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Plasma vs Lcd
futility
Registered User, ClubPA regular
Registered User, ClubPA regular
I'm in the market for a new tv and can't figure out what to get. I mean I think lcd is just the way to go, but there are good deals out there for bigger tvs that are plasma. So is there anything bad about getting one?
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If size is your biggest desire, consider an LED DLP Samsung. They come in 61'' and 67'' flavors.
There is a great TV thread in the Technology forum that you should check out.
I'd first decide what size of TV to get (or tell us if you have already) and then work from there. This will largely depend on the size of room you want to put it in.
I dont know I don't have the money for a plasma so I got a 32inch 1080 lcd. Also I got it off of Amazon and saved about 600 dollars from normal retail. My LCD seems to work pretty good. I don't think that its better than Plasma but being that I don't have mo money mo problems yet I can live with it.
Plasma:
Pros: Cheaper/exist at larger sizes, deeper blacks, better response times, usually have ATSC (digital) tuners
Cons: Heavy, like "you need two people to move it" heavy; hot; panels usually don't have true HD resolutions (i.e., the native resolution of my 42" 1080i display is actually 1024x768); threat of ghosting forming on the screen if you leave it at a static screen too long; tuner isn't that big of a deal since if you want any HD channels other than the big 4 (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) you will need a box anyway
LCD:
Pros: Available at smaller sizes, lighter weight, easier to hook a computer up to (usually still have actual DVI inputs and are basically just really big versions of the monitor you have on your desk anyway), more widespread 1080p support
Cons: Blacks aren't as good as plasmas, and old displays have slower response times (but this is rapidly becoming less of an issue), often they have no tuner (if that sort of thing is important to you)
Honest opinion: I got a 42" plasma early last year. Turns out that is way too big for my current apartment, and it also doesn't support 1080p. In retrospect I should've gotten a smaller LCD that had 1080p, but ah well.
Yeah, this is important. We need to know both the general size and how far away you plan to be sitting. There's a point at which 1080p is completely useless based on certain size and distance parameters. The reason is that the human eye can't see beyond a certain resolution, so a 32" HDTV that is playing a 1080p signal will look identical to a 32" HDTV playing a 720p signal unless you are maybe 4-5 feet from the TV.
EDIT: Here's a chart
Also, I need to comment on two things about plasma screens that ASimPerson mentioned. First, they no longer have a burn-in/ghosting problem. That's a thing of the past. Secondly, plasma screens over ~50" should be true HD resolution. For 42" Im not surprised it's sub-1080i, but the plasma technology isn't limited at 50" and above.
DLP TV's are very heavy, and they are not really wall-mountable. Keep that in mind.
For sub-50" sizes I'd stick with LCD, beyond that go with plasma.
EDIT 2: Okay, guess my experience with DLP TVs is dated. They aren't very heavy (see below).
Overall this is pretty good advice, but here are a few corrections/additions:
The heaviness of plasmas, as much as it sounds bad, is not really that much of an issue. If OP is looking at plasma TVs, he is looking at >=42" TVs. Certainly there are LCDs of this size which can be carried alone in terms of weight, but keep in mind that TVs are large and (at this size range) do not generally offer any convenient way to be carried by one person. My 40" LCD weighs something like 45lbs, but I wouldn't move it unaided any significant distance for this reason. The weight is only really a problem, for me at least, if you want to adjust its position (assuming it's on a stand and not a wallmount).
The heat (and equivalently power usage) are pretty overblown; plasmas list the maximum power consumption, but due to the way they work they only use this amount when displaying a solid white screen. Viewing a dark movie or game, for instance, will generally be competitive with LCD power usage.
With regards to the tuner: both plasmas and LCDs of decent size offer tuners pretty much standard. At they very least they should include NTSC and ATSC, and I would definitely recommend QAM if you have cable. I get something like 20 HD channels on my "basic" cable subscription via clear QAM, with no box necessary. Lack of tuner is only really a problem (as far as I've seen) on smaller (<=30") LCDs.
Also, keep viewing angle in mind with LCDs. Generally (decent) LCD TVs seem to use S-PVA screens, so viewing angle problems aren't going to be horrendous, but definitely try to see any model you're considering buying in person to check this out.
but they're listening to every word I say
I'd never buy a plasma only to have it burn in and not covered by warranty a year later. I've read ranging answers on how possible this is, but for me - to spend 1500 bucks on a TV for even the POSSIBILITY of an image becoming burned in is too much.
Disclaimer: I have a 26" LG LCD that does 720p (it can also display 1080i, but I think it just rescales it back down to 720p, as it only has 768 lines of resolution.) My 360 looks really good on it (using the VGA connection, as I got my 360 before HDMI was available for it... the TV itself has an HDMI input) and DVDs look pretty good, too. I've only watched a little HD content on it, as I don't have digital cable nor an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player. I've never noticed any lag in games (I play Guitar Hero on it with no problems.)
In general, LCD technology is progressing fast, while Plasma is moving a little slower. I hereby predict that plasma will become less and less prevalent in the next few years, as LCD, OLED, and that other technology where each pixel is its own CRT (I can't remember the name, but I hear it's the best at producing the richest blacks and the most well-saturated colors) come into their own and take over. LCDs are already dropping in price at a surprisingly fast rate. My current TV sold for about 800$CAN back in Q3 2006. Now you can probably get at least 32" or 36" for the same price, along with full 1080p resolution, an ATSC tuner, and more inputs.
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That isn't what a game mode setting actually does as the response time is a characteristic of the panel. What it does instead is bypasses some of the video signal processing so that you see a picture that is closer to sync with what the console/whatever is outputting. Also burn is pretty much a myth on newer TVs unless you leave static images up for days at a time.
My parents got one of the first Samsung DLP TV's and it felt like we were carrying an empty box in the house.
The only maintenance you need on a DLP is the bulb has to be changed once in a while, which you can usually get for free under some plans.
There's not much point to getting 1080p on a TV smaller than 42", as in most viewing circumstances you're too far from the TV to perceive the difference between 720p and 1080p, unless you have exceptional visual acuity. Even at 42", you need to be closer than eight feet for the benefit of 1080p to even become visible, and closer than six feet to get full benefit. Unless it costs hardly anything extra to move to a 1080p model, 720p is usually fine in average viewing circumstances for sub-40" TVs.
also i've had several friends with DLPs and they all suffered issues with the light engine after a few years... it was more expensive to replace that part than to buy a new TV, so they were basically disposable... the technology might have improved by now, but i'd still consider that issue
plasmas also STILL suffer from burn in, no matter what anyone tells you... so if you play games, watch non 16:9 programming (i.e. with black bars) or watch a lot of news channels (which have stock tickers, or static images) then you'll likely get some burn in... and burn-in is not covered by any manufacturers warranty, or store extended warranty, so beware...
i personally play a lot of games, so i went with a 47" westinghouse 1080p LCD... there is absolutely no ghosting, and no threat of burn in... black level is a little crappy when compared to Plasmas of that generation, but the latest Samsung LCDs have gorgeous black levels on par with any Plasma
well heres the deal. I like to watch dvds in the correct aspect ratio... i dont like the picture stretched nor do i like it cropped funny. So if the movie or show im watching is in 3:4 aspect ratio, it will have back bars on the side of the screen. Even after watching something this way for a few hours, i'll notice the ghosting effect between the middle and the edges of the screen. Generally this goes away after watching something at full screen for a bit. But it IS there. and if you continue to do stuff like this it IS for all practical purposes permanent. Sure you can do a white screen thing to blank it out... but in reality you are just shortening the life of the tv.
Also it does get really bloody hot. And another thing to note, Plasma TVs need to remain upright, which can be a pain to transport them
Oh come on, this isn't a fifty page long thread. I suggested LED DLPs in the first post. They use, well, LEDs, not lamps. They last longer than the TV and this also removes the color wheel which was known to cause the Rainbow Effect for some people. Less moving parts, better image, the only DLP you should buy.
I heard you liek
secondly, I calculated my own table on distance/size.
which I calculated as follows:
That's small. The radians is 8,72664626 × 10-5, at which point most calculators will give up the job. The cosine for such an angle is 0,9999999961922823, the sine is 0.00008726646248895445.
So to get at the size of the pixel given a certain viewing distance, we have to multiply the viewing distance with 1,0000000038077177145, then with 0.00008726646248895445. Which, put together, gets you another ridiculously low number.
Luckily the viewing distance is meters, so I can easily multiply the last number so we multiply with 0,0872664628212405051. Or 0,0873 for short.
so that 0,0873mm if you're sitting a meter away. Let's look at how big that is in inches diagonal.
For 720px, times 0,0873mm that's 62,856mm in height, which we multiply with 2.04 for the diagonal. This gets us 128,22624 mm or 5,04827717 inch.
For 1080px this gives a diagonal of 7,57241575 inch.
So if you see a good deal that has the specs and size that you're after.... Just go for it.
I'd advise you to go for a samsung tv, or a sony (samsung inside), but check here for more info on any tv you like.
Basically there's a lot of difference in quality on three main issues
-depth and quality of black
-screen delay (game mode)
-rendering of normal 26fps movies (the movie mode)
Though I saw a new higher end Samsung LCD (1080P, 52", 120hz) installed at a relatives house. Very impressive video display capability. I thought it was a plasma.
L*2*G*X meant 24P, not 26.
yes. Or you looked at the more expensive LCD's and cheaper plasmas.
but they're listening to every word I say
It's also possible that the people who's plasma set I was watching had a cheaper or older set, but when I'm in Best Buy or somewhere similar, I can tell the plasmas from the lcd's immediately by how blocky the pixels look to me.
I think you are referring to the screen door effect, which is what you see when viewing a 720p set closer than optimal viewing distance. This used to drive me nuts, but it has been rectified for natively 1080p plasma panels, as the physical space between pixels is virtually imperceptible from any distance equal to or greater than optimal content resolution viewing distance.
Have you checked out any of this generation's 1080p plasma sets? The screen door had me hating plasma until I did so.
A dlp tv is neither flat nor lcd nor plasma right?
It is neither lcd nor plasma. The set is not as slim as either, though it's much slimmer than CRT and fairly slimmer than traditional rear projection.
DLP looks sexy.