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Plasma or LCD???

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JetLinkin Park

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
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118
Been looking around and was surprised to find that the 37 & 42 inch plasma TV's are a lot less than similar LCD models. I thought it would be the other way around before I started shopping. My local Best Buy has both a 37 and 42 inch plasma for around $2400. However, $2400 on the LCD side will only fetch 30/32 inch sets.

Anyone have a flat panel LCD or plasma that they can recommend? The prices are dropping monthly and I'm holding out for the 42 inch sets to decrease considerably in price. I plan to wall mount- any advice on the process greatly appreciated.
 
I strongly recommend buying from someone other than Best Buy. Their warranty policies are abysmal, and their salespeople are some of the least knowledgeable I've dealt with. They're an awful, awful place to buy a big-ticket item.

Circuit City gets my vote.
 
miles,

Yes. That is basically the same TV from Panasonic. It is this year's version. Mine is last year's, but very little has changed.

Excellent quality and value. I highly recommend it.
 
LCD lasts longer. Buy a plasma and it'll look fantastic but you'll replace in several years. Buy a good LCD and you will have it a while.

Go for the plasma for cost I say. They'll both be cheaper soon.
 
Don't quote me on this, but I think the benefit of LCD televisions is that they don't suffer from "burn-in", which is an issue with plasma televisions.

A friend of mine was showing off his HD plasma to me about six months ago, and when he put on an HD channel on his cable, I innocently remarked about the burn-in on the sides of the picture... The result of his not using the artificial "widening" feature of the TV when watching normal 4:3 aspect broadcasts (the gray bars on the left and right had been allowed to stay on for a sufficiently long period of time as to leave a permanent impression on the screen). Unfortunately, he'd not noticed this himself so I was treated to a stream of "colorful metaphors" as it sank in... he'd managed to ruin his $3000 television in a space of about four months. You can also see this phenomenon on CRT televisions and projection sets, especially in hotels/bars/etc. where they leave the set on the same channel for long periods of time... There was one 4:3 projection set in the lobby of a hotel I used to frequent where the CNN logo and the crawl on the bottom of the screen were permanently etched in the screen, so you'd see a discolored area all across the bottom of the screen and a "CNN" outline on the bottom right no matter what channel you were watching. You can create the same problem on TV's with extensive playing of a video game that has a score area or other thing on the screen that doesn't change much.

LCD televisions are similar to laptop screens and flat panel displays for your computer and aren't prone to these issues... At least that's my understanding.
 
Get a DLP, plasma is old tech, LCD is better but far too expensive still, DLP is the best value for money for a skinny bigscreen.
 
I am familiar with the burn-in, and we try to minimize our exposure to this by only having the TV on while we are actually watching, and then using this TV for primarily HD viewing. I guess we'll see. But then again, by the time this becomes an issue (hopefully), there will be a new latest, greatest technological advancement that I will HAVE to have...:cool: :)
 
I agree that burn-in is a large drawback to plasma sets. I've been aware of the effect, but thought the condition took an extended period of time to be viewable. Like Yank, we'd be sure to take good care of the television, but it's still a concern. At the same time, 42 inch plasma are getting really close to price range and are tough to pass by. I guess time will tell. We've got a month or two before we're done renovating new home. I'm hoping prices continue to fall for now.

What about wall mounts? How did you guys effectively hide cords/cables? Specifically the power cord...
 
Also found this tidbit about burn-in. Purely FYI....

Considerations
Due to the direct way it produces light, plasma can be especially susceptible to burn-in from static images such as stock-tickers and video-game gauges; however, newer displays have begun to incorporate "pixel-orbiting" technologies that shift images, almost imperceptibly, to limit the occurrence of burn-in. Additionally, although known for their high contrast (relative to LCD) and spectacular color saturation, plasma displays have historically had difficulty reproducing pure blacks. Recent enhancements have largely eliminated this problem, but sometimes at the expense of fine detail in dimly-lit areas of the picture.
 
Also think about how long deltas plasmas have been on and any other airline that has plasmas for that fact also..... never seen a "burn-in" while waslking around atlanta airport. But I do agree I was a little cautious buying the plasma because of the burn-in but like Yank said, only keep the tv on when Im watching tv...


great buy!
 
I respectfully disagree with the above statement regarding "enhanced definition" or ED. If you have a HD set and a true HD signal the difference is night and day. DVD's look like crap after watching HD programs on my set, and ED has less than or equal to the pixels of DVD's. Spend the extra coin and buy an HD set. If you are not worried about size, the best picture can be found in the few picture tube sets with a 16:9 screen. No glare, no burn in, just a fantastic picture in a 500 lbs box!!!
 
Sound and Vision magazine addressed this very question last month.

Here it is

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=779&page_number=1

Plasma won for those too lazy to click the link, was sort of surprised, sounds like LCD isn't quite mature yet. And I have also heard about burn in, but I think that having to get a new set in a few years is a gross exaggeration. I would be worried more about pixel half-life but even that probably wouldn't be a problem for 10 years or something like that. Burn in can be managed by no watching CNN for 24/7 or leaving a video game up for a 4 day weekend while you aren't playing, etc.

this month has an article on DLP vs LCD rear projectors.
 
Biatch5 said:
Also think about how long deltas plasmas have been on and any other airline that has plasmas for that fact also..... never seen a "burn-in" while waslking around atlanta airport. But I do agree I was a little cautious buying the plasma because of the burn-in but like Yank said, only keep the tv on when Im watching tv...
Click to expand...

You're obviously looking at different screens than I am, because I'd say about half of the plasmas have terrible burn-in on the left side of the screen, which is a solid color. Some look absolutely horrible.

I saw a pretty screwed up plasma with gate info on it at some podunk airport, but I forget where it was.

If you must have a skinny TV, buy a plasma knowing ahead of time that it will probably be junk in 5 years.
 
sweptback said:
If you must have a skinny TV, buy a plasma knowing ahead of time that it will probably be junk in 5 years.
Click to expand...

Personally, I purchase nearly ALL high end electronics such as flat TVs, computers, monitors and peripherals, etc., knowing they will be "junk in 5 years", if for no other reason than technological advances.

So my advice is to get what you want today based on the best bang for the buck, and don't worry about what might or might not be in 5 years.
 
Last edited:
flx757 said:
Personally, I purchase nearly ALL high end electronics such as flat TVs, computers, monitors and peripherals, etc., knowing they will be "junk in 5 years", if for no other reason than technological advances.

So my advice is to get what you want today based on the best bang for the buck, and don't worry about what might or might not be in 5 years.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on things like computers, especially now where they're so cheap that any person with a decent income could probably afford to buy a new one every year if they so desired.

However, plasma TVs are billed as high-end, and their price tags reflect that. I could be way off base here, but I bet if you surveyed all the plasma TV buyers they'd say that they expect their new TV to last every bit as long as the old TV in their basement from 1991. I think they're going to be pissed when they see its brightness start to dim and sections of the screen start to get burned in a few years from now.

I suppose if you take the manufacturers' word that the plasma problems have been fixed all is well, but hey, they want to sell more TVs so they'll say about anything. Plasma is a cool technology, but I think there are better options for HDTVs. And if you insist on buying a plasma, don't buy a EDTV one... you'll kick yourself if/when you ever start watching HDTV broadcasts.
 
I agree that DLP is not wall mountable but it beats the old rear projection HD units by a mile, Some DLP are only about 3/4 of a ft thick or less and for the price you just can't beat them and they last.
Cables, as a footnote, are a pain in the @arse, I did a little research into wirelessly powering your HDTV, surprisingly, this appears to be an emerging market, I had imagined I would easily find the technology to do so, this is not, however, the case.
Google revealed only one viable and not yet market ready technology and it sounded to botched together to be worth the money but at least it was based on something we are familiar with, if I remember right it uses 2xwireless 802.11g transmitters to do the job.
Keep an eye out, soon everything in your house will be cable free and on the wireless network, least I hope so, that way I can hack my neighbour's router and watch some free porn, while listening to his stereo and filling out credit card apps using his social, oh what fun !
 
Dell Plasma

I have a 42" Dell Plasma HDTV. Bought it refurbished for $2099, with full warranty. It received the Editors Award at PC Magazine. I have had great luck with my computers and flat panels, all purchased refurbished from Dell at a big discount. :)
 
CA1900 said:
I strongly recommend buying from someone other than Best Buy. Their warranty policies are abysmal, and their salespeople are some of the least knowledgeable I've dealt with. They're an awful, awful place to buy a big-ticket item.

Circuit City gets my vote.
Click to expand...

Amen to that. DO NOT BUY FOR BEST BUY...CIRCUIT CITY HAS A MUCH BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE AND RETURN POLICIES.
 

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