Jump to content

Plasma vs LCD


GeorgeV

Recommended Posts

I have been sitting on the fence for a while now trying to decide between Plasma or LCD. I would like a 37-42 inch screen, viewing angles are not a concern and either is brightness since the set will be in the basement. Currently, most reviewers pick Plasma over LCD for picture quality. I am not interested in DLP or rear projection TV's. I want a flat planel TV that can be wall mounted because space is a factor. Here is what I have come up with so far and I would like to hear other members thoughts.

Advantages of Plasma:

1) The chromatic range of plasma screens is much broader than for CRT television sets.

2) The viewing angles are very wide, especially compared to LCD displays.

3) The contrast is equivalent to the best CRT TVs.

4) Able to produce true Black.

5) Plamsa TV's use glass screens which are easy to clean and protect the plasma screen.

Disadvantages of Plasma:

1) The flickering can be a cause of discomfort if you're too close to the panel.

2) Plasma pixels are also subject to burn-in.

3) Scintillators do age, and there isn't much that can be done about it.

Advantages of LCD:

1) LCDs offer better brightness than CRT displays.

2) LCD TVs have exceptional image stability, meaning you can sit close and not experience eye fatigue.

3) The brightness is excellent and the image is perfectly sharp.

Disadvantages of LCD:

1) Viewing angles are not yet able to match those of plasma displays, not to mention CRTs.

2) Contrast performance remains below that of CRT and plasma.

3) Latency is also still a problem with LCD panels.

4) Since the native resolution of LCDs is high, pixel interpolation has to be used with TV and video images.

5) No True Black

6) Screens are easily damaged and are hard to clean.

7) Defective pixels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lots of articles on this topic are on ecoustics.com from all the top a/v magazines. Both can make yu happy

Either way, don't buy cheap, but also don't pay high big box prices if you can avoid it. it's worth saving up for a model that fits your needs.

I went with LCD -- here's why:

1. Avaiaible in 37-inch width, which fit my room better

2. Great reviews/features on the model i purchased (Sharp Aquos -- saved $2K buying it from a reputable on-line dealer over BB)

3. Weight of the model ( I'm an old guy with no kids -- I have to move the darn thing by myself)

4. Brightness

5. Maturity of the technology (an issue back when i bought mine)

Happy watching!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just purchased a 42" Sony Grand Wega LOVE IT.. But lets keep it on topic.

The main choice for us in LCD or Plasma was for one the price.. Plasma was way more money and for too. I hear plasma TVS only last like 4-5 years and then there done and you have to throw them out where as the LCD the bulb can go bad and you just replace it for around $75 and your back in biz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

----------------

On 3/30/2005 10:50:47 AM QUiKSR20 wrote:

We just purchased a 42" Sony Grand Wega LOVE IT.. But lets keep it on topic.

The main choice for us in LCD or Plasma was for one the price.. Plasma was way more money and for too. I hear plasma TVS only last like 4-5 years and then there done and you have to throw them out where as the LCD the bulb can go bad and you just replace it for around $75 and your back in biz.

----------------

For the record, a plasma will last way longer tha 4 to 5 years. The half life (brightness) of a screen is like 30,000 hours. If you view tv 5 hours a day, the plasma will give you a minumum of 16 years viewing time. And the image should still be serviceable at half brightness as the contrast and brightness are jacked way too high at 0 anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GeorgeV, maybe you were compairing both LCD and Plasmas to

CRT projections but if comapiring to CRT direct views neither

ever beats or even equals CRT direct views in any category except

for weight or larger screen size. That being said, and you are

looking at LCD flat panels or plasmas I would lean towards LCD's

based upon my limited experiance. As always you need to compair similar

priced displays.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

----------------

On 3/30/2005 2:52:45 PM NatGun wrote:

what is your budget, what is your room size... if its in the basement, have you considered front-projection?

----------------

My budget is $2500 - 3000, the room size is 13' x 22' with the seating 16 feet away from the front wall. Thanks for the idea but, I have no interest in front projection. With the RF-7's, RC-7 and equipment rack at the front I want a TV that is wall mountable to save space. A front projection screen would take up too much room.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can find an affordable plasma. I have a Vizio 42" HD plasma and it has a beautiful picture. I hung it on the wall with a wall kit and I love it. The picture is beautiful from any angle rain or shine. If you get a front projection you will need heavy curtains to watch it. Plasma tv's take a lot of verbal abuse because of the cost. I think people slam anything that is not affordable using that as a reason not to own. I am not rich so I am making payments on my plasma. It is a beautiful picture, and the recommended viewing distance for 42" is about 8-10 feet. Dvd's and hd programs are crystal. Standard def using composite or s-video sucks on widescreen. When you stretch 4/3 into 16:9 it ain't good. Don't let the plasma bashers change your mind. When it is hanging on your wall you will love every minute of it. It has changed my viewing habits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

any plasmas in that price range will not be a true HD set... it will be ED something around 800x450 resolution.. personally i wouldnt touch anything with less than a native 1280x720 rez.

ive had some great success with NEC LCD tvs, but again, for $3000 your not going to get anything 37" diagonal... for a good 37-42" plasma or LCD display with a true HD native rez your looking at $4-5000.. now if all you want to do is watch standard-def TV and DVDs, an ED set will do fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nat,

Thanks for the reply. That is a very good point about the resolution. I have been looking for a display of at least 1024 x 768 and it's not in my price range yet. But, I have heard that plasma displays will have a dramatic drop in price this year. So I will just wait and see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the Vizio P42HD is a great deal. It is about 3000.00. The resolution is 1024x768, contrast 3000:1, 160 degrees horizontal and vertical veiwing angle. I watch all of my off air and dish programming on 720p and it is a beautiful picture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you can get a Panasonic HD 42" display TH-42PHD7UY for less than 3k delivered. the ED version is around 2k delivered. panasonic is reguarded as one of the best out there and for that price i would definitely recommend it over LCD. I paid more than what the HD is selling for, for an ED version, 18 months ago, and we love it still. A few things i dont like about LCDs are that they dont do well with fast motion, so if you like sports or action movies, that could annoy you. another thing is that it doesnt look very "organic"... thats the best way i can describe it.

I, like all of you, grew up on CRT displays which had this natural feel to it, and had they put out a nice 42-50inch version of it, I would have considered myself sold on it. Plasma is the only technology that combines the best of CRT (its natural organic feel) with the latest flat panel tech. you have a phosphor encrusted glass on both displays, and they work essentially the same way, without the bulky magnets of CRTs. LCD, DLP, DILA, SXRD, all these just dont compare... and I would know because we have a DLP projector too. While that puts out an enormous picture, its not as organic as it is like on the PDP. Anyway, thats how I feel, and i'm simply posting here because it seems that you guys think you cant have a great HD PDP for under 3k, which isnt really true, and if you wait till september, they will be well under 3k delivered. Good luck with your decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ou8thisSN,

Thanks for the great post. You made a very good point about LCDs not doing well with fast motion. Since I will primarily watch either TH or HD sporting events, this is a major factor. I think based on everything I had read to date I am going to go with a plasma HDTV. I give it a few months and see if there is a price reduction.

Thanks to all who have responded, I appreciate your opinions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

George, I am pretty much in the same boat and here's my $0.02 of opinion: I will chose LCD panel. I watched plasmas a lot and like their color rendition and good contrast ratio. However, I find ED plasmas almost unwatchable due to their low resolution. Place two similar sized displays - a 42" ED plasma and let's say a 37" LCD panel next to each other - and the difference in clarity is astonishing. I don't think I will ever get used to that screen door effect.

LCDs have come a great way, and many of their traditional drawbacks have been greatly improved.

Also, looking at your pro and con table I made a few comments (I will type in CAPS not to shout but to make my comments stand out a little from your original text):

Advantages of Plasma:

1) The chromatic range of plasma screens is much broader than for CRT television sets. NOT SURE WHERE THIS COMES FROM.

2) The viewing angles are very wide, especially compared to LCD displays. FIRST OF ALL, THE WHOLE VIEWING ANGLE DEBATE IS SOMEWHAT OVERBLOWN - NO ONE WATCHES TVS AT EXTREME ANGLES. THE ONLY TYPE OF DISPLAY THAT EVER MADE ME CONSCIOUS OF VIEWING ANGLES WERE CRT RPTVS. MODERN LCD PANELS HAVE VIEWING ANGLES AT AROUND 170 DEGREES THAT MAKE THIS ISSUE IRRELEVANT. NO LONGER DO THEY LOSE BRIGHTNESS OR SHIFT COLORS WITHIN THOSE RANGES.

3) The contrast is equivalent to the best CRT TVs. ALMOST THERE, ALMOST. THAT IS ONLY ACHIEVABLE ON SOME PLASMAS LIKE PANASONICS. OTHERS STILL HAVE A CLEARLY NOTICABLE GLOW IN DARK AREAS.

4) Able to produce true Black. AGAIN, STRICTLY SPEAKING THIS IS INCORRECT. EVEN ON PANASONICS I SAW GLOW IN DARK SCENES, WHICH ALREADY MEANS LESS THAN TRUE BLACK COLOR RENDITION. HOWEVER, GIVEN THE HOGH CONTRAST OF MOST CURENT DISPLAYS MANY OF THEM CAN REPRODUCE "TRUE" BLACKS. USUALLY THE PROBLEM WITH DISPLAYS IS NOT IN FAILING TO SHOW A BLACK COLOR, BUT IN LOSING SHADOW INFORMATION. LIKE LITTLE FABRIC DETAILS ON A BLACK SUITE, OR DETAILS IN BLACK HAIR. PLASMAS HAVE TRADITIONALLY BEEN VERY STRONG IN THIS ARENA, BUT NOW LCDS AREN'T THAT FAR BEHIND.

5) Plamsa TV's use glass screens which are easy to clean and protect the plasma screen. MMM, NOT SURE HOW RELEVANT THIS POINT IS. I KNOW MANY PLASMA USERS WHO ARE STILL TRYNG TO FIGURE HOW TO CLEAN THEIR PLASMAS BEST WITHOUT LEAVING TRACES OR DAMAGING THE ANTI-GLARE COATING. THIS IS NOT REALLY A BIG PRO OR CON.

6) I WOULD ADD ACCURATE COLOR RENDITION - HER'S CLEARLY THE ARE WHERE PLASMAS ARE SUPERIOR.

Disadvantages of Plasma:

1) The flickering can be a cause of discomfort if you're too close to the panel. PERSONALLY I HAVE NEVER SAW MUCH OF A FLICKERING ON PLASMAS. CANNOT COMMENT ON THAT.

2) Plasma pixels are also subject to burn-in. SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED RISK, BUT STILL SERIOUS ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE KIDS DON'T PLAY THEIR CONSOLE GAMES ON PLASMAS.

3) Scintillators do age, and there isn't much that can be done about it. NO COMMENT HERE.

4) I AM SURPRISED SDE IS NOT ON THE LIST, AT LEAST FOR THE ED PLASMAS.

Advantages of LCD:

1) LCDs offer better brightness than CRT displays. BRIGHTNESS IS GOOD FOR SUN-LIT ROOMS, OTHERWISE ALL DISPLAYS HAVE TO BE PROPERLY CALIBRATED AND DOING THAT VERY OFTEN YOU NEED TO TURN BRIGHTNESS DOWN, AND THEREFORE ALL DISPLAYS HAVE SUFFICIENT BRIGHTNESS FOR NORMAL TV VIEWING.

2) LCD TVs have exceptional image stability, meaning you can sit close and not experience eye fatigue. I WOULD JUST CALL IT HIGH RESOLUTION.

3) The brightness is excellent and the image is perfectly sharp. YES, SHARPNESS IS GREAT. SOME LCDS HOWEVER ARTIFICIALLY SOFTEN THE IMAGE SLIGHTLY TO GIVE IT A MORE FILM-LIKE FEEL.

Disadvantages of LCD:

1) Viewing angles are not yet able to match those of plasma displays, not to mention CRTs. NOT A RELEVANT ARGUMENT. SEE ABOVE.

2) Contrast performance remains below that of CRT and plasma. TRUE IN RELATION TO CRTS. DEPENDS WHEN IT COMES TOP PLASMAS.

3) Latency is also still a problem with LCD panels. NOT QUITE. ANOTHER OVERBLOWN DRAWBACK - WATCHED SPORTS AND ACTION MOVIES/GAMES ON LCDS AND HAVE NO COMPLAINT. MANY PEOPLE CONFUSE IMAGE COMPRESSION ARTIFACTS FOR LATENCY, BUT ONCE YOU ARE WATCHING A FAST ACTION MATERIAL ON BOTH DISPLAYS SIDE BY SIDE THE DIFFERENCE IF ANY IS TRULY NEGLIGIBLE.

4) Since the native resolution of LCDs is high, pixel interpolation has to be used with TV and video images. AGAIN, THIS DISADVANTAGE APPLIES TO BOTH PLASMAS AND LCDS, NOT SURE WHY YOU ONLY MENTION IT FOR LCDS. ANY FIXED PIXEL DISPLAY HAS TO DO THAT TO BE ABLE TO SHOW A LOW RESOLUTION MATERIAL ON HIGH RESOLUTION SCREEN.

5) No True Black. BLACK IS NOT A PROBLEM, CRUSHED GRADATIONS OF GRAYSCALE ARE.

6) Screens are easily damaged and are hard to clean. WHERE DID YOU GET THAT FROM? ANY SCREEN IS EASY TO DAMAGE ITH ENOUGH DETERMINATION :)

7) Defective pixels. AGAIN, FOR SOME REASON YOU ONLY PUT THIS CON ON LCD'S LIST BUT IT APPLIES TO PLASMAS AS MUCH AS TO LCD. IN FACT IN CASE OF LCDS WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT STUCK SUB-PIXELS (THREE R/G/B SUB-PIXELS PER PIXEL, THEY CAN BE STUCK ANY WHERE FROM FULL OFF TO FULL ON POSITION, CAN BE RECOVERED). ON PLASMAS THE PIXELS CAN BE EITHER GOOD OR DEAD WITH NO RECOVERY POTENTIAL.

All of the points above I made based on my own observation, not on reviews in the magazines. I do have a 30" LCD panel in my secondary setup and am now leaning towards getting a larger LCD panel (but not an LCD RPTV) for my main setup after I parted with my CRT RPTV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Btw, forgot to mention that prices on LCD displays are coming down significantly. Currently Crutchfield is taking pre-orders on a 37" 1920x1080!!! LCD panel at $1900. Or, if smaller screens are an option, I would advise to look at a 30" Sceptre LCD panel currently going at $899 at Costco online. I own one of those Sceptres and am very happy with the PQ, built quality and value of this display.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TauRus,

Thanks for your reply; I guess we will have to agree to disagree on some of the points above. However, I do agree that ED plasma TV's are not as good as LCD TV's. For this reason, I am looking at HD plasma sets only. Another factor is cost; currently 42 inch LCD screens are more expensive 42 inch HD plasma. That being said, in 6 months LCD TV's may correct some of their shortcomings and surpass plasma.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...