Plasma or LCD for GT5?

  • Thread starter Morlow
  • 58 comments
  • 7,624 views

Which TV for GT5?

  • Plasma

    Votes: 16 24.2%

  • LCD

    Votes: 50 75.8%
  • Total voters
    66
I'd go Plasma, best contrast-black level you can get, no input lag. And as for burning in, I have a Panasonic px80 for more than two years and there is no sign of a burned image or something likt this !

At the moment the pany g20 series is the one to get for just over 1000E
 
Any serious videophile will tell you get a plasma everytime absolutely no question whatsoever, lcd tv can never look as good as plasma unless your willing to throw down some seriously big money and even then an equivelantly priced plasma will wipe the floor with it.

Dont whatever you do let the salesman in the shop fool you either, lcd and LED are the exact same technology the only difference is the means used to light the screen. LCD uses what look like miniature strip lights lights you would see in the office and shops etc (ok they're not exactly the same but for explanation purposes it fits) whilst LED uses (gueses anyone....) LED lights around the edge or in banks behind the screen itself if your spending serious money.

Everyone has they own preferences but for all out image quality you wont find better than plasma.
 
Omnis
Cheap plasma will have image retention issues with HUD-heavy games like GT5.
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Definately true for some of the older crappier models, on the other side of the fence, cheap LCD TV's look terrible.

Conclusion, you get what you pay for.

In regards to electricity usage, i see nothing wrong with my Plasma's usage, doesn't stand out above any other product. Even with electricity prices over here being quite high, i saw no difference when i jumped from LCD to Plasma.
 
Yeah even though plasma is losing the poll badly I think I'm definitely going with one. From what everyone has been saying, the few problems plasmas used to have have been fixed through the years. And I really want to have the black blacks, since I will be playing in a dark(ish) room with the window shades drawn.
 
Morlow
Yeah even though plasma is losing the poll badly I think I'm definitely going with one. From what everyone has been saying, the few problems plasmas used to have have been fixed through the years. And I really want to have the black blacks, since I will be playing in a dark(ish) room with the window shades drawn.
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Then it looks like you made the right decision. 👍

If your worried at all about 'burn-in', there are some guides to running your TV in for a set number of hours at half brightness. I doubt they are really relevant to the new plasmas, but might be worth a wee read.

If you are paying big money for a TV, don't be tempted to buy something crapper because its a size bigger for the same price. The number of people who bought crappy 50" TV's when i bought the decent 42" is amazing. They're all convinced i must have spent ages calibrating my TV because it looks so much better, the truth is, cheaper TV's are cheaper for a reason.

Panasonic are definately the safe bet for Plasma.

There is also a certain amount of buyers guilt associated with TV, and this is heavilly influencing the vote. So many people bought LCD because of 'hear-say' and 'price', that they manage to convince themselves that LCD are better.
 
I will echo what has been said here. Plasma wipes the floor with LCD for picture, the do run hotter and use more power than LCD but that's it. Image retention is next to nothing and shouldn't be a problem. I was going to go for a Panasonic PDP plasma for £2000 the closest thing to that price point on LCD was smaller, worse picture and cost extra for 3D glasses. But in the end I didnt have enough cash for the TV and had to get an LCD, the picture is still good.

As for HDMI all cables are the same just longer runs (anything over 5 meters) you may need better cables, if you really want a good read I suggest this article by Audioholics

I'm sure what ever you get, with proper calibration you will enjoy it.
 
You know what seriously put me off Plasma...

Seeing Airport departure screens absolutely ruined beyond belief with burn in.

Because in the early days of big flat TV's there was only plasma and that's what the airports fitted, which was a terrible choice for what they were going to be used for (static images).

I know the technology has come a long way in 10-12 years but I cannot get those ruined screens out of my head! I don't want to have to 'babysit' my television!

Robin.
 
I'm really into tv's:sly:

I have owned 2 plasma's and 6 lcd's

the plasmas where 40inch panasonics, and 3 of the 6 lcd's were Sony 120hz

I'll never forget seeing the sony xbr4's and 5's for the first time. Plasmas are cool, but it seems like a tv with a 120refresh rate is almost 3d. does anyone else thing this?

I have a 46ex701(sony led 120hz), gave my plasma to my mother inlaw, because i needed that 120 fix again.

A good place to get tv's is coscos, BJ's, etc.

in the end its all preference, you have to see them in the store. and like said anyone of them will look hot with that good ole thing playing.

Live that life
 
Get an lcd tv they are cheaper and don't burn, that is the words from the man at curry's, don't use plasma for gaming since the screen burn from the speedo and timer will ruin your screen.
 
lbsf1
Get an lcd tv they are cheaper and don't burn, that is the words from the man at curry's, don't use plasma for gaming since the screen burn from the speedo and timer will ruin your screen.
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First don't post something unless you know for sure what your on about, it makes you look stupid. Unless your trying to sound I'll informed, I'm good at doing that!

The man at Currys probably knows less about TV's than half the people already given advice so far. He was wrong, he's a salesman, not an expert.

The burn you talk of is known as retention, re-read this thread carefully, understand that 'burn' is a thing of the past.

Did the man from Currys also let you know that Cheaper LCD tv's often have a slower response time, which then appears as lag in games.
 
I thought LCD were better for GT5 purposes...but I was wrong! Now I am getting myself as a self xmas present a Panasonic 42" plasma at least for another 2 years until 3Ds drop their price.
Thanks to all who bring serious info about how things are for real on this decision
 
Plasmas are generally seen as the better ones to go for, in terms of colour and the like.

However, the connection feed to the set is quite important, always go for HDMI ports if you can or the next highest after that. I had played at a friend's set on COD with SCART (on a 42' Plasma)...previous to that, was playing at another friend's LCD with HDMI. OH MY GOD, the Plasma SCART looked quite bad while the LCD HDMI looked clean and crisp.

So, basically if you get either you will not get HD gaming (or films) unless you use HD connectors.

The family both have 42' Plasmas from Panasonics and they're really are quite good quality. They just need to be tuned in slightly more to totally bring out the colour, but as the rooms they are in have variable lighting due to different perferances for television watching from different people....they'll need to be left alone.

Salespeople....Never listen to them if you have done your research on what you want to get. They're there to cater to your wishes, not them to bend you to their wishes. Unless of course, money is of no cost to you.
 
LCD without a doubt. Plasma sets will suffer from burn in LCD will not.

LOL at the $300 monster cable. Monster cables are simply overkill and in most cases make absolutely no difference whatsoever other than to your wallet.

btw I personally have not yet purchased a Plasma set. I did the research and decided LCD was the way to go.
My borhter on the other hand bought 2 Plasma sets both looked great and both suffered from burn in in a short period of time.
He then bought 2 LCD sets and they look just as good with no burn in whatsoever.

I am on my second LCD system now first one was great right up until the day it died and 0 problems with the new one looks great on everything and I do not have to worry about burn in. I could leave the same still image on the screen 24/7 for a week with no adverse effects. Try that with a plasma.
 
I'm about to move from a Pioneer plasma to a Sony LCD. As others have said, plasma is probably the better technology, but it's really about whether you can get a TV that you like, in the right size, with the right features, for the right money. And the price variance is enormous.

A 42" Panasonic plasma is probably a good bet, especially if it's the neoPDP panel type. Very good sets.

Just do yourself a favour and get a THX certified Blu Ray disc and run through the calibration steps in the extras menu. Half an hour spent tuning your TV with this will bring it on leaps and bounds from the out-of-box settings.
 
I have owned both types, and the only things I will say is it depends on the size of your set. anything over 32" and you will get a better picture on a plasma screen. Also, any screen burn is easily removed with 30 seconds of white noise after a gaming session. (you may find things like scoreboards, lap counters etc get burned in after a long session.

A 42" Panasonic plasma is probably a good bet, especially if it's the neoPDP panel type. Very good sets.
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I have that set now, it is very very good. (my previous was a samsung 56" which was rubbish, constantly messing with the picture, which reminds me, there is an excellent thread here somewhere that shows you a good way to set up your TV for gaming.)
 
I'm not sure that screen size generalisation holds any more. The Sony I'm buying is much better than the equivalent Panasonic. That said, the generalisation is probably true where price is equivalent. In my case, the Sony LCD is more than twice the price of the Panasonic!
 
HBR-Roadhog
LCD without a doubt. Plasma sets will suffer from burn in LCD will not.

I am on my second LCD system now first one was great right up until the day it died and 0 problems with the new one looks great on everything and I do not have to worry about burn in. I could leave the same still image on the screen 24/7 for a week with no adverse effects. Try that with a plasma.
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The thing is, nowadays, there isn't any issue with burn-in from plasmas due to technology being far better than in the past five years, where burn-in was a consideration.

This really annoys me when people talk about burn in on current, latest generation sets when it isn't an issue at all.

You still can get a slight burn on LCDs I believe...although I suspect I may be wrong on that case. (Talking about pub telly's in the UK that seems to be LCDs)
 
Lots of ignorance regarding plasmas in this thread. Surprised somebody has not tried to say you need to "refill" your plasma or that it will die in 2 years. lol.

I just replaced my 5 year old 50" Samsung 720p DLP with a 50" 1080p Panasonic VIERA tc-p50g20 Plasma and it is phenomenal...

And lets start referring to the temporary "burnin" as Image Retention... as that's what it is.
 
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Yeah. I don't think that plasma is well-understood as a technology, whereas everyone understands how LCDs work. It leads to a lot of nonsense being spoken about plasma.
 
GilesGuthrie
Yeah. I don't think that plasma is well-understood as a technology, whereas everyone understands how LCDs work. It leads to a lot of nonsense being spoken about plasma.
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What doesn't help is the local 'experts' at the local electronics store.

Did you know:

"LCD TV's are lighter wieght, this makes the light have less metal to be absorbed into, and thus making the picture brighter"

"Plasma TV's are seriously prone to dead pixels"

Of all the things i heard when looking for my TV, these two were the best.
 
I currently own a Samsung 7 Series LED backlit LCD. The picture quality is great for an LCD but there is a lot of input lag which makes playing videogames frustrating.

It's hard to find reliable information on how much input lag each TV has, but for a gamer it's one of the more important factors.
 
irnbrutwinturbo
What doesn't help is the local 'experts' at the local electronics store.

Did you know:

"LCD TV's are lighter wieght, this makes the light have less metal to be absorbed into, and thus making the picture brighter"

"Plasma TV's are seriously prone to dead pixels"

Of all the things i heard when looking for my TV, these two were the best.
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lol.. when I bought my TC-P50G20 last night the guy at best buy was not having the fact that I didn't want the geek squad warranty. Kept telling me how things are going to burn into the screen and how they have replaced their store model 3 times for the same issue and how pixels are going to die and all this ****. Then when I finally told him I was leaving if he didn't go get my TV he dropped it. He left his clipboard when he went into the warehouse tho to make sure they had it in stock and I read everything he just told me right off of his little cheat sheet.

Silly people.
 
LCD will always be my choice when I get asked this. It used to be that Plasma's had a far better picture than LCD, but current models are edging up closer and closer. So why risk the TV getting a burned in tachometer from playing GT5 that will appear all the time (not to say it WILL happen, I've seen it in person a bunch of times)? If you can pony up the dough, I'd go LED, that is pretty much the best of both worlds; stunning quality and contrast and no risk of burn in 👍

Jerome
 
LCD's are advertising "Like Plasma Black Levels".... They still aren't close. Sure some might look better when looking at them in best buy under heavy fluorescent lighting and with their brightness and contrast jacked up but the real story is at home.

Image retention goes away when you play/watch something else and they come with a wipe pattern built in incase you are that paranoid about it.

To actually "Burn" something in it will require a lot of abuse.
 
A couple of times we got troublesome retention on our Pioneer plasma. I just left it on overnight displaying white noise.

SK360 Check out the Sony HX900-series TVs. They're the ones with the full array LED backlighting with localised dimming. Black levels are awesome, but then so is the price.
 
One thing I had always been surprised about the Plasmas in comparison to the LEDs was that blacks were really black and the variety of different shades of black to greys were generally better on plamas.

LEDs always need some form of light to show the differences of the grades of greys and blacks which can make it seem a bit washed out.

I had, last weekend, finally seen a HD programme at a family member's house and was able to compare them to a SD program. The first thing that was noticable was the colours were crisper and you could detect that quite easily. It just looked cleaner, although in some certain situations it could be slightly difficult to detect the difference between SD and HD at times. Having said that, I would easily prefer the HD programmes. Was definately worth watching and quite interesting as well.
 
Submerged, in the UK, one of the key image quality differentiators between SD and HD is that the HD signal suffers far fewer compression artefacts. This alone can radically improve a picture quality - as those who watched the last two F1 races on BBC One HD will attest. Although the signal was upscaled, the real benefits in IQ came from the on-screen graphics, which did not suffer MPEG artefacting around the high-contrast areas.
 

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