plasma vs. LCD revisited

Larry (from OSHA)

Hi Tim,

We went with a Sharp LCD 42" and have been very happy. The extra grand for a Sony LCD did not make sense as I could not see a thousand dollars worth of difference. Apparently, the plasma is preferred for larger screens and home theaters in darker rooms. Plasma is more film like (I think) and I know that LCD is brighter. Either way, if going from a not huge regular tv to a bigger flat screen, you'll like what ever you get. Good luck.

Larry

Timco

This was a recent topic, but now I am in the market and need a bit of advise. I do not remember which was the prefered TV and it did not show up under search. Anyone???

Tim

Dan Sedens

My wife and I bought an LCD instead of a plasma because when in the store and we FINALLY found someone that sounded a little bit understanding of the situation and kind of knew what she was talking about compared a plasma picture to an LCD picture on the same station. We chose the LCD. My father-in-law is now jealous everytime he comes over. He has a plasma and sais that our picture is much brighter. I think that is the key. Plasmas tend to be more of a black screen where as LCD has brighter whites. Either way I don't think you can go wrong. Good Luck in your venture.
Dan
Sedens Plumbing and Heating, Inc.

ScottMP

I agree with Dan, you can't go wrong

But, after purchasing a Plasma recently , here is what I found.

The plasma has an awesome screen and while on a HDTV channel the picture is more than I can imagine.

During the day if there is ANY light reflection from a window it does effect the screen. Can I really tell the difference between a LCD and Plasma ?? Not sure.

I feel the LCD non reflective screen might have been the better choice but I love the screen.

Watching movies at night with the kids ( we just watched E.T. ) is like having my own movie theater.

Scott

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Roland_4

Plasma/LCD

http://forums.invision.net/Search_Results.cfm?CFApp=2#Message355565

This is the thread you were looking for.

Roland_4

Plasma/LCD

http://forums.invision.net/Search_Results.cfm?CFApp=2#Message355565

This is the thread you were looking for.

Dave_4

If you watch a lot of sports, LCD and Plasma's used to both exhibit "motion blur", which I think was worse on LCD's. The technology has advanced the past year or two but if you watch sports, you need to see one with a live feed to see if this bothers you. I can't explain the technical reasons for the blur but it has something to do with the "refresh" rate of the pixels and not catching up with fast moving images.

Timco

Thanks for the input...would the delay in watching sports be the 'response' time? Some bragged about it being 8 miliseconds...This all really helps!

Tim

Roland_4

Plasma/Lcd

Plasma displays still deliver superior picture quality. On the down side, they are somewhat fragile and do suffer from raster burn if a still image is displayed for an extended period of time. LCD displays are less fragile, deliver an image almost as good as a plasma, come in smaller sizes and are less power hungry. Down side , suffer from something called image lag where fast moving objects are a bit blurred. They won't burn in like a plasma might. If your kids will be using the display for video games(bad for your kids health), get the LCD. If you want the best possible image quality, go with the Plasm

singh

power hungry

I read somewhere, plasmas using about 700W per hour. Ouch!!

LCD's not far behind.

When shopping, aske the salesperson about power consumption.

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Constantin

I'd consider going to...

AVS Forums, which is to the AV Industry what HeatingHelp is to the heating industry. Lots of good advice, equipment reviews, etc. The more you know before you go to the store, the happier you'll be with your ultimate purchase.

Jon Held

In the consumer market plasma is the clear winner for overall picture quality. Image burn is an issue with plasma but the newer units pixel shift the image and that goes a long way to minimize burn-in. The only LCD monitors that are worthwhile are the Panasonic professional series, but they are not intended for the home and are very expensive.

When shopping, keep in mind that some manufacturers crank up color levels and detail (enhancement) levels to max. When you are doing a comparison, make sure you run through all the menus and "zero out" all the level controls.

Still learning about steam and loving it, but I've been doing TV for 25 years.

Timco

Thank you to all who helped! We went with a Sharp Aquos 37" LCD. There is no glare when the sun is out and I have 1/2" clearance on both sides of out TV cabinet. I have never seen a broadcast so clearly...even the darn news!!!! Did not notice the motion blur when watching a bit of football earlier. This is the higher HD rated unit and I am glad we spent the extra $$$ for the higher HD picture! It's a beauty!!! Plasma starts at 40" or greater I think anyway...

Tim

Mike E_2

Power consumption isn't that high.

700 watts is a bit much even for larger screens.

Plasmas don't always consume their total power rating either. I have a 42" Samsung plasma and its rating is 390 watts. However, the only time it draws this much current is when it is displaying a completely white screen. When it is displaying colors, or darker scenes, the power consumption is much lower, whereas LCDs have a constant lower consumption. (I don't know which one wins in the long run though - but I think it ends up being pretty much equal.)

Each pixel on a plasma screen emits light when is powered. When it displays black, it consumes no power.

On a LCD, the florescent backlights (or LEDs in newer sets) are always on full brightness constantly. There is a sheet of tiny little "windows" that open and close in order to let the white light shine through colored filters.

As to picture quality - Plasma has the other technologies beat. The picture is much more life-like appearing and has more depth. However, there are circumstances when plasma isn't the best choice. Gaming where icons are on the screen for long periods of time without moving shouldn't be displayed on plasmas because of burn-in. Windows were always a problem because of reflections on the glass front panel, however newer plasmas are starting to come with non-glare surfaces.

Michael