OT: Plasma or LCD

[Malster1]

So I'm thinking of upgrading from my current 65" Rear projection 1080i tv to either a plasma TV (since someone told me I won't have issues with burn in playing games anymore) or LCD. either way it has to be 1080P as I have both HD players.

Wanted input on your thoughts as to which way to go.

[colotl]

Glare was my issue since it was facing a large window. LCD does not give me glare and the colors look great. Plasme will give you alot of glare.

[Solitaryensis]

What size are you looking at, and what, if any, is your cost range?

[delsol650]

Mike, it actually depends on a lot of factors when it comes to LCD Vs. Plasma..

Both give dramatic pictures especially with the 1080P.

LCD is awsome without glare and dosnt give you the burn in issue that some Plasma's give, but the downside is that with very fast pace action, some LCD cant keep up with the pixelation ? and get the quick blurring when something is moving to fast for the LCD to compensate for. I believe both plasma and LCD are good for looking at in ever angle. Weight issue is no longer a problem for both styles. Don't know yet on the life expectancy on a plasma but from last time I checked when I was looking for a new set, I think someone mentioned LCD had longer expectancy rate.

But with all the new stuff coming out, the thing that differenciate things are price and what options/availabitly that it comes with. Me, I ended up getting a Aquos Liquid LCD... I heard the new AQUOS are pretty badass.. but just check the mags to see what consumer reportings say....

[Twisted]

I heard the same thing about the Aquos, but I have also heard Plasmas usually have to have some sort of maintence done all the time on them...not sure what for though, that kinda turned me off right there.

[pogiboy67]

if you are a gamer (xbox,ps3) then u want an LCD... you cant leave plasmas on for that long

[Mikey Donuts]

I have a 32" aquos....bought it at at Costco of all places for a grand about 15 months ago. I've never seen any pixelation at all and I watch movies quite a bit. The picture is very nice and didn't need very much adjustment out of the box. I'll probably buy a really big one in a year or two and move this one to the bedroom.

Awesome TV!

[delsol650]

Michael, heres a place to get advice... CNET usually pretty good to check out..

http://www.cnet.com.au/tvs/0,239035250,240036500,00.htm

http://www.flattvpeople.com/tutorials/lcd-vs-plasma.asp

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syl...R2VPLE6GWXNOR0

[TikiDan]

How can you guys afford a reef AND a nice TV?

[Nukeproof]

Another thing you need to consider is using it as a monitor for your PC. LCD has that option and plasma don't. I thought the 46" Aquos on this site was a pretty good deal for a 1080P screen.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/wem...CODE=WEM1520TT

[ianiwane]

You can hook up a lot of plasmas to your PC as well. Via HDMI with a HDMI-DVI adapter. My friend has a panasonic hooked up like this. I personally would not get a 1080p screen unless its 60" or bigger. For a 50" TV you need to be sitting within 6 feet to see the difference from 1080p and 1080i.

[TeeLapia]

With the warranties that companies give out these days you are just better off getting a plasma. Take advantage of that bad boy, and just renew. Plus, with the montly rate of less than $10 a month you can't go wrong. The only issue you will have to consider is the glare factor. I took advantage of a plasma with warrranty, and renew it once it is up in 5 years. Maybe then I can get a new T.V.
I do know someone who has a wholesale list as well. But that was brought to my attention after my purchase.

[KellyPug]

fyi, Costco has a sale on some plasmas and lcds right now. I think $100 off under 40", $300 off 40-49", and not sure about 50"+. AND they have no restocking fee so you can test it out I'm thinking of getting the Sharp Aquos 42" LCD 42D62 myself. I dont think there's THAT much difference in the new Aquos, the D64. Claims to be the thinnest LCD out there too but that's not a big deal imo.

Plasmas do leave burn in quite easily. At my previous job, we did a demo on a new, opened two days before, Panasonic plasma for 1 - 2 hours max and it left a lovely burn in. But, it did lighten after a month or two. On the other hand, my bf recently bought a Panasonic plasma tv. It has some anti-glare stuff on/in it. The location his tv is at gets lots of sunlight but I can watch the tv just fine. When his LCD monitor for his comp was there, I couldn't see anything >.< I don't think all LCDs can be computer monitors - check the inputs it can handle. Also with such a large monitor, you'd need a good graphics card to support the display.

[nanoguy]

If you are planning on going big get a plasma. Anything under 42" go with an LCD. I have a Pioneer Plasma in my living room and I love it. Watching DVD's and HD channels is great but the visual quality on all non-HD channels is par at most. I believe LCD's produce a better picture with non-HD channels.......someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[delsol650]

I love my Aquos LCD... and when I replace my 42" projection HD in my living room , it'll probly be a 50-60" LCD. Unless I find same level Plasma for same price...

[CookieJar]

I got a Samsung 50" plasma and love it. I thought I was going to get LCDs, but when I did side by side I was convinced the Samsung plasma was the best for the money. Some LCDs look very good (and bright- almost too bright), but what turned me off was color reproduction. the grass on the soccer field wasn't green and the highest rated LCD, Sonia Bravia, had orange grass. Otherwise the LCDs looked great, but orange grass and miscolored grass was a deal-breaker. don't get me wrong, Plasmas can also have off colors too, but the true measure is your own eyes. do side by side comparisons and don't go by what people tell you or the reviews do, use your own eyes. I looked at too many reviews and after determining what the best TV is for me on the reviews I realized that my own eyes and viewing experience was a much better criteria to make a decision. Also, I doubt the newer plasmas have burn-in problems, dont let that discourage you, many have built in anti-burn in features. Older plasmas did have burn in issues.
good luck!

[black_kapre]

dude if you guys buy tv from amazone, i will be delivering it to you guys, so buy it from amazone, and they also have some killer deals right now.....

[ianiwane]

Most sony's are have very high contrast out of the box. Its a marketing thing where they are supposed to really appeal to the normal consumer. They may need a lot of calibration to look "right". All tvs should be calibrated, I used the avia home theather dvd to calibrate my setup. Cookiejar is right, newer plasmas do not have the same burn-in issues as older plasmas. If you want you can also run an anti burn-in dvd (download on avsforum.com).

[sheepdawg]

One other factor that I don't think anything mentioned is power consumption and heat. Plasmas draw more power and produce more heat. Just something to think about if this is going into a somewhat small room. I have a 50" Panasonic plasma in an upstairs room and it's always hot in there.

[Malster1]

Wow lot's of information. Hope everyone had a little fun with this. I will most likely go with at least a 50"+ as I"m used to 65", but with the new location of where I will be putting the TV I will want it a little smaller. Still in the looking part of this. I have an LCD in my bedroom, but the it was a cheaper brand I got two year's ago. I hate the fact that some super fast action scenes the LCD actually blinks to blue screen and says not supported or no signal and then goes back to the movie. I'll take what everyone has inputted and keep on hunting. Anyone want to buy a 65" rear projection 1080i TV? LOL

[D-Nak]

I'm also in the market for a flat panel tv and based on my research, I no longer think it's a question of LCD vs. plasma since each format has its benefits and drawbacks. Here's a good article comparing the two formats:

http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108...mavslcd?tag=ms

What it boils down to for me are budget, specs, and what I like visually.

In terms of budget, since studies are showing that both plasmas and LCDs can now last upwards of 60,000 hours (which is the equivalent to about 20 years if used approximately 8 hours per day) I'm not concerned that my set will break down before I want to replace it. Therefore I've budgeted a little more than what I'd usually spend (to get more features and better specs) since I expect the set to last me longer than I need.

Moving on to specs, I rely on CNET to give me the lowdown on specs. For example, for LCDs, the "hot" spec is 120hz, but I think it might be a lot of marketing hype (kinda like high megapixel point and shoot cameras). Here's a great article that talks about the importance (or lack thereof) of 120hz:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-...-1.html?tag=ms

Finally, in terms of what I like visually, I have a tendency to like things a bit muted. However, out of the box, all sets look different. When viewing sets in a store (I initally thought this would be a HUGE factor) consider the fact that the settings on the sets could be completely off (as ian mentioned), which could skew color and saturation. This probably explains why CookieJar saw orange grass, I highly doubt the top rated Sony is that bad in terms of color reproduction. That's when I fall back on CNET's specs and reviews to tell me which sets are capable of what.

So far, I've only been to BestBuy, which quite frankly, displays their sets in the worst possible way -- on a wall in the back of the store with only a few feet between me and the set. If someone can tell me a place to view sets where I can actually view them from a more realistic viewing distance, please let me know.

In short, take the time to research, determine your budget, and then see which set best fits your viewing environment -- you may find that the last factor you rule out is LCD versus plasma, not the first.

Hope that helps.

D-Nak

[Elite]

Anyone has this brand/model??
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...rodid=11217876

Look like a pretty good deal...

[corals b 4 bills]

Originally posted by sheepdawg
One other factor that I don't think anything mentioned is power consumption and heat. Plasmas draw more power and produce more heat. Just something to think about if this is going into a somewhat small room. I have a 50" Panasonic plasma in an upstairs room and it's always hot in there.

If you have someone calibrate your TV (like I did) they can lower the amount of power going to the transformer which create less heat, give the TV more of the True black and lenghthen the life of the TV by 4 years (info by my cal. tech guy). not only that LCD's have to be veiwed within a certain angle where's Plazma's can be veiwed 180 degrees.

[fishme]

Originally posted by Elite
Anyone has this brand/model??
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...rodid=11217876

Look like a pretty good deal...

Hi Phong, link is no longer available

[jazzmanb]

for gaming id gto with an lcd tv..i just picked up a 32" vizio for my bedroom..its awesome with my 360..