Plasma Vs LCD

[suby01]

ok so someone please school me on this.

and what im asking for first would be some facts on why one is better than the other.

so say its the same exact price and the same brand and both top of the line for the Plasma and same for the LCD

im looking for a 42" to be exact for my bedroom. main use will be Xbox gaming and cable.

so if i get a 42" 1080p 600hz plasmavs42" 1080p 240hz lcd

which one would be better for picture quality as is detail and color darkness ETC. thats pretty much my concern.

[LuckyLuke]

You should consider LED.. It is better than LCD and Plasma. LED produces better picture, but it is little bit more expensive than LCD. Don't go with Plasma.

Plasma may be obselete pretty soon.

[Graflo]

I have Plasma... I wish I had asked this question before I bought it. If you are going to be using it for gaming you will need to go with LCD or LED. Plasma is not good for gaming unless you want to know how much ammo and health you have while your watching a movie.

Plasma TV's burn images into the screen that will not go away. I have a new 50" Samsung Plasma that has a burned in image of my COD4 HUD. Most come with a program in them that allows you to wash the screen of burnt in images that you have to run for an hour after your done playing. I forgot 1 night to set the program to wash and the the next day I turned on my tv and saw the burn in. It has not gone away and I still run the program after laying every night. 5 months and I'm guessing I'm pooched.

LCD does not have this problem and is the only choice if your doing any gaming or even watching sports. Some people will tell you that the action is smoother with plasma for high speed sports.... But having the score of the game burnt into your TV for eternity sucks.

Plasma also uses a ton of power and could heat up a bedroom to uncomfortable temps... Mine is crazy hot after an hour... If your a gaming addict like me that plays 4-5 hours in a sitting you will be sweating your beans off if it's in a small bedroom.

I am also a strong believer in using only name brands when it comes to a TV. Samsung, Sony, and Sharp Aquios line are prolly the best right now. That being said it is hard to resist the new Vizio 55" LED for only $2,200. It looks amazing and is getting really great reviews from the techy community.

[suby01]

if by little bit more expensive you mean double in price then sure. LED is not an option for me. just wanted to get a direct comparison between top of the line plasma and lcd.

and any reason why "plasma may be obsolete pretty soon"? or is that just your guess?

my reason for asking this random question is because when i did the crap out. all i got for comparisons was the year old reviews of like a 60hz lcd to a 240 plasma and they talk about motion blur and all that stuff.

now with the newest technology for 240 hz lcds and 600hz plasmas which one is better? which leads me all the way back to the previous question...(refer to post #1)

[LuckyLuke]

I think one of the manufacture dropped plasma tv development.. I don't know I read it a year ago.

[biggie]

If its for the bedroom and won't be used THAT much, then I'd just stick with LCD for now and avoid the extra cost of the LED.

I've had 2 LCD Samsung's (52 and 46) for a little over a year now and no complaints at all.

[telcoman]

ok so someone please school me on this.

and what im asking for first would be some facts on why one is better than the other.

so say its the same exact price and the same brand and both top of the line for the Plasma and same for the LCD

im looking for a 42" to be exact for my bedroom. main use will be Xbox gaming and cable.

so if i get a 42" 1080p 600hz plasmavs42" 1080p 240hz lcd

which one would be better for picture quality as is detail and color darkness ETC. thats pretty much my concern.

Check out the Sony XBR10

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-KDL...r=8-2

Telcoman

[BrandAidDesignG35]

Just bought an LG 42" LCD, it's sweet!

I would vote LCD all the way!

I also have heard that Plasma's will not be available much longer... for reasons noted above.

[nismogarcia]

Id say go with LCD , i have a 40 inch TOSHIBA LCD in my bedroom i play PS3 on and the picture is great.

[Graflo]

I would also reccomend you look at newegg.com and compare prices. I only buy from newegg. They have almost always been the best price and shipping and customer service is really good.

If you buy a newer model you usualy get free shipping.

[kmckis1029]

i have a samsung 40 inch LED and a LG 32 inch LCD... plasma was not even a thought... its old technology... requires maintence as one poster detailed and has the posibility to leak... i'd rather have a dead pixel or two than a leaking hole. (which i have actually seen before... its depressing)

have you looked at DLP technology? its not as thin as an LCD but you can get 5-8 more inches for the same price as a smaller LCD tv.

Also you can buy just a monitor... yes a computer monitor that has an HDMI connection and save money. If you will be hooking up to a cable/sat box then you have no need for a tv turner. SInce the box is the turner. In general computer monitors have better picture quality than tvs. So a monitor is another option.

But if you need a tuner, a LCD TV with 120hz+ and 5ms(or less) response time is your best bang for the buck.

[suby01]

thanks biggie ya well i wouldnt say it wouldnt be used this much. on my gaming days on those weekends end up playing halo for like 5+ hours straight.

but what graflo said thats probably going to be a good selling point, because i do not want something burned into my screen like that just after playing a video game. im not too concerned about leaving the screen on and stepping out thats a but most valid point.

anyone else please??

[suby01]

Check out the Sony XBR10

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-KDL...r=8-2

Telcoman

just a lil out of my what i want to spend on a tv range. but thanks.

and good info from everyone else.

[jmcohen23]

you guys are way misinformed....

Plasma is the best by far (currently). But if you will be using it for gaming, LCD is slightly better.

Burn-ins for plasmas don't typically occur anymore, especially on the better models.

if you go with plasma, only get a panasonic.

if you go LCD, look at Vizio for the most bang for your buck. otherwise, Sony is the best.

in any event, try checking out highdefform.com for real expert testimonials.

[LuckyLuke]

3D DLP TV.. cheap!!http://www.dlp.com/hdtv/3-d_dlp_hdtv.aspx

[G_whizz]

Graflo's post is bang on.

I have a SHARP AQUOS 1080p 50' and I FRIKN LOVE IT!!!!!

Especially for gaming!



While were on the subject..

zer...-hdtv

[zozoka1212]

Ahm I am on my 3rd flat screen. LOL First I bought a noname one plasma since no LCD was in that size. They were saying the Too hard to make LCD in that size and will be too expensive bla bla bla.

I bought it with 3 years warranrty. First year anything goes wrong replace it. 2 year anything goes wrong fix it in 24 hours or replace it or money back. 3rd year fix it in 72 hours or replace or money back.

2 days before the 3rd year was over I had some pixels missing. Called them up the guy showed up next day and told me need to replace something in it and it takes 2 weeks to get the part. I told him not to bother since the warranty says 72 hours. After painfull 30 minutes on the 1 800# phone. They decided to send me the check and I had to return the TV. Was stupid enough to buy another Plasm TV and about 15 months later. Same crap.

Went with Sharp LCD after that. Happy camper since. That was about 2 years ago.

I ended up with money in the pocket from both deals. Since the TV's were getting cheaper and cheaper. I could of buy 4 of the Sharp TV I bought from the $ I spent on the first plasma.

Also have another smaller one in my son's room. It is 32" and 3 years old with no issue. That is a noname one. I think it is called Insigma or something like that. Wasn't trilled with it when we bought it but was dirt cheap and turned out great quality and reliable. It is LCD also.

It might be isolated issue what I had not sure.

[osla]

The best LCD TV I can suggest at the moment is Sharp AQUOS LC42-D85U 42" LCD TV. It's a full hd 120Hz 1080 tv which I think will be good enough for gaming. It is priced at around 1k.

[tollboothwilley]

The only problem with LCD is light bleeding from one pixel into another. Because of this Blacks are not "TRUE" blacks where as plasma is great for that.

Plasma weighs at least twice as much, uses much more electricity and generates much more heat.

There is a reason that prices for plasma have come down and LCD has stayed the same. Demand for plasma is much less, mostly due to "image burn in" like mentioned above. This is not normally a problem as long as you don't have a solitary image during the first 20 hours of operation or so. Leaving the "salt and pepper" screen on by accident is a common problem, or leaving games on a start screen. Don't do that if you go plasma.

I almost always recommend LCD. The new LED is nice technology, but i don't think the price is where I want it yet.

[WAldenIV]

If you don't need to wall-mount the TV, I'd strongly consider a DLP set which is the still most bang for your buck. The new LED array bulbs are far superior to the older standard bulbs, use less electricity, and provide better color reproduction. DLPs are much thinner than older CRT sets (although not nearly as thin as LCD or Plasma) and weigh a lot less. My 46" DLP set only weighs 85 pounds.

Whatever you do, don't buy a television without seeing it in person. Go to a brick-and-mortar store and look at the set. Check the viewing angles, up-and-down and side-to-side. Look at the colors, paying close attention to the black level. Play with the TV menu and try reducing the brightness and other settings to normal levels. Make sure the TV doesn't have any motion blurring or flickering.

If the TV passes muster in-person, you can go online and find the best price possible.

[smockers83]

For movies, you'd want to go DLP or plasma due to the higher contrast ratio (deeper blacks). The biggest downfall to LCDs is the black and shadow levels aren't very good, not even compared to a CRT, although CRTs still produce some of the best pictures out there. One of the best TVs out there, LCD or plasma, is the Pioneer Premier plasma.

The problem to plasma, as mentioned, is potential burn in.

DLPs don't have the best viewing angles, meaning you can't see a DLP as well when sitting off to the side like you can with a LCD. They have a sweet spot for viewing angles. But they produce better-quality pictures than LCD.

So it's really all about what you're willing to give up. My advice would be to wait until LED TVs come down in price. Those right now combine nearly everything you'd want in a perfect TV.

[hyperm3]

There is so much misinformation in this thread, it prompted me to register prior to G ownership.

First of all, Plasmas are not obsolete nor are they going anywhere. They are still producing the best picture quality of all the options and are still the type of TV's that LCD's aim for(metaphorically the 3' series if you will). The only Plasma company that left the market was Pioneer(and not until March 2010) because their sets were the best(and still the best even if not available anymore) but too expensive to be competitive in the market(see Fujitsu as well). Most if not all newer plasmas wont burn in anymore(If you're afraid, buy the Best Buy protection plan that covers it for 4 yrs). Most of the higher end models have anti-glare screens. Plasmas don't leak(that's the silliest one Ive ever heard) and they don't need refilling(second silliest). Plasmas didnt get cheaper because they are obsolete, its because they cost less to produce than LCD(which constantly needs to update technology to keep up with Plasma). Plasma will always have a quicker refresh rate than an LCD because of basic physics(gas changes shape quicker than liquid).

In terms of LED, its still an LCD tv. The only LED's worth buying are the Backlit ones, not the edgelit ones. Edgelit LED's have the worst black levels.

In regards to the original posters question, I would go with an LG 42LH40 if you can get one still. About $800 now and fantastically worth it.
Modified by hyperm3 at 11:06 PM 12/29/2009

[TurboDurbo]

You beat me to the punch with correcting all of the misinformation. I think this LED TV thing got started when Samsung made that stupid commercial calling their LED Edgelit TV an LED TV. A bunch of my friends have asked me about it and I have to explain every time that it is just and LCD TV with a different backlight.

As far as suggestions for TV's...

I have a Sony KDL-46XBR9 which I think is great because of the following reasons, the Z series is very similar the only difference is the backlight I believe.

10-Bit color makes all content look great, including the standard def stuff which usually looks like crap on an HDTV.

It is internet connected so the firmware can be updated and you can do Youtube and Netflix and such on it.

Basics: 240 Hz, 4 HDMI

The TV is pretty slim as well if you want to go to an XBR8 they have the "Triluminous" LED backlighting (Red Green and Blue Local dimming LEDs) , but pretty big TV and last years model. Great reviews though.

The Sony Z series is a little cheaper and I have saw better reviews than the XBR9 but have no experience.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions, and let us all know what you buy.

[09GMAN]

I have a 61 inch Samsung DLP and love it. DLP may not be as popular as Plasma or LCD, however, it does cost less. I believe I got mine at cost for $1900.

[audtatious]

I compared quite a number of TV's before picking up my Pioneer 50" plasma a while back. Been extremely happy with it.

From an availability standpoint, I know that Cali has passed a new TV regulation which goes into effect Jan 1, 2011 (further restrictions in 2013) which limits the amount of power a set can pull. It is expected that the new regulations will save $18-30 in energy costs, per year per TV, and primarily effects plasma TV's due to their current draw but will probably hit some LCD TV's. Some say it can remove 25-40% of larger TV's from the Cali market.

[LuckyLuke]

Plasma soon will be obselete....

Notable manufacturers that abandoned PlasmaSonyHitachi Ltd.PhilipsVizioToshibaRCANECPioneer Corporation (in March, 2010)

[hyperm3]

Plasma soon will be obselete....

Notable manufacturers that abandoned PlasmaSonyHitachi Ltd.PhilipsVizioToshibaRCANECPioneer Corporation (in March, 2010)

Someone better let Panasonic know this then. http://gizmodo.com/5435130/pan...-come

[smockers83]

New plasmas are still vulnerable to image burn in, but it's not as big of an issue as it used to be (aka unlikely to happen).

Anything edge-lit (LED) is terrible, yes, but back-lit LEDs have the best contrast ratios out there (better than plasma). But they still have the refresh issue. So, if you are comfortable with the refresh rate of LCDs, LEDs are the best bet for best picture quality. (suby, I know you said LEDs are out of the question)

Another thing to consider is the light levels of the viewing room. LCDs are typically better in brightly-lit rooms whereas plasma is better in darker-lit rooms.

[audtatious]

My daughter left mine on for part of a day when she had her Wii attached and it did have a burn in. I turned it off and kept it off for about 1/2 hour and when it came back on the burn in was clear. She now has her Wii attached to a different TV.

[tollboothwilley]

She now has her Wii attached to a different TV.

I bet she does... haha