plasma vs. lcd

[Tige M.D.]

Hey all, how's the Tige family doing? All's good here.
Question for all, what do you suggest? I'm looking at getting a new t.v. At least 42 inch and it needs to be wall mounted. I have not done any home work yet but i figured i would ask you first.
Plasma or LCD?

[knelems]

After much research myself, our old Sony bigscreen picture tube went out, lasted 15 years. I have a built in cabinet around our old TV, everything now is shorter and wider. I went with the Pioneer 50" Plasma, I don't think it was but $500.00 more than the 42" screen. My Dad built a smaller cabinet to hold the new TV to make it look like it fit into the old square hole in my cabinets. Also, I found out to buy from authorized dealers on the Pioneers for service.
Karen

[sparky216]

Tige MD,
Just went through this debate myself and ended up with a 60 inch DLP tv, didn't need the wall mount. From my research Plasma is the way to go. They are cheaper than LCD in the large screen arena, show deeper blacks and have better viewing from angles. Older LCD tv's had a tendency to blur with fast moving objects or sports broadcasts, if you do buy LCD go with the lower refresh rate and this will reduce bluring. Althought I must say I never did see the bluring on new style LCD tv's. If you are an tv junkie, well if you can see every pixel on 1080i/p then LCD will give you what you need, more pixels. They also say that LCD's use about 40% less energy to run. As far as life, who knows? I understand that they both will get about between 30000-60000hrs, my dlp bulb burned out the first month and they replaced it that day. I think Plasma gives you more tv for the dollar, but then again I'm not a TV junkie and don't need the lcd. Just my opinion, either way I'm sure you'll be very happy.

J

[NICKYPOO]

M.D.! What up Dude. I trust your pickin' 'em up and puttin' 'em down with the Z06? Atta boy.;)

I happen to be in the market right now. I'm leaning toward the LCD. My first concern with the plasma was burn in and life. So far as the the "burn in", from what I understand, they have made a lot of improvements to rectify that problem. So far as the short life span, unfounded as of this point in time. They haven't been around long enough to prove that they can't last. They do have deeper blacks than the LCDs, but once again, huge strides in improving that deal with the LCDs. The main thing that is pushing me toward the LCD is the screen coating. Plasma's are glossy which creats a ton of glare. LCDs are flat, almost no glare. If you've got a lot of windows, this could be a problem. The veiwing angle on the LCDs is just about as good as the plasma's now. The LCDs also weigh considerably less. The blurring issues have all but gone away in the new high end LCD's as well. Fortunately, prices are dropping like a rock for all these new fangled TVs. I'm eye balling the 52" Sharp Aquos LCD. $3500 at Best Buy.:D I'm going over to a buddies house tonight to watch the game in HD on his 50" Philips plasma. It's only a 760 res. so I'm interested in how it will look. I do like the Ambilight thingy on his.

Hope this helps.

[dogbert]

I'm with Sparky, if you didn't need a wall mount, go with a DLP. I just picked up a 57" Mitsubishi 1080i HDTV and it's spectacular. Quite a few of the HD channels in my area are broadcast in 1080i.

[knelems]

I think my 50" Pioneer was $3999.00 delivered to my door. I'm sure the pricing will drop even more if you can wait till Jan. I think Circuit City had about the same unit but more money, but it did come standard with a wall bracket.

[sparky216]

I do like the Ambilight thingy on his.


Yea that is quite neat!:cool:

[Moki]

I went through this debate several months ago and purchased a 45" LCD Sharp Aquos. The reasons I went with the LCD are:

Runs cooler and takes less energy
Picture light is supposed to last longer
Better picture detail for High Definition TV
Lighter than the plasma screens
I can hook my computer up to it and play games
No burn in issues

I use this mostly for TV. Plasma screens are gernerally better for movies. I use a ceiling mounted projector for movies.

[Tige M.D.]

Thanks guy's. I'll let you know how this all turns out.

[Matt Garcia]

High end TV's vs $$

I have had this same discussion with my wife about TVs. She wants a plasma or LCD but I keep refusing. I have this weird theory in my head that I will never spend more than a $1000 dollars on a TV because we could be doing better things than watching TV. I always tell her I would rather get a 4 wheeler for 3k or spending it on something that keeps us from being inside.

Anyway, I am slowly loosing this fight....so Id be interested to hear your results Greg, along with everyonelses

[Tige M.D.]

Ya know I totally agree with you Matt. I have been working 7 days a week for as long as I can remember right now. I spend all of about 15 min a day in front of a T.V. The wife on the other hand is a stay at home mom and has the T.V. running all damned day. if it's not soaps it's cartoons. I am at the point where they can move a T.V. out of another room. I would rather be out doing something like this more often.

[Tige M.D.]

Or maybe this...

[NICKYPOO]

Who's flat MD? K boat? Hallet maybe? :rolleyes:Hmmmmmmmm, some day.

[NICKYPOO]

Oh yeah, nice Rainbow as well.

[Tige M.D.]

Originally posted by NICKYPOO
Who's flat MD? K boat? Hallet maybe? :rolleyes:Hmmmmmmmm, some day.
73' Hondo drag boat. I'll tell you the 30 year story of that later. Gotta go try to burn some lbs. at the gym right now.

[NICKYPOO]

Originally posted by Tige M.D.
73' Hondo drag boat. I'll tell you the 30 year story of that later. Gotta go try to burn some lbs. at the gym right now.
Ahhh, I was wrong on both fronts. Oh well. I for one would love to hear the story. I've got a real hard on for flat bottoms in case you couldn't tell. I'd love to see some more pics as well.

[Domsz06]

lcd can be worked on plasma can't,

[larryueckert]

I have a panasonic 48" plasma and love.

[Domsz06]

i'm looking into a 50+ LCD come summer time.

[Tequilasun]

I'm sort of going through this issue myself. I'm waiting to buy until after the super Bowl though. I'm pretty sure I'll be going with LCD.

[Domsz06]

all I know is that I have a small 420 resolution LCD in my room, and it's just as clear and bright as my friends 1080 plasma. I think I'll stick with LCD

[T*]

I went w/a 42" Panasonic Plasma in Jan '05 - delighted with it. It's a commercial model - no tuner (need cable box or satelite box anyway), no speakers (running through home audio system), can pick the input type (always a bonus ;-) at purchase time - 2 HDMI's, one component, one composite, etc, which means you don't have to pay for or cycle through a bunch of input sources you don't use. It will do PIP and POP as well. Solid no-frills unit w/strong black performance.

[hoopykat]

Hey Greg,

Just keep in mind, whichever format you go with...HD broadcasts are still relatively limited yet out there. And, even with digital cable or satellite, most of your TV viewing will be non-HD right now. Look at different brands out there and compare them side by side if possible. Most places you go in to have their demo TVs playing an HD channel or DVD. Ask them if they can show you what an over-the-air broadcast looks like on the set. HUGE difference, and the differences between plasma and LCD are pretty significant too. Watching over-the-air on an LCD sometimes looks like a computer monitor. Lot of pixelization and blurring, and you may have a 42" screen, but non-HD or non-widescreen broadcasts show in a 4:3 aspect. Square picture with big black bars along the side. We bought 26" and 40" Sony Bravia XBRs and they have a great HD picture, but watching regular cable on them is sometimes crappy. And, no place that we went in to would show us what regular cable looks like on any HD set.

Hope this helps!

Mike

[Domsz06]

good point Hoop

[sparky216]

Has anyone noticed a difference when using a HDMI cable instead of Composite video, I see no advantage for the money I spent on that stupid cable and then I found out that my Dish receiver's software does not allow HDMI even though they have the output for it.

[dogbert]

Has anyone noticed a difference when using a HDMI cable instead of Composite video, I see no advantage for the money I spent on that stupid cable and then I found out that my Dish receiver's software does not allow HDMI even though they have the output for it.

I think it only matters if you want to do 1080p. Right now, I don't have anything that will do that and my A/V receiver doesn't support it. You'd have to have an HD DVD or Blu-Ray player to be able to use it. My cable box does HDMI, but it will only output 1080i anyway, so I'm using composite video. If I get the X-Box with HD DVD, then I might consider doing a direct video connection to the TV for that using HDMI.

[scottcarlye]

Just picked up a 46" LCD from sams club. $1600. Looks great. If you dont plan on putting it on a wall go for a rear projector DLP. more bang for the buck. There are some incredible 63" DLPs for the same cost as a 50" plasma. Plus they have a mat finish on the screen which cuts down on the glare. Most plasmas still have a glossy screen. Experience with plasmas at work has been horrible. We have about 15 in our operations center. One burns out ever 2-3 months and they burn in like crazy. Even the newest ones with anti-screen burn enabled (a white bar that scrolls across the screen every few moments) burn in in a few weeks. Granted, they run 24/7 but we are moving to LCD now that they are available in the larger sizes. Plus if you ever want to look at data... hook up a media center PC, etc. the LCD is much easier on the eyes.

[scottcarlye]

Has anyone noticed a difference when using a HDMI cable instead of Composite video, I see no advantage for the money I spent on that stupid cable and then I found out that my Dish receiver's software does not allow HDMI even though they have the output for it.

I wouldnt sweat the HDMI. Component video provides arguably just as good a picture. The one advantage with HDMI is the embeded audio. If...a big if... you have more than one HDMI capable source and an A/V receiver capable of switching HDMI, you can have one button source changes....assuming the TV is used as only a monitor. Plus, you dont have to run separate audio patch cables. I seem to remember IEEE1394 being sold as a single cable integrated A/V solution as well and what about Interlink. That didnt last very long. New systems using plain old CatV/RJ-45 computer cable and connectors are coming out soon. That may spell the end of HDMI. Digital interfaces for home A/V are still evolving pretty fast. Might not want to jump on the latest and greatest interface just yet. None are mature or fully supported by the marketplace. I spent $120.00 on an HDMI cable for my DirecTV and regret it. Doesnt look any better than the component video.

[Domsz06]

Just picked up a 46" LCD from sams club. $1600. Looks great. If you dont plan on putting it on a wall go for a rear projector DLP. more bang for the buck. There are some incredible 63" DLPs for the same cost as a 50" plasma. Plus they have a mat finish on the screen which cuts down on the glare. Most plasmas still have a glossy screen. Experience with plasmas at work has been horrible. We have about 15 in our operations center. One burns out ever 2-3 months and they burn in like crazy. Even the newest ones with anti-screen burn enabled (a white bar that scrolls across the screen every few moments) burn in in a few weeks. Granted, they run 24/7 but we are moving to LCD now that they are available in the larger sizes. Plus if you ever want to look at data... hook up a media center PC, etc. the LCD is much easier on the eyes.


I think it depends on your plasma, We had them on 20 hours a day at my work, they were pioneers and used them for a year before I left and not one had burn in, and not one went out.

[dogbert]

The combination of of digital audio cable and component video is the way to go. When I bought my 1080p DLP Mitsubishi and A/V from Best Buy, they told me that HDMI was a waste of money.

[Domsz06]

wow bestbuy told you something was a waste of money, that's a first.

[dogbert]

wow bestbuy told you something was a waste of money, that's a first.

Yeah, well, you have to ask the right questions...like what does HDMI get me over component video/digital audio...the answer was not really anything except maybe smaller cables.

[Domsz06]

ha ha ha, yes smaller cables!!:)