finally going to upgrade from 5+ yr old rear projection tv (samsung).

which display type would be best suited for video gaming? lcd, plasma, or dlp?

i would say 60+% gaming, 25% sports (both HD and SD), 10% movies (blu ray, dvd), 5% general SD (news, sit coms, etc).

my concerns:

-burn ins
-motion blurring while watching sports or playing fast paced games
-ambient lighting (a lot of sunlight)
-life span (probably won't upgrade for another 5+ yr)

any suggestions on models? i've mainly researched the samsung lines.

pn50a550 (what's the difference between the 5,6,&7 series)
ln52a650
hl50a650

also considered front projection projectors, but lamp lifes would kill me since i do a lot of gaming....and i don't have a dedicated theatre room either...so ambient lighting would be an issue. but opinions on this is welcomed also.

Samsung LED-LCD.

I have both plasma and LCD and I'd say you can't go wrong with either if you game a lot. For movies I always use my plasma. I've gamed in both and they both look equally good. I have been using my plasma (cause i'm to lazy to lug it to my room) for a lot of gaming and I've had no problems. On my panny, the game mode is suppose to make burn in impossible. So far so good... I'm sure the superior response time helps out a little. But so far I havn't noticed a significant difference in my performance on CAll of duty4. =P

my setup.

olevia 747i in my room hooked up to a HTIB and all the works
50pz80u in the living room
roommate has a old school toshiba DLP
Brother has a 50a450 samsung plasma

If you do alot of gaming, you should consider what types of games you play.

Are they dark games where you are just waiting for the next alien/bad guy to pop out of a dark corner and kill you or are they sports oriented games where everything is nice and bright?

My LCD is now 2 years old and while I do alot of games on it, I would recomend that you check into something that will give you good black detail for dark games. There are times that I do have problems because I don't have the black detail that I would like in dark scenes. Plasma may be your best bet for this type of gaming, but I have not seen a newer LCD with games on it.

I know that SOME plasmas do have more of a tendency to develop burn in than others (read Samsung), and I would avoid those.

my gaming area ranges. mainly though, i would include but not be limited to, sports gaming, first person shooter, rpg/adventure games. i would be using both ps3 and 360. the ps3 also serves as my blu-ray player.

TNG- when referring to the samsungs with burn in issues, do you mean the older units or newer units? this would hinder me a bit as the samsung line was the main sets i've been debating and researching....especially if i go with plasma.

also, with plasmas, would you guys say glare will be a big issue? again, i do have a lot of light in the room, mainly sunlight during the day.

SVTruong - if you could let me know about glare on your brother's set, that would be great.

also, any of you guys have pics of your images available?

The Sammy DLP is berry nice;) It's a good compromise between LCD and Plasma.

Good luck!!!!:D:D

(note-I do mean "berry", not "very"!!!!)

finally going to upgrade from 5+ yr old rear projection tv (samsung).

which display type would be best suited for video gaming? lcd, plasma, or dlp?

i would say 60+% gaming, 25% sports (both HD and SD), 10% movies (blu ray, dvd), 5% general SD (news, sit coms, etc).

my concerns:

-burn ins
-motion blurring while watching sports or playing fast paced games
-ambient lighting (a lot of sunlight)
-life span (probably won't upgrade for another 5+ yr)

any suggestions on models? i've mainly researched the samsung lines.

pn50a550 (what's the difference between the 5,6,&7 series)
ln52a650
hl50a650

also considered front projection projectors, but lamp lifes would kill me since i do a lot of gaming....and i don't have a dedicated theatre room either...so ambient lighting would be an issue. but opinions on this is welcomed also.


I'm pretty much with TNG on this one. However, if you can only afford 'one' it's hard to overlook LCD for gaming and your requirements. I prefer plasma, but then again, I'm not a gamer. Good hunting.

my brother's samsung plasma glares pretty bad... I'm not gonna hide that. However, the Panasonic pz80u that we got in the living room actually performs pretty well with the blinds open up. You don't notice glare or reflection on the picture at all very much except for the bezel. My uncle has the PX50u in his living room mounted on a wall with windows opened up on the opposite wall. Whenever the TV is on there is minimal glare and reflection with exception of the bezel. Kind of hard to avoid these days since almost every flat panel set has that piano black finish. =/

The Sammy DLP is berry nice;) It's a good compromise between LCD and Plasma.

Good luck!!!!:D:D

(note-I do mean "berry", not "very"!!!!)

You definitely get the biggest screen size for your dollar with a rear projection. I've got a 60" Sony SXRD that I love, I only wish it were bigger. The picture quality is amazing too. I get a great picture in daylight or watching any programing. You do have a bulb to replace, but they last around 7500-10000 hrs.

You definitely get the biggest screen size for your dollar with a rear projection. I've got a 60" Sony SXRD that I love, I only wish it were bigger. The picture quality is amazing too. I get a great picture in daylight or watching any programing. You do have a bulb to replace, but they last around 7500-10000 hrs.

Yeah, the price/screen size area is one place where rear projections really shine!!!!:D (and that would be really funny is I was talking aboot a plasma;))

Kind of hard to avoid these days since almost every flat panel set has that piano black finish. =/

Panasonic has a 50 inch 720p plasma at walmart that has a non reflective finish. Looks to be a rebadged px80.

Panasonic has a 50 inch 720p plasma at walmart that has a non reflective finish. Looks to be a rebadged px80.

yea... I saw that too when I stopped by there. I'd be scared to buy any tv at walmart. It also is listed at around 1300 bucks! Sears has the actual px80 for much less. The xbr4 is probably the only "good" lcd that doesn't have a glossy bezel. Which btw, my other roommate has (my cousin). We love our tv's... I should post pictures. haha

oh boy here we go, flat screen ok if you want fast response accurate detail excellent PQ get a plasma, They wont burn in they last a very very long time (about 20hrs on 8hrs a day) to reach half brightness.

As far as lighing it goes both ways as newer lcd use glossy screen therefore defeast the ONLY benefit of lcd which is a no go anymore.

lcd have way to many issues to consider it, motion blurr/motion resolution uneven uniformly clouds viewing angles issues. among other issues as well

plasma only negetive is really temporarly IR and that about it. Burn in wont happen

i game on my 2007 model panasonic PX75u 90% gaming (h3 gh3 cod4 mgs4 gta4) 5% tv and 5% movies.

since you are not going to play one game exactly then you have noting to worry about since no 2 games hud are alike so the temporarly IR gets cleard off.

best of all IR is not visable during tv watching, only when you leave it on a blank input.

for the first week (150hrs) you should game at most 6hrs then switch to another game or anything else to clear ir.

once its past the 150hrs you can game longer and tv gets more resistant towards IR.

in my life i'v only seen one plasma burn in, that was first (1 to 3 gen) in a airport.

get a plasma for flat screen and best PQ closes to CRT in PQ and response time.

lcd are bad to begin with (to many flaws) and led backlighting only makes thigns worse by adding more issues. and lcd only advantage was taken away (glossy screen replaced matte screens.)

Just wanna chime in and say I recently upgraded from a 42 in LCD to a 50 in. Viera Plasma (PZ) and the difference for me is like night and day. I love my new T.V - both games and movies look superb.

not to take anything away from LCD tho, It did an outstanding job, it just wasnt a top tier model...

I owned a sony XBR2 LCD in the past, which at the time was reccomended as a top dispaly for gaming.

I generally had no problem with it, but the Mura was so bad and noticeable during many games that i had to return it, as sony clearly wasnt interested in providing a fix.

that combined with the fact that i noticed my eyes getting sore alot quicker than my CRT led me to thinking about plasma.

and then i realize outside of burn in possibilities (which seem nill now), plasmas are better in pretty much every regard to LCD for gaming, and are probably the better choice if you yearn for the days of your tube television (i know my eyes did).

I ended up with the PZ800u (since i was gingerly making the switch i would have prefered the Pioneer, widely acclaimed as the best flat panel out now period, but they really isolated their sizes and i needed a more personable 42", and Panasonic accomodated), and so far i'm really liking it.

Yes i'm being a little careful with it while i break it in, and i'm still unsure what to do about the older SD games many of which i had been saving up (since i wont stretch them and i dont think i feel good about using black bars and testing how far plasmas have come since my parents mitsubishi got uneven wear), but everything else seems fair game.

I just want to thank everyone for their input on this matter. after all was said and done, and after numerous researches...i opted to go for the sammy pn50a550. took all day to set up my stand, pick up my tv set and mount it on.

after a full days worth of games, movies, etc....all i can say is "WOW". i played with settings a bit and found a screen burn protection option. how often should i be using this to refresh my pixels? it has:

pixel shift
scrolling
all white
side gray :dark or light (i think this is for when viewing sources in 4:3)

Also, i used the monster dvd to do some calibration, but was wondering if there was something else out there better. should i use a HD calibration disk in blu-ray or a regular dvd calibration disk or will do?

thnx

TNG- when referring to the samsungs with burn in issues, do you mean the older units or newer units? this would hinder me a bit as the samsung line was the main sets I've been debating and researching....especially if i go with plasma

I have read and asked the same question myself. Seen allot of Samsung plasma sets and they aren't bad looking, but many people here have reported that they are much more sensitive to burn in than a Pio, Panny, Hitachi, etc...

This was confirmed to me by several people who I consider to be more reliable plasma fanatics than I am. The Japanese makers seem to have a better handle on burn in than Samsung does.

Thanks for the thread- this is timely information for me as I research a replacement for my 46" Samsung DLP that gave up the ghost (expensive board replacement).

I have been going back and forth between a Samsung 46" 120Hz 1080p LCD and a Panasonic 50" 1080p plasma. I usually watch HDTV feeds off satellite, some movies on the XBox 360, and a bit of console gaming here and there.

After looking at them on two occasions, I think the Panasonic plasma has a better picture with darker blacks. I'd also get the benefit of a larger display for less money. Burnin/IR was a concern until I'd read a bunch of PZ80U reviews.

One concern is a lack of a VGA port on the Panasonic, although I rarely connect my laptop to my TV for anything.

It's been a blessing that all the B&M stores in the area are out of stock, it gives more time for research before I buy my next "5 year" television. :)

Plasma for gaming. No question with the improvement in dealing with image retention.

just to update, i basically checked the cnet reviews and used the settings they suggested for HD viewing using hdmi. i'd have to say that it's definitely better than my own calibration using the monster dvd.

some more inputs...and again, i'm no expert nor do i have any side by side comparisons, but the glare is not as bad as i had initially feared. there is definitely some glare and refections, but only from lighting that can directly be reflected on the screen. i have no ceiling lighting, only lamps in the corners, so that hasn't been a problem. also, during the day, even with my xtra large window sliding door fully open, the image is still just as clear and crisp.

i can only hope that burn in wont' be an issue...and from what i've read, it shouldn't be as long as i vary things up.

also, any of you guys know if extended service warranties cover burn in issues should they occur? i got a 5 yr extended warranty in addition, which means my unit is covered for 6 yrs, 1 manufacture + 5 3rd party. which isn't bad...especially since i don't see myself upgrading for another 5+ yrs....unless i eventually do decide on getting a front projector...but that's still some time away since i'll be waiting for 1080p projectors to drop in prices first.

CRT's are FAR FAR superior to all other display technolgies for gaming. You can get Direct View CRTs such as the Sony Artisan, XBR 960 or the the ultra high resolution 2304x1440P ultra fast Sony GDM-FW 900 which is probably one of the best gaming displays ever created, or if you want bigger screens, you can go for RP CRTs or if you want mammoth displays, go for 3 Gun 9" CRT Front Projection systems.
CRTs run circles around inferior technologies for gaming such as LCD and Plasma with their high motion blur, greatly reduced motion resolution, poorer contrast ratio(expect for 2009 Pioneers), and phosphor trails.

kyaj9 break in the tv first and no the EW wont cover Burn in. and i agree to jack white CRT TUBE is the best for gaming. but its only in 38" and crt projection well thats a diffrent story, right behind crt projection Pioneer kuro plasma then the rest

CRT's are FAR FAR superior to all other display technolgies for gaming. You can get Direct View CRTs such as the Sony Artisan, XBR 960 or the the ultra high resolution 2304x1440P ultra fast Sony GDM-FW 900 which is probably one of the best gaming displays ever created, or if you want bigger screens, you can go for RP CRTs or if you want mammoth displays, go for 3 Gun 9" CRT Front Projection systems.
CRTs run circles around inferior technologies for gaming such as LCD and Plasma with their high motion blur, greatly reduced motion resolution, poorer contrast ratio(expect for 2009 Pioneers), and phosphor trails.

I own a 960 and must agree. Although motion between my previous Pioneer and this TV seems neglible to me. Not everyone will notice the lag, although I am sure it is there.

CRTs also bloom, and create weird artifacts when black and white meet. A 9g Kuro or a CRT would be king. :)

CRT's are FAR FAR superior to all other display technolgies for gaming. You can get Direct View CRTs such as the Sony Artisan, XBR 960 or the the ultra high resolution 2304x1440P ultra fast Sony GDM-FW 900 which is probably one of the best gaming displays ever created, or if you want bigger screens, you can go for RP CRTs or if you want mammoth displays, go for 3 Gun 9" CRT Front Projection systems.
CRTs run circles around inferior technologies for gaming such as LCD and Plasma with their high motion blur, greatly reduced motion resolution, poorer contrast ratio(expect for 2009 Pioneers), and phosphor trails.
Agreed. I still remember my POS Toshiba CRT that I bought at CostCo for $200. It was great for games. Problem was that it weighed 150 lbs. Also one of the reasons that I bought a LCD was that glare from that screen was terrible at night due to the positioning and the lights in the kitchen. The mat finish screen on the LCD has solved that.

I also look at the fact (with any FPD display) that now I have the equivilent of a 42" SD display and a 52"HD display and it weighs less than 100 lbs.

If plasmas didn't have phosphor lag they'd be pretty much perfect, 950 lines of motion resolution isn't bad. Lucky for me I only see it once and a while, some never do, some can't stand it. CRTs are very nice for games as long as you get rid of the overscan and fix the geometry problems.

kyaj9 break in the tv first

yeah...definitely will do....just testing everything out....doing mostly movie watching right now...and the gf likes to watch her stuff from time to time also....but will let it break in for 150 hrs our so first before the hardcore gaming starts....although....the guys at samsung says the "break in" period isn't really a requirement as long as you vary it up....but there's nothing wrong with being safe....now if only i could decide between a surround sound bar or a receiver and 7.1 speaker set....

As a plasma 'fan' i'd still like to point out a disadvantage of plasmas that might be relevant for gaming. It's PWM noise and dithering. If you sit real close to the set it could be distracting or irritating. Just look at a set from close up (3-4 feet) and judge if the pixel firing irritates you.

On the other hand, with a big LCD at that proximity you'll have viewing angle issues.

:)

P.S: My kids love the Kuro for PS3 Gaming.

You see PWM noise and dithering on a 9g Kuro? I only had problems like that with the Panasonic I had, Kuro might have a bit but it's nothing noticeable even right in front of set.

You see PWM noise and dithering on a 9g Kuro? I only had problems like that with the Panasonic I had, Kuro might have a bit but it's nothing noticeable even right in front of set.

Yes.

I must not look hard enough :) I've never really had any problems, then again I'm not exactly a gamer either.

is there any way to reduce pwm or dithering? haven't noticed it yet...but then...i sit about 9-10 ft away....

CRTs also bloom, and create weird artifacts when black and white meet. A 9g Kuro or a CRT would be king. :)


Crt is still king in the blackest of the blackest scenes. But with content on the screen, some brightness, it is amazing how plasma combines ansi and on-off ratio. Plasmas major weakness is noise though. It's not very forgiving without really good sources-content.

is there any way to reduce pwm or dithering? haven't noticed it yet...but then...i sit about 9-10 ft away....

It's inherent to the system of how plasma cells are triggered.


at 9-10 ft you won't see it. It's only relevant when u r close enough to see individual pixels.