Plasma or LCD?

[Reep]

I am upgrading my old TV for a new flat panel. I'm leaning toward a 60" Pioneer Plasma. The only drawbacks are that our TV gets left on a fair amount to entertain the little ones, and there is a lot of natural light in the viewing room. However, I really don't like seeing the jaggy athletes on the slower refreshing LCD sets and I like dark movies.

Any thoughts?

 

[THE HCP]

Samsung DLP

 

[Tortimer]

It really depends on how you use your TV. I actually like the picture better on the higher end Plasma but they have there drawbacks. There is a break-in period and they still can get burn-in even with the new models but it is more rare then earlier models. If your going to be playing any video games on your TV I would select for sure LCD. If you watch a lot of SD TV I would select a higher end Plasma but some of the higher end LCD's are getting a lot better. The LCD's are getting better and I have a Samsung but the high end Sony's are probably the best LCD IMO. If you are buying a lower priced model I would go with LCD. I would suggest going to a good store and compare all the different models and see what you like. If I was going to buy a Plasma I would go with a Pioneer or Panasonic. If I was going LCD I would go with Sony, Samsung and maybe a couple more of the higher priced vendors.


If your TV is going to be in a room with a lot of sunlight I would go with LCD because Plasma are not as bright. You can also go with the 120mz newer model LCD's and get a lot better picture on fast moving movies and sports. I have a higher price Samsung LCD and don't get any jaggies or ghosting.

I would say you probably want to go with Plasma if the room doesn't have to much sunlight. I tried a plasma in my TV room and it was just to much sunlight and went with an LCD.

 

[e_blazer]

Plasma does give you darker darks, but you have to factor in the glossy screen finish as opposed to the matte finish of LCD displays. If you've got a room where there are a lot of windows or skylights, you can get some nasty glare issues in daytime. Plasma runs hotter and uses more energy, but gives you more bang for your buck on screen size.

 

[Tortimer]

I am upgrading my old TV for a new flat panel. I'm leaning toward a 60" Pioneer Plasma. The only drawbacks are that our TV gets left on a fair amount to entertain the little ones, and there is a lot of natural light in the viewing room. However, I really don't like seeing the jaggy athletes on the slower refreshing LCD sets and I like dark movies.

Any thoughts?

A 60" Pioneer Plasma is a great HDTV especially if your looking at the elite modles but any of the Pioneer are great sets. The Pioneers have great blacks especially for movies. I would first check to make sure you don't get to much sun though.

 

[Tortimer]

Plasma does give you darker darks, but you have to factor in the glossy screen finish as opposed to the matte finish of LCD displays. If you've got a room where there are a lot of windows or skylights, you can get some nasty glare issues in daytime. Plasma runs hotter and uses more energy, but gives you more bang for your buck on screen size.

I agree you might get a lot of reflection. I did in my TV room and had to go LCD if I wanted to watch anything in the daytime.

I didn't vote in your poll because it depends on how your using the TV and what room and how much you want to spend.

 

[PapaG]

I am upgrading my old TV for a new flat panel. I'm leaning toward a 60" Pioneer Plasma. The only drawbacks are that our TV gets left on a fair amount to entertain the little ones, and there is a lot of natural light in the viewing room. However, I really don't like seeing the jaggy athletes on the slower refreshing LCD sets and I like dark movies.

Any thoughts?

I just bought a 46" Sony Bravia LCD on Saturday. I went for the LCD because the room in which I put the TV has a skylight, so the glassy Plasma covering would have had a glare on it. If you are going to go HD for your sports, then the refresh rate doesn't really matter, plus either Sony or Samsung have the new generation LCD that makes SD viewing much easier than in the past.

 

[Tortimer]

One more thing to think about is Plasma weigh a lot more and a 60" Plasma would weight a lot. If your mounting on the wall it would be hard.

 

[speeds]

Seems like Plasma is on the way out with how things are going.

A Samsung or Sharp LCD is awesome. I've been buying Samsung monitors and tv's for a while now and they haven't let me down, but if I was to buy a new one today I'd go with Sharp. The Sharp LCD's are fantastic.

 

[44Thrilla]

I remember reading somewhere(or somebody told me?) that all LCD and Plasma sets are all primarily made at the same place, and the only major difference between brands is the casing they put it in. Does anybody know if that is true/false?

 

[PapaG]

I remember reading somewhere(or somebody told me?) that all LCD and Plasma sets are all primarily made at the same place, and the only major difference between brands is the casing they put it in. Does anybody know if that is true/false?

I know that Sony and Samsung both have their LCDs made at the same place, and maybe not so coincidently, they are both the highest rated.

 

[Denny Crane]

I remember reading somewhere(or somebody told me?) that all LCD and Plasma sets are all primarily made at the same place, and the only major difference between brands is the casing they put it in. Does anybody know if that is true/false?

False to the best of my knowledge. Sony did stop making rear projection TVs in 2007 and is now buying their LCDs from Sharp.

I was a big fan of LCD TVs until recently. The life expectancy for newer plasma sets are 10,000 hours more than for LCD. They handle fast moving images better, the picture is brighter, and with LCDs, the backlight dims over time so the picture gradually gets worse and worse.

Shout to tortimer for mentioning the Panasonic models, they have the best picture of any TVs on the market, IMO.

60" seems big. If you have a big room and the TV's going to be far away, then go for it. If you are a few feet away from it, you will enjoy the picture on a smaller screen more. The closer you are to a big screen, the worse the picture looks.

 

[44Thrilla]

Does anybody know who makes Best Buy's store brand (Insignia)?

 

[PapaG]

Does anybody know who makes Best Buy's store brand (Insignia)?

I don't, but I bought my TV at Best Buy on Saturday, and they didn't even try to push their own brand on me. Of course, I had done a lot of research beforehand.

 

[44Thrilla]

I don't, but I bought my TV at Best Buy on Saturday, and they didn't even try to push their own brand on me. Of course, I had done a lot of research beforehand.

I just did some googling about my last 2 questions. It appears that there are only 4 manufacturers of LCD/plasma TVs out there. And Best Buy's TVs are made by many different companies. One model might be made by Sony while another might be made by Samsung. I bought a Insignia LCD TV a couple years ago (impulse buy, no research) and it has been great so far. For the price I paid, I think it was worth it.

 

[Tortimer]

I remember reading somewhere(or somebody told me?) that all LCD and Plasma sets are all primarily made at the same place, and the only major difference between brands is the casing they put it in. Does anybody know if that is true/false?

I think almost all LCD and Plasma panels are made by 2-3 companies but the actual TV is made by the major mfg; Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba etc. You can take the best LCD panel and depending on how and what other components and software you use the picture can be a lot different. Also even if a major mfg has someone else making the panel they have input in how they are made.

 

[Tortimer]

Does anybody know who makes Best Buy's store brand (Insignia)?

All Best Buy equipment is called Insignia and I think mfg by different companys depending on what it is. I think their Blu Ray player is made by a company out of Korea Funia not sure the correct spelling. I'm not 100% sure but I think LG makes their LCD TV's but I could be wrong.

 

[Reep]

Some more detail. I don't do video games (have three daughters and poor hand eye coordination). I get morning sunlight in the room, but the windows are on the side, and the main viewing location is on the same side so the windows don't reflect off the screen.

The refresh time is important to me as I've seen some very pixelated running backs moving across the screen on LCDs and didn't like it. From what I understand, current 120Hz LCDs have a refresh time of 3-5ms, where plasmas are 0.5-1ms. Unfortunately, most high end stores don't show broadcast HD football on their screens so I can't compare the two in a non-Costco environment.

 

[Denny Crane]

Some more detail. I don't do video games (have three daughters and poor hand eye coordination). I get morning sunlight in the room, but the windows are on the side, and the main viewing location is on the same side so the windows don't reflect off the screen.

The refresh time is important to me as I've seen some very pixelated running backs moving across the screen on LCDs and didn't like it. From what I understand, current 120Hz LCDs have a refresh time of 3-5ms, where plasmas are 0.5-1ms. Unfortunately, most high end stores don't show broadcast HD football on their screens so I can't compare the two in a non-Costco environment.

Sports are typically shown in 720p. The hardest thing for video compression algorithms to compress are the moving backgrounds of crowds in the stands as the camera pans; 720p requires less bandwidth (less pixels per frame).

http://www.smart-review.com/php/reviews12.php?ASIN=B00142MUEM&MODEL=Panasonic TH-50PZ85U Plasma

 

[44Thrilla]

Some more detail. I don't do video games (have three daughters and poor hand eye coordination). I get morning sunlight in the room, but the windows are on the side, and the main viewing location is on the same side so the windows don't reflect off the screen.

The refresh time is important to me as I've seen some very pixelated running backs moving across the screen on LCDs and didn't like it. From what I understand, current 120Hz LCDs have a refresh time of 3-5ms, where plasmas are 0.5-1ms. Unfortunately, most high end stores don't show broadcast HD football on their screens so I can't compare the two in a non-Costco environment.

At this point, plasma and LCD are pretty much on the same level, so my advice would be to get the best deal you can, and make sure to purchase an extended warranty.

 

[Denny Crane]

http://plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatvreviews/plasma-vs-lcd-picture-quality.html
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatvreviews/plasma-vs-lcd.html

 

[BlazersBlood]

I just got the new 50" Panny plasma. I love it! But it does have 1 major drawback: The glare is horrible. My wife doesn't notice it, but I do all the time. Can't have the kitchen light on behind it or else it drives me nuts.

Plasmas are more affordable than ever. After a price match, I got my plasma for only $1700. 2 years no interest at Best Buy.

It all depends on your personal preference. Go to a good shop where they actually have their sets calibrated. You can't trust Best Buy they have no clue on how to calibrate their showroom displays. They even sabatoge some so they can convince you to get the Geek Squad involved for an extra $500.

I have a 50" DLP too, but I'll never go back to them since the bulb burns out sooner than advertised. If I had to choose again, I'd go with plasma. Of course they got some new display types coming out, but I'd wait a few years for those technologies to mature before committing a few thousand dollars on a new set.

 

[yakbladder]

Samsung DLP

Is that the new LED DLP? The one that gets rid of the color wheel?

I'm interested to know what the opinion of that is. I've looked at TVs for several months now and talked to two friends who are experts in that area but even they can't agree.

Right now I'm thinking either LED DLP, LCD with the black-out feature, or wait for the Mitsubishi lasers...

 

[PapaG]

UPDATE -

Run far, far away from the Sony Bravia. 4 days after buying it and mine is stuck on a power cycle glitch that won't go away. It turns on, and then once the TV display clears, the TV mutes for a moment, turns off, then turns back on again.

I'm bringing this piece of crap back to Best Buy tonight, and Best Buy was actually more helpful than the morons at Sony's Customer No-Service.

 

[BlazersBlood]

UPDATE -

Run far, far away from the Sony Bravia. 4 days after buying it and mine is stuck on a power cycle glitch that won't go away. It turns on, and then once the TV display clears, the TV mutes for a moment, turns off, then turns back on again.

I'm bringing this piece of crap back to Best Buy tonight, and Best Buy was actually more helpful than the morons at Sony's Customer No-Service.

Well that's really rare for a Sony product. And I would never deal with a manufacturer inside of 30 days of purchase, especially if you buy from a big box store like Best Buy or Circuit City.

 

[MikeDC]

I bought a Samsung LN52A650 a couple months ago. That's a 52" LCD with the 120mhz deal.

It's pretty kick ass, and I thought, by and large, it had the nicest image of any TV I've ever seen. The one drawback is it doesn't have the traditional matte/glare reducing screen that most LCDs do. It's sort of a shiny looking thing. Strangely though, the glare from daylight tends to "melt" away when you're watching tv, which didn't happen on my old RCA rear projection TV.

So I'd think if sunlight is a huge issue (it's not for me because the TV is usually only getting sun in the morning when we're at work- and I could always close the blinds if i wanted), you might want to go with something else, but so far I've found the imagine is about as good as I've seen.

 

[Dumpy]

I have a 60" Sony rear projection TV, the KDS 60A2000 or 60A2020. It is an awesome TV. The sound is very average, but if you're going to spend that much on a TV, chances are that you'll hook it up to in external receiver and speakers (the sound if fine with external speakers hooked up).

Sony made the best rear projection TVs, and it is just as good as the large plasmas (and was much less expensive). The biggest drawbacks are that it lacks the "cool factor" of a plasma (your friends won't go "oooh"), and you can't hang it on the wall.

If you can find one of the Sonys still in stock somewhere, I'd recommend picking one up; I'm sure that stores are trying to get rid of their inventory now that Sony is no longer manufacturing them, and possibly you can still find one at a heavy discount.

 

[Reep]

Thanks for all your input. After a lot of research and evaluation, I have a new baby 60" Pioneer plasma on the way to my house--just in time for pre-season.

Some of my main considerations:

Wider viewing angle (our room has chairs off to both sides) than LCD
Blacker blacks (I like dark movies)
Faster motion handling for sports and action movies (plasmas are still >5x faster than the best 120Hz LCD)

I also wanted the big screen because I wanted to make Oden as life size as possible, but couldn't work out the installation of the 120" projector and screen. ;-)

 

[Denny Crane]

Let us know how you like it!

 

[BlazersBlood]

Thanks for all your input. After a lot of research and evaluation, I have a new baby 60" Pioneer plasma on the way to my house--just in time for pre-season.

Some of my main considerations:

Wider viewing angle (our room has chairs off to both sides) than LCD
Blacker blacks (I like dark movies)
Faster motion handling for sports and action movies (plasmas are still >5x faster than the best 120Hz LCD)

I also wanted the big screen because I wanted to make Oden as life size as possible, but couldn't work out the installation of the 120" projector and screen. ;-)

Congrats on the purchase! I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Plasmas are my preference at the moment. THey got some crazy new tv's coming out in the next couple of years, but they won't be cheap. Plasmas are a great deal right now, and honestly, you wont' be able to tell the difference since you won't be watching two tv's side-by-side, unless you are really lucky!