Plasma or LCD

Okay guys, my old rear projection TV is really showing it's age. I've been thinking about replacing it all year, been looking casually. Looking for objective opinions between Plasma and LCD. From what I can see, plasma has an edge in picture quality and price, but they don't seem very popular for some reason.

Re: Plasma or LCD

Re: Plasma or LCD

The XBR is awesome and is my favored LCD option. Originally, they just weren't in the budget, but Sony has a discontinued 52" XBR model on sale direct @ $2,400. But, I've seen 60" Plasma TV's in this price range that look great too.

Re: Plasma or LCD

My rear-projection gave up a yr back.
The guy that services all my stuff told me to go LCD (plasma gets burn holes or something...don't understand it).
He told me to go for a middle range priced LCD and pay the extra for extended in home warranty...so I have a total of 5yrs good protection.
Reckons if anything goes wrong after that, get a new one.
That's exactly what I did.
Different conditions here of course...weather is such you don't spend a lot of time inside....just too hot....so TV is not a big feature in our lives.

Cheers
Phillip

Re: Plasma or LCD

Re: Plasma or LCD

I just bought a new samsung plasma two weeks ago. I had a sony lcd before that. I can say from shopping and looking into what to buy that Plasmas are a bit cheaper right now, they have a higher refresh rate than the LCD's (which will determine how fuzzy a fast moving picture will get), and they show considerably better color range. Depending on how your room lays out you will see that plasmas look nice from all angles, now some of the newer LCD's have been converted to look nice as well....but you pay a fortune for them. The burn in problem with plasmas has been resolved by most major manufacturers. They now have it programmed to shift pixels so the burn in issue is eliminated. I would say that the best thing to do is go to a big box store to look, compare the pictures on the screens, compare the prices.....and then go home and read some online reviews of the products. If the reviews are pretty solid then you got a winner. More expensive is not always best......I paid a small fortune for my sony lcd........I WAS a sony many for a long time until then.

Re: Plasma or LCD

1080p Panasonic Plasma. I've had one about 6 months now and it's OUTSTANDING. Not one iota of regret with my purchase. Consumer Reports agreed in their last TV test, actually saying that a 1080p Panasonic Plasma was "THE best TV we've ever tested." The prices are right in line with most other types and brands. The blacks are AMAZING...can hardly tell the TV is even on when black screens come up. Compared to the ghosty dark gray of most TV's, especially LCDs.

I don't know specific model numbers off hand, and don't think it's that important to get a specific model anyway.

My biggest complaint about LCD is that many of them can be way too harsh/bright for my eyes when viewing in a darker room. And the aforementioned handling of blacks. I'm sure the better ones aren't too bad though if you pay a bit more.

I'll throw a plug in here for Crutchfield also. Check 'em out. Their stock is always newer than any local big box store, so you're getting the latest and greatest models, not something that has been sitting in a local warehouse for the past 6 months. Their prices are always better when you call them and ask for a price...don't believe their printed prices in the catalogs or on line...when you call to discuss price they will indeed negotiate with you and knock $100 or more off a substantial purchase like this. And having it shipped/delivered for no extra charge is very nice...plus you save sales tax in most states, which saves yet more money. Their service is second-to-none.

I'd definitely do it all over again, and highly recommend anyone buy a 1080p Panasonic Plasma from Crutchfield.

Happy shopping!

Re: Plasma or LCD

What about going to DLP?


Bill

Re: Plasma or LCD

I went with the Panasonic plasma and couldn't be happier.
I read everything I could find, then talked with every video store around and kept asking why everyone was pushing LCD's so hard when it was obvious the plasma picture was so much better. I finally went to a very high end store that does home theater installations and asked, the guy laughed and said look around the store, there isn't a single person that works here with an LCD TV at home. I ordered it online and was a able to get a model that was newer, had more features and at a much lower cost. I frequently get asked why my big screen picture looks so much better than what they have at home, or see at other people's homes.

Re: Plasma or LCD

Panasonic or Pioneer plasma and don't waste your money on any extended warranty. These units are good for 8-10 years minimum and don't have the failings of rear projection. All most of them needed was a bulb and convergence adjustments anyway.
My sideline is home theatre designs and installs and you absolutely won't beat either of these two sets.

Re: Plasma or LCD

Sony KDL52W4100. For $2000, nothing else comes close IMHO.

Re: Plasma or LCD

Quick question, I was looking at all the TV's in today newspaper ads, they don't appear to have speakers like the 3 TV's here at home, do you have to have a seperate speaker system to use these things? I have no intention of buying another TV until one of my Sonys' go bad.

Re: Plasma or LCD

I believe they all have small speaker bars. In 20 years, I have never used a tv's speakers. The only way to listen to tv is through a receiver and full-size speakers. Doubles the impact for me for very little cost.

Re: Plasma or LCD

I am not aware of any TV's being sold without speakers, the grills are usually blended into the frame and inconspicuous. However, like fishmen, I have used external sources to aplify and distribute my sound for many years. And now with the Logitech and similiar remotes, it all switches at the push of a button. Don't fall for the wireless Bose systems...the sound quality just isn't there.

Re: Plasma or LCD

I will be watching this one closey as I will be purchasing one soon. ( I have to Save up the Cash) I have heard nothing but great info from both Pioneer Elite Series and also the Samsung's Can you shed some light on these units. I do belong to AVSFOURM but man , Those guys ae over my head...

Re: Plasma or LCD

Splat said:

What about going to DLP?


Bill

Click to expand...

Moving parts. In the earlier single chip version, it had a spinning color wheel in front of the projection light. I wouldn't buy that.

However, the newer DLP technology is a consideration. However, it gets overlooked because of the mainstream LCD and plasma and the marketing behind it. Picture quality is quite good.

Re: Plasma or LCD

When I was looking 2 1/2 years ago my first stop was a certified repair shop. We have one locally that only employs factory certified techs. If they are not certified for a brand they will refuse the work. If you press them they will take on the repair, but will not warranty the work. They have techs for all the major brands. Anyway, after talking with the service manager and seeing first hand the number of Plasma TVs in for repair, and waiting on parts . I decided to go rear projection. I ended up with a Sony with SRX technology. It's been a great unit. That said, that was going on 3 years ago. Plasma, and LCD were a lot pricier back then. Still I'd check with a repair facility if one is available.

Re: Plasma or LCD

triumphrick said:

Panasonic or Pioneer plasma and don't waste your money on any extended warranty.

Click to expand...

craze1cars said:

1080p Panasonic Plasma. I've had one about 6 months now and it's OUTSTANDING.

Click to expand...

Own Sony LCD. My 2 cents. Panasonic and Sony represent the most vibrant of colors (particularly the reds) and the truest of blacks which really enhances the picture.

If plasma, I'd only buy Panasonic. It's picture is just simply amazing. But, I love my Sony LCD. Picture quality is fantastic.

Most importantly, once you choose one, make sure you change your inputs to benefit (BluRay, HDTV, etc) to really appreciate it.

Re: Plasma or LCD

Many good comments so far. I would not make this kind of decision without reading Consumer Reports -- they seem to evaluate this annually.

One factor no one's mentioned yet is that plasma takes much more power (and thus generates more heat) than lcd.

We consider a TV's functional life at around 30 years; tv's not that important to us. So we'll be using our traditional 1996 TV for another couple decades with a digital converter. By that time the next technology (probably organic leds) will be established.

Re: Plasma or LCD

Check this out.

http://laser-tv.org/