Plasma Or LCD
- Thread starter SG4EVAH
- Start date
I've always liked the look of LCD's (even though I went the route of DLP). From what I've heard, LCD's are great for rooms that are too bright or get sunlight.
Heck, I haven't seen a Plasma that looked better than a similar LCD tv. Though, that might explain the price difference.
The only thing to remember is that a cheap LCD or cheap Plasma tv is cheap for a reason. Usually poorer quality or unprovend brand name.
Heck, I haven't seen a Plasma that looked better than a similar LCD tv. Though, that might explain the price difference.
The only thing to remember is that a cheap LCD or cheap Plasma tv is cheap for a reason. Usually poorer quality or unprovend brand name.
I have a HD LCD real happy with it, but I kinda like the plasma picture better. The only reason I didn't buy the plasma is it produces a lot more heat then the LCD and as I'm living in a RV and touring the US south, I went with the LCD to make the AC work less.
I like the DLP's better than both. Dead or stuck pixels are a problem on LCD's. Plasmas suffer burn in and get dimmer as they get older. DLP's you can always change the bulb and be right back at a bright picture.
I got a Toshiba 44" DLP and am very hapy with it. It is only about 8" deep and it has a very nice picture when using regular cable. Many HD TV's look like shit on a non-HD source.
I got a Toshiba 44" DLP and am very hapy with it. It is only about 8" deep and it has a very nice picture when using regular cable. Many HD TV's look like shit on a non-HD source.
I ended up with a 42" KFE42A Sony DLP. It's actually slightly different than other DLP's. The Sony uses 3 LCD's to project the picture, instead of one bulb.
I was initially looking to get a Samsung DLP, but they discontinued it near the time I was going to buy one, so I switched to the very nice looking Sony. I have to say, I've been extremely happy with it. I am a bit of a "graphics" whore, so picture quality is important to me.
Though, a word of caution. Regular, non-HD, tv looks crappier on a DLP than on an LCD (out of the box without calibration which i am too lazy to attempt). Also, this tv is not wall mountable and is about 3/4' deep.
I think you can find my tv around $1799 or so.
I was initially looking to get a Samsung DLP, but they discontinued it near the time I was going to buy one, so I switched to the very nice looking Sony. I have to say, I've been extremely happy with it. I am a bit of a "graphics" whore, so picture quality is important to me.
Though, a word of caution. Regular, non-HD, tv looks crappier on a DLP than on an LCD (out of the box without calibration which i am too lazy to attempt). Also, this tv is not wall mountable and is about 3/4' deep.
I think you can find my tv around $1799 or so.
The main advantage of Plasma over LCD is viewing angle. The plasmas are viewable if you can see the screen. The older LCDs aren't viewable if you not in front of the screen. The viewing angle on the newer LCDs is vastly improved.SG4EVAH said:
The main advantage of LCD over Plasma is device lifetime. LCDs can have the bulbs that provide the light replaced relatively cheaply and easily. Plasma bulbs are expensive for the ones that can be replaced and some can't be replaced. LCD bulbs also last a lot longer than Plasma bulbs. The Plasma bulbs have to put out a lot more light than the LCD bulbs do and that shortens their lifetime.
while we are on the subject
been wanting to go big screen for some time now, kind of struck on dlp but have been thinking of going overhead projection for the really big screen, i heard the bulb life on overhead is only a few hundred hrs any other pros or cons with overhead projection?
been wanting to go big screen for some time now, kind of struck on dlp but have been thinking of going overhead projection for the really big screen, i heard the bulb life on overhead is only a few hundred hrs any other pros or cons with overhead projection?
Overhead projection usually needs a dark room/movie theatre type setting. Also, the projector can take up some unusual realestate, either on the ceiling or behind you. Though, I did see a wicked one from NEC (I think), that was almost the same dimensions of a small picture w/ frame. The lens goes sideways along the wall and then turns at a right angle to hit the screen. Neat idea.
In addition to being tone deaf I must also be blind....in the past two years I've replaced all but two TVs in my house....
-in the home office I went with what I'd consider a fairly basic LCD model from Audiovox.....reason I picked this model were its very compact (only 13" screen and fairly thin), don't need a special wall mount kit so sits flush to the wall and has a built in DVD player....works great since all I normally watch on it is CNN or the local news....on occasion will have it tuned to A&E or other similar background fluff as I work
-family room upstairs a 32" letterbox CRT HD Sony that IMO has the best picture in the house.....I tend to watch most movies here and while smaller then other TV's in the house I still like it the best
-family/media room downstairs a 50" Panasonic plasma that while it has a great picture I haven't upgraded the home theater equipment (mainly need new speakers) so don't tend to watch much other then when the boys are over and we're playing poker
-master bedroom a Sony 26" LCD that dollar for dollar has a great picture....only complaint, and it has nothing to do with the TV, is that I currently have it set up on a stand beside the bed so can only watch it while on my side....sort of a pain in the ass since it makes it tough to watch anything when the GF/FB is there for a sleep over....I've found a wall mount kit from tigerdirect but haven't got around to ordering it yet
with all that i've come to the conclusion that most any TV you're going to purchase (provided its not a POS wallymart special) should provide you a decent viewing experience......when picking any of the TV's I went more with what platform/format worked best in its intended location......what I've also learned is that its fucking difficult to get rid of old convex tube TV's, nobody seems to want the boat anchors even for free
-in the home office I went with what I'd consider a fairly basic LCD model from Audiovox.....reason I picked this model were its very compact (only 13" screen and fairly thin), don't need a special wall mount kit so sits flush to the wall and has a built in DVD player....works great since all I normally watch on it is CNN or the local news....on occasion will have it tuned to A&E or other similar background fluff as I work
-family room upstairs a 32" letterbox CRT HD Sony that IMO has the best picture in the house.....I tend to watch most movies here and while smaller then other TV's in the house I still like it the best
-family/media room downstairs a 50" Panasonic plasma that while it has a great picture I haven't upgraded the home theater equipment (mainly need new speakers) so don't tend to watch much other then when the boys are over and we're playing poker
-master bedroom a Sony 26" LCD that dollar for dollar has a great picture....only complaint, and it has nothing to do with the TV, is that I currently have it set up on a stand beside the bed so can only watch it while on my side....sort of a pain in the ass since it makes it tough to watch anything when the GF/FB is there for a sleep over....I've found a wall mount kit from tigerdirect but haven't got around to ordering it yet
with all that i've come to the conclusion that most any TV you're going to purchase (provided its not a POS wallymart special) should provide you a decent viewing experience......when picking any of the TV's I went more with what platform/format worked best in its intended location......what I've also learned is that its fucking difficult to get rid of old convex tube TV's, nobody seems to want the boat anchors even for free
sdw said:
No offense SDW but you don't seem to have a clue about plasma TV's. They are made as a panel and there are no bulbs that can be changed and they cannot be re-charged. If someone tells you that they are lying. SAme issue with LCD panels. They do not have bulbs either and cannot be changed. Now if you are talking about LCD rear projection TV's then yes they have small LCD panels inside them that are projected larger onto a screen and yes they can be changed but not true LCD panel TV's.
Right, plasmas do not have bulbs. The panel itself might be thought of as a giant bulb, which is why replacing it would basically mean replacing the entire display. The individual pixel components of a plasma display are light emitters. Red, green, and blue phosphors are excited to produce colored light, and as in a CRT, they will wear out over time.Damaged said:
The pixel components of an LCD are color filters. No light is actually generated at the pixel location, instead white light from one or more CCT's (cold cathode tube) hits the back of the panel, and the LCD cells only pass specific amounts of light of each color through the front. The situation is analogous to a film or overhead projector.
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That is a very important observation. In an age of conservationism and eco-friendly consumerism, a plasma set is already destined for obsolescence. That heat they produce is energy. Think incandescent light bulb vs. fluorescent. The plasma is the incandescent in the equation, the LCD is the fluorescent.mick_eight said:
That 50" plasma in gravitas' family room eats as much juice as the refrigerator in his kitchen.
I have been concentrating on LCD and have learnt the following. First unless you're ready to line up and buy a blu ray or HD DVD, don't bother buying a TV based on HD specs. There's what, 8 watchable channels available in Canada, and then what maybe 15% of the shows you actually want to watch are available in HD. I just shelled out for a new Star Choice HD reciever and have discovered there's nothing really to watch. What's worse, when watching a show not recorded in HD on a HD channel, it will not display it in wide screen on my existing HD TV. Anway, point is I think we're a good 2 to 4 years before HD is main stream and the HD disc issue is "settled". Get the cheapest TV that will get you by until then as the technology is likely to change or get better and cheaper by relation. On the LCD's besides the HD specifications the other things to look for are brightness, latency, and angle. Most of the LCD's i've looked at seem to have 8 ms latency (even the cheaper guys). I imagine to get lower you're looking at an exponential price increase. The viewing angle and brightness appear to account for the price differences amonsts similar sized LCD's. This month's PC mag gives Sharp highest rating with Westinghouse second for it's cheap price (it mentions it's viewing angle isn't the greatest though). For me I think I'm picking up a 32 " Westinghouse this weekend. Either that or Costco has a 27" with a DVD built into it for 799$. Not a brand I've heard of before though.
Might I suggest a forum that deals with all of this and more,beware,it is a huge forum,use the search function like you would here
It's a gold mine of information,carefull ya don't get lost in there
http://www.avsforum.com
It's a gold mine of information,carefull ya don't get lost in there
http://www.avsforum.com
Not sure what you mean by "specs". TVs are generally either HD compatible or they aren't. There aren't varying degrees of quality. Anyhow, for the most part, almost all TVs sold these days are compatible. At least the ones that are worth buying and aren't some cheap Wal-mart POS are.dr_pepper said:
This is true. But. Once the U.S. has switched entirely to digital by 2009, there should be a massive increase in the number of HD channels available. You can read more on this here. I know it doesn't list dources, but I'm too lazy to find one that does. You can Google it yourself if ya like.dr_pepper said:
How often do you buy a new TV?dr_pepper said:
The technology will not level out in the next 2-4 years. It will continue to change exponentially. We are now in an age where we just need to jump in at some point and buy something, because if we keep waiting for a 'standard' to develop, we may be waiting a hella long time.On the HD-DVD issue, this is not really related to this discussion. I would keep in mind though that the primary reason for it's development is that DVD recorders cannot record HD TV shows yet, as the current media isn't up to par. Anyone that is spending their $ on movies on HD discs are suckers. They'll never see a difference.
PC magazine is a great source. I've used it on more than one occasion to help in a purchase. The last TV I bought, about 6 months ago, was a Toshiba 32" HD CRT set. Nothing will touch this when it comes to pic quality. (just think about how long CRT technology has been in development compared to plasmas, LCDs) Makes a great 2nd set if you don't mind the depth of a CRT. Check out Visions before you buy. They have some great deals, don't sell any crap, and also have a killer warranty that IMO is better than the one Futurecrap and BestBuy sell ya.dr_pepper said:
Fuzzy, my main TV is a Toshiba theaterwhide HD CRT.
Anyway, what i meant by specs is 1080p vs 720p and I belive some of the older "HD" stuff is 4something p
Once the US has switched by 2009 means it'll be 2011 by the time the CRTC is done by us. Even 2009 is 2 years away. Think about what was main stream for HD two years ago. LCD was in it's infancy
My main point was - don't shell out $1500 for a 32 inch screen that will likely be obsolete in 2 years when you can get one for 800 that will suit your needs. And really - if you have the "real estate" or space, go with CRT. Both LCD and Plasma are still trying to duplicate what HD CRT has down cold. And CRT is a third of the price. Just heavy and bulky.
Anyway, what i meant by specs is 1080p vs 720p and I belive some of the older "HD" stuff is 4something p
Once the US has switched by 2009 means it'll be 2011 by the time the CRTC is done by us. Even 2009 is 2 years away. Think about what was main stream for HD two years ago. LCD was in it's infancy
My main point was - don't shell out $1500 for a 32 inch screen that will likely be obsolete in 2 years when you can get one for 800 that will suit your needs. And really - if you have the "real estate" or space, go with CRT. Both LCD and Plasma are still trying to duplicate what HD CRT has down cold. And CRT is a third of the price. Just heavy and bulky.
I have a 42" Samsung plasma and its rated for 60,000 hours. The same as most LCD's. The better plasmas now have burn in protection as part of built in software, so that is no longer a big issue. Looked at LCD and liked the picture better on my plasma. Plasmas in the 42"+ range tend to be cheaper (in $ price) than comparable LCDs. They run plasmas at a lot of airports 24 / 7. I think the longevity of most brand names is proven.
