TV's

[Lou Girardin]

I'm thinking of getting a new tele.
Who can tell me the pros and cons of; LCD, Plasma, Projection LCD types.
Ta in advance.
PS keep it simple, I'm a tech free zone.

[Indiana_Jones]

LCD are small arn't they?

-Indy

[Waylander]

Plasmas are good but have a highly pixelated image, same thing with LCD even projection LCD. Panasonic or Sony are the best ones of those. If you want a really good image go for a DLP. Best brand is Sharp. No pixels and crisp sharp lines. Also you can play Video games on a DLP without worrying if the image will burn into the screen.

[Indiana_Jones]

I don't like those plasma tv's etc the image isn't very good
I'd get myself a 33" flat screen or what not.

-Indy

[Skunk]

I'm thinking of getting a new tele.
Who can tell me the pros and cons of; LCD, Plasma, Projection LCD types.
Ta in advance.
PS keep it simple, I'm a tech free zone.

I'm no techie but here's the 'con' 'rumours' I've been told:
Plasma lasts only a few years if you use it like a TV.
LCD is good but limited in screen size.
Projection LCD is limited viewing angles.

I've been told best is a good HD TV ('cause it's going - yeah, right) and a projector and screen for movies.

[k14]

What is your price range??

I would get a 32" sony or panasonic etc, they are around the $2000 price range I think. Don't know a great deal about them, but the LCD's and plasmas are way overpriced.

[StoneChucker]

Duplicate Post - Ignore (read below)

[StoneChucker]

Make sure whatever you get is widescreen. That should be a given. My personal choice right now, would be a normal crt flatscreen tv. You actually don't need to spend alot on fancy crt tv's to get a great picture. Infact, some top of the range tv's boast technology to give you a better, clearer picture using software. These end up resulting in an artificial looking picture. A reasonably priced, good brand standard tv still gives you the best picture available (over ALL other types).

Plasma is still not up to the same standard, however they are improving over time (which is why I suggest getting a standard tv for now). The cheap plasma's are pretty shocking, with lag between visual and audio being an annoying example. You also get blur on high speed images and color swirls on rapidly changing areas of color. The most expensive ones are ok, but still not as good as standard tv's, and fecking expensive.

LCD are great for text (hence their pc application), but they are pretty small for a tv. Also alot fade the picture when viewed from the side.

When you choose your tv, look at the picture (obvious maybe, but alot of people, me included put more emphasis on price, and features).

[madboy]

I seem to be doin a lot of agreeing with Stonie tonight... Not intentional - honest!

I saw something on TV over the last couple days (wished I'd paid a bit more attention now) saying something pretty similar to what Stonie just said. The gist was if you have too much money, buy the plasmas/LCD now and then replace them in a few years when the models are finally up to the same standard as a decent normal TV is now. And when you look at the "normal" TVs, sometimes the cheaper ones are better than the flasher ones with the flash processing bits.

In saying that, a colleague at work just bought an LCD cos he wanted a pretty TV. I kid you not. It wasn't the screen size (only low-20s), it wasn't the picture, it wasn't the "techno" wank value, it was just that it was only a couple inches thick and he could pick it up and move it from room to room on a whim. For that he paid $2000 vs $400 for a conventional TV. Horses for courses.

[Gremlin]

It comes down to the age old question of "What are you going to use it for?" and "What is your budget?"

Personally, I think LCD is a waste of money. Huge price, little TV. Can double as a computer monitor though.

IF you are interested in a plasma, personally, I would take that money and get a good projector. But there are some things you need to look out for on projectors. Visibility is an issue, but the higher up the range, the better it gets. Visibility during the day is also a problem, but I know that one of the manufacturers have come up with a screen that drastically improves vision. Toshiba I think.

Wouldn't bother with rear projection. Too many restrictions as to what you can do with them, but you have got a big screen.

Standard TVs are a good staple and value for money option. Widescreen is the best if you are going to watch DVDs. Also, if you plug any computer into it to do something (my laptop runs as a DVD player) 100Hz is a must. Basically, the screen refreshes more quickly (than 50Hz) and gives a clearer picture... But flatcreen is definitely better than the curved screen.

[BurnCycle]

I have a 60" projection LCD from Panasonic that is very nice to watch. Projection LCD is a little better the DLP but for someone who just want to enjoy TV and is not worried about the latest crap, a DLP might be just what you are looking for.

BTW, GT4 in 1080i mode kicks arse.

[James Deuce]

I'm no techie but here's the 'con' 'rumours' I've been told:
Plasma lasts only a few years if you use it like a TV.
LCD is good but limited in screen size.
Projection LCD is limited viewing angles.

I've been told best is a good HD TV ('cause it's going - yeah, right) and a projector and screen for movies.

What he said. A CRT is still better than any other format, and much cheaper. The only advantage of plasma and LCD is that you can hang them on the wall, but if you do that, they better bee top of the range, or people sitting at 30 degrees to the screen aren't going to enjoy watching telly.

[Antallica]

I've got the Philips 32" Widescreen @ 100Hz and it kicks arse for telly & movies. Best bang for buck I reckon. The other stuff is too overpriced.

[marty]

i've got a toshiba 100hz 43" rear projector which is great - i bought a 50hz one and they delivered a 100 by mistake! the pic quality is great - no real problems with shading or non viewing areas. i've just bought a 50hz philips 32" widescreen for the spare room. it has a bit of difficulty stretching the PS2 to full width, but sky digital runs fine through it. even using the PS2 for DVDs is ok. it was around $700 @ harvey normans. the 100hz one was $1700, but it had a far superior pic when viewed side by side. my recommend - don't get a 50hz projector, only get a 50hz CRT if you're not fussy. don't even think about an overhead projector unless you only use it for movies.

[Lou Girardin]

Thank you all, great stuff. This clarifies things now. Although the LCD screens are now up to 32". It's also hard to judge picture quality in a bright showroom, on that basis the LCD's seem to be best.
We like the thinness of LCD/Plasma, but the value for money argument might win.
But, what's DLP?