new plasma or lcd screen?

Cavman

im looking to buy a new large screen, high definition etc 42" etc but besides brands of which to purchase from i dont know the man differnence between lcd and plasma, i just know the basic's,so for a sitting room screen which will be used for games moveis everything which go for plasma or lcd?i dont know to much about this stuff...

do lcds go up to 42" ?


thanks guys...

gs39t

I think the biggest LCD out now is a 65" Sharp; though it would be that or a small house money wise. LCD and plasma are very different technologies; its generally accepted plasmas have better black levels, but it really all depends what your using it for. I would never buy a plasma because of burn-in, yet LCD's do still suffer from a very small amount of ghosting. Neither is perfect at the moment and wont be for a few years.

Pick up a copy of "What plasma and LCD" in an Easons; the lastest issue explains the differences and in the back has a buyers guide on a hundered or so models

Cavman

cheers man thanks for that..

Ciaran500

http://www.avforums.com/forums/index.php?

I advise you read that forum, full of knowledgeable people and lots and lots of information.

Eoin

We (g/f and I) are trying to make the same decision ourselves.

We couldn't see a huge amount of difference between the LCD and Plasma screens, and after a bit of googling, we came across this site:
http://www.plasma-vs-lcd.com/

Plasma seems to have come a long way in recent years, and although the LCD screens seem to be better quality, the difference did not seem that good to justify the extra money.

I read about the "burn in", and it only seems to be a problem if you are watching a LOT of movies where you get the black bars at the top or bottom, or unless you watch news channels with those ticker type things at the bottom.

This is all on the link I gave, but the impression I got was that LCDs give brighter and more vibrant colours, however Plasmas seem to provide better hues, and more realistic colours. It seemed to be more a matter of personal preference than one being better than the other.

The one I was looking at in particular was a 42" LG television that was HDTV ready. They had a demo HD DVD player hooked up to it, and the picture was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, they only had a poor analogue signal connected, so we couldn't really see what it would be like for watching digital television. The TV cost 1850, where the same money would seem to get you a 32" LCD (I would imagine, also HDTV ready).

Either way, if you can hold on, I would wait until the January sales.

Here is some info from the site I linked to:

The 12 Most Important Differences:

1. Plasmas TVs are made of chemical compounds called phosphors. LCD TVs use millions of crystals suspended in a liquid crystal sandwich.

2. You have a wider selection of larger-size TVs with plasmas (though LCDs are catching up).

3. Plasma don't come in smaller sizes, which you will need for places like the kitchen.

4. Plasmas tend to have a wider viewing angle (though, again, LCDs are catching up).

5. Plasmas can suffer from burn-in effect; LCD don't.

6. LCDs can produce a jagged figure when in motion. Plasmas tends to do better. HDTV improves this problem dramatically for both.

7. You can replace the light source with an LCD, thereby bringing your original picture back. With plasmas you can't.

8. LCDs produce sharp, lively colors. Plasmas produce warmer and more accurate colors.

9. LCDs tend to do better in bright-light conditions.

10. Plasmas tend to produce blacker blacks.

11. Plasmas, "technically," produce a higher contrast range.

12. At the moment, plasmas tend to run a little cheaper, but this is changing rapidly as LCDs flood into the mar

Apip99

A Non Technical point of view

I have just spent the past two weeks in the same situation. Plasma V LCD. It was a nightmare, every one, and every site had confliction information.
I eventually decided on a plasma, and went to buy it last night. When I got to the shop, I was in there with my wife for another hour staring at the 42" Plasma and the 37" LCD, both of the same price. It was such a hard decision.
After speaking to the sales guys, and phoning a friend in the know, it all came down to personal choice. We went Plasma. The reason: Bigger screen was a huge influence, and watching the LCD, although it was a tight clean picture. It was almost to good, it almost looked unnatural. By the time we got home and I spent a couple of hours mounting the dam thing. We turned it on, and watched the 1st 30 minutes or so of Gladiator. Happy as Pigs in S*ite we were.:D

Watch some TV this morning, and it just looks amazing.

Either way, you're going to be chuffed seeing a big screen in you room. Just make a decision and stick with it. Once its at home, you have nothing to compare it to and you won't be disappointed.

There's my 10 cents worth..

Good Luck

JacoStanley

Have to say that I'm a hugh fan of LCD at the moment after buying a 32" philips HD. Like everybody has been saying, the black levels aren't as good as a crt or plasma but other than that, it's beats plasma hands down. Every day I walk past the philips shop on georges/dame st and the lcd's stand out a mile next to the plasmas even though they're smaller. You can see the picture clearly from 50ft and all you get from the plasma is your reflection. However, thats not really a fair comparison as it's complete daylight and lcds are perfect for a well lit surroundings. However, you'd get a bigger screen for less money with plasma. But surely size doesn't matter these days??

Maxwell

Its really is a matter of taste.

I actually have both: 42"Plasma for the Living room and a 20"LCD in the bedroom and I really, really love the Plasma due to the size and connections etc (a dream when you have your PC,XBOX,DVD,SKY all connected together and work at the same time!

But its really a case of the type/make of Plasma/LCD you buy. I bought a high quality plasma and I don't have any issues with screenburn etc.

The best advice I can give, is to check out a screen that you like the look off (your eyes are the best judge) - check your finances and then check www.avforums.com and magazines for reviews of it. (click on this link: http://www.avreviews.com/index.php
If the reviews come back around 8 out of 10 - you are sorted.

I don't envy you, it took me 5 months to choose mine!

......oh and one last piece of advice, view the TV you want in a shop (ensure you see it through Sky and not just DVD), then after the reviews, go onto the web and get the best price delivered to your door!!

Check www.katronics.de and other german sites - great value and service!

All the best!

TheBigLebowski

I've recently been looking around at plasma's and lcd's as I like the idea of the large screens and the wall mounting along with other advantages such as split screen viewing etc.
But is it just me or is the picture, particularly in the larger screens absolutely sh1te. Especially when watching TV on it. I've yet to see a large LCD/Plasma that I've just said wow there's a great quality picture. The image is just not sharp and all outlines of people and objects is blurred. Is this my imagination or is this generally accepted but people buy them for the other advantages as mentioned above.

Sparky

ive gone confused as fcuk, more that i cant decide at all.
My heart was set on getting the 32" version of a samsung LCD then i seen a 37" version, but sky through it was crap, and since both of them are HD i was thinking ill try the HD plasmas, which the picture looked better on, but then to confuse myself even more i said do i really need to get a HD display why not go for a normal plasma display.
Then i decided to turn to a projector but since it will be in the attic, its not going to work because of the limit of space and the A in the roof.

Im confused totally now.
Should i just go for a 42" HD plasma or a 37" or 42" LCD??
Money will be limited to as high as €2200.
See i was just going to stay in the 30's but im thinking more of screen size now.

gs39t

I just got my 32" Samsung LCD last week; and even from 4 or 5 feet the NTL signal looks amazing. My prior 27" LCD looked terrible with a normal signal, so its not just plasma V's LCD, its good V's better between the brands of each.

The black issue with LCD's is something i always heard about but not something i've noticed myself. Some people seem more succeptible(sp?) to it than other.

Kernel

Maxwell wrote:

Its really is a matter of taste.
I actually have both: 42"Plasma for the Living room and a 20"LCD in the bedroom and I really, really love the Plasma due to the size and connections etc (a dream when you have your PC,XBOX,DVD,SKY all connected together and work at the same time!

Hi Maxwell, just wondering what way you have all your stuff connected together? At the moment I have a big daisy chain of SCARTs, and I'm sure I'm losing quality because of it, since the screen has VGA, RGB and composite connections, and I have more remotes than I know what to do with!...

Sparky

gs39t wrote:

I just got my 32" Samsung LCD last week; and even from 4 or 5 feet the NTL signal looks amazing. My prior 27" LCD looked terrible with a normal signal, so its not just plasma V's LCD, its good V's better between the brands of each.

The black issue with LCD's is something i always heard about but not something i've noticed myself. Some people seem more succeptible(sp?) to it than other.

well it took a long hard decision last night and some advise from a few people today and im set at going for the 37" model
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=314908&cks=PRL

Clover

very nice screen there , picked up the Samsung LE-32R51BDX myself yesterday
and watched some sky + dvd's on it and love the picture quality.

Sparky

Clover wrote:

very nice screen there , picked up the Samsung LE-32R51BDX myself yesterday
and watched some sky + dvd's on it and love the picture quality.

yeah i figured that in currys they have the picture run via cable and is in PAL, where as mine will be through scart in RGB, and a better picture.
I have lots of HD footage on the pc waiting to be played, my dad seen a hd preview in the shops and he was amazed by it.
I cant wait to get LOTR playing on it in full surround

Sparky

right currys rang today to say that the samsung model i ordered is no longer on their system anymore and that my order cannot be processed, so i had to drive up to currys and get my money back, im a bit wiery about using the internet as if something goes wrong it could take ages and hastle to send it back/get it collected.
So on passing DID in sundrive i poped in and decided to get the 32" version, so its ordered and should be in next week.
So im a 32" man now
its wierd the 32" looks really small in currys wjile it looks just perfect in did.

CivilServant

Lcd contrast ranges tend to be less than 1000:1 and plasma contrast ranges start from 3000:1 and go up. Watching dark movies like sin city, lord of the rings and speaking from personal experience spiderman (the night scenes where he's swinging through the air, I could hard make spidey out) is going to be a torrid affair. On the bright side, LCD is exactly just that, put on any cartoon, anime, blue sky scenery and it will really shine (pun overload). HDTV on LCDs look amazing and perception wise contrast improves with HD material.

HD material on plasma looks fantastic. I tested out a pioneer 436 using HD demos and nearly all the staff of the shop came over to have a gander. Personally I would go for the plasma because screen burn/image retention isn't that big of a deal and it has be shown that if you do suffer from it, play some moving footage for a few hours clears it right up. It not a physical burn in like the phosphor screens on CRT for example. If you can handle the greyish blacks and have a lot of vivid source material, LCD could be the answer.

Sparky

yeah the lcd im getting is a 3000:1, but i was nearly going to go for the 42" plasma samsung were offering but it was 2500 an extra 1000 euros.
I asked if they had real hd footage as in real people rather than the incredibles and finding nemo and they wernt interested, one guy even tried to tell me that because the non hd plasma that was 600 cheaper across from it had a HDMI input it was HD aswell.
I have noticed that most plasmas are now 10,000:1 and up.
but i find the lcd more clearer.

CivilServant

3000:1? Which model is that? I've heard of LCD projectors with a dynamic iris that can go that far but not flat screen lcds. 10,000:1 plasmas, hmm I don't think so. 95% of plasmas are under 4000:1 right now. Newer technologies like SED will give tremendous range in contrast, but atm CRT is still king.

Yeah most sales people don't have a clue what they're talking about and the average buyer probably knows more about the technology than they do.

DannyD

Going to get a Sony Bravia lcd just after Christmas.Going to get it from Germany and save a fun hundred at least.

http://www.bravia-advert.com/

Sparky

CivilServant wrote:

3000:1? Which model is that? I've heard of LCD projectors with a dynamic iris that can go that far but not flat screen lcds. 10,000:1 plasmas, hmm I don't think so. 95% of plasmas are under 4000:1 right now. Newer technologies like SED will give tremendous range in contrast, but atm CRT is still king.

Yeah most sales people don't have a clue what they're talking about and the average buyer probably knows more about the technology than they do.

dont know im just reading the spec, i discovered it says 800:1 then dynamic contrast is 3000:1
http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/television/tftlcd/le32r51bdxxeu.asp?page=Specifications

But as for the plasma the spec says 10,000:1
http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/television/plasma/ps42p5hxxeu.asp?page=Specifications

Cinemaworks

There are a couple of Plasma's with 10,000:1 contrast.. but plasma will soon be a dead end as manufacturers are starting to drop the technology for easier to manufacture tech's like DLPTV's and LCD.

SED is still a long way off 2007-2008 in europe is realistic so dont hold your breath.

CivilServant

Cinemaworks wrote:

There are a couple of Plasma's with 10,000:1 contrast.. but plasma will soon be a dead end as manufacturers are starting to drop the technology for easier to manufacture tech's like DLPTV's and LCD.

SED is still a long way off 2007-2008 in europe is realistic so dont hold your breath.

Plasma isn't going anywhere for a while at least in the top end market, with 50" plasma being the new above average spec. 42" plasmas are all over the place whereas there aren't many 50" lcd screens just yet. Also you can drop over 10k on a 65" plasma in Ireland if you wanted one right now. LCD is becoming more popular now because of it's strength in vivid colour reproduction and ease of use. I've really enjoyed using LCD panels, now I'm just looking for the next big thing which is closer to realistic black levels. SED can provide this because the technology is based on a crt tube for each pixel so you get great contrast range with it.

Early next year Japan will release the first SED 1080p tv, which will be eagerly anticipated. HD and superb contrast is a win win situation for visual fanatics. The latter half of next year we should seem them arrive on our shores. Hopefully with BBC HD and Sky HD in tow that will help kickstart these new technologies.

On the samsung contrast range, producers have been known to quite liberal in contrast range estimates

daveg

The Samsung PS-42P5H looks like a geat plasma. Really good review here as well..