lcd or plasma?

[NAILER341]

which is better for a tv, and why?

[speaceman]

You're going to get answers based on people's personal preference. Some people like plasma. Some people like LCD.

Plasmas are brighter as a general rule, but a good LCD set has finer definition in the picture quality.

If you are considering getting an LCD HDTV, make sure you do your research.

Low quality LCD sets can look pretty aweful with horrible contrast (dark scenes), or washed out or off color whites and bright colors.

Low quality LCD sets can also have ghosting issues (poor refresh rates).

A good LCD set has none of those issues.

Check out sets by sony, samsung and Sharp.

IMO, the sharp aquos will give you the best bang for your buck right now, but the sony bravia LCD sets are the best LCD sets out right now, if you want to pay the extra $ to get the slight bump in performance over the sharp aquos.

Plasma sets have a chance for burn in issues, although current gen sets are better designed to avoid those problems. (1st gen plasma screens had really bad burn in issues).

Still, if you plan on watching a lot of analog TV with side bars or you plan on watching a particular TV station with news tickers or graphics that are on screen a lot of the the time (ESPN, for example) you may want to choose a different HD Tech format.

The Panny plasma sets, at least up until recently (I haven't followed it for the last half year or so) were highly recommended for best bang for your buck.

I think pioneer are supposed to be very nice as well.

A great place to get a lot of info on HDTVs is AVSforums.com.

Either way, if you get a nice plasma or LCD set, HD programming looks incredible.

BTW, one thing to note is that analog signals look worse on ANY hdtv than they would on a regular TV. HDTVs do not display analog TV signals well at all.

So if you are planning on getting an HDTV and you are not planning on upgrading your cable or satellite service to at least digital, you are going to be kicking yourself. The best choice is to upgrade to digital and whatever HD programming channels your cable or satellite company offers.

HD programming on an HDTV is really incredible. You'll find yourself watching stuff you don't even care about, just because its in HD.

[TObject]

My personal preference is plasma, because it looks just like regular TV from any angle, where picture quality on LCD varies as you change positions in front of the set.

[speaceman]

Originally posted by TObject
My personal preference is plasma, because it looks just like regular TV from any angle, where picture quality on LCD varies as you change positions in front of the set.

Not true of good LCD HDTVS.

True of lower quality LCD HDTVs.

Plasma, is as a general rule, brighter than LCD HDTVs, that is true.

[speaceman]

BTW, I just wanted to add that you should figure out how big you want to go for your viewing space and how much $ you want to spend.

That will narrow things down considerably.

Once you narrow it down that way, look at all the models of plasma and LCDs in your range that are left over.

Find a mom and pop HDTV store that carries the models and go do some side by side comparisons with some movies that you know well or if the store has HD programming available, compare that way.

You should be able to tell fairly quickly whether you like plasma or LCD better.

[Jerry Bransford]

After viewing countless plasma & LCD projection HDTVs, I couldn't be happier after having gone with a 50" Sony LCD projection HDTV. No glare and only a bulb to replace instead of the finite life of a plasma screen. The glare problem with most of the plasma screens (& some LCDs) was surprisingly bad, I can't believe they sell some of the models with the severe glare & reflections coming off their screens.

[NAILER341]

the plan for this tv is to replace the space consuming pig of a television in the bedroom.
i want to mount it to the ceiling, or wall so i dont have to worry about it falling on the floor in an earthquake and killing my pets.

my wife likes to lie in bed and watch tv a lot. i'll most often be watching it from a pretty heavy angle while sitting at the computer.
i am already set up for hd-tv at the house, so that wont be a problem.
its primary function will be for TV as opposed to movies/dvd's.
there is some great information in just these few posts. thanks for your insight.

[TObject]

One thing that could save a lot of money, if you are not going bigger than 42 inches, is get an EDTV set instead of HDTV. You can?t tell the difference between the two, and regular (analog) SD programming looks better on EDTV sets.

Check out the Panasonic TH-42PD60U with 10,000:1 contrast ratio.

If you want a TV bigger than 42 inches then go for a true HDTV resolution set.

[speaceman]

I just want to clarify, you can tell the difference between HD and EDTVs if HD programming is involved. It is harder to tell or there is no real difference if 480p signals are involved and EDTVs display analog signals much better than an HDTV does.

I personally wouldn't buy an EDTV anymore. We're getting too close to the point that HD programming is going to become readily available. EDTV is not very future proof anymore, with regards to HD.

YOu are definitely going to be behind the wave if you pick one up now.

Still, I suppose I do agree if you were ONLY planning on watching regular DVDs and regular analog TV, an EDTV Plasma set would be a decent choice, especially if you got a really good deal on one.

Aside from that 42 inch Plasma HDTVs are not true HD, if you check their resolution capabilities.

You have to go to the 50 inch models to get true HD native resolution.

I just wanted to point that out if you are picky about such things. From every thing I've seen, you can't tell the difference in picture quality between 42 and 50 inch plasmas anyway.

[jeepik]

if you have the money...get the lcd, lcd's dont burn out like plasmas eventually do

although my Philips plasma has a hypothetic advertised 25 year lifespan(without burn out)


LCD's are MUCH MUCH brighter then plasmas
i dont know how yocan possibly see that Plasmas aare brighter


with that in mind, i am 100% satisfied with my big plasma, and i dont see a reason to spend 6k on a 50 inch lcd, while for 2500 a 50 inch plasma does the job just fine

get the plasma

[speaceman]

YOu can get 45 inch 720p LCDs in the under $3000 range if you shop around.

It's the 1080p LCD sets that run $4000-5000 if you are looking at 45-50 inches.

Generally, LCD and Plasma are fairly comperably priced. (if you are looking at the higher quality sets in each HD Tech).

Pick by which format you think looks best, you'll be able to find a set you can afford.

BTW, pricegrabber.com is your friend for finding deals on HDTVs.

Check weekly. You can often find pretty good deals, shipping included from reputatble e-tailers by using pricegrabber.com to search.

(Stay away from the unreputable e-tailers).

[chef]

Burn in on plasma sucks. even if you have the option for the display to move a few pixels every few minutes, if you play video games or watch a lot of sports or network tv with the watermark in the corner, it doesn't move enough. if you're interested i can show you a few different models at work after hours. plasma's from 37" to 84", lcd's from 23" to 47" (and soon 56"). The DLP's are nice for the price if you don't mind not being able to wall mount. Let me know if I can help, that's all we do.

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally posted by jeepik
i dont see a reason to spend 6k on a 50 inch lcd, while for 2500 a 50 inch plasma does the job just fine

$6,000 for a 50" LCD HDTV? My Sony KF-50WE610 50" LCD HDTV was only $2399 plus shipping from FotoConnection. It wasn't a gray-market sale, it included the full U.S. warranty.

[Dan-H]

Originally posted by Jerry Bransford
$6,000 for a 50" LCD HDTV? My Sony KF-50WE610 50" LCD HDTV was only $2399 plus shipping from FotoConnection. It wasn't a gray-market sale, it included the full U.S. warranty.

the KF-50WE610 is an LCD projection which is not the same as an LCD flat panel.

I'm not saying it is or isn't a good unit, its just not in the same league as an LCD flat panel.

[Jason L Williams]

I can attest to the comment of not buying a cheap LCD. We too wanted to get rid of the huge tv in the bedroom. I saw a 17" Magnavox combo computer/tv on sale. Size wise, I love it. The bedrooms in Lakewood are small enough. Don't need a tv to feel like a piece of furniture. But I do find you really need to lay in direct sight of it or the picture gets dark. But it does serve it's intended purpose and that was to save space.