Kevin,
Below are my comments on the many items posted in this thread. I relish the opportunity to give you some good info, as this is an area with which I am VERY familiar. I have copied the comments in black, and posted my comments in blue (hopefully):
I have a 52 inch LCD in my Den, ...I looked at plasmas and DLP's, but find the quality and performance in LCD's much better. The picture to me is better and they have no glare which makes it nice in rooms with a lot of windows.?
Personal opinion of course, but this opinion differs with accepted and tested ones. The best plasma has a better picture hands down than the best LCD. Lets take the Pioneer Elite as the best plasma and the Sony XBR5 as the best LCD. In motion performance, both are good. The Plasma is much less noisy and when things move, the plasma is better able to maintain the integrity of the image. In color, contrast, greyscale, and overall smoothness, the plasma is a great deal better. The LCD?s have a very tough time showing differences in color at very low levels and very high levels. Contrast is not nearly as good. The plasma offers a significantly more 3-dimensional image. Also, as pertains to bright rooms: the LCD screen IS less reflective, but the image tends to wash out when light is shined on the screen, since the screen tends to diffuse light in a variety of directions. While the plasma can offer more direct reflection of light, the image maintains its brightness better-so you see reflection but you also see image. This is only an issue at all if you have point sources of light that are not only bright, but located just right so that they reflect in your face exactly where you are sitting.
?Agreed.. the pixel refresh rate is higher on LCD, leading to less trailing during high-action sequences. They also require less maintenance than a plasma.?
This is 100% false. LCD?s refresh the panel at exactly ? the rate of plasmas. Normal video is 60 fields per second, and plasma generally operate at this frequency, showing a progressive (meaning all the line in the picture) field every 60th of a second. LCD?s also operate at 60 cycles, but show a black screen every other field, thus resulting in FAR worse performance in motion scenes. The ?new? big deal in LCD?s is the 120hz refresh rate (as found on the Sony XBR5 and other top tier LCD?s). This finally allows the LCD to perform at the same rate as the plasma. Sonys video processing is excellent, and motion looks good. However, the image looks grainier and less natural than the Pioneer Elite plasma.
As for maintenance, neither TV requires any. You turn it on and off. That?s it. If by maintenance, you meant repair, the two technologies are roughly equal. My experience has been that LCD?s require marginally more frequent service calls, while the average repair cost on plasma is slightly higher. If you have extended coverage, the cost doesn?t really need to matter to you.
Regardless of what you buy, don't make the same mistake I made.. pay extra for the Best Buy (or wherever) service plan.. don't count on the manufacturer to correct their mistakes.
Well put. I have a Samsung DLP tv which I am happy with overall, but it took me $1600 in repair to get me there. Luckily, I paid $0 because I got the 5 year service plan.
What's the story on High Def? Is that something you should have or not? I currently do not.
I know they make high def TV's. But do you need special equipment attached to your cable system? Maybe all new TV's are high def. I don't know.
The deal is that High Def is significantly higher picture quality. Should you have a nice car or a not so nice car? Well, if you like cars and can afford a nice one?you get the idea. Not all new TV?s are high def, but the vast majority these days are. Most all Cable and Satellite TV providers (Like Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon Fios, DirecTV) offer high def. This means you get a different cable box (or sat receiver) from them. This different box decodes the HD signal and outputs it in the proper format and quality using different types of cable connections (either component video or HDMI). There is the potential for a dramatic improvement in picture quality. Be aware that only certain stations are HD-around 20-30 channels now. Check you local provider.
Cable blows, don't even bother.
Is this opinion motivated out of a poor customer service experience? Cable is quite awesome. The picture quality is at least as good as satellite. Verizon Fios might be the very best. While a fiber optic transmission, this is still technically ?cable?. There is no guarantee that you can even get satellite TV, since many people have tree cover and just don?t have the necessary view of the sky. Satellite is more affected by weather as well. Also, cable usually lets you conveniently bundle TV, internet, and telephone service. Cable internet is the way to go at home.
Huh? My high-def cable rocks.. Unless satellite started broadcasting in 1080 or something, I'm not sure what you're referring to..
Yes. Both cable and satellite send their HD channels in either 720p or 1080i formats, depending on the network. Both cable and satellite use tons of compression to fit all those channels into their allotted bandwidth. In general, the cable line offers a lot more bandwidth, hence the cable channels generally have much less compression. This equates to better picture quality.
Satellite is all digital. Not all channels on cable are in digital. Their service is also not quite as good as Direct TV.
This was true a couple of years ago. At this point most cable providers are broadcasting all digital. We will soon see an end to ALL analog channels. Also, remember that digital is not necessarily better than analog. The transmission of signals is typically better, but who cares how well you can send a signal if the signal you are sending is so compressed that ? of it has been eliminated BEFORE transmission. Verizon Fios has the highest bandwidth out there and generally the best picture quality.
Absolutely stick with LCD over plasma.
Why?
For my MBR, I recently put in the new Mitsubishi 52" LCD 1080p (read: "expensive" ) It's visually stunning - better than the theatre.
Very nice set. Big money. I personally think the Sony looks a little better, but I would lump this into the ?high end? category. VERY nice.
I have another new Mitsubishi 52" DLP 1080p in the den, and absolutely love it, but DLP sets don't exactly go on the wall. But if you're not going to mount your TV on the wall, DLP 1080p is fantastic. And MUCH LESS $ then LCD.
My DLP is Samsung. In its day, Samsung was the king of LCD?s. I must say that the most recent Mits DLP?s are KILLER. Particularly the 833 line. VERY accurate color and just an awesome picture overall.
However, for my Family Room I JUST (this weekend) ordered the new Sharp Aquos 52" LCD 1080p. I selected this model because it has 10,000:1 dynamic contrast - picture is fan-freakin-tastic even in a very bright room. No glare. (This is one of the advantages that plasma used to have over LCD. Not anymore. You just have to buy the latest-gen LCD model)
This should also be a killer TV. Top tier. I would still take a Pioneer Elite PLASMA over any of these, as would every single person in my store. We get to look at TV?s all day long, so we have a very good idea about the extremely subtle things (and glaringly obvious things) that make these TV?s so convincingly superior to the competition.
And the lamp life on this Sharp model is 60,000 hrs. Safe to say I won't watch that much TV in the next 30 years!
This is true of almost every LCD by the major brands out there. You may also be interested to know that Samsung, Panasonic, Pioneer, and many other PLASMA manufacturers rate their TV?s for over 60,000 hours of half life. This means that it takes 60,000 hours for the TV to become ? as bright as when new. For the Pioneer, this is a very conservative rating.
If you are thinking about upgrading you might consider a 1080p set. Many videos will be Blue Ray, which is a sharper picture and needs the 1080p.
Partly true. The BluRay discs are 1080p. They look their best on THE BEST 1080p sets. However, on a quality 768 set, they will look better than a not so great 1080 set. It all comes down to the quality of the TV?s video scaler. Pioneer Elite even in 768 resolution looks MUCH better than some of the crappy 1080 sets I see out there. Most modern TV?s can accept a 1080P signal even if the panel cannot display this signal. The TV will convert all incoming signals to the native resolution of the panel anyway. Still all things being equal, go with 1080 resolution if you can. The thing is, most things are usually NOT equal.
This is incorrect. Plasmas have a faster refresh rate, which is why people who want to buy a big screen to watch football or live events favor plasma over LCD.
Ding ding! We have a winner. Please go to the head of the class, Mr. Matiss99.
The most recent independent research suggests that plasmas will brighter for longer.
In all reality, you can not go wrong with either. They both show a great picture. LCD's have the advantage of showing better in rooms with more sun light, and they have no burn in effect. Plasmas have a better viewing angle, higher contrast ratios, and show better blacks. Also remember, that while plasmas can get burn in (although newer technology has improved this), LCD's can get dead or stuck pixels, which the manufacturer will not repair.
Current reviews from high level audio/visual magazines rate the sharp Aquos as the best LCD, and Pioneer, Hitachi, and Samsung as the best plasmas. Do not listen to consumer reports for this.
Opinion on what looks the best is somewhat subjective, just like the hit of a cue. Some like a brighter look, some a more natural color. Go out and look at the tv's mentioned, and see what you like the best. If your room has a lot of sunlight, an LCD may be a good idea. Otherwise, you will get more size for your money with a plasma. Whatever you get, get 1080p resolution.
One other thought. You will want to get an HDMI cable for connections. DO NOT buy one in the store. On sale last week at best buy, they were $94. At
www.monoprice.com you can get one for about $6. DO NOT believe it when a salesman tells you a more expensive HDMI cable is better. HDMI carries a digital signal. It is 1's and 0's. They either get through or they do not. I have used a $100 cable, and a $6 cable and they look EXACTLY the same. Unless you need a cable over 10', do not pay extra.
Enjoy whatever you buy. The picture is fantastic with HD. My personal choice would either be a sharp aquos LCD, or a pioneer plasma.
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