About Plazma tv's. Only answer if you have experience please?

Question

Can anybody who's had experience with this, please anser.

I want to buy a plasma 42" LG tv because its the best I can afford. I will be using it for watching Satellite TV, Playstation & DVD. There are cheaper ones but I am scepticle.

What is a 16:9 aspect ratio.. or any ratio for that matter. Does it really effect the way I will be seeing the images.

What is HDTV? Some plasmas have HDTV & others dont while some are HDTV ready. Do I really need it?

I hope to get simple feedback please

Answer 1

the ratio is the size and/or shape of the screen. e.g 16:9 means for every 16cm the screen is across, its 9cm high, as in 16:16 would be completly square, and 16:8 would be a perfect oblong. HDTV stands for High Definition Television, which you will need soon. So don't bother with one that isn't. Besides if there not ready for that they have an 840-480 screen, and all that needs to tell you is the pictures rubbish.

People will probably tell you that after a year or so the picture will start to degrade on a plasma, which was true in the early ones, but now that doesn't even begin until about 5 years or normal usage, and won't notice until about 8 years, by which time you will probably be replacing it.

I have a Sony 42" Plasma, which is fantastic, its 3 years old this November and the picture is still almost as good as the current top of the range ones. Much better than an LCD which is a newer technology and has the potential to be better, but they still haven't mastered the pixelation yet, meaning on a large tv you will get a lot of that squaring frequency loss unless you have an excellent signal.

I'd look around before settling for a mid-range TV, when mine was new it was one of the very best available, costing nearly £5,000. But if you look carefully on the internet you can knock over 40% off the prices in the high street. I got mine for £2850. Meaning you could get one thats a little better than the LG for maybe a little less.

Answer 2

Plasma TVs are coming down in price but they have been notorious for having reliability problems. The last time I checked the extended warrantees that you can purchase were very very expensive.

I decided to wait until LCD TVs were available in similar sizes. They are much better than plasma models and don't seem to be quite so unreliable.

The aspect ratio is a measure of how unsquare your picture is. A conventional TV is 4:3 which means that if the width is 40" then the height would be 30". With a 16:9 (Widescreen) TV a 32" wide screen would be 18" high.

16:9 TVs were introduced as a compromise between 4:3 TV and the very wide (up to 3:1) films you see at the cinema.

I'm not sure about the HD question yet, I'm still debating that one. HD is better that's for sure but I suspect that there is more to it than meets the eye. I'm very wary of buying things that are "xyz ready". Remember when PCs were sold as "Internet ready"? They were all along and it was just a marketing gimmick.

You might want to consider a 100Hz refresh model too. Much less flicker and easier on the eyes.

My advice is to keep researching and take a look at the trends in LCD technology.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

well first things first-re: the post from mona-i have never read such a load of old tosh in all my life!! if what you say where the case then why was i given a four-year guarantee with my lg plasma set??. you can now expect a plasma that has been looked after to last between 12-17 years. right rant over. there is no point in my going on about aspect ratios as this seems to have been pretty well covered by the other posters. onto hdtv-now this is the biggest boom in tv since the advent of colour television and you would be missing out on something big if you did not invest in it so if you can afford it go for a hdtv-the salesman will be happy to explain and show how such a set works. as i said earlier in my post i have a 42" lg plasma tv which is hooked to (among other things) a ps2 and a high definition dvd player-and the results are astounding to say the least. while i would be the first to agree there are better plasma's out there you would be paying for the name largely and i have yet to encounter a problem with my lg. when i bought the dvd player (also an lg) i was given the wrong remote so could not configure the resolution output-this will all be explained to you-so don't worry-and on calling lg customer services found them very freindly helpful and informative. also it may be worth popping down to the local mart and buying a copy of one of the plasma tv magazines for info-they are usually very informative and tell you all you need to know. this is not to say i have anything against lcd-but i can only go on what i own. i bought a plasma and i have no regrets best of luck and welcome to the plasma age.

Answer 4

I wouldn't suggest getting plasma because they don't last very long and the picture begins to deteriorate after a year or so. Check out the LCDs, they're in the same price range.

16:9 is the ratio of the screen. It means it's wide screen - so 16 accross and 9 up.

HDTV is High Definition TV. It means the TV is capable of displaying High Definition channels. However, not ALL the channels are HD yet, so those that aren't will not be shown as HD.

Answer 5

16:9 is the screen ratio and will affect how you see the picture. you can change the ratio on most tvs now though with the remote, ie you can change between 16:9/widescreen/letterbox/zoom etc.
hdtv is high definition tv, which is available from cable and sky now, but only selected programs are broadcast in hd. by 2010 or thereabouts all tv will be broadcast in hd.
It would make sense to buy one hd ready as then you wouldnt need to replace it when hd is fully launched, -presuming your plasma lasts that long. they only last for a certain amount of viewing hours before the plasma degrades, imho an lcd would be a better option as they are less sensitive (you can't tilt a plasma past a certain angle, it must be kept upright even for transportation)

Answer 6

16:9 aspect ratio is based off of the aspect in which your screen is set. 16:9 is similar to movie theaters/HDTV. Now, just becuase a TV comes in "HDTV" aspect ratio, doesn't mean it's HDTV capable. The actual TV must say/advertise that it is an HDTV. What is HDTV? Well, it's a "new" broadcasting system that was supposed to be fully launched in 2004. The "old" broadcasting system is NTSB. In laments terms, NTSB broadcasting gives you 525 lines of resolution, while HDTV gives 1050. That's why HDTV is a clearer, more vibrant and detailed picture. So, now if and when HDTV is completely released, if your LG TV doesn't have HDTV, your spending money for a wide-screen...that's it. Do some more research, and if you want an HDTV for the amount of money your spending, then wait and save up a little more. Prices of HDTV's have dropped steadily every year. :::Quick Fact:::Until the U.S.' HDTV "revolution", our broadcasting resolution was the worst in the world. Even after HDTV is released, it still won't be the best.


By the way, our current systems aspect ratio is 3:4. Forgot to mention that originally.

Answer 7

I had a 42ins plasma and got rid of it for a 40ins LCD,16:9 ratio is just the shape of the picture,hd is high definition,if you enjoy playing on your playstation that much you don't want to put it on a plasma,you're better off putting it on a LCD,plasmas get screen burn when there's a still picture on for about 5 minutes,if you're into your gaming so much you'll probably be getting the new PlayStation 3 when it comes out,the PS3 is high definition,so a hd ready LCD would be ideal for you,a LCD lasts longer and uses less electric than a plasma,if i was you id go for a Sony bravia LCD,i guarantee you wont be disappointed with it,if you need to no a good place to get a TV on the Internet email me and ill let you no where the best place is,

Answer 8

16:9 is the ratio of width versus height. In other words you can switch from wide screen to normal. The closer the ratio the squarer the picture. HDTV is high definition and is the dogs nuts, however you need hd sky box to get it

Answer 9

My brother bought a large plasma about 1 year before the Rugby World Cup.
The first thing you notice is that if the TV is too large for the room, you can't see the screen from anywhere except dead-on. Colour faded noticeable before he finally got rid of it a year ago.
Considering the price, I would wait till they iron out the bugs and reduce the cost.

Answer 10

i have a plasma its pioneer the features we went for was HDtv whixh is high Defination ,sky have Hd channels and shows available and dvd's are being released in hd it just means they have better pictures i haven't even watched hd on my plasma yet to know the difference ,one other thing with digtial coming in and analogue being phased out try to get a digital ready tv.
We have ntl connected to the plasma so get all them but also have built in freeview on the plasma we also got a dvd hd ready harddrive dvd recorder which we can record any digital channel as we watch ntl or record ntl as we watch any digital channel.

16.9 is a screen size like widescreen or letterbox just means when watching tv if the program is fitting on the screen you have options to change the screen size.