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LCD or Plasma? Plasma or LCD? and why those Black Bars? Discuss it here only Please

484K views 1K replies 627 participants last post by  markrubin 
#1 ·
LCD Vs Plasma Flat Panels: and why do I see those black bars?


the eternal discussion: please limit these discussions to this sticky thread only
 
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#377 ·
I picked up a 42 " Samsung S4254 today on an impulse over a Sony LCD 40S3000.


I have a Samsung DLP Gen 2 and a Sony Bravia XBR1 LCD now. I like the Samsung and dearly love the XBR1. It is phenomenal.


This if for an out of state condo so was watching the budget and wanted the 1000-1200 range you are looking in. When I realized that I could get a plasma for the same price as the 720p LCD and 2 inches larger I went ahead. I clearly remember when they were $15,000 TVs and not near as nice as they are now.


Better?? Who knows. I am happy watching my DLP although it clearly is not the TV the Sony is. I suspect I will be very happy with the plasma.


Thank you folks, for the 1368x vs the 1024x resolution questions as that is the only drawback I could see from the specs. However the plasma has such saturated colors I suspect you will never miss a bit of resolution.


On my LCD I have found that the sports blur doesn't really bother me, but I will know more after I watch baseball on a plasma where the blur isn't a factor.


The pixel shift technology is cool but I find I normally limit my TV watching to HD which is a correct aspect ratio these days.


Thanks for the info, folks.


Perry
 
#380 ·
I'm trying to make a decision on which LCD or plasma to purchase. I'm interested in a large 58" to 60" screen, but wonder if my viewing area is too small. If it's too small, I've also been looking at the 52" LCDs.


We primarily watch network/cable televison through FIOS about 80% of the time. The L-shaped sectional is approximately 10ft at it sweet spot and goes to about 4-5 feet at the corner of the sectional.


I've been consideing the following plasmas:


Pioneer 5080 and 6070HD

Panasonic TH-50PX75U and TH-50PX75U


and the following LCDs:


Sony 52XBR3

Samsung LNT5265F

Sharp LC-52D92U


The TV will reside in the basement which has a few small windows, but nothing that would cause any dramatic glare. 1080p would be a nice to have, but it's not a requirement given our viewing habits. (Is it?)


I'm want to purchase something by September for football season and the World Series and I'd like to stay in the $3000-$3500 range. I know the some are a few hundred above the budget.


My main concern is I don't want to see a lousy picture if the picture is too large and the viewers are too close.


Any info or suggestions given my specifications are appreciated.


Thanks
 
#381 ·
As I am a compulsive researcher, I need some outside help in making my decision. I am a college student looking to spend around $1000 to $1300 on a HDTV. I am between the 42HL67 and the 42PX75U. My family has a very nice 50'' Pioneer Elite, B&W speeks, sunfire subs etc. and I am not expecting to get close to that at all in terms of PQ, SQ, or anything. However, I am an audio and videophile, and I do not know which screen to chose.


-On the one hand, I worry about this LCD's issues with dead pixels, green push, ghosting, and backlight bleed. I have heard varying accounts of this screen, and it seems like a 50/50 success rate getting a non-problematic tv.

- On the other, I worry about the plasma's burn in and break in time. As I am a college student, I worry about being intoxicated and accidentially leaving the plasma on a DVD menu. Or worse yet, my roomate doing so. (Is the panasonic screen saver reliable?).


Which of these screens would you reccommend for my situation?
 
#382 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by bielen /forum/post/0



I'm want to purchase something by September for football season and the World Series and I'd like to stay in the $3000-$3500 range. I know the some are a few hundred above the budget.


Considering a 50" Panny Plasma is around 1700 and a 52" Sony or Samsung LCD is 3500, the answer should be fairly obvious shouldn't it.


Unless of course you want to spned double the money.


BTW as for 720P or 1080P, how big is your basement, if your sitting 8+ feet away, the 720P Plasma is perfection.


If your only sitting 5 or 6 feet away, 1080P might be a better choice.
 
#383 ·
I am stuck either way, in that my TV must directly oppose a double window that gets alot of sunlight, so I am going to have daytime TV issues regardless.


Some questions:


1) Is there an aftermarket product or even a line of TV's that is more glare-friendly, without being bad in the dark?


2) Is plasma right out with a configuration like this?


3) Has anyone operated either type of TV in a similar situation and have any advice or tips?


Unfortunately, there is just no other way to orient the room.


Thanks for any tips!
 
#384 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by nmkorn /forum/post/0


As I am a compulsive researcher, I need some outside help in making my decision. I am a college student looking to spend around $1000 to $1300 on a HDTV. I am between the 42HL67 and the 42PX75U. My family has a very nice 50'' Pioneer Elite, B&W speeks, sunfire subs etc. and I am not expecting to get close to that at all in terms of PQ, SQ, or anything. However, I am an audio and videophile, and I do not know which screen to chose.


-On the one hand, I worry about this LCD's issues with dead pixels, green push, ghosting, and backlight bleed. I have heard varying accounts of this screen, and it seems like a 50/50 success rate getting a non-problematic tv.

- On the other, I worry about the plasma's burn in and break in time. As I am a college student, I worry about being intoxicated and accidentially leaving the plasma on a DVD menu. Or worse yet, my roomate doing so. (Is the panasonic screen saver reliable?).


Which of these screens would you reccommend for my situation?

If you get a good Plasma TV you shouldn't have to worry about burn in. I got a 42" Pioneer Elite and did the break in procedure for 100 hours (most do 200 hours). Now I watch A LOT of soccer games with stationary scoreboards in the corner for 45 minutes at a time, and do a lot of gaming. But I have not seen any image retention whatsoever.


About your concern with DVD menus, most TVs have an auto-off feature. My TV turns off if no button is pressed on the remote for 3 hours. I realize 3 hours might be a lot. It might yield minimal image retention, but it shouldn't be anything that won't go away after a few minutes of watching TV. As long as this isn't something you will be doing on a daily basis, you should be fine. See if the TV you want has such a feature and if it is well suited for your needs. Good luck.
 
#385 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by JAHokie46 /forum/post/0


Hello all!


I've come to AVS Forums to get some opinions from some AV gurus compared to the average joes who may give me opinions elsewhere.


I keep going back and forth from LCD vs. Plasma, and 720p vs 1080p, brand vs. brand.


Here's the scoop:

I'm looking for my first HDTV. 42" appears to be the ideal size for me and my room.


I watch History and Discovery channels, Comedy Central, old sitcoms, old movies, etc. I plan to sign up for Netflix and start going through alot of older and foreign films.


Is it LCD 1080p? or will a good 720p plasma do it? or 720p LCD? That's my issue. HD I know will look good, but what about SD? My budget is around 1K, and I've seen a few 1080p LCDs go for that recently, mostly secondary brands like Vizio and Westinghouse. There's been several plasma choices as well, but all 720p, and some of them Vizio but also some Philips or Hitachi. For around my budget (I know I'm not gonna get a Sharp Aquos 1080p for example) what is going to give me the best PQ for what I'm looking for?


Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

I kinda edited the above guy's post to reflect my tastes.


The above pretty much sums up my situation, except

I HATE "SPORTS BLUR"!!!!!!!!


I like shopping at Costco for price, convenience, and return policy. They have some Pannys for sale currently (here's a link for the ones they are selling online):


I tried to post the link to Costco website, it is easy to find.


Are these Panny's decent models? I mean the ones on Costco website.


1. Will they be able to do SD prgramming well? I don't mind black bars on the sides, I can't stand that stretched out weird fat looking conversion tho!

2. Suggestions about other stores? Can't stand high pressure fast taling electronic store salespeople.

3. Sports blur -- I know the LCDs have it bad, how about plasma?

4. Is it easy to get all the various old movies to show in their original aspect ratios/formats? I mean movies going back even to the 1930's and 40's.


Thanks!!!!!

John
 
#386 ·
1. Will they be able to do SD prgramming well? I don't mind black bars on the sides, I can't stand that stretched out weird fat looking conversion tho!

YES, they will do SD programming better than LCD's.

2. Suggestions about other stores? Can't stand high pressure fast taling electronic store salespeople.

Costco is the way to go.

3. Sports blur -- I know the LCDs have it bad, how about plasma?

NO Sports Blur at all.

4. Is it easy to get all the various old movies to show in their original aspect ratios/formats? I mean movies going back even to the 1930's and 40's.

Most movies are shot in widescreen, either 1.85 to 1 or 2.35 to 1. Just buy the widescreen version of movies on DVD.

Old movies in the 40's were mainly shot in Full Frame, new DVD releases of these movies are in that Full Frame ratio so its all good.

Just set the TV to Full screen, and it will show whatever aspect ratio is on the Disc.
 
#388 ·
Thanks for responding Mike,


For months now I have been considering this whole thing, and was certain that LCD was what I wanted. But then I realized that the with the sports blur I would feel like I was actually getting a worse pic than my CRT.


So I am amazed that I have come to plasma. But reading through this forum, it seems like a fairly significant majority also think plasma best suits their needs.


Glad to here that most of the formats will take care of themselves, I don't want to have to change the settings.


Great!
 
#389 ·
I posted this earlier as a separate thread, which was a mistake, so let me see if I get responses here.


I want to buy either a plasma or an LCD for my bedroom (our existing tv seems to have shrunk over the years!). We sit about 14' from the TV. We primarily watch shows (like Law & Order, Damages, etc.) on Comcast Digital Cable, many of which we tape to watch later, (I guess this makes it SD). We also rent movies. My wife occasionally watches tennis and figure-skating, so lack of ghosting is somewhat important, but she definitely does not need to be "immersed in the action"! Neither of us is an audio/videophile, but we would like a clear good picture. We usually have the lights on next to the headboard. While I am willing to pay for discernable benefits, I don't want to waste my money for no reason, given that we watch minimal sports, and play no games.


So, given our viewing habits, and the distance where we will be sitting, my questions are:


1. Is 42 or 46 enough, or should I really go for a bigger size, and, if so, what?

2. Would LCD or plasma be clearly better, given the lights and our viewing?

3. Should I spring for 1080p, or will 720p be good enough?

4. Is there a brand(s) you'd recommend I look at, under, say, $2000?


Thanks for your help.


P.S. I was at a CC tonight, and they had a variety of 40+" Plasmas and LCDs, in both 720 and 1080p. They were showing a basketball game, and while most pictures were good when there wasn't much movement, all of them looked jerky (almost as though the parts of the screen were not in sync with one another) when there was movement. This was true regardless of the set and the distance from which we viewed the tv. I think that the feed was from ESPN HD. IS this the best there is? My wife was concerned about what this meant for her tennis viewing.
 
#390 ·
Hey everyone. Thanks so much for this forum because it's been so helpful.


Now, like most everyone else I'm a first time buy - would like to spend about 1700 but can go as high as 2400 (really pushing it) so I've narrowed it down to these two sets.


Samsung HP T-5054 ($1700 on Vanns or Amazon) 50" Plasma 720p


or


Samsung LN T-4665 ($2400 on Vanns or Amazon) 46' Plasma 1080p



My budget really pushes me to go with the cheaper one but I so neurotic about burn-ins because quite a bit of xbox 360 and with the months to come - I'll be playing the one game (Madden football) over and over again...thus I'm deathly afraid of burn-ins.


I've read threads concerning both sets on their respective forums and it's getting to point where I'm about to give up and forget about it...lol.


So please. Help a fellow FP watcher wanna be out.


Thanks in a advance guys.
 
#391 ·
It completely depends on how far you plan on sitting from the TV.


If your sitting closer than 8 feet, you should get the smaller, 1080P version.


If your sitting over 8 feet away, 1080P would not be recognizable to the human eye, and you will be absolutely fine with the 720P plasma.


It really is that simple.
 
#393 ·
Burn in on new Plasmas basically does not exist.


When it is fresh, you will see some image retention.


So you know, if you leave it on a menu screen for 5 minutes then press play you'll see the menu outline for a minute, but it goes away, and does NO HARM.


After you break in the set after a couple of months, even the image retention goes away.


REMEMBER: New Plasmas are torture tested at the factory with static images for hours upon hours, and yet still with regular viewing the image retention GOES AWAY!!!
 
#394 ·
I posted this in a separate thread but maybe i'll get some more response here...



Anyway my uses are as follows:

- Both SD and HD broadcasts (cablebox: SA8300HD/Rogers Digital Ottawa)

- PS3/Blu-Ray

- Wii



I'm sitting about 7-7.5 feet away from the screen, in a not-too-bright basement den. too much ambient light is not a problem.



Sharp LC37D62U

Panasonic TH42PX75


I'd like the best overall performance, in terms of HD broadcasts/movies, gaming and to a lesser extent SD. (I still watch alot of SD programming). I'm transitioning from my old but trusty Panasonic CT34WX15 DirectView HDTV that handled SD well, so I don't want to take too big a step back when going to an lcd panel.



What do you guys think?



From what I gather, both have their pros and cons



I actually have the Sharp right now, and i love it but I have 30 days to return it if i dont want it, and I'm getting that nagging feeling in my mind that I should have gotten the Panny.


I like the "thought" of having a 1080p tv, but would it even make any difference at that size (37") and at that viewing distance?


I like the thought of using it as a pc monitor for some things, but I'm not sure if that would be much of a deal-breaker for me.


Thanks
 
#395 ·
Samsung 42" Plasma(HP-T4254) vs. Samsung 40" LCD (LN-T4053H)



Here is my eternal dilemma as of late! Can someone plleeeasssee help me here. The plasma is a little cheaper, 2" larger, but worst sound and less resolution.


I have the LCD in my house, which is 40" but can't figure out if I should go back and exchange it. I am dying here, help! lol
 
#397 ·
As a prospective hd tv buyer, a thread about image retention in a plasma set caught my attention: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=891384


The threads author played Madden NFL 08 for 3 hours and now has image retention. I play Madden a lot too, it's my favorite game and I can easily play 3 hours.


An article on C|Net has a whole section dedicated to pointing out how rare image retention is, but this guy got it from playing one game of Madden on his year old plasma....


Is image retention on plasma's really that easy to get?!
 
#398 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman209 /forum/post/0


As a prospective hd tv buyer, a thread about image retention in a plasma set caught my attention: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=891384


The threads author played Madden NFL 08 for 3 hours and now has image retention. I play Madden a lot too, it's my favorite game and I can easily play 3 hours.


An article on C|Net has a whole section dedicated to pointing out how rare image retention is, but this guy got it from playing one game of Madden on his year old plasma....


Is image retention on plasma's really that easy to get?!


The guy freaked out, and made a post.


Here are some facts about image retention.


If your playing a video game for a few hours, of course you will have some image retention, but its no big deal.


Now, if after your playing you just shut off the TV and go to bed, the next day when you turn it on, you will have the same image retention because turning off the TV does not get rid of it.


All you have to do is play something on TV or a movie that fills up the entire screen for a few hours and the image retention will go away.


That guy freaked out because he shut down his TV right after he got done playing Madden, and he didn't expect image retention to come back after he turned it back on, he just didn't know how Plasmas work.


If that guy just watches some TV that fills the entire screen, his Panny would be fine after a few hours.
 
#399 ·
I feel ya! I look at the pic my 26" Sammy crt 1080i produces and think why do I want a new set? Well I know why. It's a 150 lbs and takes a whole lot of room but right now the 42" 700U from Panny seems the only contender to equal this pic until led lcd comes out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PULLIAMM /forum/post/0


I am beginning to think it is a moot point for me. Part way through watching Planet Earth on my 34" HD tube last night, I found myself thinking "I am not giving this picture up for anything".
 
#401 ·
42PX75U or the 1080P 700U


You can't go wrong with either.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nmkorn /forum/post/0


As I am a compulsive researcher, I need some outside help in making my decision. I am a college student looking to spend around $1000 to $1300 on a HDTV. I am between the 42HL67 and the 42PX75U. My family has a very nice 50'' Pioneer Elite, B&W speeks, sunfire subs etc. and I am not expecting to get close to that at all in terms of PQ, SQ, or anything. However, I am an audio and videophile, and I do not know which screen to chose.


-On the one hand, I worry about this LCD's issues with dead pixels, green push, ghosting, and backlight bleed. I have heard varying accounts of this screen, and it seems like a 50/50 success rate getting a non-problematic tv.

- On the other, I worry about the plasma's burn in and break in time. As I am a college student, I worry about being intoxicated and accidentially leaving the plasma on a DVD menu. Or worse yet, my roomate doing so. (Is the panasonic screen saver reliable?).


Which of these screens would you reccommend for my situation?
 
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