution.
I never recommend plasmas to anyone that plays video games or plans on using the tv as a giant monitor. The screen can burn pixels in the screen. LCDs can do this as well but it takes way longer for it to go down. Also, Plasma tvs run off a gas that is similar to neon and will slowly lose color saturation as well as brightness over time. I like LCD way better.
uhhh might want to actually research that, instead of quoting a busted myth spread by people claiming they could "re-gas" your plasma screen at a meager fee.
This is the tv that I ordered. Work has a couple of them and they're very nice.
I've got a 37" 720p sharp aquos. Aquos' have by far the best image quality i've seen on any tv. Gauss has the 46" 1080 model, and holy fuck is that beast huge and awesome. If you want quality picture, viewing angle, contrast, good blacks, etc check out the aquos line.
edit: boo samsung! My old roomate samsung for about a year before i got my aquos, and the aquos was superior in every regard. But i haven't seen those new ones, are they really that good?
Again though, these are reasons I didn't have much confidence in buying a plasma. Hell, look at most stores (at least in this area), and they hardly carry any plasmas (if at all).
The lifespan and burn in where issues for me. A plasma I looked at in the store actually had a little bit of burn in going. Two where sitting side by side, and you could tell which one was newer. Sure they leave them on all the time but still you have to figure that the lifespan of a typical TV vs how long its been sitting in the store? Thats a pretty short time to suffer from some burn in...
My wife stays home M-F with our daughter and the TV is on most of the day. It doesn't get a break when I'm home with her on the weekends either. So we'd probably actually burn out a plasma. For something we use so much we had to be sure it would last. Our last TV made it 12years before being replaced.
Plasma has a truer black, lcd can get close to black, but not completely black.
We have 3 lcd tvs in the house, my brother has a 20" samsung... very nice, 720p, crisp, excellent contrast.
My sharp aquos 32" 720p/1080i I love this tv, very nice contrast ratio, though not as good as the same sized samsung, but I felt the picture quality was better over the samsung, ymmv.
a 40" samsung 720p/1080i very nice picture, contrast and brightness, though we haven't subscribed to HDTV yet, we're enjoying our consoles on it, and I'm enjoying a few downloaded anime at 720p.
If you decide you want 1080p, I think only blueray supports it completely, so you'd have to get a bluray player and hdmi cables (get them off ebay, don't pay the ridiculous prices)
Also depending on your viewing distance and screen size, 1080p might not make a whole lot of difference. Generally the closer you get to the tv and the bigger the screen, the more you notice on 1080p.
When you go shopping, measure your viewing distance in the room you want to put the tv in and then try to compare the screens at the same distance.
There's also someplace that lists all the hardware manufacturers everybody is using...
samsung makes stuff for sony
sharp is sharp
LG is phillips
and the rest I don't know about.
If I get 1080p do I HAVE to have all the HD cables and such? Currently I'm not too worried about blu-ray. Eventually I'll get a ps3 and convert my collection but for now I'm all 360 + regular dvd's.
I've read quite a bit of good things on the Samsungs and my friend has a Sharp Aquos that is awesome so I'll likely be going with 1 of those two brands.
The weight and such is less likely of an issue. I'm in between residences now so I'm not looking to punch holes in the walls of this place and hang a tv (yet).
Plasma:
Pros:
Better colors
Better black levels
SD Content typically looks better
Cons:
Energy usage
Burn in
Heavy
LCD:
Pros:
Lighter
At the same price point of the Plasma, typically has a higher resolution
No burn in
Less energy usage
Cons:
Dull colors
Blacks are actually dark gray
SD content looks worse than plasma (typically)
Summary:
After owning several types of TVs and helping many friends make similar purchases, I can say that Plasma has a nicer picture. Even if you have the choice of a 720p Plasma vs a 1080p LCD, I would go with a Plasma any day. The contrast and colors blow away an LCD and there's a much, much higher chance that you'll notice poor colors and blacks before you'll notice the difference between 720p and 1080p, especially if you're not close to your TV.
I will say, however, that burn in IS a huge pain in the ass. I've owned two Plasmas and burn in has been in issue on both. The burn in I experience always goes away after watching something else for a while, but sometimes it's a pain in the ass to see life bars while watching a movie right after I get done playing Street Fighter HD Remix. Also, sometimes the burn is a bit worse and I have to use this thing built into my TV that displays a scrolling white image to get rid of it. Extremely bad burn in takes a few hours while moderate only takes about an hour. It's definitely something to consider if you plan on using it for computer output, but it's not really an issue with many games.
To me, I can put up with burn in because the image is so much sexier on a Plasma, but if you're not a big movie guy and you like to watch news all day, go with LCD. If you like the best quality and you can deal with some issues to get it, go with Plasma.
Oh, and I've read that the 360 will upconvert your DVDs after one of the recent software updates. I haven't tried it yet, but my upconverting makes my DVDs look great at 1080i.
I think the component cables only get you to 1080i, not p, but you probably won't know the difference.
A forewarning though, stretched regular broadcast looked like crap to me initially, then I adjusted to it pretty quickly. Now I use AT&T's uverse HD and it looks pretty damn sweet. Also remember, there is HD broadcasted over the air. It has a limited range, so you'll have to check your area... especially in Canada. I'm not sure if they've been updating their broadcasts. The US is requiring the change, and most broadcasters have already changed.
Personally, I think they know plasma is going to fail in the market, thus the lower prices. It is cheaper, but at these prices, the $100 isn't that big of a bargain IMO.
We've had a few of the plasma tvs at work get the screens burned in when having a display set up. Pixel shift helps much more than it used to be but isn't a fail safe cure.
The contrast really depends on the manufacturer, and whatever a-hole was last 'tuning' the TV. Most plasmas I've seen DO have better blacks and contrast, but I've also seen a Pioneer LCD that had beautiful blacks and contrast, but it was mucho cash.
plasma will actually display a better picture than lcd. the reason they don't look like it in stores is down to one thing:
profit margin.
plasma costs more to build than lcd, and because of that, when they are similarly priced at point of sale, most buisinesses will try to make the more profitable look good.
walk into a panasonic centre, and look at their plasma/lcd displays. their plasma screens look the tits.
I mean its pretty moot if you have to pay 3x more to get the "real" plasma tech that is *actually* better than lcds.