Currently have LCD, thinking of plasma

gers1978

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I currently have a 32" Toshiba LCD, but I want to get a TV that does 1080p. The only way I think I can afford it is to get a plasma instead of an LCD.

Is there any disadvantage in having a plasma over an LCD? I will be connecting a Sky HD box and an Xbox 360.

Is there any particular screen size I'd need to get the benefit of 1080p?

Cheers
 
If you want a 1080p you'll be looking at a lot more money compared to 720 set.

Pansonics 1080 versions are the PZ70 and PZ700.

Most people say you need 50 inch to benefit 1080p.

But it depends on how big your room is........ no use having a huge tv if your room is tiny, 42 inch plasmas are most popular as they can fit inan average size room.

Only disadvantage i know of plasmas is that the tree huggers hate them as they reckon plasmas eat more power than LCDs, but people like Panasonic say the oppsite so its horses for courses.
 
Its actually cheaper to get an LCD @1080p than it is a plasma. At least it was when i looked.

Nowadays there isn't a lot of difference between LCD or plasma but its generally accepted that if you are going for big screen sizes then plasma is the way to go. I still think plasmas have the slight edge at the moment but its all personal taste really.

For example you have ghosting on LCD screens but on plasma you get image retention so its swings and roundabouts really.

But for me image retention is much more bearable on a plasma because it only happens when you normally leave something on screen for a long time (sky paused for example) therefore only happens when you do something to make it happen.

Ghosting on LCD screens just happens which you have no control over and i dont like that idea.

Screen size i would say anything over 50" would be a benefit of 1080p. With a 50" you would just start to notice the benefit and if you had a 63" for example then the difference would be big.
I am happy with 1080i on my 1336x768 set really and although 1080p would be nice, i just couldn't afford it at the time.

I hope this helped somewhat. :smashin:
 
My living room is average size, and I sit not more than about 6-8 feet away from the screen. I'm guessing then that a 32 or 37" @ 720p will be fine?
 
Have a look at this, it should help. I sit 13 feet away and i have a 1080p 60inch on its way.

distance_chart.png
 
The solid coloured lines just represents the different standards, so if you were to make a screening room to THX specification and you had a 100inch screen the furthest seat in the room would need to be 16feet away from the screen.

You should be looking at the dotted lines and the different screen size/distance for each resolution.
 
Yes, but is the viewing distance the "optimal" distance, "minimum", or "maximum"?
 
Pity shops etc dont have this as people with 50 inch + screens who have tiny rooms need to get a bigger room to view these huge tvs.

From that chart even a 42inch is almost to big for our sitting room.
 
From that chart even a 42inch is almost to big for our sitting room.

Yes, but it's largely nonsense. Well, no, it's not nonsense, but these charts are often based on detail about what the human eye can resolve/is susceptible too at different distances. It completely glosses over the differences in performance between different sets and, perhaps more crucially, personal preference.

In the past I've been quite happy with a 50" rear projection TV at around 9.5ft-10ft showing normal SD fare. Can you see artifacts at this range? Sure, you can see some, although this varies depending on input (DVD + high-bitrate Freeview channels good, lower bitrate channels worse). Does it interfere or detract from the viewing experience? No, not for me, personally. If I were to base my own screen selection on SD and the graph above, I'd be looking at a 32" - and that really would be the wrong choice for me.
 
Pity shops etc dont have this as people with 50 inch + screens who have tiny rooms need to get a bigger room to view these huge tvs.

From that chart even a 42inch is almost to big for our sitting room.

Well you are looking at about 7.5 feet away from your screen if it is a 42 inch, assuming you are viewing 720p (as there is little point in 1080p with that screen size)

It is just an indication though, i mean for my room at 13 feet i need a 90 inch screen for the full benefit of 1080p and i cant put a projector in my room because of all the day time viewing i do. So i "make do" with a 60 inch (well i will do soon)
 
Yes, but it's largely nonsense. Well, no, it's not nonsense, but these charts are often based on detail about what the human eye can resolve/is susceptible too at different distances. It completely glosses over the differences in performance between different sets and, perhaps more crucially, personal preference.

In the past I've been quite happy with a 50" rear projection TV at around 9.5ft-10ft showing normal SD fare. Can you see artifacts at this range? Sure, you can see some, although this varies depending on input (DVD + high-bitrate Freeview channels good, lower bitrate channels worse). Does it interfere or detract from the viewing experience? No, not for me, personally. If I were to base my own screen selection on SD and the graph above, I'd be looking at a 32" - and that really would be the wrong choice for me.

That graph just says you will see the full benefits of 480p on a 32 inch at that distance, and as you say, you want a bigger screen, but as a result you can see some artifacts as a pay off. (I dont blame you either) Use it as an indication rather than a rule :)
 
That graph just says you will see the full benefits of 480p on a 32 inch at that distance, and as you say, you want a bigger screen, but as a result you can see some artifacts as a pay off. (I dont blame you either) Use it as an indication rather than a rule :)

...but as an indication of what? There are few things as subjective as folk's experience of TVs, and opinions vary greatly here. At a guess, from the years of trawling these forums, I'd say that the average viewing distance is around 8-9ft - you'll find folk that swear blind that going above 42" at this distance is madness, particularly with SD, and then you'll find people happily sitting 8ft from a 50" and watching ITV3. I guess what I'm saying is, the graph may indicate something about viewing distance vs. resolution, but I don't believe you can conclude anything from it with regard to purchasing a TV - you need to see something, in the flesh, at the distance you intend to view at. I'd personally never rule-out a screen from what I was going to consider from the basis of such graphs...
 
...but as an indication of what? There are few things as subjective as folk's experience of TVs, and opinions vary greatly here. At a guess, from the years of trawling these forums, I'd say that the average viewing distance is around 8-9ft - you'll find folk that swear blind that going above 42" at this distance is madness, particularly with SD, and then you'll find people happily sitting 8ft from a 50" and watching ITV3. I guess what I'm saying is, the graph may indicate something about viewing distance vs. resolution, but I don't believe you can conclude anything from it with regard to purchasing a TV - you need to see something, in the flesh, at the distance you intend to view at. I'd personally never rule-out a screen from what I was going to consider from the basis of such graphs...

It is an indication of at what distance you are likely to start seeing image degradation based on screen size and resolution. It is not rocket science and no one in their right mind should buy a tv based on any graph, that would be stupid. Everyone has different tolerance levels and different eyesight so of course it is going to be different. But at 20:20 vision these are the rough screen sizes you are likely to see image degradation based on distance. It is not a Tv buyers guide.
 
It is an indication of at what distance you are likely to start seeing image degradation based on screen size and resolution. It is not rocket science and no one in their right mind should buy a tv based on any graph, that would be stupid. Everyone has different tolerance levels and different eyesight so of course it is going to be different. But at 20:20 vision these are the rough screen sizes you are likely to see image degradation based on distance. It is not a Tv buyers guide.

I don't think we're in disagreement - if you look back my response was, in turn, a response to this:

jetinder said:
Pity shops etc dont have this as people with 50 inch + screens who have tiny rooms need to get a bigger room to view these huge tvs.

From that chart even a 42inch is almost to big for our sitting room.
 
No, we are not at all, just wanted to clear it up for people skim reading ;)
 

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