Plasma or LCD?

[Usarka]

I hate tv, love music and film. But it's starting to get embarrasing watching a 12 year old 20" tv dwarfed by some good hi-fi surround sound kit.

So i've got the chance to buy a telly at a very discount rate. So i thought id ask some bikers their opinion about home electronics, as you do.

what is better, plasma or LCD???? (looking around 42")

aarrghhh too hard....

[Steam]

TV rots yer brain. Sock!

[jim.cox]

plasma has high energy consumption and is subject to burn-in. LCD for me

[spookytooth]

gotta big lcd total shit with out sky digi

[007XX]

plasma has high energy consumption and is subject to burn-in. LCD for me

Yep definitely...I used to sell both, and quite honnestly, the rate of plasma TVs being brought back in for faults was just staggering. They are very unstable (the gas inside is), and hate being moved as well...

[Street Gerbil]

Plasma burn-in is highly overexaggerated. LCD colors look artificial and oversaturated. Get yourself a reference DVD (or better yet borrow a blu-ray), go to EasternHiFi and ask them to show you the difference. You will be blown away.

[Deviant Esq]

Depends on what you want. Plasma TVs have a half life: a plasma TVs brightness will decrease over time, just like those really old tube TVs your grandparents still have. They also run a lot hotter, are a lot heavier (two valid points if you intent on mounting it on the wall), and use more electricity. They're also the older, less efficient technology - they usually have a lower pixel count than the equivalent LCD.

LCDs don't lose brightness over time, but generally speaking colours aren't quite as sharp - even with the higher pixel / resolution rating, they don't seem to look quite as "nice" as a high end plasma. That said, the gap is closing very rapidly - LCD will overtake at some point in the near future.

If you watch a lot of fast moving stuff, plasma is better since LCDs have a "response time" - a delay between the input telling it what's happening, and the panel displaying that picture. That means you can sometimes see "ghosting" on fast moving stuff - though generally this is a thing of the past with the older slower LCD panels. A low quality input here doesn't help matters. Use quality cables - component video - and you should be just fine.

If it was me - LCD. I used to sell both, and that'd be my choice. If plasmas were more practical I'd go with one though - something about a high end plasma picture that's just yum - especially with a quality DVD and home theature surround sound...

[JimO]

i have a 52inch samsung plasma was told plasma over 40 inch by several people and really dont give a shit if it goes bang because it was cheap

[Drunken Monkey]

I use a projector for films and sport. Best option if you're looking for BIG, plus turning the lights down and watching a projected image gives you that cinema feeling that you just don't get with a TV, Plasma, LCD, Rear Proj or otherwise.

Skody old TV does fine for skody old TV shows...

[diddie17]

Depends what you're looking for I guess, I have both, I've got a nice Pioneer 50 inch plasma and a 42 inch Sony LCD (obviously in two different rooms).

For picture quality and watchability I'd take the plasma over the LCD any day. Having said that the LCD is easier to live with in the family room, I can have consoles connected up to it without worrying about the kids leaving them on and burning the screen etc, it does run cooler and probably if I actually checked is slightly less noisy (fan noise can be an issue on plasmas).

The main reason for getting the LCD rather than the plasma for the family room was computer connectivity for media centre and moving the kids internet browsing to an environment where it could be monitored.

I guess I feel as probably does everyone else that I have the best compromise for me. If I am watching TV or a sports event or movie then I will go and watch it on the plasma. For day to day use, TV being on in the background, console use and computer connectivity then I would go with the LCD.

[EJK]

I vote for CRT! lol!

[Paul in NZ]

I work for a large japanese electronics company that makes top end commercial gear.... including screens.

Basically - be it plasma or lcd - cheap rubbish is cheap rubbish and there is a lot of utter crap out there on the market..... fact is - some brands ARE generally better than the others but they all drop the ball occasionally.

Others have given you good info. I'd add....

If you are planning on watching the screen at night or in well controlled light situations (ie no sunlight or reflections from large areas of glass) then plasma is OK as long as you get a good one.

If glare or sunlight or bright lighting is an issue - LCD wins every time.

Minimum in either these days is 1366 x 768 pixels. Don't worry about all the contrast figures and other bollocks as most of it is NOT measured to a uniform standard and is different between the 2 technologies anyway. DO make sure the salesman has not bumped up the brightness, contrast etc, ie all picture settings are in the middle of the range. Take in a sample of what you might watch and find a picture YOU like.

If you have SKY, freeview or saturn and a home theatre - think about getting a commercial monitor (no tuner or speakers) as they last 3 times longer. Consider what connections you have and use a decent quality cable - no need to go crazy but again - rubbish is rubbish. If possible - MAKE sure the DVD player / set top box and screen are all on the same electrical cct in the house.

If you want a few white papers (not by us) on the matter - pm me and I'll send you some.

Good luck - remember - it's your bloody money and your opinion counts!

Paul N

[Street Gerbil]

think about getting a commercial monitor (no tuner or speakers) as they last 3 times longer.
I second that. I got one of them industrial plasma monitors on sale, hooked it up to the freeview box, computer, and a DVD player and I am really happy about the whole setup. Works like a charm (as long as I ignore the noise from four large cooling fans).

[Paul in NZ]

I vote for CRT! lol!

Not a silly opinion at all - a 32" widescreen CRT from a good maker is a great option.

[Kittyhawk]

I have the good old traditional tube flat screen....its modern...it has a remote!!

Or just watch you tube or kb for your entertainment.

[Usarka]

Some cool answers for a bunch of hairy bikers! thanks all.

What response time should i look for if i go down the LCD route..... From my brief looking 8ms seems to be the most common but have seen a smattering of 6's in my price range.

[Paul in NZ]

Some cool answers for a bunch of hairy bikers! thanks all.

What response time should i look for if i go down the LCD route..... From my brief looking 8ms seems to be the most common but have seen a smattering of 6's in my price range.

Take an action movie DVD to watch - I doubt you could tell the difference - I can't.

[marc34]

Ive got a 42 inch Sony plasma, the last model they made apparently cos so many people brought them back fucked! its actually our second one, first one developed a big black line down the middle (like dead absolute you could not get any more centre of the screen down the middle).... happened after we moved house actually.... Sony replaced it, with a huge amount of trouble I must say, they were not keen.

haven't had any probs with screen burn eh, think thats a bit of a myth, or maybe my eyesight is just shit....

If i were to buy again, would go for HiDef LCD

[Paul in NZ]

Screen burn IS an issue on plasmas and some LCD's (they call it image retention)

Its usually only an issue in commercial applications if a logo or similar it stationary for a while. Many feature pixel rotation software but this has mixed success.

[Fub@r]

I got a 42" Plasma about a month ago.

When I was shopping around the quality of some of the TV's that are sold is bloody terrible. I made heaps of comparisons between LCD and Plasma viewing and for me Plasma wins hands down.

If you are looking at TV's in a shop and you wont be using a digital signal at home get them to switch the sets you are looking at to normal TV signal. Some of the sets I looked at had awesome digital quality but sucked for analogue and vice versa for others.

Another thing I found with the large majority of the LCD's was I could see not ghosting but fast moving images seemed to jerk across the screen, it was subtle but noticable to me. Once I pointed it out to the wife she then noticed it. Another thing I notcied with most of the LCD's the edges of things seemed to lack sharpness to me, like you could notice the pixel edge?

Don't make a hasty choice, if you spend and hour watching a TV in a shop, so be it.

Whether it be LCD or Plasma you won't regret getting a big screen :)

[Dafe]

This years latest top end Plasmas now have better screen burn prevention technology than the equivalent LCD's.

42 inch or bigger: Plasmas look better, the picture is more fluid.
Below 42 inch: LCD is the way to go.

[Dave-]

laser....but its not here yet....

get a 28 inch LCD monitor for just over $1000, then...get...your tv

[Usarka]

OK, next question. I think i know the answer but need that all important confirmation from complete strangers who ride bikes......

Should i buy tv that is the right size for the distance I sit from it based on the current broadcast and dvd quality shows, or buy a bigger model in anticipation of HD quality and put up with blur/pixelation in the meantime.....?????

muchos gracias

:mobile:

[JimO]

OK, next question. I think i know the answer but need that all important confirmation from complete strangers who ride bikes......

Should i buy tv that is the right size for the distance I sit from it based on the current broadcast and dvd quality shows, or buy a bigger model in anticipation of HD quality and put up with blur/pixelation in the meantime.....?????

muchos gracias

:mobile:

get the biggest one you can fit in your room

[Trudes]

I'd agree with that, the bigger the better!!!

[Usarka]

Do you have a big room???? :shit: :eek:

[Delerium]

I work for a large japanese electronics company that makes top end commercial gear.... including screens.

Basically - be it plasma or lcd - cheap rubbish is cheap rubbish and there is a lot of utter crap out there on the market..... fact is - some brands ARE generally better than the others but they all drop the ball occasionally.

Others have given you good info. I'd add....

If you are planning on watching the screen at night or in well controlled light situations (ie no sunlight or reflections from large areas of glass) then plasma is OK as long as you get a good one.

If glare or sunlight or bright lighting is an issue - LCD wins every time.

Minimum in either these days is 1366 x 768 pixels. Don't worry about all the contrast figures and other bollocks as most of it is NOT measured to a uniform standard and is different between the 2 technologies anyway. DO make sure the salesman has not bumped up the brightness, contrast etc, ie all picture settings are in the middle of the range. Take in a sample of what you might watch and find a picture YOU like.

If you have SKY, freeview or saturn and a home theatre - think about getting a commercial monitor (no tuner or speakers) as they last 3 times longer. Consider what connections you have and use a decent quality cable - no need to go crazy but again - rubbish is rubbish. If possible - MAKE sure the DVD player / set top box and screen are all on the same electrical cct in the house.

If you want a few white papers (not by us) on the matter - pm me and I'll send you some.

Good luck - remember - it's your bloody money and your opinion counts!

Paul N


Any recommendations on brands? I was looking at some LG gear.

[pritch]

I just went through all this, Read all the stuff I could find from Google...

Briefly; under 40 inch LCD is better, over 40 inch Plasma has advantages.

I bought a 40 inch Sony Bravia and am happy with it.

Shouldn't all you guys be putting the money toward a new bike? :whistle:

[Mikkel]

Buy the heaviest you can find. Weight is always an indication of quality!!! 250 million Americans (and who knows how many harley riders) can't be wrong...

Personally I'm a sucker for CRT monitors. I find the colour depth and refresh rate lacking in everything but high-end CRT screens... 100+ Hz is the way to go. Not many of them around anymore though - since they take up space and doesn't look as *cool*.

But as someone said - projectors these days are an affordable and really cool option!

[Deano]

Well I still have old school tv and I'm pissed off that on some programs, some of the writing on the screen is missing.

It's a conspiracy I tell - all in order to make people upgrade to wide screen !!

Wide screen eh ? - that's great but why is the picture often not the full height ?

I mean, whay are you paying for the extra inches at the sides but lose some from the top and bottom - like that make sense !!

[Winston001]

If you are keen enough for a big screen, a projector is an excellent alternative. You can get a good quality projector (2500 lumen) for $2000 now.

I'm also contemplating plasma or LCD - 42inch. At the moment you can get an LG 42 plasma for $1700 which sounds like a good deal to me. Sony are the best, followed by Panasonic, but LG are also well rated in terms of quality and reliability.

I've thought about a projector and still might consider it instead but the thought of wiring, painting a wall or setting up a screen, hanging the projector from the ceiling etc rather puts me off. Also bulbs are expensive and may only last 500 hours.

[huck farley]

I just recently bought a Sony 37" LCD for our family room I got it from Harvey Norman's sale they had here in Wangavagus about a month ago. Paid $2.200
for it. LCD has caught up to Plasma now and is passing the plasma technology.

I had a Sony 29" black screen Tele I bought in 1995 trinitron model. Cost us $1.700 back then. It still is a great TV. I sold it on Trademe to a local motelier for $80 he gave me a good feedback, so he must have been happy with it. So I got to do some number crouching. The old set cost us $1700
Never had a thing done to it in that time.
So it cost
$141.66 per year
$ 2.72 per week
$ 39c per day
These figures are not including our sky connection of course.

So if my new SONY LCD lasts as long. I will be stoked!!!

I guess it was a case of sticking to the devil you know sort of thing as to why we bought another Sony!!

[tri boy]

My old 68cm tube box is down to two colours now.:laugh: green and Yellow. John Campbell looks permanently ill.:sick: Funny as f**k. Kanny will confirm that i would rather buy bike gear than try and make Coronation Street look good.(when are they going to drag that shite off our airwaves):soon:

[Winston001]

For anyone interested I have just started a thread on another forum about projectors http://pressf1.pcworld.co.nz/showthread.php?t=85301

The guy who set it up is here but hasn't shown up in this thread yet.

[Winston001]

I was convinced LCD was the way to go until I started to do a bit of reading. Seems like plasma still is better over 40inches.

What convinced me was that I looked at plasma screens alongside LCD in a shop and the LCDs were slightly blurred. The plasma picture was excellent.

To be fair, once you get an LCD at home I'm sure it would look fine.

[Usarka]

If any ones interested, the apple hypotenuse collided with the felching albatross.

fark did you read that?

I got a 32" lcd.

Couldnt decide. room small. came to conclusion tv will be much better in a couple of years and this will see me through. Plasma would'a been my choice for a bigun though...

got a mondo deal, under a grand for a samsung r81 rrp $1700 so wont lose to much in long run.

Hook up tomorrow night merry christmas to me, a crate of piss and a new tv :wari: