DEBATE: Plasma or LCD?

[Chukee_R]

Plasma screens are best for more dedicated home theater arrangements. Their black levels and high contrast ratios are great for lower levels of ambient light and having no direct light sources such as sun coming in a window. Issues with burning images into the screen are possible but are less likely after a few hundred hours use.

LCD screens are a better all purpose choice for viewing in rooms where overhead lights will be on, windows open, et cetera. This is because LCD's tend to be brighter overall. Their picture quality is not as good as plasma but the gap is quickly narrowing.

Pick whichever best suits you and your watching environment.tastes.

Also, as far as HDMI cables go, here's the best test I've seen. They used signal generators and test equipment to determine that, so long as the cable is capable of getting the signal from the source to the TV, there is no difference between cables.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/121777/the_cable_game.html


My thoughts exactly. I got an HDMI cable for my LCD TV from the Apple store for $20.

[TheBlizzard]

For those that mentioned the life span of Plasma vs LCD; you are partly right but make are making one sided argument. They do both have a lifespan that is almost equal; however, you can't get your screen "recharged" with gas, but you can get your CCFL's replaced in an LCD for pretty cheap. And if one set of bulbs go out in a LCD you can still watch the TV almost without noticing; if a plasma starts to take a shit on you parts of the screen will start to turn black making the TV unwatchable.

It would be like taking 2 of the same cars but different models, one car will go 50k miles before it needs an oil change, while the other car needs a whole new engine because the oil cannot be removed or changed or removed so the car junk at that point. Maybe a bad example you see my point.

I agree that the picture on some of the higher end plasma's is better overall initially than LCD, but the burn in is way worse and like I already stated they cannot be repaired when they start to go on your. If you have a unlimited supply of money than it really wouldn't matter.

[slowbubblecar]

If you have a unlimited supply of money than it really wouldn't matter.

Ok, thats all I needed :)

[Kevin 1G Drummer]

So, what's the difference in 1080i, and 1080p? is it just the way the picture is displayed?

[mdost03]

Interlaced and Progressive. Progressive is better.

720p>1080i

http://techdigs.net/content/view/53/42/

[Spyderturbo007]

Personally, I think Plasmas are much better than LCDs in almost every aspect. The only benefit LCDs have over plasmas, are in high ambient light situations. They handle excessive room lighting better than a plasma does.

Other than that, I feel that Plasmas are superior to LCDs. The life span of both panels is pretty much the same, so that really isn't an issue. I've never seen a plasma with dead or stuck pixels, but it's common occurance with LCDs. LCD manufacturers' even have specific warranty exclusions regarding dead or stuck pixels. Typically it's acceptable to have "X" number of dead pixels depending on the screen size.

Although you might not think a dead pixel with bother you, it does. My old RPTV had what can be described as a stuck pixel, although it was a burnt pixel on the phosphor gun. It was very annoying after you noticed it was there. Nothing like seeing a pink pixel all the time in the middle of the screen.

Additionally, LCDs suffer from what's called motion blurr. This is caused by the slow response time of the liquid filled pixels. It's the amount of time it takes for the pixel to change from one color to the next. Plasmas have virtually no response because the panel is gas charged. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.3ms. LCDs on the other hand, run in the neighborhood of 4 - 12ms depending on the panel grade. It might not sound like a lot, but during scenes containing fast moving images, you can get some serious motion blurr.

Theses days plasma burn in isn't even a concern. Years ago when plasmas hit the market, it was a common problem, but not anymore. I game on my 60" all the time, for hours on end and don't even notice image retention, let alone burn in.

Plasma also have better color reproduction and produce black much better than LCD panels. They are also more vibrant than their LCD counterparts.

Personally I think it's a much better technology, but that's just my opinion.

[mdost03]

Personally, I think Plasmas are much better than LCDs in almost every aspect. The only benefit LCDs have over plasmas, are in high ambient light situations. They handle excessive room lighting better than a plasma does.

Other than that, I feel that Plasmas are superior to LCDs. The life span of both panels is pretty much the same, so that really isn't an issue. I've never seen a plasma with dead or stuck pixels, but it's common occurance with LCDs. LCD manufacturers' even have specific warranty exclusions regarding dead or stuck pixels. Typically it's acceptable to have "X" number of dead pixels depending on the screen size.

Although you might not think a dead pixel with bother you, it does. My old RPTV had what can be described as a stuck pixel, although it was a burnt pixel on the phosphor gun. It was very annoying after you noticed it was there. Nothing like seeing a pink pixel all the time in the middle of the screen.

Additionally, LCDs suffer from what's called motion blurr. This is caused by the slow response time of the liquid filled pixels. It's the amount of time it takes for the pixel to change from one color to the next. Plasmas have virtually no response because the panel is gas charged. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.3ms. LCDs on the other hand, run in the neighborhood of 4 - 12ms depending on the panel grade. It might not sound like a lot, but during scenes containing fast moving images, you can get some serious motion blurr.

Theses days plasma burn in isn't even a concern. Years ago when plasmas hit the market, it was a common problem, but not anymore. I game on my 60" all the time, for hours on end and don't even notice image retention, let alone burn in.

Plasma also have better color reproduction and produce black much better than LCD panels. They are also more vibrant than their LCD counterparts.

Personally I think it's a much better technology, but that's just my opinion.

LCD's don't have as a big of problem with motion blur as they used to. At least the Sony, Samsung, Sharp tv's I have seen. My buddy just got a plasma for a present and he is trading it back in for an LCD. He said it burns in very easily and you have to use a "refresher tool" in the menu to reflash the screen or something to get rid of the burning in and make it normal again. He said that whole thing scares him so he is getting rid of it.

Sounds like you are stuck back a few years with your facts, LCD panel's black are getting quite close to Plasma's ability. Go out to a best buy or something and check out all the tv's and you will see they are quite close nowadays. As you can tell I am an LCD fan and never have problems (or noticed at all) with motion blur on anything (football games, movies, video games, etc.) and the blacks are quite good and I don't have to worry about burn in at all.

[john]

Ok, atleast you said they are getting close to plasma ability. I love the two plasmas I bought. If the burn-in was a huge problem, don't you think thkis would happen all the time at places like best buy who have them on all the time??? I have had plasma technology for about a year and a half now without any problems or burning in on the screen.

Plasma>LCD

[mdost03]

Ok, atleast you said they are getting close to plasma ability. I love the two plasmas I bought. If the burn-in was a huge problem, don't you think thkis would happen all the time at places like best buy who have them on all the time??? I have had plasma technology for about a year and a half now without any problems or burning in on the screen.

Plasma>LCD

No it wouldn't burn in all the time, Best Buy makes sure they have picture moving all the time so nothing will burn in compared to playing like a video game and have your health bar in the corner sitting there for possibly hours. Most LCD refresh rates nowadays are right around 5ms or less which is hardly noticable at all. Its not all about refresh rates either, anti-judder plays a role as well. Things I dislike about plasmas are they have to have the glass pane in front of it which creates lots of glare if you have windows in the room whereas most LCD's don't. Plasmas weigh more than LCD's do, use more power and run hotter, and performance can even be affected by altitude on them.

LCD has positives that Plasma doesn't and Plasma has positives LCD doesn't have. They are both few between the two though. IMO, LCD is better than plasma as I have had much experience with it (have 3 LCD tv's in the house currently and use to have an LCD projection tv before the current bigger panel we have now).

[Spyderturbo007]

LCD's don't have as a big of problem with motion blur as they used to. At least the Sony, Samsung, Sharp tv's I have seen.

Yes, but they still do have a problem with motion blur.


He said it burns in very easily and you have to use a "refresher tool" in the menu to reflash the screen or something to get rid of the burning in and make it normal again. He said that whole thing scares him so he is getting rid of it.


I've never had a problem with mine and I game on it heavily. Well, when the wife isn't watching Law & Order. :p


Sounds like you are stuck back a few years with your facts, LCD panel's black are getting quite close to Plasma's ability.


No, my facts are up to date. Other than the Spyder, AV is my main hobby, much to the dismay of my wife. I'm currently trying to convince the wife that a 1080p projector in the basement would be great for hockey games. I'm not quite sure if she is falling for it though.


Go out to a best buy or something and check out all the tv's and you will see they are quite close nowadays. As you can tell I am an LCD fan and never have problems (or noticed at all) with motion blur on anything (football games, movies, video games, etc.) and the blacks are quite good and I don't have to worry about burn in at all.

Yes, the are getting better every day. Don't take it personally or anything, but I just prefer the color reproduction and accuracy of a plasma over an LCD. Plasmas also have more of a "pop", in your face picture.

Some people don't see picture quaility problems as much as others. I just seem to have an eye for those things. Hell, I returned my first plasma after getting to the point where I couldn't tolerate the excessive red push even after throwing my colorimeter on it. My wife said she didn't even see what I was talking about.

Also, doing a comparison of TV's in the store is almost worthless. They all come out of the box set up in torch mode and need to be calibrated properly.

This is a great discussion though. It's nice to see other peoples' views on the subject. :thumb: