Some points to take into consideration:

-Will be kept for around 10 years
-Will be used to watch a combination of HD and SD 90% of the time
-Will be used for watching regular DVDs 10% of the time (though Blu-ray might be an option in the future)
-Will be watched from a distance of 10 feet
-Won't be connected to a computer or used for gaming

I was going to go with an LCD until I noticed that I could get a 50" Pioneer 5080HD for $1300.

The LCDs I'm considering are:
Samsung LN46A550
LG 47LG70
Samsung LNT4681
Sony KDLZ4100
Samsung LN46A750

The downside of the plasma is that it's 768p (though at 10' it probably won't make a difference), the possibility of burn in (SD would be watched in 4:3), and that the picture quality will degrade over time (will be used for at least 10 years).

The downside of the LCDs is the cost - especially with the A750 costing nearly $1000 more that the 5080HD. As for the picture quality, the LNT4681 seemed to be very comparable to the plasma, though I still need to inspect them further to come to a final conclusion.

So given my usage parameters, which technology would suit me the best?

If you can get a new Pioneer 5080 for $1300 it's a no-brainer. At your viewing distance 1080p doesn't matter, you don't have any 1080p sources anyway. If you do pick up a Blu-ray player at some point I promise you it will look stunning on the 5080.

You don't need to worry about burn-in, you will get temporary image retention that will fade to nothing very quickly, usually less than a minute.

The picture quality will not degrade any faster than an LCD, both are rated at 60,000 hours to half brightness. Some of this year's models are rated at 100,000 hours. I've had my Panasonic plasma for two and a half years and the picture is better now than it was when new.

I agree with buckeye.
Get the 5080 and don't look back.
IMO the 5080 will outperform the others on your list in blacks, contrast, processing, viewing angles, colors will be deeper and more saturated, the motion performance will be much better, standard Def will look better,etc.
And as buckeye said, Blu-ray will look stunning on the 5080.
Also, the 5080 does a terrific job with standard def.
I have had numerous LCDs and Plasmas, The 5080 did better with Standard than any of them.

Once you get the 5080 you will see why so many love that TV.
And at the price U are getting it for is a flat out no-brainer.

i agree with chad and bucky get the pioneer 5080 you wont regreat it, the kuro 5080 will look better then a 1080p of other brand set because 5080's amazing PQ from blacks colors procesing well you know chad just said it... :D

How would the Samsung LNT4681 with LED backlight compare?

The only thing holding me back from the 5080HD (and plasmas in general) is the burn in issue.

I've also read that for the first 1000 hours of use, non full screen viewing should be limited to around 15%. The problem is that it'll take me nearly a year to get to 1000 hours and I don't want to be constantly paranoid about possibly damaging the screen.

you're getting advice from people who are "fans" of plasma/lcd's here at avs. you can generally tell by the comments in the replies.

take everything here with a huge grain of salt.
write down your preferences and see how each set balances
strengths vs weaknesses.

think about your environment and imagine the set in it.

i can read lots of info about this or that set and get really excited. then i get to a store and am underwhelmed by first hand experience. get the remotes for the sets and play around with settings.



most important of all:
go to a store to see them side by side.

good luck.

Yes he should by all means go and get the good non biased information in the LCD forum right? Some of the things posted over there are borderline preposterous, at least plasma fans defend their sets with facts and DO recommend an LCD when it's called for. It's also IMHO that the most knowledgeable AVS'ers frequent the plasma forum. Of course go see TVs but don't just throw away the opinion of the people here just trying to help. The 5080 is better than any of those TVs anyways.

How would the Samsung LNT4681 with LED backlight compare?

The only thing holding me back from the 5080HD (and plasmas in general) is the burn in issue.

I've also read that for the first 1000 hours of use, non full screen viewing should be limited to around 15%. The problem is that it'll take me nearly a year to get to 1000 hours and I don't want to be constantly paranoid about possibly damaging the screen.

If all that's holding you back is the burn-in than don't worry, after 100, not 1000 you should be good to use it pretty much as you please. If you have a bright room you might want to take into consideration plasmas wash out considerably more than LCDs, out of those 2 sets that's the only disadvantage I can think of.

Yes he should by all means go and get the good non biased information in the LCD forum right? Some of the things posted over there are borderline preposterous, at least plasma fans defend their sets with facts and DO recommend an LCD when it's called for. It's also IMHO that the most knowledgeable AVS'ers frequent the plasma forum. Of course go see TVs but don't just throw away the opinion of the people here just trying to help. The 5080 is better than any of those TVs anyways.
Yes some members are biased (me) from experience. But most of the LCD members aren't in this for the money.

My observation is the plasma forum have more so called "Fans" that are in it for the money.

Just my observation from starting out with a plasma.

In it for the money? If you mean dealers, of course.. I don't think any normal user recommends plasma over LCD because they get a payoff.

In it for the money? If you mean dealers, of course.
No I wasn't referring to the dealers.

When I bought my plasma and was looking for help to see how to solve the issue I was having, I learned that there were members that worked in the industry.

I don't see these industry types in the LCD forum. I'm sure there are some but I don't know who?

IMO theres more industry types in the plasma forum.

No I'm not going to name names. I should used the word industry type than "Fans". My mistake.

Well who are you referring to then? The dealers are pretty easy to spot and most are good guys, robert, creemail, cleveland plasma ect. If you are just going to make accusations at least back them up with a user name.

I don't see these industry types in the LCD forum. It's been my experience that they're pretty much on every forum here - just moreso on some over the others.

The HDTV Programming forum is about the worst.

Well, I picked up the Pioneer for around $1400 + taxes today. Hopefully it was the right choice.

^ Congratulations, let us know how you like it.

congrats on the pioneer kuro purchase, and on the lcd case most sellers (stores like BB/CC/Sears) sell lcd more because of comission rates are more and or the EW is more or and lcd is more profitable in the end.

sad but true

not true... plasma EW is always more, LCDs don't really make more money than plasmas. Also, none of those stores even work on commission (Sears was the last and I believe they just stopped recently)

so you must know more then i do even though i worked for sears and stop couple months ago so i know first hand that we do in fact work on comission for lcd/ plasma and any other product (varies by comission)

and my ex co workers still are there
i would tell customers differences i normaly recommend plasma but sometimes theirs those customers that dont want plasma at all.

so before you start talking and dont have facts STFU will ya, the avg warranty for lcd (sony etc etc) for 52" is higher then $400

we make more money on lcd because it cost less for companys like sears/bb/cc and the resale to customers is greater and so comission is higher usualy (some lcd low end are not much diffrent then plasma comission) like wise with plasma some have high comission etc etc...

i left because it sucks and got a better job with benefits/isurances/union.

oh and sears is the only place that is comission based (cc/bb is not) but they make up on warranty cost / service/repairs and re sale value....

Gus I gotta tell ya your spelling is atrocious. :)