Plasma Vs. Lcd

[greenday-rulz21 6]

Need a bit of advice.

I was lying in front of the TV this afternoon. Put my hand over my eyes to rub them and as soon as I closed them I heard what sounded like a gunshot come from the TV. Gave me the frikin fight of my life . Worst timing of course. TV smelt like burnt plastic for the rest of the day.

So the old 1 ton brick looks as though it will be thrown out the window to make space for a new flat panel.

I'm not a noob when it comes to technology and know quite a bit, but I was just putting a thread out asking about you opinions, experiences, etc about what to go for.

A few things I've heard.

Below 40" LCD is better, Above 40" Plasma is preferred. This AFAIK is mainly because of price.

The higher the contrast ratio the better. i.e. 10,000:1 is better than 2,000:1

Would you recommend buying from the large shops? Or brand new on Trade Me? Its seems as though you can make a considerable saving on trade me, most even come with manufacturers warranties. Opinions?

It must be Full HD and either 46" or below.

So if any of you could give any suggestions. Like, what you use, whether you recommend it, preferred brands, etc I would be much appreciative.

I have looked on google, at reveiws etc. But real people, real life advise is preferred.

Cheers,

Nick

I know it has nothing to do with bimmers, but your opinions are valued (well, most of the time ).

Edited December 1, 2008 by Nick021

[BLACK DORIS 9]

Lol, well off the topic but I did a quik search and without (hopefully) breaching any T&C's... And at the risk of sounding like a tv salesman. Generally:

Plasma -hi res models hav good pic qual, has virtually no motion blur (fast pace/action stuff/sports), can be viewed from any angle, better blacks, richer colours, better pic qual in normal/low lite conditions. Does have cons - internal fan, runs hotter, can damage if layed flat (poss something to do with the gases need to create picture??)

Vrs

Lcd -gd picture qual, brighter (better in brite rms or daylite), lighter (kg's), no burn in, less power sappin.

Not so good at angles, blacks can be dull in comparison, contrast not as good as plasma, etc.

I'm no tv sales person or expert, just what i found online locally. Also brands and models will differ. No info detail re sizes.

We're still using the trusty tube brick model at mo! Lol. Mainly for dvds.

Brother in law has a ridiculous 60''+(??) lcd. Some things look amazin and others look so real that it kinda kills the movie e.g. will go from 'blockbuster' looking image i.e. kinda hyper real - to 'home movie' i.e. soo clear it looks like your watchin someones home/vcr movie footage -all within a couple of scenes!

If you have a large clear wall in your place and you dont watch the box during day much, I'd get a projector!!

We've just moved house and the new lounge wall is just crying out for it. Plus the previous tenant (our landlord) left his surround speaker system still fixed into cellin corners for us! Not sure of the prices, but i've seen them in harvey norman and they must be roughly the same price as a new 40''+ flatty by now?? Then you'd get the option of some serious gaming action too! Maybe sme on TM?

First and foremost though for us is, purchase of our first bimmer!!

Hope this is some help.

[JaseNZ 53]

I went through this dilemma about a year ago myself. I had the preconception that LCD was the way to go so off i go with this in my mind.

Arriving at Harvey Normans i said the the sales man i want that 40" Samsung LCD over there and he asked me are you really sure ???.

He asked me what i would really be using it for and i quoted a lot of motor sport and general tv watching.

So he gets this other TV a Samsung plasma and we set them up side by side and he sets up a ps3 which runs to both of them via hdmi.

I was blown away, the difference was noticeable as hell, The plasma won hands down, No stuttering or slight jerks in the picture.

Now i bet you are thinking he did this so he could get a bigger $$ sale but no this plasma was the same price and was 42" as compared to the 40" LCD.

Needless to say i was swayed to the plasma and i love it to bits. I have a ps3 hooked up to mine mainly for watching blue ray and also have mysky hdmi.

Fantastic tv and looks great. From other reports of people i have talked to over 42" plasma is still the best way to go.

Oh i got a 250gig hd dvd recorder (by redemption) as well and it even arrived about a month after i sent the details in, but i sold it on tm cause with mysky i did'd need it

But this is just my opinion.

[martyyn 2]

It all depends on what you watch and what your using as an input.

Briefly, if your watching 'fast' moving action then a plasma will handle it slightly better. If you want a sharper picture then the LCD wins. Plasma's dont handle 'bright' situations very well but I think have a better viewing angle (might be wrong on that).

Personally I wouldnt buy anything other than one of the new Samsung LCD's. A bunch of my friends are all into HTPC's and watch LOTS of HD content. We have all done lots of research and we have all ended up with Samsungs. The new ones are superb and even come with built in freeview tuners.

Size depends on how far away you sit from the screen but I know plenty of people who like to sit 6ft from 50' models. Just looks daft to me.

Try going to Harvey Norman and ask for the cash price for a substantial discount. If you butter the guy up enough you should be able to put that cash price onto finance or even your credit card.

[jjs 64]

Just bought a new Sony Bravia LCD with inbuilt HD Freeview. Love it!

In the end it was between the Bravia and the Samsung, with the Sony winning out because the frame / casing of the Samsung looks too shiny and not very sturdy (IMHO).

[Apex 693]

Sony 100% for me, but im a fanboy.

My advice if you have cash is to head to the Sony Office factory shop in Mt Eden, considerable savings to be made. Worth a look, I found out about the place a few weeks after purchasing mine and kicked myself ever since as I could have saved near a grand.

I have a 42†LCD and it is fantastic all be it a bit old, best to look for one with “future proof†features.

[kiwi535 538]

i got a 40 samsung LCD cheap(surplus after the Hamilton V8s) Its not "full' hd,but hd ready.Through our panasionic dvd recorder player its really good.On digital sky its heaps better than the not so old 29 panasonic crt we had.As Penry said you can still watch it even if the sun is shining directly onto the screen.Every now and then i do notice a slight glitch or fussiness.Ie a far shot of all blacks on a green green feild,or a slo mo replay of a a high contrast situation)I do plan on geeting freeview and or HD sky so the hdmi inputs will get used eventually!If you have sky they will upgrade your cables to component(or is it composite),ie from three cables to five...they did one for free

Edited November 30, 2008 by kiwi535

[Mark 178]

I have a Samsung 32" LCD and my parents have just bought a Samsung 40" LCD Series 6 with inbuilt Freeview. They're both absolutely stunning TV's.

I run my HTPC through my TV and have many HD movies. I prefer LCD because it's crisper when using the HTPC for browsing the net or playing PC games.

As has been said, Plasma handles fast moving action better than LCD, but companies making LCD TV's have put a lot of money into improving technology to lessen this gap.

Brands: I'm bias, but Samsung are regarded as the best for LCD because they manufacture the panels for many of the other brands.

[greenday-rulz21 6]

Thanks everyone for your input. It is valuable and interesting reading.

BD, thanks for that info. Its good to have it all in one place. Its rather hard to decide plasma or LCD (like presso!) because as Martyn said, It all comes down to what you use it for.

presso, interesting story. Appreciate it. Just shows that its easy to be swayed and maybe not to have a preference set in stone before you go into the shop

Martyn, The tv will mainly be hooked up to a HD Recorder, and sky (with the possibility of mysky HDi if it works allgood) also sometimes HD xbox 360. Just general use, movies, sports, new etc.

Interesting how you all went for Samsungs. I'm assuming you found it to be far better than the competition? Hardware wise, and I have to admit they can look absolutely magnificent in the right room.

Jeremy, My mother has a Sony 40" LCD. Looks great also pictures not bad. HD ready, so not Full HD which is a shame. But seeing she doesn't have freeview or sky she's not getting the best picture out of it as possible. Samsung and Sony are the two I'm kinda leaning towards now. Have experiences with both and both perform very well.

Graham, Thanks very much for that advice. Very valuable. Future proofing! I doubt thats realistically possible these days, unless of course you want to spend a fortune. Its like computers, I bought my Dell laptop 20 months ago. Specc'd it fully 2 gig ram, 120 gig HD, good graphics, and you go on their site today and you can easily double all of those numbers for the same price or less! Its amazing, and Tv's are slightly like that as well I believe. But if you get a good top of the line TV it should do what you want for years.

Kiwi535 and Mark, I didn't realize they would upgrade your cables. Something to look into. I've got the impression since I've been looking around, like you said, Samsung are the best LCDs.

Any other opinions, experiences are appreciated. Cheers

Edited December 1, 2008 by Nick021

[bimmer boy 21]

I always heard Plasmas wernt reliable, I have no idea how this could be but thats what I was told so at house house I bought a 32" Phillips LCD for my bedroom and a 20" Phillips for the Kitchen, both a great tv's.

Just as long as they are plugged into proper airial things if your watching TV, bunny ears are stupid haha

[euroitalian 62]

Thanks everyone for your input. It is valuable and interesting reading.

BD, thanks for that info. Its good to have it all in one place. Its rather hard to decide plasma or LCD (like presso!) because as Martyn said, It all comes down to what you use it for.

presso, interesting story. Appreciate it. Just shows that its easy to be swayed and maybe not to have a preference set in stone before you go into the shop

Martyn, The tv will mainly be hooked up to a HD Recorder, and sky (with the possibility of mysky HDi if it works allgood) also sometimes HD xbox 360. Just general use, movies, sports, new etc.

Interesting how you all went for Samsungs. I'm assuming you found it to be far better than the competition? Hardware wise, and I have to admit they can look absolutely magnificent in the right room.

Jeremy, My mother has a Sony 40" LCD. Looks great also pictures not bad. HD ready, so not Full HD which is a shame. But seeing she doesn't have freeview or sky she's not getting the best picture out of it as possible. Samsung and Sony are the two I'm kinda leaning towards now. Have experiences with both and both perform very well.

Graham, Thanks very much for that advice. Very valuable. Future proofing! I doubt thats realistically possible these days, unless of course you want to spend a fortune. Its like computers, I bought my Dell laptop 20 months ago. Specc'd it fully 2 gig ram, 120 gig HD, good graphics, and you go on their site today and you can easily double all of those numbers for the same price or less! Its amazing, and Tv's are slightly like that as well I believe. But if you get a good top of the line TV it should do what you want for years.

Kiwi535 and Mark, I didn't realize they would upgrade your cables. Something to look into. I've got the impression since I've been looking around, like you said, Samsung are the best LCDs. Will probably end up going for one to be honest.

Any other opinions, experiences are appreciated. Cheers

Did I hear either Harvey Norman or Magness Benrow advertising 50" plasma for around $2300 this morning? May be a good deal if you decide plasma is the way to go.

[ED1RTY 2]

Harvey Norman always have stupid reductions on big tv's as there are always new ones coming out, I scored a Full HD 42" Samsung for $1100 (That was cash + the fact it was a floor model) still as new though so all good.

[OLLIE 26]

just wait for OLED Displays (Organic Light emitting Diode Displays) to come out in that size! At the right price they would destroy LCD's and plasmas. I think currently the biggest you can get them is about postcard size (OEM) and i don't think anyone has created a TV with one yet.

should i wait for OLED TV's to hit the market?

sony produces prototype

I am working on a product at the moment with a small OLED touch screen and it is phenomenal, finally true black can be achieved and very very vibrant colours on a screen that is 1.2mm thick!

[zenetti 0]

Just bought a new Sony Bravia LCD with inbuilt HD Freeview. Love it!

In the end it was between the Bravia and the Samsung, with the Sony winning out because the frame / casing of the Samsung looks too shiny and not very sturdy (IMHO).

+1

If you end up with the LCD make sure you get 1080p - this is full high def. A mate of mine had a plasma and used it for gaming lots, however some of the pixels ended up burning out because he left the game on pause for too long. Strange but true.

[martyyn 2]

Something else to consider....the Sony screens are actually made by Samsung

[drifty325i 0]

If you speak to almost any experinced sales person or TV expert and asked them if it were them buying an LCD/Plasma 9 times out of 10 they will tell you a Pioneer Plasma is the only one they would have. They are the best panel on the market regardless. Even there 720p panels out perform most other LCD/Plasmas.

I am slightly bias though as I actually sell them in NZ but again ask the sales person for there own feelings. I also ran a Retravision store for 5years so I lived this debate everyday.

the good old debate between samsung and sony..? Samsung make better panels in LCD over Sony, although Sonys new 100hz lcd are ALOT better than the last generation Sonys. Id have a samsung if choosing between the to

If you are going to get an LCD MAKE SURE YOU GET ONE WITH MOTION TECHNOLOGY, like 100hz/200hz motion flow etc. That is by far the most important feature an LCD needs

If it were me id stick with a Pioneer panel. If money was tighter id have a Panasonic plasma

Edited November 30, 2008 by Riley

[OLLIE 26]

samsung and sharp are the 2 big producers of LCD screens.

[kiwi535 538]

old news perhaps...the newest tvs have built in freeview...

[Apex 693]

I brought mine without doing any research into what was coming out in the near future and really felt cheated in a short time, guess by “future proof†I meant spend a little extra as a TV is something you keep for say 5-10 years and you don’t want to fell like upgrading in a few short years.

Next time I will be doing a lot of research and spending a bit more.

I can sagest not buying LG Plasma, im not sure if they have changed but my old man purchased one back in the day then they were like 10k and his was nothing but trouble.

[Guest SamSpargo]

Just paid 1200 for a 42" samsung plama. Blu Ray porn is amazing!

[Mark 178]

Blu Ray porn is amazing!

Really? I wouldn't think c-section scars, bruises, caked on makeup, men's butt's etc would look very good in Hi-Definition 1080p!!!

[Guest Simon*]

Really? I wouldn't think c-section scars, bruises, caked on makeup, men's butt's etc would look very good in Hi-Definition 1080p!!!

Haha I remember think the same thing when I heard that ultra high def porn would be coming along - it's like waaaaaaaaay to much detail thanks!!

[BM WORLD 1283]

been in the industry for 20 years.( on break now as the company i worked for went bust)

have to say i have pana plasma .

they seem to have made the best models since the begining. i also like the pioneers , but a bit pricy for the 1080p panels .

had a few problems with samsung lcd panels for the small amount we sold of them .

also sony not the most reliable.

sold truck loads of pana plasma's with few issues .

and i am not trying to sell one as i am not working inthe industry at the moment.

we use to have all the panels set up in one big line lcd and plasma's all mixed up ,. most shops dont do that (why is that???) also have them all running via HDMI spliters , so they where getting the same signal . and could switch between hd tv , sat tv , dvd, bluray and some HD content on a Harddrive unit . use to do a few comparrisons with customers , most would buy pana plasma if they where looking at 42" and bigger .

good luck with your search .

http://www.panasonicviera.co.nz/plasma/th-50py800.html

42" or 50" with hd tuner etc .

Edited December 1, 2008 by Brent HARTGE535i

[tibbs.james 1]

I have a 40 Sony Bravia, not the full HD the one below it and it, I walked into the shop and checked out every tv in the dam place.

In the end i decided this one had the best quality picture. It does have all the motion flow stuff as well.

When i went TV shopping i was not sure what i would end up with, i just made sure that i got a tv that i liked. Not because somebody said that one was better than the other.

Of course price also came into it.

It was easy to compare because they all played the same HD preview dvd.

I like my LCD it makes a killer computer screen for playing car racing games

[my_e36 43]

I have a Philips 47" full HD LCD TV, plays DVD and PS3 mainly, very happy with it.

LCD vs Plasma - don't get caught up with the numbers on a brochure, let your eyes decide for you.

I guess the few things to look for is

1. full HD or not - can you tell the difference at your watching distance? I can't tell the difference between the two at 5 feet away for anything below 40"

2. How many of each connections do you need? - Most have 2 HDMI and some high-end model have 4. Having said that, component is just as good as HDMI despite what all marketing people say. HDMI is more convenient being single cable carrying sound and picture though.

3. Intergrated FreeView (IDTV) - If you have Sky, you might not need it.