LCD or Plasma - whats the best image quality

  • Thread starter TurboSmoke
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TurboSmoke

TurboSmoke

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Well our TV tube has finally decided to retire itself and the wife and I have decided that a new 42" or 50" plasma or LCD is on the cards. Especially with the xbox360 landing on our doorstep in May (my birthday)...what TV technology is the best quality...

LCD or Plasma....?

ask a guy in the electronics shop and he doesnt have a clue, he starts talking about reolution dpi and pixels as if i were an idiot...
 
The problem with LCD's (and more so with Digital Rear Projectors) is the viewing angle. LCD's are getting better, but you still have to be sat square to the screen to get the very best image. If you sit at an angle to the screen you'll find the image gets more and more compromised the greater the angle is. Its like what happens with a lap-top screen.

I'd also guess that you'd have difficulty finding a LCD screen as big as 42" - and probably none at 50".

Apart from that i'd say there's little between Plasma and LCD formats quality wise.
 
i guess my computer monitor is plasma then; cause i dont have an issue reading it at any angle; unless im next to it -- yes i just tested it. lol -- it probably a 165 degree viewing area.
 
I was probably a little misleading talking about 'viewing angle' on LCD's - you can see the screen from some wider angles - but the further away from centre you get the worse the contrast and brightness levels get.
 
When you get into rear projection LCD's, you can get into some larger sizes for sure! I would recommend any of the Sony XBR series LCD HDTV rear projections! Excellent TV's. We have been using our 60" for a couple of years now and the image still rivals new displays I see around.

For gaming, I would stay away from Plasma's for the fear of burn-in images from HUD or dashboards being left on the TV.
 
Pako
For gaming, I would stay away from Plasma's for the fear of burn-in images from HUD or dashboards being left on the TV.
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Pako hit the nail on the head. If you're hooking an XBox up to this bad boy, you want something that isn't going to have image burn in - LCD. The viewing angle isn't a problem unless you start talking rear projecting (check it out in the store), and even then it isn't bad. Make sure the contrast is good enough for you and check the image quality out on fast moving DVDs.
 
thanks for the suggestions everyone..

in the electronics store yesterday i noticed that on a Samsung 37" LCD and and LG LCD tv the vewing angle wasnt a problem at all. Infact you can view them virtually side on and you can see the picture okay. Thats modern technology for you..

i guess you have talked me round to LCD.

its scary when you are about to spend a lot of money and the 'advisors' in-store know bugger all about what they are selling.

cheers guys.

danoff
Pako hit the nail on the head. If you're hooking an XBox up to this bad boy, you want something that isn't going to have image burn in - LCD. The viewing angle isn't a problem unless you start talking rear projecting (check it out in the store), and even then it isn't bad. Make sure the contrast is good enough for you and check the image quality out on fast moving DVDs.
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Pako
For gaming, I would stay away from Plasma's for the fear of burn-in images from HUD or dashboards being left on the TV.
Click to expand...
Not entirely true - I'll see if I can find the source of my claim :-)

The first 48 hours of a Plasma screens life are the critical ones. So what you do is, let your HTPC (or whatever) run a "Plasma" screensaver for 48 hours, call it a Burn in to Avoid Burn ins run...

Picture of a Plasma Screensaver... For those not old enough to remember Plasma screensavers :-)

Download the Plasma Screensaver...
 
mosts DVD players have screen savers, at least ours do...would they suffice?

Flerbizky
Not entirely true - I'll see if I can find the source of my claim :-)

The first 48 hours of a Plasma screens life are the critical ones. So what you do is, let your HTPC (or whatever) run a "Plasma" screensaver for 48 hours, call it a Burn in to Avoid Burn ins run...

Picture of a Plasma Screensaver... For those not old enough to remember Plasma screensavers :-)

Download the Plasma Screensaver...
Click to expand...
 
I heard somewhere. That the plasma burn in is over-hyped. And that it only happened in 1st and 2nd generation plasmas.
 
I have been advised to go into the TV's set up menu, and deactivate the "blank screen on no signal" option. Then set it to show an off-air channel, and yank the aerial out of the back. Voila! Snow. Apparently it's quite ideal for doing the run-in.

Also, plasmas don't really suffer from burn any more. They do suffer from retention though, and you may need to do the snow trick for a night every six months or so.

Turbosmoke: I'm looking into a large flat TV at the moment. I've become thoroughly hacked off with the talk of resolutions and formats and run-ins and burns and all that nonsense. Just buy the one that you like the image of best. Go to an A/V store with some of your own DVDs and audition the TVs. Buy the one you prefer, and forget about its paper spec.

For the record, it's looking like we're going to get a Pioneer PDP-436XDE.
 
TurboSmoke
mosts DVD players have screen savers, at least ours do...would they suffice?
Click to expand...

Anything that shows an ever changing picture on the whole screen should do just fine..
 
we are looking at an LG model in Currys with a special piece of jiggery pokery called the XD Engine II. The picture quality is simply stunning. Brighter, sharper and no pixilation even on v. large screen reolutions.


http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/sto...0&tm=undefined&sku=771196&category_oid=-25961

its a plasma though..

GilesGuthrie
Turbosmoke: I'm looking into a large flat TV at the moment. I've become thoroughly hacked off with the talk of resolutions and formats and run-ins and burns and all that nonsense. Just buy the one that you like the image of best. Go to an A/V store with some of your own DVDs and audition the TVs. Buy the one you prefer, and forget about its paper spec.

For the record, it's looking like we're going to get a Pioneer PDP-436XDE.
Click to expand...
 
Another reason I didn't go with the plasma is that they lose brightness faster than the LCDs. If you look at the lifespan of the plasma, it's half of the LCD. Maybe you'll never use your TV for as long as either lifespan, but plasmas lose a substantial amount of brightness long before they burn out.

...and it's my understanding that burn-in is a problem. I could be wrong I suppose, but everything I've read suggests that for gaming (and computers) you want LCD.
 
Watch out for the LG's in Currys: they only show Hi-Def content streamed from an offboard media box. Ask to watch something on its built-in tuner to compare like with like.

Danoff: Pioneer are quoting a 50% brightness loss after 60,000 hours. By then I'll have an organic LCD.
 
GilesGuthrie
Danoff: Pioneer are quoting a 50% brightness loss after 60,000 hours. By then I'll have an organic LCD.
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If that's true than things have changed a bit since I was shopping for one. They must have because when I was shopping for TVs, sony was selling plasmas. Now I can seem to find any on their website, everything is LCD.
 
danoff
If that's true than things have changed a bit since I was shopping for one. They must have because when I was shopping for TVs, sony was selling plasmas. Now I can seem to find any on their website, everything is LCD.
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Sony just dropped its plasma, and sold all its plasma technology to Sharp. In return, Sharp helps Sony with it's LCD technologies, since Sharp is the largest LCD manufacturer in the world.


GilesGuthrie
Also, plasmas don't really suffer from burn any more. They do suffer from retention though, and you may need to do the snow trick for a night every six months or so.
Click to expand...

I don't know anything in detail about plasma displays however. What do you mean by retention?
 

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