LCD or Plasma? Plasma or LCD? and why those Black Bars? Discuss it here only Please - Page 12

Wow, what a once-sided article. Hope not too many people read it.

Hi, sorry in advance if this was covered, but I didnt have time to read 12 pages of posts to see if it has been covered, and I have a limited amount of time.

I stopped reading around page 4 and all I seen going back and forth was Plasma burn-in this, and LCD black level that.

I have had two HD TV's home. First was an LG 42'' Plasma which I loved SOOOOOOOO very much, BUT!!!, when I played my Nintendo Wii on it, it had very anoying lag between when I pressed a button and when the TV showed the responce. It was only a fraction of a second, maybe a half at most, but it was enough for me to say Its going back.

Someone I knew who has an LG 42" LCD said they had no issue with game Lag So I exchanged my plasma for an LCD. Well that too has game lag. The same amount of game lag actually.

Now that I have this LCD home, I am very dissipointed with the picture quality. It does look great, yes, but not as good as the plasma. Dim areas of a show have real bad artifacting when trying to create shadows. I cant remember because I didnt have the plasma very long, but I dont recall the plasma doing this. I do remember the feeling of wow while looking at the plasma and the feeling of blah when viewing the LCD.

Anyways. My LCD will be going back to the store now too because its got a problem with wanting to turn itself on at night. Have taken the batteries out of the remote and still turns on. Ill wake up in the middle of the night with the TV turned on, try to turn it off, and it turns on again in a few minutes.

So that being said, I want to go back to a plasma because I loved it so much, and I dont care about Burn-in (wont be an issue with me, I dont play many games and dont have kids), so anyone know of a good brand that doesnt not have Game lag?

LG is right out, and I dont know if Sharp makes a Plasma and I want to stick with 42" and max $2000 ish range.

The 2006 Panasonic plasmas (60U/600U) have the best reputation for minimal game lag. Gotta run, but search for posts by me for more details.

Jesus, games burn in as easily as a tv image. Watch sportscenter. YOu got one still images on the right side and a moving scroll. Let me quess you think polygons make the game burn in. I play games on my 5 day old plasma, and oh my god, I have no burn in. Did you ever burn in a Crt? If you did not how are you going to burn in a plasma?

Funny you should mention Sports Center. My Panny plasma does not like that new bar they place on the right side of the screen. It retains the image for hours.

Thanks for the response, I decided on the panny 42inch and it looks so much better than the LG did...it seems a bit darker though even with the picture setting all the way up. The lag issue is not even there on the panny also, thanks for the recommendation

I'm having a hard time choosing plasma or lcd...headache...

What I have in my mind are Samsung's HP-T5054 plasma ($1750 and it has anti burn-in tech) and Sharp's LC46D62U LCD ($1950). They both looked nice but I'm kinna more toward Samsung's because of more bigger size, pc input, more settings and cheaper. 1080p isn't important to me since I don't have HD and don't plan on getting HD anytime soon.

If watching SD, PS2 gaming, and PC gaming (sometime), which one is better plasma or lcd? I'm not a big gamer but the new tv will be using for watching SD a few hours a day. Glare is not a problem.

I don't know if burn-in still an issue with plasma nowaday and I heard that lcd get image persistence (like burn-in but generally temporary I think). The Samsung's has anit burn-in, would it help at all?

Thanks,

Quick Plasma question for anyone, since I am getting close to buying a new TV for my bedroom.

Does the fading over time issue bother anyone? I mean is a Plasma TV constantly dimming...however minimally?

I'm pretty sure LCDs dim, too.

Don't worry about your Flat Panel.

Whether its LCD or Plasma, you won't notice any dimming for years and years.

And after years and years you'll want to buy a new TV anyway.

I have looked at dlp lcd and plasma....I are confused LOL

plasma, a lot of people say they get hot...true ?
The unit will be on a LOT in a fairly bright room....lcd or plasma for this environment.
Lots of people saying olevia and visio while others are only going with mainstream units from mits and sony.....comments on these lower units are appreciated.
I am worried about the lower units when/if it has to be worked on.

the biggest problem I am worried about is the picture. A LOT of what I watch is std directv and older DVD movies in 4:3 format.
What can I expect?


thanks for any info on these things I have come close twice on buying a DLP 50 in samsung, then I saw the best pic LCD I had ever seen right next to it and no way,
I need to look at LCD.

of course you give up some size the lcd was a 42 and cost more...I would like to go at least 45 so that the pic height is the same as my little 32in I have now.

First off, any one you choose, DLP, LCD, or Plasma, they would all be a good choice.

If you have a bright room, you stay away from the Plasma probably, and go with a LCD.

Vizio is great.

Vizio makes a 47" 1080P LCD TV for under 1,700 bucks, it is a great TV, and a great deal.

is plasma still prone to burn in badly?

Any new Plasma does not have any burn in.

They have image retention sure.

Example, you leave the Menu Screen on for 5 minutes, then you hit play, when the screen goes black you can still see the outline of the menu screen. BUT IT GOES AWAY IN JUST A MINUTE WITH NORMAL VIEWING.

As for actual image Burn In, NO.

Almost all manufactuer's now torture test there Plasmas with static images for 48+ Hours.

And guess what, after a few minutes of normal viewing, the image retention still goes away!!!!!!!!!!

This is not 2002 people, its 2007, 5 years of refinement has made Plasmas Burn In Proof.

Friend is trying to help me and made it worse

ok he said the reason he purchased a Samsung was that even though it cost $700 more than the unit I was looking at (ok his is bigger LOL) he got it because unlike the visio each input retained its resolution and settings...with cheaper tv's the unit is set to 1080p or whatever you set it at and all the inputs are at that resolution until you set the unit to whatever you want.
So what he is saying is the tv is set to a resolution and all inputs are that resolution on cheaper models and the high ends allow independent settings on each input???

True?

I'm still trying to decide between LCoS, LCD and Plasma.

I'm looking for 50-60" and the TV will be going in a room that has lots of light. I do most of my TV watching at night, but I usually have the lights on anyway. Sports viewing is the most important factor for me. I also play xbox 360. I don't watch tons of movies.

I was looking around Best Buy and here were my thoughts:

Plasma: I liked the picture the best but I'm worried about the glare factor. I don't really have a glare problem with my CRT though. Does that mean it won't be a problem with the plasma?

LCD: I thought the Sony XBR2 was as good as the least the mid-level plasmas and close to the better ones. If I go LCD I'll probably get that one and that was the way I was leaning after Best Buy. I previously was concerned with response/refresh time, a different time I went to Best Buy all the LCDs looked horrible on fast-moving scenes with tons of macro-blocking, but this time it didn't look any worse than the projections which I understand . I heard XBR4 and 5 will be coming out in August. Do you know if they are supposed to be much better?

LCoS: The Sony A2020 looked like crap in the store. On the RPTV thread they said RPs just require more calibration than flat panels so they look worse in the store but not in real life. Is that true? The newer top-of-the-line Sony RP looked very good. The RPs generally looked grainy to me. i don't know if it was the texture of the screen or video noise.

I'm not really an expert so any advice you can give would be a big help. Thanks.

If you're leaning towards plasma but are concerned about reflection, there's one possible solution for you, provided you plan on wall mounting. If yes, then you might be able to reduce any severe reflection issues by employing a downwards tilt mount, which could eliminate most/all reflection coming from windows and lamps, as the plasma would be slightly angled down towards the floor.

If you have a decent size mirror handy, you can do an experiment of placing it on the wall where the plasma would go, and ideally with one or two people to help, you can then observe any reflection resulting from the downward tilt of the mirror. As one or two people are holding the angled mirror in place, you can place yourself in your various seating positions and observe what you see. If no windows or lights are visible, then there should be little problem with reflection.

Of course, there could still be some non-light generating reflection, like furniture, rugs, your ugly mug , etc, but it will be limited to only very dark scenes on screen. You have to decide how much even that limited amount of reflection still bugs you. Some don't mind it, others might still find it very irritating. different reflectivity strokes for diff.. well, you know.

if it's not bothersome with your crt, then I don't see how it could be with plasma. If anything, the reflective-minimizing coatings of modern plasmas help improve the glare problem over what crts of old could do. Not a dramatic difference, mind you, but a little better than crt. One particular new Panasonic plasma model (I mix up model #'s, so I can't give that to you) is the best for minimizing reflection, plus, the latest 8th genearation of Pioneer is said to be better than most plasmas due to their advanced new screen filter. Those are just starting to come out.

If a long term perspective helps, my Pioneer 503MXE is just over 5 years old now.

It has had the orbital mode running since new in an effort to reduce burn-in and for nearly 4 years it has been fine.

Over the last year or so though the effects of the channel ID logo from one or two of the kids channels has become more noticeable, the main culprit has been 'Trouble'

The problem is only really noticeable when the screen has got hot and it displays as a green fuzzy patch where the logo would be. The orbital mode has ensured it is not a sharp area of colour but it is disturbing all the same.

It is more like an area of the screen that is over sensitive and so is most noticeable when there is any channel ID there as the green mist will be stimulated.

Movies of course do not usually show any problems unless the top right of the screen has a lof of activity which isn't often.

Games have been played extensively over its life with no ill effects at all so personally I'd not worry about games in the slightest, it is the channel ID that I'd worry about and most of those are not much of an issue either, just that one from 'Trouble' really.

I do all of my watching in a fully darkened room, at a distance of 5'. I am thinking of moving up to a 42". Do the viewing distance and lack of ambient light effect my choice of LCD or plasma? Also, most of what I watch is standard DVD (not HD or Blu Ray), is this a factor?

Of course they are all factors.

First of all, you want to watch a 42" screen from only 5 feet away? Gees, its not just you, it seems everyone wants to sit too close to the screen.

Well I'll tell ya, the darkened room and Standard DVD screams, "Buy the Plasma"

But the viewing distance of just a few feet for a 42" Screen suggests you should get an LCD.

If you sit too close to a plasma you can get a screen door effect.

But the blacks on an LCD are not going to look good in a darkened room.

Everything is a trade off ya know.

Of course if you just back up a couple of feet more, the Plasma would be the no brainer.

If I were to back up a mere 14" , a 42" tv would subjectively appear to be exactly the same size as the 34" I am watching now. In effect, I would have wasted my money since I would have gained nothing.

Huh? You are being comical correct?

I like the people who claim that they don't go to the movie theatres anymore because when they sit half way up, the screen would subjectively appear to be smaller than the 60" DLP that they have at home and sit 9 feet away from.

Look, viewing distances are important.

And it seems that 8 feet is the preferred viewing distance for a 42".

So if you have to sit a mere 5 feet away from your screen due to the size of the room, you should look at the 37" TV's.

If that is the case, then I might as well save my money and keep the 34" that I have. Sitting farther back is really not an option (the room itself is only 10' square, and the back wall is taken up by shelves with an aisle for access.), and 37" is not enough bigger to justify the expenditure (especially since I have to figure taking a loss on my current TV into the cost.) The most I could do is move the screen back by the difference in thicknesses between it and a tube.
Oh, and do the calculation. In a darkened room, a 42" viewed from 74" forms the same size image on the retina as a 34" viewed from 60" (I am very good at geometry, so these figures are exact.)

I am torn between Sony KDL 46XBR2 LCD and Plasma- maybe Panasonic TH-50PH9UK. (46 or 50 inch range). My viewing is 50% sports, 40% TV, and 10% 480p movies. My concern is response time with sports with LCD....is this an issue with Sony XBR2 or XBR3?

I went to 3 different stores this weekend and looked at flat panel displays. Many of them (maybe even all, but just more obvious on some?) shared an image issue: The best way to describe it is that the images looked like they were done from a "paint by numbers" kit, rather than being continuously shaded. Is this universal? If so, I guess it provides one more reason to keep my 34" tube.
How long will it be before we can get something with the size and convenience of plasma or LCD, but with the picture quality of a good tube?

It sounds like you're talking about false contouring. A few sets, notably Samsungs, do have a problem with this, though not as badly as what it sounds like you saw.

False contouring is also the result of digital compression, like from a DVD. The effect is particularly pronounced on standard definition digital cable, especially in the higher channels (The Daily Show on Comedy Central usually looks horrible). I'm guessing this is what you saw. Perhaps most of those TVs were showing standard-def digital cable.

That answers one question, but raises another: Since the stores presumably want to sell the TVs, why would they not make an effort to send them a high-quality signal? If I were a manager, I would not risk losing sales because of material that did not show the product at its best!

You would think so wouldn't you? They don't bother to calibrate any of them and they don't know how to calibrate in the first place so they just make the problem worse when they do. Have you ever seen a projector display in store? It is quite obvious they don't want to sell any projectors either, but that is a different reason entirely.