Plasma or LCD?

[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

[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

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????

[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?

[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 !!