HDTV: Plasma or LCD ??

Get a Panasonic plasma and think no more about it. The picture can't be beat for the money. If you get a 42" don't sweat the 1080P, sure, it's nice but at the size it really makes no difference.

Don't concern yourself over the plasma "burn in" issues either, nor the lamp life etc. Plasma has come a long way from it's beginnings.

There are plenty of good LCD's, but you have to spend more to match the PQ of the Panny plasma. I've owned and sold more Panasonic TV's than I can count, great PQ and extremely reliable.

Don't worry about the LCD is brighter argument either. Get yourself a good video calibration disc from Ovation or DVE. Factory presets always have the brightness and contrast running too hot. If you really want to get the most from your tv, get it calibrated by an ISF tech.

And while we are at it, do not get sucked in to the expensive cable racket. Get your cables from bluejeanscable.com. Highest quality broadcast cables you can find at reasonable money. Do NOT pay for the Monster name or get sucked in to their marketing hoopla.
 
I have the Sony Bravia XB4 52" LCD and LOVE IT!:thumbup:
 
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This is a topic I have researched for the past year. I had read everything I could possibly find about the differences and avantages to either. They are two different technologies, so of course there will be differences, but in today's world, you can't go wrong with either.

Remember that the TV's at the store are set on max brightness to counteract all of the other light in the store. Also, remember that when you're buying a brand name, you're buying just that, a name.

Also, as for plasmas built in the past year and a half or so, burn in is really a problem that has been eliminated with technology that constantly alters the pixels on a plasma so they're never really still.

Really the differences between the two technologies now adays aren't even really worth exploring as far as which one to buy.

I was dead set on a 46-47" LCD. When I had first started my endeavor of finding a new TV. This was because my girlfriend is a video game freak and I figured it would be better based on the little bit of information I had heard.

We ended up getting a 50" 1080p Insignia PLASMA for $1299, plus a blu-ray/upconverting dvd player for just $100 more (also an Insignia). Insignia is Best Buy's house brand, and each tv is contracted out to one of the major tv makers. Everything that I can find shows that this 50" is made by LG. All of the other comparable plasma's with the features and stuff were around $1800-$2000. I am SOOO glad I got this instead of the Samsung LCD we wanted. OR even the Phillips LCD we wanted.

We've used it for blu-ray and dvd with the new player, and I must say it's incredible. I use a stereo I have for the audio when we play movies or games, but the panel's speakers do fine for TV. But remember, all panel's speakers aren't cut out for the range you need while watching movies etc. so don't be suprised when the quality for those media isnt there.

There is only one complaint about this tv, and it's that you have to point the remote somewhat accurately in the direction of the tv for it to work well. Same with the blu-ray player. Other than that, I have absolutely no complaints. I have the brightness turned down to about 37%, so I think in 5 years I might only have it up to 55% or so. Oh and when the tv is rated for 5 years half life, that's 5 years of continuous use, the brightness goes down 50%. So most people will take a very long time, VERY long time to experience any problems with this.

I am glad that we spent as little as we did and got a set with the quality that we did. Oh, my friends parents have a new 32" sony 120hz lcd, and I think the 120hz technology may help the LCD world, but I don't think the average person would ever notice the difference when watching media. But that's just me.

There's my input. Spend less and get the same quality. Either technology is good, you won't be disappointed with whatever type you get, just go and pick one out based on size, price, and appearance. Once you get it home, the picture will be amazing, unless you have 30 other tv's against the wall with it at home, then you have a problem, and might get robbed LOL. Oh, don't lay a plasma over when you transport it, gotta keep it upright. Just don't expect the sound to be good with any flat panel, unless you're only watching tv, then it's alright.
 
I watch nothing but sports, and don't notice any trails on my LCD.

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with either, Plasma or LCD.

The Most Important Thing Is Make Sure It's 1080P, You Will Need It To Get High Def! Don't Settle For Anything Less, Like 720P.

Also, Every set one time or another, should be fined tuned professionaly for maximum picture quality as far as color, hues, and brightness based on where your new set will be located. Unless you have the computer and the special tools, you need to have this done because the set you buy is set to the manufactures standard specs. Just like some member has said, the units you view at the store has all been professionaly adjusted to the stores lighting condition. They have been modified so that it provides the best picture quality in the store. If you brought the same unit home from the showroom floor, most likely, you would notice a difference in the picture quality because the lighting condition of your home will be much different from the store. Kind of like buying a stereo, the sound quality is effected on where the stereo will be used and located, and you usually have to make adjustments to the sound quality, except your tv needs to be adusted by a computer. Manually adjusting the TV's color, brightness, hue with your remote will not be sufficient to get the "Best" picture. Therefore, as other members compare picture qualtiy from various sets with friends and family members, depending on whether or not these sets have been professionally adusted, it may or maynot be providing the best picture. I know a lot of members here will probably disagree here, and say that their picture is perfect, and have had no need to get their sets professionaly adjusted.

The Geek Squad from Best Buy is one of the people who will come out and adjust your set.
 
Thorpiticus said:
My only issues are the channel-changing speed and initialization time. I like to surf between programs and it takes a few seconds to go from one channel to another. As far as the initialization time, it just takes about 5-10 seconds for the TV to actually turn on.

!
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I think this depends on the the processor's speed on your cable box, not your set.
 
Not much to add here given the breadth of responses but my .02 is that as general technology goes the strengths and weakness of one vs the other are becoming smaller with each generation. Obvious right, but what it means to me is that you're looking for a good set at a good price no matter then tech. That said, I'd bet that the best value set (performance for dollar) in the size range you're looking is going to be a plasma b/c that's one of the sweet spots for that technology so the manufacturing related costs are lower allowing them to give you better components or more features and still meet the selling price point. Keep in mind that only a few years back it used to be hard to manufacture a plasma below 37" and an LCD above 42" although they've overcome the obstacles, the challenges drive up cost to make.
 
VEGASRIDER said:
...The Geek Squad from Best Buy is one of the people who will come out and adjust your set.
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They don't do anything other than play a dvd and use the on screen menu to "adjust" the settings. You can do as good of a job yourself, by tuning it to what you think looks good. Look on the web for articles about Geek Squad and Fire Dog and what they do when they set up your tv. You'd be better off doing it yourself.
 
I've had my 42'' Samsung Plasma 720p HDTV for over a year now and love it. I play Xbox on it for hours with no burn-in issues, and football/baseball/hockey look freaking awesome. This thing about TRUE High Def being 1080p is a complete sales ploy, and I know because I used to sell HDTVs at a popular electronics store while in college. To be honest, I wouldn't mind a 1080p TV, but to me it's not worth the extra $$, at distances over 6 feet the difference in picture is completely negligible. So I dont know how close you people sit to your TVs to notice the difference but I cant. If price is a big issue then save money and go with a 720p set, you wont be disappointed.

Also a total rip-off are Monster cables, if you are paying over $20 bucks for your HDMI cable you are spending too much money. At my store the commission rate on Monster Cables was almost 15%, so hell yeah I'm gonna tell you that $120 HDMI or DVI/HDMI cable is the best of the best. :spank:

Also when buying TVs at electronic stores, makes sure to ask for the remote and play with the television settings in store. I've known sales associates to change the settings on the lower priced TVs to look worse when compared to the more expensive TVs.

Edit-

Elm makes a great point as well, most television stations dont even broadcast a 1080p signal, it's either 1080i and for sports especially ESPN it's 720p. Recently I've been seing an AD for DISH network HD saying it broadcasts in "TRUE" or "FULL" HD 1080p, but if you listen closely it's only for their Movies on Demand service.
 
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Did you know 1080i and 1080p have the same resolution? The primary difference between each picture is the refresh rate. 1080p means "progressive" where 1080i means "interlaced." Progressive scans have a higher refresh rate than interlaced.

High definition broadcasts are mostly 720p.

1080p at 60hz is good.
1080p at 120hz is excellent! The problem is you can sometimes hear an audible noise at 120hz signals, but the refresh rate is awwwww.......
 
Unless you are a videophille you will not be disapointed if you buy LCD, DLP, or Plasma. People have already pointed out the flaws of each however the information is a little out of date. If you are looking for a great deal Vizio's offer a lower resolution but for everyday use it will be fine.

1) Any type of monitor can expereince burn in and plasmas used to be extremely vulnerable to it. However they have gotten much better. Some plasmas even have a pixel shift that will avoid this problem.

2) LCDs used to have motion blur problems and some still do but the faster refresh rates of the newer ones are all but eliminating this problem.

3) DLPs a small percentage of the population cannot watch dlps because they can actually experience a rainbow effect from the color wheels.

4) Cables do make a difference but most people don't need the benefits because there isn't a strong signal loss or interference over a short run of cable.

Go to CNET. They actually are tech nuts and do their reviews with actual material.

I have a 65" Sharp LCD but considered plasmas dlps and projectors before I bought my TV.
 
dako81 said:
There is only one complaint about this tv, and it's that you have to point the remote somewhat accurately in the direction of the tv for it to work well. Same with the blu-ray player.
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Buy an RF transmitting remote. You put little IR transmitters on the device's remote sensing area and hook those up to a small control box. You program the RF remote with your codes and you can change the channel from another room.
 
I really liked a friend's Samsung 65" DLP with 1080p. You can find these at best buy for waaaaaay cheaper than any comporable LCD or plasma and the picture quality is amazing. Of course you can't hang it on your wall and may need to replace the bulb years later but I was really impressed. This is the one I would buy if I were in the market today. Watching blu rays on it was insane.
 
I have the Sony XBR1 50" LCD rear projection. Because the actual LCD is small, the ghosting issues aren't a problem. This is sort of like watching TV from a projector, just that I cannot adjust it to 106" screens!

The LCD is backlit and the lamp is user replaceable. The LCD itself cannot burn in and will likely not die in the lifetime it will serve my household. The backlit may, but I can replace the bulb alone for will under $200 or the lamp kit fir $275.

Plasma is not backlit. Each pixel of a Plasma is actually a tiny fluorescent lamp. These will fade over time and can burn out. Plasma "dead pixel" is permanent and cannot be fixed. (LCD is the same but far less likely to go dead).

Plasma is a better picture on newer sets but the picture quality will degrade with use. Higher quality sets take longer of course, to fade to anything noticable. It is more likely you'll get sick of the TV and replace it before you've seen the degradation.

LCD will not fade or burn. The backlight may wear and fade but can be easily replaced on a quality set. I've had mine for nearly 5 years without issues. Still the same great screen... We have the HD cable box, PS3, Wii and Sony DVD player all attached. All perform without issue.

Thus, this comes to personal choice. New plasma TVs are making a lot of headway with the issues of old and your're likely to get just as much life out of a quality one today as the new LCD.

My personal preference is LCD and only a Sony. Even with Sony, you have to be cautious with your choice. Sony offers many models of each size, with many different features. Sony's latest LCD will absolutely BLOW AWAY any and all other LCD and Plasma TVs on the market. At 240HZ, bye bye Plasma! Sony Electronics News and Information

1080p is KEY if you enjoy high-def Blue-Ray and console gaming. As for 1080p for mere cable? Don't bother... none of them push 1080p to your set as of yet in the U.S. I'd suggest getting 1080p regardless because cable will eventually push it, but Internet TV and movies will likely be the winner over cable TV.

Happy hunting!
 
I've had a Sharp Aquos LCD for about four years and love it. HDMI is the way to go!

Side note for you Sony guys. Sony, about three years ago, subcontracted their mfg of LCD TVs to Samsung because Samsung had much better technology at the time. Not sure if they have brought them back in house yet.
 
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Well, I'm off to Best Buy tonight armed with all the knowledge I gained here. I probably won't purchase anything tonight but I'll be a much smarter shopper.
 
Hellgate said:
I've had a Sharp Aquos LCD for about four years and love it. HDMI is the way to go!

Side note for you Sony guys. Sony, about three years ago, subcontracted their mfg of LCD TVs to Samsung because Samsung had much better technology at the time. Not sure if they have brought them back in house yet.
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They still do Pete, but it's only the non XBR and new DNA models. Namely, their cheapest model line. ;)
 
FZ6inNH said:
They still do Pete, but it's only the non XBR and new DNA models. Namely, their cheapest model line. ;)
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I didn't know that.

The Company I work for builds the equipment for LCD crystal growth, Samsung is a very big customer of ours for display and semiconductor equipment.

On another side note, the technology that is used to build LCD display is now being used for Solar Panels. We are working on flexible panels and Solar Panel "film" for office buildings window. The film passes 80% of light, reflects the heat and creates power.

The future is so bright I gotta wear shades.
 
I just watched that on Discovery... they will be "printing" solar panels and plan on getting the cost down to $0.10 per KWH!!! :eek: I SOOOOO hope this happens sooner than later!
 
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