Plasma & LCD screen TVs

E92

Forgive my absolute ignorance to all things TV related, I do know what a HD TV is but I'm afraid I'm absolutely clueless about the whole LCD / Plasma Screen TV business.

I don't know what they are or even if they're the same thing:D!

Basically I'm looking at buying one of them fancy widescreen TVs(I do know what they are too:p), and before I start enquiring in a shop about them, I want to know what I'm talking about, so that I'm not sold something I don't need nor want!

So what I'm wondering is what LCD is, what Plasma is, is there anything else in a TV worth having that I've not covered above (since I know about HD and widescreenand all the stereo, teletext basic stuff) and if so what is it and how does it benefit me?

Btw my apologies to the moderators if this is in the wrong forum, but as you can probably tell, I rarely venture into these parts of boards.ie:D!

Any advice/info is much appreciated!

SuperSean11

These might help
http://hometheater.about.com/od/lcdtvfaqs/f/lcdfaq2.htm

http://www.somucheasier.co.uk/ed-plasma-lcd-tv-difference.html

watty

WS only: go for 28" to 37" "HD Ready", typically 1366x768. This is because a Plasma/LCD is fixed resolution unlike CRT and on Cable, satellite, DVD, Analogue there are many differing horizontal resolutions, also 16:9 and 4:3 need different resolutions. So a "cheap" 1366x768 so called "HD Ready" is not good for actual HD, but the best LCD/Plasma solution for ordinary TV.

HD & WS: go for larger than 37", maybe larger than 50" if you would have chosen 37" for ordinarly TV. Needs to have 1920 x 1080 or 1920 x1200 minimum Native resolution.

"HD Ready" does not mean HD Resolution of 1920 x1080. "HD ready" just means the TV will display a 720p or 1080i HD picture. 1080p is not important as Broadcasting will never be 1080p, but 1080i. However virtuallly every 1080 line HD TV does do 1080i and 1080p. There is only 1080i HD broadcasting in Europe at present and all BluRay Disks are 1080, not 720p

Plasma TVs tend to be only in larger sizes and have slightly better colour & viewing angle, but more expensive.

LCD comes in all sizes but may have slightly less viewing angle.

Both kinds suffer burn in, Plasma more from Logos and LCD may fade on one side if that part is often in bright sunshine as LCD uses Dye filter on a B&W LCD and Plasma has inherently coloured dots.

Both give slightly inferior pictures to CRTs.

Only the "3 chip" LCD, LCOS and DLP projectors give markedly better images than LCD/Plasma. A projector may be better option for greater than 48" HD (proper HD viewing in a normal room).

Projectors are basically in two families:
4:3 very bright ones for Presentations from Computer (1024 x768 common)
Dimmer 16:9 ones for Home Cinema. The cheaper ones have single chip and less than 1920x1080 resolution so are really a waste of money except for large venues where size is more important than quality.
Small portable ones are also really for PC rather than Home Cinema.

E92

Thanks for the info watty, believe me it's much appreciated!

Here's why you shouldn't leave a stationary image on a plasma for too long. Happened in my house when one of the housemates left Pro Evolution Soccer paused overnight. :rolleyes: I think he was drunk.

watty

You should also see the INCREDIBLE burn-in on LCDs used for Call Centre Stats!

The plasmas will recover to an extent. LCDs don't, though they "burn in" Slower. Plasma not affected by daylight, but LCDs will fade in direct sunlight (so very bad if one part is always in shadow).

That Plasma is abit scary, Karsini.

byte

Karsini wrote: »

Here's why you shouldn't leave a stationary image on a plasma for too long. Happened in my house when one of the housemates left Pro Evolution Soccer paused overnight. :rolleyes: I think he was drunk.

Yaysus, Karsini, that's some serious image retention there! Did the burn-in cure in anyway since?

I just checked it now, I rarely go in to the sitting room for various reasons. Yeah it has cleared up, I didn't expect it to!

byte

Ah, not so bad so. It was only temporary retention.

Interesting link here where seemingly tests were done, and a bit at the end on how picture settings should be to get the most from a plasma.