New TV: Plasma or LCD?

[sprio]

I've gotten the go-ahead to buy a new TV, and am having a difficult time deciding whether to go with plasma or LCD. Plasma costs less up front, but are there long-term problems to watch out for? Any recommendations? I'm looking at 42-50" sets.

Thanks

[sammyg2]

I was at my older brother's house on Sunday watching part of the golf tournament.
He has one of those big plasma TVs with high def, I was totally blown away. I don't know how big it was but it had to be at least 60". I could not believe how good it looked, made my philips big screen look pathetic. The grass on the golf course, the players, it really looked as if I were there. I've never seen a TV with a picture that looked real before.
I can't remember the brand but he said it was one with true black, and cost around $4000 but he said he got a deal.

The next time my big screen needs repairs (about once a year, POS) I'm getting one just like his.

[HardDrive]

Just got a 52" Sony. KDL-52W3000.

Very nice. I don't watch much TV, but I did sit down and watch the entire Matrix series on it. Amazing picture.

Sometimes the picture on these things is almost too good. Non-digital programing sometimes looks really chunky. We are going to get digital cable when they expand their offerings a bit.

[John_AZ]

Remember the "Blu Ray" fight?
The next best time to buy a screen is around Thanksgiving, after that the Digital change over period and close to SuperBowl.
A lot of advice will follow. The hookups in back are as important as the "tru black screen". Thickness is smaller. Not yet available-3mm thick screens-about 3 credit cards thick. Expensive now yes, but so were HI-DEF full 3CCD recorders.
Microsoft and others will develop touch screen coffee table PCs and you will need another "newer" screen.
To be Continued...

John_AZ

[sprio]

Yes, digital cable is next on the list - I expect I'll need it for improved picture quality. Is the Sony a plasma or LCD? I'm concerned about burn-in with plasmas, and limited angle view with the LCD. We don't watch a whole lot of TV, but don't want to be dissatisfied with what we buy.

[carnutzzz]

Pick-up the Samsung 46 in. LCD for $1500 and never look back.

2 sets have been sold after people have seen mine, then went to purchase their own.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by carnutzzz

Pick-up the Samsung 46 in. LCD for $1500 and never look back.

2 sets have been sold after people have seen mine, then went to purchase their own.

My sister and her husband went for that. They love it. And they are TV fanatics.

[IROC]

Read up on plasma before you buy. We were looking at putting a video monitor in a military vehicle a while back (not relevant to your situation), but I did alot of reading on plasma, LCD, electroluminescence, etc., and plasma took a beating. I seem to remember some IEEE paper that discussed the picture degredaton and heat issues specifically with plasma. The rule of thumb was: less than 50", get LCD, greater than 50" get projection.

FWIW, I have a 55" projection (Mitsubishi) and a 42" Toshiba LCD and the LCD has the better picture...

[Super_Dave_D]

My Next TV

Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR2

The Sony KDL-52XBR2 flat-panel LCD TV has a unique design with a glass border around the screen; interchangeable bezel color; accurate primary colors and color decoding; clean image with little false contouring; excellent connectivity with three HDMI inputs and one PC input.

[rusnak]

I think LCD tvs look better in brightly lit rooms. Plasmas have a hard time getting as bright unless you turn the brightness all the way up.

I have a 50" plasma Panasonic Viera. I was sort of cheesed off when I saw how much less they are now compared to 6 months ago, but at least I didn't buy mine a few years ago.

If you do go with either, I'd say look into HD cable. Awesome clarity. And I almost forgot, check out Costco and Walmart for best prices.

[Neilk]

Once you get your TV, if you don't have an HD sat or cable provider yet, just hook the TV up to a standard antenna. OTA (Over The Air) HD feeds are the best as they aren't compressed to fit a cable or satellite feed.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by sprio

I've gotten the go-ahead to buy a new TV, and am having a difficult time deciding whether to go with plasma or LCD. Plasma costs less up front, but are there long-term problems to watch out for? Any recommendations? I'm looking at 42-50" sets.

Thanks

I got an LCD due to longevity concerns. I couldn't be more happy with it, really. Plus, they're dirt cheap anymore.

[Jims5543]

5 years ago I bought a Zenith 42" plasma monitor, I needed to get a Direct TV box for the TV signal as it did not have a build in tuner and I am using a Bose 3-2-1 unit for sound as it lacked that too.

I paid $2500 for it at a time when a HD 42" Plasma was $5000+ I would gladly pay 50% off and use my Direct TV box and Bose.

It gets hard use and has for 5 years straight, many many late nights on PS3 with GT4 going, never any burn in. My son has had Halo3 parties with his friend during sleepovers and they have played through the night 6 hours at a time never complained. All the horror stories about burn in and screen degradation have not happened and I consider my use of this unit to be abusive.

If I needed a new unit tomorrow though, I would probably go LCD because of cost and because it will not throw 115° heat off the unit. Otherwise I love my Plasma and use it a lot.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Less than a month ago I bought a 47" LCD from Costco. I paid $1299 with a "free" (yeah, right!) HDMI cable necessary to receive 1080i images. Its a Vizio. My son bought the same tv about a year ago and both of us are thrilled with them.

My son paid $1199 before they figured out to charge $100 for the stupid cable. You can buy TWO of the cables in a separate box for $59 from them but they no longer sell the tv without the "free" cable. DOH!

[nostatic]

for cables: www.monoprice.com

I prefer the look of plasma over lcd - more filmic to my eyes. Burn-in happens but it is temporary and not an issue if you don't leave static images up on screen.

The Pioneer Kuro is the "gold standard" for black quality last time I nosed around. I have a 1080p Panasonic 42" that looks very nice.

Depends on what you watch and the look you desire. I don't really watch much sports, instead films on DVD. I didn't see any LCD monitors that could touch the plasma wrt what I thought the cinematography should look like.

[cab83_750]

Plasma. Plasma. Plasma.


The LCDs that I saw required you to be at a specific angle and height. If you are not seated properly, the picture got blurry.

[NJSC]

Picked up a Hitachi Director's Series 42" Plasma in December of 2006. Not sold in the highway chain stores at the time. Mounted it over the fireplace. Best move we made, opened up space on the floor and a fantastic viewing from any angle in the room.

[Buckterrier]

Just picked up a 42' Panasonic plasma, 1080 res. Was told not as bright but truer color. Batter sppeed for sporting events. Waiting for Direct to come out and hook up a new dish.

[JV911SYDNEY]

Very happy with my samsung full HD LCD

[Vipergrün]

Just ordered an LG 47" LCD. Was 2K, on sale at TigerDirect for 1399.00 with free shipping. Found a link to the same TV on Amazon (TigerDirect storefront) and got it for 1223.00 including shipping and no tax. It's got 8000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms refresh, 1080p, etc. I only use Worst Buy and Crappy City to see items in real life, then order online.