LCD vs plasma

[Jarvis31]

I currently have a 5o inch samsung DLP which is about 4 years old. i want to upgrade. Upstairs i have a 42 inch samsung LCD 1080p very happy with it. however i am having a tough time deciding what to replace my DLP with. a plasma or a LCD. i have read and read and i just can't decide on what to get. Can anyone help me decide. i want a 50-52 inch something LOL...please give me feedback

[yettitheman]

I'll vote for the Samsung 750 series.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45310

I've seen the 650-950 series, and each looks great.

[phlakvest]

What kind of room are you putting the screen in?

Is there a lot of natural light e.g. windows?

What do you primarily watch on it?

Narrow or wide viewing angles?

[Jarvis31]

well it would be in the living room where i have my home theater, the only source of natural light is the sliding glass door which is on the wall next to the wall where the entertainment center is. which i usualy close when i watch a movie becuase the glare is to much. i plan to hook up a blue ray to the new tv when i get it. i have direct tv so i watch mostly HD channels, movies, shows, whatever interesting is on. but when i get the new tv and i get a blue ray downstairs i will be watching movies alot more. i also like to sit at the counter when i eat and watch tv at an angle so unless i get a bracket like the one i have downstairs which i can extend out and move the tv anyway i want, i will have to watch the tv at an angle while i eat. so thats pretty much the basics of everything....reply

[Halon451]

What kind of room are you putting the screen in?

Is there a lot of natural light e.g. windows?

What do you primarily watch on it?

Narrow or wide viewing angles?

A lot of modern TV's these days have very good viewing angles, and many have some kind of anti-reflective tinting on the screen to reduce glare - I think a lot of these issues have been worked out with more updated technologies. Also, LCD's have really made vast improvements on contrast ratios and black levels, which have long been their Achilles heel IMHO, even more so than motion blur issues.

As always there are still distinct advantages and disadvantages to having either technology. I still prefer plasma to LCD (as indicated by my recent purchase :)), but really don't think you can much go wrong with either these days, as long as you select a reputable manufacturer. ;)

[Jarvis31]

so should stick with samsung? i dont wanna spend more than $2k

[Halon451]

so should stick with samsung? i dont wanna spend more than $2k

Panasonic if going with plasma; LG if going with LCD - again, just my humble opinion. Others here might suggest differently. :)

The Panny I just bought is full 1080p plasma, TH-50PZ80U and can be found now for between $1500 and $1700 in some places. I have a window off to one side of my living room that is open during the day, with a large sliding door in the dining room on the opposite side - plenty of ambient light during the day, but the thing produces clear crisp, bright images and has a damn near 180 degree viewing angle (not that you would want to sit that far off-center, but still.. ;))

[Jarvis31]

samsung?? not your top choice? i know we shoudln't go by brands....but i really like samsung...i saw a 52 inch on display at an "on the boarder" restaurant above their bar and it looked beaiutiful!!

[Halon451]

samsung?? not your top choice? i know we shoudln't go by brands....but i really like samsung...i saw a 52 inch on display at an "on the boarder" restaurant above their bar and it looked beaiutiful!!

Not saying they don't look great - you also have to factor in reliability. ;) In the end, get what you feel is the best option for you, but so long as you're asking my opinion I do sir, feel inclined to give it. :D

[Jarvis31]

so whats your opinion on samsung?

[Halon451]

I actually strongly considered Samsung as a TV choice before making my recent purchase. They're not bad sets, but I have heard and/or directly experienced many issues with reliability on these sets that were enough to persuade me against them. Like you, I've seen some very stunning images on Samsung sets lately, most of them the newer lines, so it could be that these newer lines also carry with them improvements in overall reliability, but I haven't directly worked with a Samsung TV in probably a couple of years now to say for certain. Maybe someone else knows.

[annunaki]

I am a plasma guy through & through. If I had to purchase LCD I would do Samsung from the 750 series on up. The 950 was just reviewed in Home Theater and they really liked it. It is a bit steep on price though.

One nice thing with the 750 series is that in Movie mode they are more or less calibrated to NTSC specs. See the review here on Audioholics.

[Gatsby191]

Plasma Plasma Plasma!! Did I mention that I prefer Plasma?:D
I've had my Samsung FP T6374 for about a year and a half now. Love it. Have both an HD DVD player, and a blu ray player runnning to it via my AVR, and when I watch TV it's mostly HD TV too. The picture is always very sharp, and every color looks vivid to me. Great blacks too! I do admit that it does make a difference when the viewing room is a dedicated HT room without any windows. And, this plasma does give off some pretty serious heat after a while. Must have something to do with the fact that my room only has 6' 8" ceilings. (That's all I had to work with)
Samsung is in the top 3 as far as I am concerned. It kind of looks like this to me: #1 Pioneer Kuro Plasmas(and most exspensive at the time) #2 Panasonic's and Samsung's Plasmas, and #3 Sharp's Aquos line.
After about a good 4-6 months of going out and auditioning everything I could, armed with the same exact 2 movies, and then watching whatever sporting events were showing at the time, I came to the above conclusions. Of course that's IMHO as usual.
I think you'll be very happy with another Samsung. Make it a plasma if the natural light factor is pretty minimal.
Good Luck! :) Joe B.

[davidtwotrees]

I have a Panny Plasma, 42" 720P in my main rig, and a Panny LCD 32" 720P in my boomboom room. (that's the bedroom to you married guys;)) They both have excellent picture quality (PQ), but I think the plasma just has a hotter picture. Blacker blacks, more vibrant reds blues and greens. Just overall better, imho.
The sammys have been getting knocked on the internet.......their blu ray machines had some issues recently, and the tvs may have had some issues last season as well. I did alot of reading and felt the Panny was the best bang for the buck..........with the Pioneer Kuros being the creme de la creme.......
I also was on a tight budget.......buying 720p freed up dollars to get me bigger screen size. So far, on blu ray the 720 is just fine, stunning actually, when viewed on my samsung 2550 blu ray player. Grins. So far the sammy is working just fine.

[bandphan]

samsung?? not your top choice? i know we shoudln't go by brands....but i really like samsung...i saw a 52 inch on display at an "on the boarder" restaurant above their bar and it looked beaiutiful!!

Dont ask questions that you already have the answers to:rolleyes: try doing a search in this forum on the topic im positive you will ding some excellent reading material ;)

[yettitheman]

Well.. before LCD's caught up to Plasma in terms of black level, it was a choice of "You need to avoid burn-in" or "You want the best picture".

Now, at least from what I've seen with the new Sammy's, it's damn hard for me to recommend a plasma, unless you are a black level fanatic (which plasma still has the best black levels at this point in time) or hate dead/stuck LCD pixels (like me).

LCD has just improved so much in so little time; a year ago or longer, I would have laughed at the thought of LCD TV's, because Plasma was where PQ was at, hands down.

The best part; LCD does not burn in. If you get an LCD with LED backlighting, the brightness and contrast ratio should stay rather consistent over the life of the set.

But hey, I have no problem with plasma set's at all. Kuro's and Pannys look just as great as the Samsung or LG LCD's.


As far as LCD brands (in no particular order)
Samsung
LG
Sharp (they at one point were makers of all kinds of LCD panels for other companies)
Sony

It's a pretty safe bet with any of those guys. Out of the list, I would probably venture to say that Samsung is probably the first one to break... but I've had quite a few encounters and experiences with Samsung sets, and they work longer than a Mitsu WD-57732 :D

[bandphan]

Motion blur seems to be the issue for most with the LCDs. The one im still waiting to get my hands on is the KURO LCD (http://www.engadgethd.com/tag/KuroLcd/)

[itschris]

For what it's worth, HT Mag just did an outstanding write up on the new LED LCD Samsung with Local Dimming. It said the blacks were as good as the Kuro. That's a bold statement. The only real issue was off angle viewing, but I don't know why that such a big deal. If you're going to watch a movie or tv, you tend to sit in the zone. If you're in the kitchen doing something else, why would you care if you can't see a perfect pic?

[annunaki]

Plasma is still the best route to go. The current generation Kuro's and Panny's are stunning when considering the price (Panny's).

LCD has come a long way, but motion blur is still an issue. The Samsungs perform the best here with no gimmicky 120hz engaged.

The other big issue with LCD is viewing angle. One cannot be off center much more than 20 degrees in order to have the best black levels (uniformity) and color accuracy. As we all know, plasma does not suffer in that regard.

[bandphan]

http://hdguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/2008-resolution-tests-125-hdtvs.pdf

link to video testing related to this thread

note the lcd motion resolutions

link to summary

http://hdguru.com/will-you-see-all-the-hdtv-resolution-you-expected-125-2008-model-test-results-hd-guru-exclusive/287/

[Phil Taylor]

The new LCD panels from Samsung are indeed VERY nice, attractively priced and get glowing owner reviews -- so count me in among the Sammy fans. :)

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Well.. before LCD's caught up to Plasma in terms of black level, it was a choice of "You need to avoid burn-in" or "You want the best picture".

Now, at least from what I've seen with the new Sammy's, it's damn hard for me to recommend a plasma, unless you are a black level fanatic (which plasma still has the best black levels at this point in time) or hate dead/stuck LCD pixels (like me).

LCD has just improved so much in so little time; a year ago or longer, I would have laughed at the thought of LCD TV's, because Plasma was where PQ was at, hands down.

The best part; LCD does not burn in. If you get an LCD with LED backlighting, the brightness and contrast ratio should stay rather consistent over the life of the set.

But hey, I have no problem with plasma set's at all. Kuro's and Pannys look just as great as the Samsung or LG LCD's.


As far as LCD brands (in no particular order)
Samsung
LG
Sharp (they at one point were makers of all kinds of LCD panels for other companies)
Sony

It's a pretty safe bet with any of those guys. Out of the list, I would probably venture to say that Samsung is probably the first one to break... but I've had quite a few encounters and experiences with Samsung sets, and they work longer than a Mitsu WD-57732 :D

LCD's have not caught up in black levels...especially off-axis. Getting better though.
Until they can get rid of sample and hold completely I could never watch a live sports event.
Plasma burn-in...I thought you said you researched?

Plasmas all the way for IQ.
Pioneer
Panasonic
Samsung
All are nice and that's the order I'd buy in, although the Sammy has more acuurate colors.

-jmo

[TheFactor]

One thing ive noticed about plasmas are the amount of heat they throw off, one time I walked into a room that was filled with them and it felt like it was a 100 degrees hotter in there than the other rooms. Obviously your not going to have 20 plasmas in your house but even one you can feel the heat coming off just standing in front of it. It makes you wonder how efficient they are not that it would matter to most that are even considering a plasma because they are at the top of the food chain LOL . The picture is incredible on one but for me the heat it throws off is ridiculous just my 2 cents ;)

[bandphan]

One thing ive noticed about plasmas are the amount of heat they throw off, one time I walked into a room that was filled with them and it felt like it was a 100 degrees hotter in there than the other rooms. Obviously your not going to have 20 plasmas in your house but even one you can feel the heat coming off just standing in front of it. It makes you wonder how efficient they are not that it would matter to most that are even considering a plasma because they are at the top of the food chain LOL . The picture is incredible on one but for me the heat it throws off is ridiculous just my 2 cents ;)

I find this strange. Ive never walked into my home (in Florida) and found the display to be causing a noticable difference in temps :confused:

[TheFactor]

I find this strange. Ive never walked into my home (in Florida) and found the display to be causing a noticable difference in temps :confused:

This was a little over a year ago so unless they've changed they do throw off a lot of heat especially if your within a few feet of one and again depending the size of your room and with your ac running which im sure you have going if your in florida during the summer months there might not be a noticeable difference . Also like I said when I noticed it was when I walked into a room that was full of them and it was air conditioned and that room was warm, were the rooms that had Just lcd's and dlp's the Rooms were cool. Please dont misunderstand me im not trying to bad mouth a plasma TV and im sure it might not bother some it does me so again its just my oppinion. They do have the best picture out there . Im pretty sure if you stood in front of yours after its been on while you could feel a large amount of heat unless they have changed within the last year or so.

[jostenmeat]

I find LCD flat panels also throw off a lot of heat.

A lot of people like to state one of many "questionable" strengths of LCDs as being more efficient power-wise. I've heard that plasmas are rated for max power usage, but this is misleading. Nobody watches a bright white screen all day. IOW, I believe LCDs actually do use their entire power consumption rating, but plasmas only use a small portion of their own rating. In real world usage, its supposed to be pretty darn similar from what I've read.

[annunaki]

There are few LCD's that carry the energy star compliant sticker that I am aware of. However, many plasmas now carry the designation.

LCD back lights are on the whole time the set is on. They definitely can draw a fair amount of electricity.

With any of these sets, the consumption is not that heavy. Do remember that in a show room, if the sets were cranked up for max output, they may be drawing more current than normal and wasting more energy.

[TheFactor]

MY main thing I was pointing out was just the heat that I felt from them and never noticed that amount from a dlp or lcd and as far as power consumption I just thought because of the heat plasmas generated that they wouldn't be very efficient but again it was the heat that I felt from them that I didnt like. Maybe its just me and im allergic to them lol :eek: