Now that our Plasmas are getting older and more and more people are for whatever reason no longer able to continue using a Plasma TV as their primary display (reasons such as catastrophic failure, lack of replacement parts, panel or screen getting damaged, needing a larger screen size and/or more modern features, UHD resolution, etc), i think it would be good to have a dedicated thread here for us Plasma owners who, for whatever reason, are transitioning to an LCD TV. For a lot of us, the time has come or will come soon enough.
An LG OLED TV would generally be a better upgrade from a Plasma, but they're expensive compared to LCD so this thread is specifically about LCD TV (commonly called LED TV to make them sound fancier, but it's still an LCD TV but with LED bulbs illuminating the screen instead of a CFL backlight like older LCDs had). Use the two terms interchangeably if you wish. The higher end models are backlit LED, but most others are Edgelit. Some brands/models do Edgelit better than others. My W800B is actually pretty good in this regard which i did not expect.
In the LCD TV world, having looked at and fiddled with the settings with various TV at stores and especially at the homes of friends/family/neighbors/coworkers/customers etc, i find that the Sonys have a much more natural looking image than LG or Samsung (which both look somewhat garish and cartoonish) and Sony generally has better colors. They seem to be closer to Plasma PQ than others i've experienced, but then again that's only a relative handful over the past few years. Lots of current UHD (so-called "4K") LCD TVs look pretty darn good. This year the better features and PQ are on the UHD models and the 1080p units have been relegated more to "entry-level" status. So even if you're sitting far enough away that the higher UHD resolution is not a factor, these models still have better colors and motion than the lower models so this year i'm only recommending UHD models if it's within one's budget.
Three of the biggest considerations when going from Plasma to LCD is (A) Black Level Performance, (B) Contrast Ratio, and (C) Viewing Angles from the sides. Plasma TVs do all three well, but in the LCD world this is no longer the case. There are basically two types of LCD Panel: VA and IPS. VA has better black levels and higher CR, but narrower viewing angles, while IPS has wider viewing angles but poorer black levels and CR. If one of these is more important than the other for your particular viewing environment, then it may be important to find out which brands/models have VA panels and which ones have IPS panels before digging any further.
I have always used Plamsas in my bright man room going back to 2005, but a few years ago i moved my 55ST60 to the den for dark room movie watching and replaced it with a Sony 55W800B LCD TV and was actually an overall improvement in anything other than full-on night-time dark room viewing (in which case the ST60's deeper blacks and higher contrast ratio come into play). Then ironically, the wife just couldn't get used to the larger size and eventually had me put the 46 inch G10 back in there (the den is HER domain) but since my 55W800B works better in my man room i decided to keep using that instead my 55ST60 (which i've stored away until i decide WTF to do with it). My LCD also maintains it's CR better in bright room viewing so that's another plus.
Another thing i that i found i like with LCD is the lack of ABL. ABL didn't really bother me on my Plasmas even though i saw it happen on bright scenes, but this does not happen on my LCD TV in the man room and i do find that it now bothers me when i see it on my Plasmsas (which i still have in the den and a few bedrooms). Not a big deal for most Plasma owners, but worth noting.
Another thing to consider is the screen's reflectivity. We're used to Plasma AR Filters and the last few years the mid-to-higher end models from Panasonic and the Samsung F8500 series had the Louver Filter, but with LCD TVs the vast majority of screens are either glossy and very reflective, or semi-gloss which is much less reflective - but is not quite matte like older and/or smaller LCD TVs were in previous years. As an example, my Sony W800B's semi-gloss screen is actually less mirror-like than my 55ST60 and 50GT50 (with Louver Filter) and 46G10 and 42PZ700 Plasmas (traditional AR Filter) so that was a nice surprise in my bright man room during the daytime, even with my blinds or solar shades down. Some people say a glossy/reflective screen isn't a problem since an LCD screen is brighter than a Plasma, but in any sort of scene that is dark or has dark areas those dark areas instantly become a black mirror. Not a problem so much when watching sports in the daytime, but is a big deal when watching dark movies or dark content in anything other than a dark room. The semi-gloss models are much better in this regard. This is important to me.
LCD/LED TVs have improved greatly in recent years but there are some issues and limitations that are just inherent of the technology such as viewing angles, black levels, blooming, flashlighting from the corners, screen uniformity, blotchiness, etc that we just didn't experience with Plasma. These issues exist to varying extents on various models so read up on this when considering specific models.
While there are lots of brands of LCD TV, personally i like Sony's the best and feel they're closer to Plasma PQ than all the other brands out there. They get good reviews.
So here's a good breakdown of the currently available Sony models:
http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/sony
While not perfect, that RTINGS site has lots of good info about the various brands/models such as viewing angles, black levels, screen reflectivity, panel types etc whcih can help narrow down some specific suitable models in this huge sea of LCD choices. You can glean a lot of useful LCD/LED related information from that site.
I know i'm stuck on Sony, but plenty of people in the LCD forum are very happy with their various Vizios and LGs and Samsungs. But for me, Sony seems to give the most Plasma-like performance. If my older 1080p 55W800B were to blow up, i'd definitely replace it with either a 55X850C or the slightly lower 55X810C UHD model (VA panel w/higher contrast ratio and better black levels). If wider viewing angles are important, consider the X900C or X850D series but their IPS panels don't have the better black levels and contrast ratio. My Custom Integrator customers who have traditionally used Panasonic Plasmas for their boardroom and large residential projects are now specifying Sony LCD TVs for pretty much the same reasons that i like them.
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An LG OLED TV would generally be a better upgrade from a Plasma, but they're expensive compared to LCD so this thread is specifically about LCD TV (commonly called LED TV to make them sound fancier, but it's still an LCD TV but with LED bulbs illuminating the screen instead of a CFL backlight like older LCDs had). Use the two terms interchangeably if you wish. The higher end models are backlit LED, but most others are Edgelit. Some brands/models do Edgelit better than others. My W800B is actually pretty good in this regard which i did not expect.
In the LCD TV world, having looked at and fiddled with the settings with various TV at stores and especially at the homes of friends/family/neighbors/coworkers/customers etc, i find that the Sonys have a much more natural looking image than LG or Samsung (which both look somewhat garish and cartoonish) and Sony generally has better colors. They seem to be closer to Plasma PQ than others i've experienced, but then again that's only a relative handful over the past few years. Lots of current UHD (so-called "4K") LCD TVs look pretty darn good. This year the better features and PQ are on the UHD models and the 1080p units have been relegated more to "entry-level" status. So even if you're sitting far enough away that the higher UHD resolution is not a factor, these models still have better colors and motion than the lower models so this year i'm only recommending UHD models if it's within one's budget.
Three of the biggest considerations when going from Plasma to LCD is (A) Black Level Performance, (B) Contrast Ratio, and (C) Viewing Angles from the sides. Plasma TVs do all three well, but in the LCD world this is no longer the case. There are basically two types of LCD Panel: VA and IPS. VA has better black levels and higher CR, but narrower viewing angles, while IPS has wider viewing angles but poorer black levels and CR. If one of these is more important than the other for your particular viewing environment, then it may be important to find out which brands/models have VA panels and which ones have IPS panels before digging any further.
I have always used Plamsas in my bright man room going back to 2005, but a few years ago i moved my 55ST60 to the den for dark room movie watching and replaced it with a Sony 55W800B LCD TV and was actually an overall improvement in anything other than full-on night-time dark room viewing (in which case the ST60's deeper blacks and higher contrast ratio come into play). Then ironically, the wife just couldn't get used to the larger size and eventually had me put the 46 inch G10 back in there (the den is HER domain) but since my 55W800B works better in my man room i decided to keep using that instead my 55ST60 (which i've stored away until i decide WTF to do with it). My LCD also maintains it's CR better in bright room viewing so that's another plus.
Another thing i that i found i like with LCD is the lack of ABL. ABL didn't really bother me on my Plasmas even though i saw it happen on bright scenes, but this does not happen on my LCD TV in the man room and i do find that it now bothers me when i see it on my Plasmsas (which i still have in the den and a few bedrooms). Not a big deal for most Plasma owners, but worth noting.
Another thing to consider is the screen's reflectivity. We're used to Plasma AR Filters and the last few years the mid-to-higher end models from Panasonic and the Samsung F8500 series had the Louver Filter, but with LCD TVs the vast majority of screens are either glossy and very reflective, or semi-gloss which is much less reflective - but is not quite matte like older and/or smaller LCD TVs were in previous years. As an example, my Sony W800B's semi-gloss screen is actually less mirror-like than my 55ST60 and 50GT50 (with Louver Filter) and 46G10 and 42PZ700 Plasmas (traditional AR Filter) so that was a nice surprise in my bright man room during the daytime, even with my blinds or solar shades down. Some people say a glossy/reflective screen isn't a problem since an LCD screen is brighter than a Plasma, but in any sort of scene that is dark or has dark areas those dark areas instantly become a black mirror. Not a problem so much when watching sports in the daytime, but is a big deal when watching dark movies or dark content in anything other than a dark room. The semi-gloss models are much better in this regard. This is important to me.
LCD/LED TVs have improved greatly in recent years but there are some issues and limitations that are just inherent of the technology such as viewing angles, black levels, blooming, flashlighting from the corners, screen uniformity, blotchiness, etc that we just didn't experience with Plasma. These issues exist to varying extents on various models so read up on this when considering specific models.
While there are lots of brands of LCD TV, personally i like Sony's the best and feel they're closer to Plasma PQ than all the other brands out there. They get good reviews.
So here's a good breakdown of the currently available Sony models:
http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/sony
While not perfect, that RTINGS site has lots of good info about the various brands/models such as viewing angles, black levels, screen reflectivity, panel types etc whcih can help narrow down some specific suitable models in this huge sea of LCD choices. You can glean a lot of useful LCD/LED related information from that site.
I know i'm stuck on Sony, but plenty of people in the LCD forum are very happy with their various Vizios and LGs and Samsungs. But for me, Sony seems to give the most Plasma-like performance. If my older 1080p 55W800B were to blow up, i'd definitely replace it with either a 55X850C or the slightly lower 55X810C UHD model (VA panel w/higher contrast ratio and better black levels). If wider viewing angles are important, consider the X900C or X850D series but their IPS panels don't have the better black levels and contrast ratio. My Custom Integrator customers who have traditionally used Panasonic Plasmas for their boardroom and large residential projects are now specifying Sony LCD TVs for pretty much the same reasons that i like them.
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