Want to purchase HD TV. Should I go for LCD or Plasma?

Answer 1

plasma TVs and LCD TVs both have half life's over 60000 hours !! that's 7 hours aday 18 years plasma TVs have blacker black than LCD so plasmas will have whiter whites also they don't leak and no you cant go and get them recharged plasmas are cells filled with different gases that glow when a charged is applied, LCD always have light source on and when the right color is needed like a shutter opens and the right color come out that why you have light leakage and not true blacks .In the 42" range of plasma or LCD i would buy plasma it cheaper1600 vs 2000, now having said all that there are some great LCD panels in the 1080p and with a blue ray video its one of best displays i have ever seen but the price jumps up to around 3500 dollars think Sony or samsung

Answer 2

I am assuming you mean "among thin displays", not rear projection units..Above 37', HDTV, Plasma probably looks better. LCD works by shining a light source through a grid of picture elements (pixels). With plasma, the individual pixels actually 'light up" (like a conventional CRT ), possibly producing more vivid color and about 5-10 times more contrast. Plasma is much heavier and uses more power, and makes more heat and noise (usually). New plasmas have good life expectancy. (As one person said, maybe 60,000 hours) Theoretically, the light source could be replaced in an LCD display. When plasma gets dim, it is finished.
However, newest LCD flat panels look surprisingly good.
I would not even consider a rear projection unit unless you do not mind replacing the lamp after 2 years for hundreds of dollars when it begins to get dim. (maybe even sooner). If you can afford the lamp replacement, there are some excellent new 1080p rear projection units (which are higher resolution than any plasma or thin LCD displays. DLP technology or DILA technology).

Answer 3

Current generation plasmas from major manufacturers have a life expectancy of around 60,000 hours, by which time you will have spent something like $1700 on light bulbs for an LCD or DLP. Also, LCD and DLP bulbs have a nasty habit of dying the night before the Super Bowl or the latest Harry Potter release. Plasmas don't have $300 light bulbs that burn out.

Also no rear-projector has a picture even closely comparable to plasma and LCD flat-screens, which aren't as good but are at least comparable, are much, much more expensive than plasmas at any given screen size.

Answer 4

In my opinion, I think the Sony Bravia is the nicest picture on the market. It's an LCD television. If you want the best picture, look for a 3LCD television. They handle action-packed scenes a bit better than just your standard LCD television. The real question is how big you want your TV to be. Plasma TVs are cheaper once you get into the bigger sizes. For a cheaper alternative to LCD and plasmas, you may want to consider a DLP. You can't hang it on the wall, but they're about 1/2 as deep as the old projection televisions and have some of the nicest pictures you can find.

Answer 5

LCD is the one to get. Plasma originally took the world by storm but lately there have been reports of problems and I understand at least one of the big guys has stopped making them. Look at all the LCD monitors on computers and how well they last. The picture is as good, if not better than Plasma and cheaper. Unless you plan to hang the TV on the wall, stick with LCD.

Answer 6

Don't bother with either unless you intend to buy the Sky HD box and subscribe to their HD package. We recently bought a 32" HD LCD TV, assuming we would be getting the best picture available - we were so wrong! After much research we discovered that the millions of pixels on a large screen LCD severely diminish the quality of the picture unless you are receiving an HD signal, (similar to enlarging a photograph, the bigger it gets the poorer the quality). We exchanged it for a 32" HD CRT (slimline) set instead and it's 100 times better. (The sound quality on LCD is very poor also due to the lack of space available for sufficient speakers, although this problem can be rectified by installing a surround sound system)

Answer 7

we have an lcd in the bedroom and a plasma in the living room. i would say if you are going to watch it loads, plasma is definately better. the picture i think is clearer (especially on bigger screens). if you are only going to watch it occasionally lcd would be fine.

make sure that when you buy a high definition that the resolution is as high as you can get it!!!

info here:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hdtv.htm0

and cheap tv's here:
http://www.richersounds.com/

if you can find a store near you they are really helpful....and you get free lollys.........

Answer 8

LCD. Plasma TVs need to be recharged, which is very expensive. It will only last about 5 years without a recharge. Toward the end of its first five years, the screen will fade, too.

Answer 9

I would go for LCD they are more reliable than plasma and the LCD has better picture quality.

Answer 10

What about a CRT? HD CRT's are cheaper and a long life, proven technology. The slimeline units are acceptably thin and most HD experts/designers agree they give the better picture. Another plus is they usually only produce the larger 1080 resolution image (Upscale the lower resolution as well) as this is cheaper for HD CRT's. I've seen a rear projection HD CRT working and I myself think they give the better picture. Just a thought for you! JVC + Philips do a couple.