LED vs LCD vs Plasma TVs

[cliffdunedin 8]

Looking at getting a new tele (40'+) We have had a couple of smaller LCD's but have heard the bigger they go Plasma or LED are the better ones to go for, what are your guys opinions on which is better?

[E36ShoppingTrolley 7]

we just got hooked up with a new 50" plasma and a 55" LED last week. the LED is by far better in every way. the graphics are far superior, especially when hooked up to blu ray or HD and its 3D function is pretty cool. the plasma is oldish technology and even thoughh its full HD aswell the picture is noticeably less clear. the LED is also amazingly thin. less than 3cm. in my opinion the LED will replace LCD and plasma technologies

EDIT: both are LG models and have wireless also

Edited November 4, 2010 by zinnoberrotE30

[Lucan 196]

If you have the coin go LED, far better than the others.

[M5V8 337]

we went through all this a few months ago.

Always get a reputable brand. Warranties are only as good as the brand.

If you want the size but don't have the coin, go plasma, the picture is amazing. You wont miss what you can't see.

If you have the coin then LED is the best technology...best picture plus lowest running costs (power consumption).

LCD will eventually be overtaken by LED due to it's more green credentials but like anything the newer technology is more expensive to start with.

Just be aware perfect picture does have it's drawbacks! .... sometime's it's disturbing to see that your favourite actress actually wears a TON of makeup for her flawless complexion.

It's also hard to take action star's seriously when you notice they too are wearing the stuff!!

Edited November 4, 2010 by M5V8

[cliffdunedin 8]

we just got hooked up with a new 50" plasma and a 55" LED last week. the LED is by far better in every way. the graphics are far superior, especially when hooked up to blu ray or HD and its 3D function is pretty cool. the plasma is oldish technology and even thoughh its full HD aswell the picture is noticeably less clear. the LED is also amazingly thin. less than 3cm. in my opinion the LED will replace LCD and plasma technologies

EDIT: both are LG models and have wireless also

Cheers for that, seems LED may be the better choice.

Just be aware perfect picture does have it's drawbacks! .... sometime's it's disturbing to see that your favourite actress actually wears a TON of makeup for her flawless complexion.

It's also hard to take action star's seriously when you notice they too are wearing the stuff!!

I did notice that when looking at them in the shops I too thought that Plasma was old tech though many reviews on the net (and the salesman said) that the picture is better on the bigger screens as opposed to LCD, i really like the look of LED, though i have had problems over the years.. buying new tech then all sorts of problems going wrong

Cost is not really an issue due to Harveys/JB having crazy interest free deals, but would like something decent for a reasonable price.

[bravo 35]

In a nut shell:

Plasmas have better black reproduction - blacks on LCD/LED are much harder to achieve.

Plasmas are usually cheaper.

Plasmas can suffer burn-in like older PC monitors.

Plasmas often have lower native resolutions than LCD/LED which means the picture will be less clear = more blurry.

Plasmas do not have as high refresh rates so action appears more jerky, and you get more flicker when the credits roll, etc.

LCD's employ a LCD screen with fluorescent CFL backlighting.

LED's employ a LCD screen with LED edge backlighting (which is why they are so thin).

LED's are generally superior to LCD's which for the most part are superior to plasma.

It's easier to make a larger plasma, and so to get the first big flat-screen tv's, it was the only option. Now LCD screens can be made bigger, you can get them in larger sizes.

The newest LED tv's have full LED backlighting using the latest small-form-factor LED's which improves black reproduction, however I imagine these are still very expensive.

[e30ftw 410]

I saw a LCD and LED playing side by side at Noel leeming, The LED was sooo soo much clearer, I think it was playing Lord of the rings or something and on the LED everything was so clear that the movie special effects just looked fake

[5amchris 45]

This is hard to read =D Working at DSE we have to know these things but i dont really have time to type most of it out.

Just to bravo:

Some Plasmas will burn but getting something like the new Panasonic range you wont get this.

The Refresh rate is a hard one everyone things it something different but in a nut shell Plasma with 600htz sub frame drive is faster then 100htz

And your right on full LED back Lighting been very expensive and i think you can only get in LG atm.

Saying this i would ask myself [You]

What are you after?

Is it for sport more then anything?

Do you want 3D?

dose money really matter?

Is it going in a very sunny room?

Best TV that we sell i would have to be

http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4cd34ed6006a...uct/View/GE6114

has wireless has USB HDD Recording meaning you dont need to buy a HDD recorder

Picture i would say just as nice as there LED.

Hard to explain online but if i was close i would show you everything i have learned

[CamB 48]

Just be aware perfect picture does have it's drawbacks! .... sometime's it's disturbing to see that your favourite actress actually wears a TON of makeup for her flawless complexion.

It's also hard to take action star's seriously when you notice they too are wearing the stuff!!

This is my over-riding impression too - its much worse with TV shows in HD (probably just less spent on production). I also noticed you were painfully aware of all the light sources (eg lighting from two sides when you wouldn't expect it naturally), and somehow it made actors look like ... actors.

[mrad01 0]

What he said.

The Panasonic plasmas are stunning. LCD is over. LED is up and coming. If you are a gamer, then LED is great, it is sharp and crisp. But, I have found that Plasma looks more natural and has incredible depth to the picture with no ghosting on fast motion.

Some people say that plasma is "old tech" - but so is the 4 stroke engine. Years of refinement.

Plasma if you are a movie nut.

This is hard to read =D Working at DSE we have to know these things but i dont really have time to type most of it out.

Just to bravo:

Some Plasmas will burn but getting something like the new Panasonic range you wont get this.

The Refresh rate is a hard one everyone things it something different but in a nut shell Plasma with 600htz sub frame drive is faster then 100htz

And your right on full LED back Lighting been very expensive and i think you can only get in LG atm.

Saying this i would ask myself [You]

What are you after?

Is it for sport more then anything?

Do you want 3D?

dose money really matter?

Is it going in a very sunny room?

Best TV that we sell i would have to be

http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4cd34ed6006a...uct/View/GE6114

has wireless has USB HDD Recording meaning you dont need to buy a HDD recorder

Picture i would say just as nice as there LED.

Hard to explain online but if i was close i would show you everything i have learned

[dickhead 0]

better quality doesn't really make viewing more enjoyable, wheras a bigger screen does. Go plasma and get like a 50" LG for 1000$

[M5V8 337]

for the record....we went through the all the options and ended up with a Samsung 50" plasma v8

It's awesome, yes the image would have been crisper on the LED version and yes it would use less power.

But for general TV, movies it's hard to beat this tv, it was considerably cheaper than the LED 50.

gaming experience is good enough to keep me owning the opposition in MW2 so I an't loosing too much there either.

my 2c

Oh ps-

plasma "burn in" whilst may have been an issue a few generations ago simply is just a sales pitch to get you in an LCD these days.

I've run plasma's at home for the last 7 years.

Only burn-in I have ever seen is on my work 42" plasma. It runs 24/7 with slow moving static graphs of server responses. After 1 year straight running you can see the burn now but only when it's turned off.

Edited November 5, 2010 by M5V8

[Denz 0]

Some Plasmas will burn but getting something like the new Panasonic range you wont get this.

you will still get it with the new Panasonics but the samys are the worst at it that ive seen (we fudged a 58 in the store), to clarify we run a lot of Blurays at work and with the black bars top and bottom running 8 hours a day you can start to get issues but under normal use its unlikely.

The Refresh rate is a hard one everyone things it something different but in a nut shell Plasma with 600htz sub frame drive is faster then 100htz

Im sure your aware but couldnt be bothered writing that Plasmas are 100hz but the 600hz subfield drive refers to each frame pulsating

Also a lot of the 200/400hz models of LCD are NOT true 200/400 hz. An example of this is the LG 400hz, the panel is 200hz and the lighting is 200hz as well.

At my store we have most models of most t.v's, pop in a Bluray, apples for apples the plasmas have nicer colours and are sharper due to their blacks. In a bright room (most stores) the LED's LOOK very 'sharp' but what your seeing is the brightness of the led in comparison to the Plasmas. We have more realistic lighting in our sound rooms where we keep some t.v's and the Panasonic V Series plasma spanks most of the LED's we have had in there but under our bright lighting the LED's look great.

If your just watching t.v then an HD Plasma will look almost as good as anything else at night.

But yeah, tell us what you want from it and im sure between myself and MR DSE we could narrow things down.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Denz

[5amchris 45]

you will still get it with the new Panasonics but the samys are the worst at it that ive seen (we fudged a 58 in the store), to clarify we run a lot of Blurays at work and with the black bars top and bottom running 8 hours a day you can start to get issues but under normal use its unlikely.

Im sure your aware but couldnt be bothered writing that Plasmas are 100hz but the 600hz subfield drive refers to each frame pulsating

Also a lot of the 200/400hz models of LCD are NOT true 200/400 hz. An example of this is the LG 400hz, the panel is 200hz and the lighting is 200hz as well.

At my store we have most models of most t.v's, pop in a Bluray, apples for apples the plasmas have nicer colours and are sharper due to their blacks. In a bright room (most stores) the LED's LOOK very 'sharp' but what your seeing is the brightness of the led in comparison to the Plasmas. We have more realistic lighting in our sound rooms where we keep some t.v's and the Panasonic V Series plasma spanks most of the LED's we have had in there but under our bright lighting the LED's look great.

If your just watching t.v then an HD Plasma will look almost as good as anything else at night.

But yeah, tell us what you want from it and im sure between myself and MR DSE we could narrow things down.

Well said.

Im happy to help.

just need the few "needs" and "wants" first.

[jimbo01 0]

Looking at getting a new tele (40'+) We have had a couple of smaller LCD's but have heard the bigger they go Plasma or LED are the better ones to go for, what are your guys opinions on which is better?

LED ones are still LCD, they just have LED back lights. That said something like the Samsung 55" LED is about as good as they get.

We just got a new 55" Sony LCD under Harvey Normans lemon clause - not a great TV but it was 'free'. It replaced a Sony 60" SXRD rear projection TV with 6 million pixels - picture was the best but it was not reliable. TV technology no longer in production.

Despite everything they say Plasma TV's still get burn in - we have a Samsung 42" Plasma in the bedroom and everytime we turn it on you can see the PS3 main screen outlines, however once there is a picture you can't notice it.

Edited November 6, 2010 by jimbo

[deeveus 81]

LED ones are still LCD, they just have LED back lights. That said something like the Samsung 55" LED is about as good as they get.

This is true. I recently replaced our LG 37" which I paid mega bucks for 5 years ago when we lived in Melbourne - this TV is still working 100% and is now on our wall at our crib. I replaced it with a LG 42" LCD TV and the reason for staying with LCD over LCD LED was the simple fact of cost. We got the TV for $1077inc GST - the TV is obviously 1080p, USB, 100hz and has a brilliant picture. One thing worth mentioning is that my old 37" was twice as heavy and probably better made. The newer ones seem to be a bit more plastic, seems to be the same with Samsung also. Brand wise Samsung & LG would be the only brands I'd bother with.

[Apex 693]

For a bigger screen and movie watching the Plasma gets my vote, we have recently got a Panasonic TH-P50VT20Z and its nothing short of amazing, makes my LCD look dull TBH. Still use the LCD for occasional gamming and sports though.

[Denz 0]

For a bigger screen and movie watching the Plasma gets my vote, we have recently got a Panasonic TH-P50VT20Z and its nothing short of amazing, makes my LCD look dull TBH. Still use the LCD for occasional gamming and sports though.

The V and the VT series would be the best t.v's for your $

Many times I have run the same bluray back to back against 7000 series Samsungs, the Full backlit LED LG etc with the V and VT and I havent had a customer say they prefer the LED although every person said wow that LED is bright.

[KRZY-E30 0]

go to harvey normans they have a special on. my mate just bought a 40" sony lcd like mine EX500 which is pretty excellent!!

was going to get and led but its pricy. plasma suck

[mrad01 0]

go to harvey normans they have a special on. my mate just bought a 40" sony lcd like mine EX500 which is pretty excellent!!

was going to get and led but its pricy. plasma suck

Obviously hates movies!!

[kingkarl 136]

go to harvey normans they have a special on. my mate just bought a 40" sony lcd like mine EX500 which is pretty excellent!!

was going to get and led but its pricy. plasma suck

Parents bought the exact same TV last week, was $1100 from memory. The picture is amazing and so easy to use.

I've never been sold on Plasmas. I much prefer LCDs. Maybe I'm wrong from an objective point of view (darker blacks etc) but personally I'd rather have an LCD every time.

[Apex 693]

Plasma is great for TV/Movies in full HD, I seriously laugh at my LCD after watching the Plasma, the Plasma is just ridiculously clear, to the point that TV adds are entertaining.

One thing new TV's seem to lack is decent sound quality, especially Panasonic, I need my amp going the whole time to get half decent sound, its a pain having to run it all the time.

[5amchris 45]

Sorry but if anyone come into work and said half the stuff some of you guys are saying i would slap them and tell them to look again.

You will also find that most places with lots of tv's running the same thing will be playing in 720P not 1080P.

as the switch broads cant give 40 TV's the full 1080 at once. where as the LED is the best priced for them it will have a 3D BluRay next to them running the best they can be just to make people say wow.

And again back to the lighting, Lights on a shop floor are fing bright! they make plasma's look pretty bad.

[Denz 0]

Sorry but if anyone come into work and said half the stuff some of you guys are saying i would slap them and tell them to look again.

You will also find that most places with lots of tv's running the same thing will be playing in 720P not 1080P.

as the switch broads cant give 40 TV's the full 1080 at once. where as the LED is the best priced for them it will have a 3D BluRay next to them running the best they can be just to make people say wow.

And again back to the lighting, Lights on a shop floor are fing bright! they make plasma's look pretty bad.

Sky and Freeview is only 720p/1080i anyway, same with most Blurays and 360/PS3

[5amchris 45]

true but still isn't showing you what your paying for.