that actually is quite a good article. Amazing how impartial it is considering the url ;)

I've always been a fan of Sony products, and intended to buy a Sony 40" Bravia LCD, but a friend said they have serious reliability issues. In his opinion the Samsung LCD is the TV of the moment in this size range. Again it all come down to opinion.

I bought a Plasma for two reasons:

1. Off angle viewing and color is way better than similarly priced LCD's. If considering an LCD, be double damn sure to check it in the store before buying.
2. When watching fast action show's/sports, Plasma has a lot less artifacts which really annoy me.

Regarding the importance of black presentation (from CNET):

"Black-level performance is one of the most important aspects of picture quality. When a display can produce a deep shade of black, it not only improves the realism and the punch of dark scenes, it also makes colors look richer and more saturated. So why did we like Pioneer PDP-5080HD so much? This 50-inch plasma produces the darkest shade of black we've ever seen or measured from a non-CRT TV, whether plasma, LCD, or projection."

CNET

Well, like anything, a good plasma is probably better than a crappy LCD, and vice versa...

Assuming all else being equal (good luck), LCD gets my vote... Why ?

I don't know the intricacies, but I work in IR for a major hotel chain, and I can tell you that something like 60% of our "fancy presentation" plasmas are toast after 3 years, or have had "warranty issues" , while practically all our LCDs are still going... Granted, it's 12h/7days use, practically, so at home you may not care about those stats so much... Still, I know which I'd get for me !!!

LCD uses less juice than plasma. Bush hates stuff that uses too much juice (since he could not get all the oil from Iraq for free after all ;)).

Aurel

Apples to apples? LCD!

Just be sure to get an LCD with a high refresh rate. I just bought a 42" LCD with 120 MGhz refresh, and it has no artifacts... truly awesome picture.

Most LCD's are 60 MGhz or less, and those are the ones with the artifacts with fast motion.

Uh oh, that's what I have.
Plasmas are a lot heavier than LCDs so that might be an issue for you. Also the difference between 1080i and 1080p is that the i stands for interlaced or interwoven, I can't remember but it only fires 540 at a time but in a split second. The p stands for progressive and all of the 1080 fire at the same time. Better picture? who knows but I bought it anyways.
I am sure someone can correct me on the i and p difference, but I think that is correct.

I have a Sony 40 XBR LCD on my main floor. I love it. The Sony does not suffer, nor do many good lcd's on the market today, from the stuttering image problem when watching fast action stuff.

Now I am looking for a 50ish inch for the basement, problem is it is a walkout with daylight. I think Nostatic's pics with the glare shows why I may buy another LCD for there too. I really can't stand glare....

I am undecided, which keeps money in the bank, but a good LCD and a good Plasma are both excellent products...

Cheers

We need to bring back "tits" as an adjective. You don't hear it nearly as much as we should.

that glare is from a room light and the angle of the photo. There is zero glare on screen when I watch. But as I said I have decent light control in the room.

Plasmas are significantly heavier and do use more juice. But to my (somewhat trained) eye, they look closer to a good CRT tube (the gold standard) than LCD. But ymmv. Really depends on the application.

At this point in technologies, if you have a lot of ambient light you can't control, or have to have light weight, or want to do a lot of computer display, LCD is the way to go. If you don't have those constraints, I think plasma will give you a better (more "filmic") picture. Go check out the latest generation Pioneer Kuro. Then watch an LCD. If you can't see a difference, then buy whichever is cheaper.

As for resolution, progressive will almost always look better than interlaced. 1080p is the highest common resolution (there are 4K cameras coming to the market but it'll likely be a few years before there is distribution of content beyond 1080p), and I could see a difference even at a 42" display. But it can be subtle.

Yep, the new Pioneers are by far the best I have seen, but up here, they are nearly double the price of a good 1080p LCD.......

Still looking....

Cheers

well, I didn't buy a Kuro for that reason. They are beautiful, but to my eye the Panasonic gives 90-95% of the picture at almost $1K less. I'd rather spend the extra money on the sound.

If you are looking for a tits deal... And you can bear to wait until after Superbowl... The old trick of late is people by the nice big screen just before their Superbowl party, only to return it the day after. Open box returns with maybe 1-2 days worth of use are returned and can be had for substantial discount. Costco has one of the more liberal return policies, and many deals can be found there on returns!

LCD, last longer, runs cooler, much lighter. That's if you have room to sit distant from it. If you don't have room, have to sit closed and want big screen, you have to get plasma because sitting too close dot the LCD, the pic won't be as good.

I purchased mine (it was an open box, store display model) for approx. 1/3 off some time back...no regrets whatsoever!

If considering a 50" please take the time to look at the Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080 HD. I have the predecessor/CNET editors choice. I have not seen a better pic anywhere.....period. You should be able to pick it up in the low 2s. (I purchased mid 2s). A 50" LCD will likely be much more.

Too bad about the Bravia. IMO, it has the best LCD pic out there. However, I haven't looked closely at the newest batch of product. Seems there's hundreds of new choices every month.

If you absolutely, positively, have to hang it on the wall, high end plasma (Pioneer Elite, Hitatchi Director's edition) top the list, as long as $8k isn't a problem. IMHO, down from that, the best picture I've seen is DLP, but you cant hang it on the wall. But you can get 65" for under $2k if you shop around.

For what it's worth I have both LCD and plasma (three sets all Sony- the oldest plasma is approaching four years without a problem- the newest a 52 inch XBR is simply wonderful).

IMO the quality of the set and it's ability to deliver a 1080p picture are more important than LCD/DLP v. plasma. In short, don't buy any set without an HDMI input. And you will probably need more than one- which will eliminate the lower quality sets.