A TV that has 120hz (LED) or a TV that has 600hz (Plasma)?
Common misconception. Below is taken from a TV forum I belong to:
TV companies often advertise their products as 120 Hz etc to say that their TV handles motion better. Recently, Pana has been blowing the whistle saying their new Plasma are 600 Hz Sub-field drive
1. Is a 120 Hz of a LCD better than lets say 600 Hz of Panasonic Plasma or is vice versa?
There is no comparison. Both refer to two different technologies and are mean for something else. In Plasma TV there are 8 or 10 sub fields. Each sub field refreshes at 60 frames per second which basically gives the number 10 sub fields X 60 fps = 600 Hz Sub Field. This results in better picture. Our eye will not be able to spot a difference between a 480 Hz (PV8) or 600 Hz (Latest Plasmas). So don't worry about this.
In the LCD world it makes a difference as the better the refresh rate better the PQ and lower Motion Blur. You see this better when you see a news ticker, a 120 Hz one will be more sharper compared to a 60Hz. This noticeable during sports. 120 Hz infact helps to show a 3D ish image.
So pls dont compare 120 Hz to 600 Hz, they are completely different. LCDs are still trying to catch up with Plasma on this.
From Pana website: Panasonic - VIERA plasma technology - Features
Clarity - 480 Hz sub-field drive
Panasonic VIERA plasma TVs use self-illuminating pixels and 480 Hz Sub-field Drive which react very quickly to changes on screen. This translates to a remarkably high-moving picture resolution of over 900 lines*1. That means no more frustrating afterimages in fast-action scenes. Now you can enjoy smooth, clear motion in sports and fast action movies.
What is 480 Hz sub-field drive?
A standard video signal is actually a series of still images, flashed on screen so quickly that we believe we are watching a moving image. The typical frame rate used in North America is 60 frames per second (60Hz) meaning that a TV would display 60 individual still images every second. Sub-field drive is the method used to flash the individual image elements (dots) on a plasma panel. For each frame displayed on the TV the Sub-field drive flashes the dots 8 times or more, meaning that the dots are flashing 480 times per second (480Hz) or more. (Example: 60 frames per second x 8 sub-fields = 480 flashes per second).
1 900 lines measured by APDC method with 5 second motion.
2. So why is Pana suddenly marketing this 600 Hz sub field when they didnt last year? WHats the sub field drive of say PV8?
Honest answer, Dumb salesman who says "Sirji, LCD has 100 Hz, Plasma has nothing like that sir, Plasma old technology sir......" u know what they say.
So as a direct answer, Pana has started publishing 600 Hz so that they dont loose out bcos some LCD says 120 Hz and theirs dont and sales man sells LCD to the customer not knowing what it is. Now when a LCD vs Plasma happens a customer see 600 Hz where a LCD has 120 Hz, direct win
PV8 as far as I know has 8 sub fields with 60 fps = 480 Hz drive.
