LCD or Plasma and then which one?

[Mr Jason B]

I know there are loads of threads of a similar vein but reading them has just confused me even more so appologies for yet another....

My tv went bang last night which is a bit of a nightmare as my projector is on it's death bed as well,giving me a bluer image by the day but a new pj will have to go on the back burner for now,cos I think the TV has to have priority

I really dont know what to get so I will give you as much info as I can and hopefully we will have a clear winning candidate for me to purchase.

Budget- I dont really want to go over £1500
size - between 42"- 50 "
equipment connected-ps3,pc and v+ box and onkyo 605 amp
want it asap as I am currently tvless

Obviously pic quality is pretty important and there will be a fair amount of HD material watched along with some SD stuff through HDMI via the v+ box.

Please ,tell me which tv I should buy this week

[zubeir]

Usually I favour LCD Tvs, but recently after seeing some panasonic and Pioneer plasmas my opinion has changed. You have a good price budget, go for either the Pioneer Kuro or the panny Viera range and you really can't go wrong.Plasma's are xcellent for SD and the black levels cannot be beaten by any current LCD on the market. If your thinking of mainly watching movies/sport then its your best choice. If you consider a LCD, then have a look at the reviews of various sets on this forum.Toshiba,Panasonic,Sony have already launched new products.

[Silverfox]

If the OP is using a PS3 alot wouldn't there be a risk of burn in?

[Yemeth]

Originally Posted by Silverfox

If the OP is using a PS3 alot wouldn't there be a risk of burn in?

Also using a PC. Definite LCD. Avoid plasmas, seriously.

[juLZ007]

go for either the pio 4280xd or the panny 42pz85

cant go wrong with a high quality plasma!! lcd is nowhere near as good

screen burn is hardly a problem anymore..

[Mr Jason B]

I made an identical post in the plasma forum and predictably,most of the guys there said I should get a plasma and most of the people here lean towards LCD's and warn of the dreaded screen burn

TBH,Im leaning towards the Panasonic TH50PZ70B as it seems to offer everything I need(apart from the 24p apparently) but I would be lying if I said I wasnt concerned about screen burn.Is it still as much of a concern as it was a few years ago?

The pc use will really only be watching HD stuff and not used for browsing the web,etc so that should not really be a problem but I am concerned about the PS3-last thing I want is the GTA4 hud permanently etched on my screen

[Silverfox]

Well, I am trying to decide between the both too. I'm sure Plasma has improved over the years but has not eliminated the problem of burn in and for an expensive TV its a big risk to take. If you play the PS3 alot think of things like mini maps and health bars. They are there all the time. But at the end of the day its up to you. Plasma does offer much better response time. Thats my take on it anyway and I am no where as experienced as most of the people on the forums.

[Pontiac]

The major deciding factor in my experience between the two technologies is their biggest faults, basically which can you put up with as every TV is a compromise.

Plasmas archiless heel is phosphor trail. Although they handle motion much better than LCDs, during scenes of high contrast where a dark and light colour clashes during fast motion you may be able to notice a green frizz around said object, this is due to the technology the green being the last colour to "switch off" on a plasma so you can get an aftereffect. Now not everyone notices this. I do unfortunately and I have to live with it, at least until LCD's backlighting issues get sorted out. A good test I've read whether you'll be able to notice it is can you notice flicker on a CRT computer monitor if the refresh is set to 75hz (or lower)? If like me you can, then you eyes are likely sensitive enough to notice the green trails. As always, testing for yourself is the key.

And onto LCDs, their major fault being the backlights as I've mentioned previously. It seems pot luck if you get one without "clouds" which are patches of screen that are permamently lighter than others, or sometimes just strips around the edges are lighter than others. This is due to the light seeping through unevenly and can be very annoying. Every LCD I've ever seen has had some kind of backlight issue, I've never seen one without. Which is why I switched to plasma and encountered the green frizz, but as that's not noticeable ALL the time and to me LCD backlight problems are I'm sticking with plasma for now.

As always, try both technologies out if possible but be aware that of the two main issues I've pointed out most of all.

[Mr Jason B]

Cheers for the advice,I know what you mean about the backlight issues with LCD's -I have a Samsung 20" monitor for my pc and it is evident with that,although I dont find it too bad to spoil any gaming experiences but the effect may be worse and harder to ignore whilst watching films on a bigger screen.

My main concern is still the screen burn with the Plasma's- I dont play a huge amount of games on the PS3 at the moment but I am worried that when some of the upcoming big titles like GTA4 are released I might be clocking up a few hours on it at a time

[Pontiac]

Originally Posted by Mr Jason B

Cheers for the advice,I know what you mean about the backlight issues with LCD's -I have a Samsung 20" monitor for my pc and it is evident with that,although I dont find it too bad to spoil any gaming experiences but the effect may be worse and harder to ignore whilst watching films on a bigger screen.

My main concern is still the screen burn with the Plasma's- I dont play a huge amount of games on the PS3 at the moment but I am worried that when some of the upcoming big titles like GTA4 are released I might be clocking up a few hours on it at a time

I wouldn't be too worried about screen burn. There are a hell of a lot of gamers in the plasma forum and it seems very uncommon.

[Mr Jason B]

Originally Posted by Pontyac

I wouldn't be too worried about screen burn. There are a hell of a lot of gamers in the plasma forum and it seems very uncommon.

Right thats settles it,Im off to try and find a Panasonic TH50PZ70B
Cheers,
JB

[Pontiac]

Originally Posted by Mr Jason B

Right thats settles it,Im off to try and find a Panasonic TH50PZ70B
Cheers,
JB

Have a look in the plasma forum for the latest deals, lots of peeps are reporting some real bargains to be had as the new models are coming through.