I've been doing a lot of research into a new HDTV and have semi-narrowed it down to either the 52" Sharp Aquos 52D62U LCD or the 50" Pioneer PDP-5070HD Plasma. I'm looking for a quality set that I'll be happy with for quite a while. Opinions on which you'd lean toward?
52" Sharp Aquos 52D62U LCD vs. 50" Pioneer PDP-5070HD Plasma
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I have the aquos, and its really amazing...of course you cant come here without reading about the banding issue...my set doesnt appear to have any but alot of them do, in some cases its very minor and unnoticable just watching movies or tv. In alot of cases the only way you can see it is to create a completely black or grey screen...which your tv shows are not gonna have this so i'm not really sure why it matters. I can tell you I chose the sharp over the plasma because plasma's tend to be more maintenance and they just didnt look as good as the LCD.
I was in the same position and although there was a lot of comments on banding, I chose the Sharp over the Pioneer. From what I can see, the set I have does not have a banding issue. I had a 50" plasma previously that literally blew up and I was always paranoid about burn-in so the LCD made sense to me. And, I have to say that the blacks that the Sharp produces are equal to if not better than the Plasma I had. The factory settings of course are way off, but once those are tweaked the picture is phenomenal. Like any HDTV, the content is what matters most. So far, I am very pleased and can't wait until the Blueray vs. HD-DVD gets settled so I can purchase a player. Good luck with your decision!
Whether you purchase and LCD or Plasma is mostly application dependent. Are you in a bright room with bad light reflections? How bad does your CRT look in that room? Is your viewing positon 6-7' or less, if not, 1080p does not matter (the Pioneer accepts 1080p/24 input).
Honestly, the plasma has a much more natural picture. Your eyes may tell you different and that is what is key. For me, the LCD is very artificial looking, but I am purchasing one (Mitsubishi LT-46131) for a location that would better be served by LCD even though the Pioneer 5070 blows away every LCD picture I have ever seen and I will be purchasing the 5070 or 6070 for my family room, where i can control light reflections and my viewing will be more critical.
The key I would focus on is the ability to accept a 1080p input as opposed to a 1080p output, unless you are sitting very close.
Plasma burn-in appears to be much over-hyped. As long as you are responsible and turn down the brightness and contrast settings, this really should not be an issue. I have been looking at Plasmas for 6 months trying to decide what to buy and I have yet to see one with burn-in. Does your CRT have burn-in? If not, then I would not worry about it too much. Be responsible, set it up correctly and enjoy.
Both LCD and Plasma have their place and if applied correctly will provide the user with the best picture possible. There is NO single solution for every application.
Hope this helps.
Honestly, the plasma has a much more natural picture. Your eyes may tell you different and that is what is key. For me, the LCD is very artificial looking, but I am purchasing one (Mitsubishi LT-46131) for a location that would better be served by LCD even though the Pioneer 5070 blows away every LCD picture I have ever seen and I will be purchasing the 5070 or 6070 for my family room, where i can control light reflections and my viewing will be more critical.
The key I would focus on is the ability to accept a 1080p input as opposed to a 1080p output, unless you are sitting very close.
Plasma burn-in appears to be much over-hyped. As long as you are responsible and turn down the brightness and contrast settings, this really should not be an issue. I have been looking at Plasmas for 6 months trying to decide what to buy and I have yet to see one with burn-in. Does your CRT have burn-in? If not, then I would not worry about it too much. Be responsible, set it up correctly and enjoy.
Both LCD and Plasma have their place and if applied correctly will provide the user with the best picture possible. There is NO single solution for every application.
Hope this helps.
Well, I decided to go with the Pioneer PDP-5070HD. Paid $2640 (with free in-home delivery) on Amazon. I just keep reading too many good things about it. And to respond to some of your items for consideration HTSteve:
Light Reflections: Not much of an issue. No windows facing the set. It is a half-basement level family room. I'm not worried about glare.
Viewing Distance: To the couch is about 10.5 feet so, even though 1080p output would be nice, it's not absolutely necessary in this case.
Also, I was very tempted to go with the Panasonic TH-50PX60U (on sale for $1999 at Best Buy and Circuit City this week). It is also pretty well-reviewed. But the lack of a VGA input, lack of CableCard (actually not a huge deal to me), the sheer ugliness of the Panasonic compared to the Pioneer, as well as the general consensus on the quality of the Pioneer's picture swayed me in its favor. Factoring in no tax on Amazon, the Pioneer only came out to about $500 more.
I'll post an update with impressions once it arrives.
Light Reflections: Not much of an issue. No windows facing the set. It is a half-basement level family room. I'm not worried about glare.
Viewing Distance: To the couch is about 10.5 feet so, even though 1080p output would be nice, it's not absolutely necessary in this case.
Also, I was very tempted to go with the Panasonic TH-50PX60U (on sale for $1999 at Best Buy and Circuit City this week). It is also pretty well-reviewed. But the lack of a VGA input, lack of CableCard (actually not a huge deal to me), the sheer ugliness of the Panasonic compared to the Pioneer, as well as the general consensus on the quality of the Pioneer's picture swayed me in its favor. Factoring in no tax on Amazon, the Pioneer only came out to about $500 more.
I'll post an update with impressions once it arrives.
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