Hi guys, I'm thinking of getting a HDTV later this year. Was saving up for an LCD TV but now folks are telling me to get plasma TV instead. What do you think? Here's what I gathered so far : Why Plasma TV? ---------------- - True black colour, with better dynamic range. - Lower power consumption. - Lower cost. - New generation has higher half-life of 60,000 hours, which works out to about 9 years @ 18 hours a day. - Looks better at SD resolution. - No issue of hot/dead pixels. Why LCD TV? ------------- - Supports higher resolution (1920x1080). So far none of the plasma TVs (except one?) can do that. - No performance degradation, except when it croaks! - LCD TVs have a lifespan of at least 60,000 hours, with potentially longer lifespan? - Thinner profile? So what do you think?
Huh? Plasma TV should have 1080p just like LCD. There's basically not much difference between them visually.
Make sure the lifespan is true life span (aka 10 years to half life - not 10 years till its junkyard time). LCDs actually have lower power consumption (usually around half - so it runs cooler too). Also another thing to consider, is that plasmas degrade as you use it.
My friend bought a 15k plasma, panasonic 50", and he told me, the highest reso he could go on his 9600GT is something like 17XX x 1080, is it true what he said? Since there is a pixel to pixel mapping for LCD TV, fonts would look absolutely clear, what about Plasma? Also, I remembered setting a 720p reso on a super old plasma, there's some overscan and I had to use Nvidia utility to correct the overscan.
I beg to differ. LCD power consumption is fixed, as the backlight is always on, whereas Plasma power consumption depends on what are you seeing. If you plan to use it for HTPC, as in surfing the web while sitting on the couch, I would suggest going for LCD TV. Some people claimed that Plasma can show fonts just as good as LCD TV, but it failed to convince me, I have yet to see how a font would look on Plasma. But I know they look well on LCD TV If your purpose is solely to watch movie, go for Plasma, Panasonic PY series, for superb quality. Of if you are one of those who rather go for size rather than quality, then go for LCD as they are cheaper. But at sizes above 50 inch, the price are almost the same. You did not tell us what we want to know, what's your budget? And how big is your living room? Can you 'enjoy' the full benefit of Full HD? Many people can't even differentiate a DVD9 from 720p HD when they get the wrong size for their living room. My uncle's HTPC which I built for him, 1366 x 768 Well, why not consider a HTPC? Imagine, sitting down at the couch, and surfing the web, writing your reviews, etc You might want to get a TV Tuner such as Hauppage Win PVR MCE 150 and have a Live TV on Astro (forget Astro Max) This is the keyboard which I got for my uncle at RM250 For RM450, you could get Microsoft Wireless Entertainment 7000, which is just awesome, a touchpad on the keyboard, with a very high end bluetooth wireless laser mouse Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 Kar Hoe's Blog - HTPC Project (UPDATE) The parts for your HTPC will just come in as you would have alot of samples from various companies As for casing, if you are on budget, go for something like Aopen G326, else Silverstone or CM Media Once you have those ready, let us know, I will gatecrash your house
Umm yeah, LCD is just back lighting. Plasmas need to power up every single pixel (including the black ones). But don't take my word for it. HDTV power consumption compared - TV power consumption - CNET Reviews
My friend still insisted that plasma has better quality picture than lcd tv anytime. I don't know really, I'll get a 32" or a 40" LCD tv since it's cheaper. He has a 50" or something plasma tv, damn rich guy. Bought a MKV player too.
I'd say go for the PLASMA if you're not planning on using too much computing stuff like browsing and such.. If possible, try and get a media-based player like the Popcorn Hour, or the recent fad - HDX-1000. I used to be like you, researching over Plasma and LCD TVs, and up until a convention at Panasonic, they showcased a movie and normal TV using both of their high end LCDs and Plasma side by side, and slowly, I came to realise that Plasma are better. Why Plasma? 1. Protective plastic in front, so in case your kids throw their Superman toy at it, no chance of breaking. OR if you were arguing with your home minister, and out of rage she throws the remote control at the TV set, well.. it's safe. 2. Better contrast, and power consumption is based on brightness or colours displayed, LCD maintains a fairly constant power consumption while Plasma's power consumption is lower if more blacks are present and vice versa. 3. Plasma's DONT get hotter than LCD TVs, from my observation (need someone to chip in?) 4. Better viewing angle compared to LCD TVs? (Not unless you are getting high grade panels such as the IPS type.. this generally does not make a difference past the 32" barrier as most manufacturers use high quality panels by then) Cheers! Pssst.. I own the 8th generation Plasma 42" by Panny.
You guys should split the fake BD thread elsewhere. LOL!!! But since we are talking about it, I'm not sure I would invest in a BD player just yet. They are still expensive, and so are the discs. However, I did spot some "fake" BD discs and out of curiosity, I asked them about it. They say there are two types - DVDs ripped from BD, and genuine BD duplicates. Okay, back to topic!
Eh, how did Plasma vs. LCD get switched to HTPC?? At this moment, I think my plan is really to get a suitable TV for mostly SD broadcasts on Astro and DVDs. So, I will probably get a 1366x768 LCD or Plasma TV with a 100 MHz refresh rate. Unless they are throwing in a free BD player.. Hehe.. Oh that reminds me. A shop I visited informed me that the Sharp Aquos 46" A85 (Full HD, 100 MHz) LCD TV is going for about RM 7200 (US$ 2500) with a free BD player thrown in. Sweet deal but it's quite beyond my budget...
How's the resolution on the plasma? Does your plasma TV support full HD (1080p)? When you compared the plasma TV against the LCD TV, does SD video look better on the plasma.. or the LCD? Thanks!
Video definitely looks better on Plasma, it's a known fact, undeniable. The only dilemma is usually a person having a budget, which he could get either a full hd LCD or hd ready plasma So what's your budget yo?
LCD has IPS panels though...hmm, so i think it get my vote..since i'm making a HTPC soon and may require a LCD
every forums i went sure have this topic asking over & over again~ i hv to agree with karhoe, user hv to ask him/herself on his/ her main usage for the flat panel, if its for viewing movies, tv, dvd or BD then go for plasma, if its for multimedia usages with console gaming, pc, surfing & movies then i would choose lcd~
From my experience, LCD is no slouch in BD playback too. Like some of my guests said today, it's too real that it looks fake!
LOL!! Budget.. as low as possible. But looking at the prices right now, I guess the only realistic number is around RM 5000-6000 (USD 1400-1700).
