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What's better...Plasma or LCD?

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What's the better option ...Plasma or LCD?




If I was to say, buy a 40 - 42 inch HD TV, what would be the better option!

I thank you for reading this boring post!! ------ But I need to know!


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This article seems to favor LCDs....for me I'd go plasma...

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Depends what your viewing environment is like and what your preferences are. Both have their benefits.

LCDs are generally brighter and can cope with ambient light more easily because they tend to have non-reflective viewing surfaces. If you'll be doing most of your viewing in the daytime or in a brightly lit room, LCDs are a good option. Also, if Blu-ray or HD-DVD are on your list, it's pretty easy to find 1080p LCDs these days. Newer LCDs have backlights with a wider color spectrum, so they're capable of rendering more accurate colors than the traditional LCD cartoony look.

Plasmas have lower black levels and can achieve significantly higher contrast ratios than LCDs. You get better shadow detail and a deeper, more involving picture. You need a darker viewing environment to really appreciate this benefit. 1080p plasmas are extremely expensive (not sure what others are available aside from the Panasonic 65", which is outrageously expensive). Pixel structure on plasma is more evident than on LCDs, so you'll want to sit a bit further away.

Unless you require a really bright display or you can't do without 1080p capability, I'd go for the plasma. Consider Panasonic, Hitachi, and Fujitsu.

If you go for LCD, take a serious look at Sony's XBR series. Probably the best LCDs on the market today.
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No reg required for me...

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Well it'll be the usual watching TV in the evening type of thing, and yes, HD is on the shopping list some time next year!

I basicaly want the best picture I can get without spending a small fortune.
A friend has the Panasonic Viera plasma and another has the Sony Bravia LCD, both look fine to me, so I was kinda stuck as which option to go with.

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Originally posted by: vbangle
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My mistake,when i saw the the windows where you type your infos i thought it was to register
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I thought plasmas had less life than the LCDs? Or is that not true..
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The useful panel lifespan of modern plasmas is rated at 60,000 hours. That's over 20 years of use at 8 hours a day.

I'd say quoted lifespans are irrelevant at this point.
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Is it plasma or LCD that might eventually have the screen with a permanent image marked on the screen if you have a stationary image for too long?
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I seem to remember that early-production plasmas had some trouble with burn in. I'm not sure, but I think that has subsequently been reduced/fixed. LCDs do not and I don't believe have ever had a burn in problem.

I'm not sure if this is still a factor, but I believe at the 40-42 inch size that you're talking about, plasma will be a better price. I might be going on older knowledge, but I think LCD prices tend to increase a great deal at a certain size.
I don't know if that's even a factor for you.

I can tell you, for sure, is that you need to keep your eyes open for good deals. If you watch, you can score big time.
I upgraded to a 34 inch HD LCD a few months ago (from a 19 inch CRT). I paid $1000 at Best Buy (they were advertising a $100 price drop) and the next week, it was in the Best Buy ads again with another $100 price drop.
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Price is no problem for me - (I'm crap with my money anyway) but the missus won't be too happy if I spend £1500+ on a TV - not that I could afford it right now...seeing how we're in the middle of moving house and have a shit load of things to buy

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I have no experience with plasma or LCD, but from what I've read LCD is best for general everyday TV viewing and plasmas are better for mostly watching films.

I bought a new TV last year, and being old skool I went with a CRT - specifically, this one. Although at 75kg it was bloody heavy (embarrasingly I had to ask a neighbour for help with lifting it), I'm really happy with the picture quality.

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The major problem I've seen with LCD is that you have to be directly in front of them to see the picture, otherwise they are very hard to see. I don't know if Plasma has this same problem, or if they have fixed this in newer LCD's. But I find this annoying personally.
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My family got a new Sony wega LCD tv and I think it's terrible. What good is all that extra resolution (that really isn't that necessary) when it's offset by pixelization, artifacting, video noise and atrocious contrast ratio. So much for improved overall clarity with HD. Our older CRT had a better overall picture because it actually could display the color black.
As bad as our new tv is, it's light years ahead of the flat screen tv at my friends house which was bought about 6 years ago. You may just want to wait for them to further improve and drop in price.
Try watching the same thing on both tv's you're comparing. I suggest the first scene in ET. The remastered Blade Runner dvd might be worth trying too.
Can people think of other movies that would be a good reference for color or contrast?

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The plasma's tend to be lagging behind in the horizontal resolution numbers for some reason, perhaps very expensive to make?

The Toshiba's LCD's have had some bad press with banding problems recently.

The new 1080p Sharp's look the business
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I got a new Sony Bravia LCD and it looks fantastic. DVD's have an amazingly, clear image, and HD looks even better on it.

P.S. Personally, I prefer LCD's, but that is not based on technical specs, that is just my personal preference.


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The only real problems I've seen with LCDs were the limited viewing angle, and the refresh rate. I'm sure the refresh rates are much better now, but they used to be terrible. Watching golf was the worst. Everytime with camera tracked the ball through the air, the screen would become so blurry you couldn't even tell what was going on.
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