Plasma VS LCD?

[GaryC 7]

I looked at LCD and Plasma TVs. Now days they are both good. You might consider a DLP. You can get a bigger picture for less that way. They are a bit thicker and cannot be mounted on the wall but otherwise I think they look just as good. I got a 50" DLP for $1000. You can't touch a LCD or Plasma 50" for that price.

[kaydee457 13]

If you're looking at anything smaller than around 42" then you're going to have a tough time finding a Plasma as most manufacture's have switched to LCD exclusively for smaller sizes.

Plasma's find use in areas with lot's of ambient light such as in restaurants and airport terminals. For home use, LCD is the way to go except the largest screen size is limited. I'm not up on the sizes anymore but last I was shopping around for one I think about 50" was tops for an LCD.

For an LCD the most important specification the contrast ratio, not the screen resolution. There are some real cheapies out there with very low contrast ratios. Don't get sucked into one of those. The Visio's are cheapies that are advertised all the time but most of them have pretty bad contrast ratio's.

Cables- I agree that one doesn't need gold plated "Monster Cables" and the like. The signals are encoded digital, double ended differential, I believe and an expensive cable yields no more advantage than a moderately priced cable.

Make sure if you buy a Plasma that you get an extended warranty as they are notoriously unreliable. LCD's weak point is dead pixels and the back-light behind the display. Dead pixels usually show up immediately but the back-light can go out at any time.

[DeadPoolX 9]

From what I remember hearing (and this was a little while ago too, so things may be different now), Plasma Televisions can have a problem with "burn in." This wouldn't be such an issue if so many channels today didn't insist on flashing their logo up in the corner and sometimes keeping it there for minutes to hours on end. Over time, the image can become "burned" into the screen of a Plasma TV.

LCD Televisions don't have this problem. The downside to LCD, traditionally speaking, has been that they've been more expensive and usually smaller in size than Plasma. I think that's been changing, however. I've seen some pretty large LCD screens recently.

As for cables... in general, the thicker the cable or wire, the better it is and I'd recommend going with a quality brand. The cables packaged in with the TV set are usually inferior for your purposes, so if you're spending all that money for the LCD or Plasma TV in the first, invest a little more and get some decent connections.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

If you're looking at anything smaller than around 42" then you're going to have a tough time finding a Plasma as most manufacture's have switched to LCD exclusively for smaller sizes.

This was true until last year. LCD factories were limited in size due to their tooling (look up mother crystal) not due to a technological barrier.

Newegg has 16 LCD TVs > 50 inches. the largest being 65. there are larger still on other sites.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....More+than+50%22

[junglee069 0]

here's the best way to buy a lcd/plasma tv.

go to bestbuy/circuitcity/whatever electronics store you choose.

stand about 20-30 feet from the area of the store that has the tv sizes you are looking at. stare at them, look at the one that looks the most appealing.

walk up to it and buy it.

that's what i did and i'm absolutely happy with my decision.

Edited February 15, 2008 by junglee069

[kaydee457 13]

If you're looking at anything smaller than around 42" then you're going to have a tough time finding a Plasma as most manufacture's have switched to LCD exclusively for smaller sizes.

This was true until last year. LCD factories were limited in size due to their tooling (look up mother crystal) not due to a technological barrier.

Newegg has 16 LCD TVs > 50 inches. the largest being 65. there are larger still on other sites.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....More+than+50%22

Hmm, I think we're in agreement here. I said that if you're looking for a Plasma tv at < about 42" you're going to have a problem ................I said I wasn't up to date on the max LCD screen size.....

Edited February 15, 2008 by kaydee457

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

If you're looking at anything smaller than around 42" then you're going to have a tough time finding a Plasma as most manufacture's have switched to LCD exclusively for smaller sizes.

This was true until last year. LCD factories were limited in size due to their tooling (look up mother crystal) not due to a technological barrier.

Newegg has 16 LCD TVs > 50 inches. the largest being 65. there are larger still on other sites.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....More+than+50%22

Hmm, I think we're in agreement here. I said that if you're looking for a Plasma tv at < about 42" you're going to have a problem ................I said I wasn't up to date on the max LCD screen size.....

Ahh yeah. Words. Not my strong point.

It must not be cost effective to make a small plasma.

[kaydee457 13]

If you're looking at anything smaller than around 42" then you're going to have a tough time finding a Plasma as most manufacture's have switched to LCD exclusively for smaller sizes.

This was true until last year. LCD factories were limited in size due to their tooling (look up mother crystal) not due to a technological barrier.

Newegg has 16 LCD TVs > 50 inches. the largest being 65. there are larger still on other sites.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....More+than+50%22

Hmm, I think we're in agreement here. I said that if you're looking for a Plasma tv at < about 42" you're going to have a problem ................I said I wasn't up to date on the max LCD screen size.....

Ahh yeah. Words. Not my strong point.

It must not be cost effective to make a small plasma.

Quit smoking and perhaps it'll keep your head straight.

[William33 110]

Many thanks for the advice all.

More to come on the final purchase.

[cmartyn 0]

Ok, I keep hearing this statement

The signal is digital therefore the cable it is carried on is irrelevant. Thats just not true. Just because they say it is digital doesnt mean its digital. In fact, the audio and video signals are digital streams, not like real digital computer data. If you lose a few bits here and there on your cable error corection takes place. This is why digital audio often sounds like ####### relative to analog. Anyhow. I have a Monster cable and it keeps falling out of the back of the TV. I think I paid like 150 for it. I bought one from Target and it sticks in better, It was 20 bucks. I think all of these cables are limited by the connector and the fact that it has no retention mechanism.

On the Plasma vs LCD front. The Plasma draws far too much electricity. Those 50" plasmas draw 500 WATTS! Not something Id want to leave on all day as background noise.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

here's the best way to buy a lcd/plasma tv.

go to bestbuy/circuitcity/whatever electronics store you choose.

stand about 20-30 feet from the area of the store that has the tv sizes you are looking at. stare at them, look at the one that looks the most appealing.

walk up to it and buy it.

that's what i did and i'm absolutely happy with my decision.

did something similar and had two choices, but one tv set (a sony) had the controls on the top where dust could get under the buttons, the jvc had them on the side so i got the jvc for that reason.

[mRx 16]

William,

I think the best HDTVs are still the Rear Projections (DLP, LCos). You just get more bang for your buck. The only downside to them is that you have to replace the lamp bulb (100$-150$)every 3000 hours. I would only recommend an LCD or plasma if you absolutely have to wall-mount it.

Plasmas are energy whores, and LCDs are really bright, and don't seem to display dark inky blacks very well. Both are still way more expensive than the DLPs and LCoS.

When looking for an HDTV, you are going to want to future-proof it. Make sure the screen is 1080p resolution. Also make sure it is HDMI 1.3 rated. This will enable xvYCC (or deep color), also it will support the new lossless audio formats (Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA). It is only a matter of time before TV broadcasting makes the jump to 1080p. And you don't want to have an outdated TV.

As far as cables go, as long as the cable is rated HDMI 1.3, then it will be good to go. I bought mine from amazon for 8 bucks. Works flawlessly. Monoprice.com is where most of the people on AVS forum buy from. Don't fall into the MONSTER cable trap. I think the only thing that matters is that the connector fits snugly into the slot. Ignore the "Turbo-cooled, gold plated, and gas-injected" ####### that Monster tries to sell. Its pure marketing. Nothing more.

Good luck William!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Matt speaks true.

[GaryC 7]

William,

I think the best HDTVs are still the Rear Projections (DLP, LCos). You just get more bang for your buck. The only downside to them is that you have to replace the lamp bulb (100$-150$)every 3000 hours. I would only recommend an LCD or plasma if you absolutely have to wall-mount it.

Plasmas are energy whores, and LCDs are really bright, and don't seem to display dark inky blacks very well. Both are still way more expensive than the DLPs and LCoS.

When looking for an HDTV, you are going to want to future-proof it. Make sure the screen is 1080p resolution. Also make sure it is HDMI 1.3 rated. This will enable xvYCC (or deep color), also it will support the new lossless audio formats (Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA). It is only a matter of time before TV broadcasting makes the jump to 1080p. And you don't want to have an outdated TV.

As far as cables go, as long as the cable is rated HDMI 1.3, then it will be good to go. I bought mine from amazon for 8 bucks. Works flawlessly. Monoprice.com is where most of the people on AVS forum buy from. Don't fall into the MONSTER cable trap. I think the only thing that matters is that the connector fits snugly into the slot. Ignore the "Turbo-cooled, gold plated, and gas-injected" ####### that Monster tries to sell. Its pure marketing. Nothing more.

Good luck William!

I wholeheartedly concur. My 50" DLP has an awesome picture! You just can't touch the size in a LCD or Plasma for half the price. I bought the 3 year warranty for $200. At the end of the warranty I get a free bulb if I didn't need it replaced beforehand. It's like buying the bulb beforehand and getting in home service for free.

[desert_fox 32]

If you go LCD...check the off-axis viewing. Some LCD devices change color when you view from some angle other than standing right in front of it.