Newbie with LOTS of questions

docpm

A newbie.. researching my first purchase of High Def flat panel.. LCD vrs Plasma.. I'm sure that none of you have ever heard of such a unique question before.. but here goes.. I have conflicting usages.. most of the time, view in darker areas.. (night time), watch DVD movies and TENNIS (a lot).. so.. color saturation vrs brightness, response time, viewing angle vrs glare, BUT.. also got kids that will use it for their XBOX.. so burn in vrs dead pixels, .. looking for it in a 52 inch.. I've heard that LCD has improved color saturation and viewing angle.. don't know about response time to tennis balls. and Plasma has improved glare problem.. ??

Been looking at Sony Bravia vrs Panasonic in plasma. Other questions are the claim by sony that their XBR 'upcodes" the 480 and 720 pixels into 1080.. and finally.. what do you think of the Internet Video Link allowing streaming of internet video such as tv shows.. an $800 add on for Sony LCD's.

Thanks in advance folks!

DexterMorgan

i know that the technology constantly changes, and people will probably disagree, but when I did research on my HDTV, I gathered the following:

I think the different types of TV's have an optimum size range as far as performance goes:
57" and smaller - LCD TV
40" - 65" - Plasma TV
60" and higher - DLP TV

On the areas of overlap, you can basically go with either one. Since you're interested in a 52", I think it's obvious you won't do 720p, but rather 1080p.

Yes, plasmas have a glossy screen compared to the matt surface of an LCD. If you have it in a room with a lot of lights or windows infront of the TV, then plasma might not be the way to go. Best to look at their screens. Ones with nice anti-reflectivity make a difference.

It's hard to give the right answer, because as I'm sure you know - there are pros and cons to both. Personally I got an LCD TV. I got it because I was planning on playing a lot of games on the Xbox w/ my roommates. Now that I've moved out, I rarely play anything on it and just watch blu-rays or TV. Part of me wonders how different it would be with a plasma, but my living room is like a holy cathedral in the afternoon with tons of sunbeams going into the room. I spent an hour at the store looking and comparing, but I think most people who end up buying a TV are very satisfied with the purchase becase all of them look great in your house, and you don't have other models next to it showing comparisons.

In your case I would probably go with a plasma. I think you'll find a better picture quality with the plasmas of that size, and in a low light setting with sports or movies, it's a good choice. Even though there might be games played on it, most of the current models don't have an issue with "burn-in". Even if that is the case, it should go away with 10 minutes of movie video playing. In most cases plasma will offer a better sport experience, movie experience, and have a better viewing angle. That is one thing I don't like about my LCD. Whomever sits in the side couch has the color tainted a little bit.

docpm

Dexter,

thanks for your response.. I've been cautioned that plasma screens that have anti-glare, trade-off with less clarity. I have heard that burn in is less of a problem. Hope that is true.. would hate to have permanent damage with a lot of game playing.

From everything I read so far.. people are generally recommending Plasma due to my sports, movies, viewing mostly at night, richness of color, etc... HOWEVER.. when I say Plasma vrs LCD at Best Buy and Costco.. the sony's not only were brighter, but seemed JUST as rich in color. Is that merely an artifact of the store light conditons? or have, like my son said, the LCD's have improved tremendously and is the future way to go (until new tech comes out).

Whaddya think..

Docpm

Loves2Watch

Being an owner of both (as well as a few other technologies) I can say that although the picture on my LCD's looks great, they cannot come close to the quality of picture of my plasmas. Also LCD's still suffer from motion blur and have lag/response time issues with games and fast moving objects. Plasma TV's do not have those issues.

With all other things being equal, comparing an LCD against a plasma of equal size, in the home environment, there is a dramatic difference and anyone who has done any similar comparisons will/does agree.

Did that help?

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Lee Stewart

When considering LCD (as a sports watcher) you should educate yourself about Response Time:

http://www.practical-home-theater-gu...onse-time.html

Not an issue with Plasma

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kamspy

In short....Plasma ten times out of ten.

LCDs are for Microsoft Windows, not movies and sports.

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awol

And Macs.

To the OP, I have a plasma. And I game a LOT on it. 2-3 hours a night on average. Panasonic does have technology to help prevent burn in from happening. The only thing I can say is I do change what's on the screen pretty often. I'm constantly calling up menus or maps so what's on the screen is changing pretty often. Nothing out of ordinary playing though.