Should I buy plasma or LCD TVs (or other?) for new place?

Question

My wife and I are moving into our new place this weekend. We have a 65" rear projection TV that is going in one room. We bought that a few years ago and have no reason to get rid of it. It's good.

But, we are going to buy 3 new TVs . . . one for a family room (probably 30" to 50"), one for a work out room (probably 25" to 30"), and one for a bedroom (probably 25" to 30"). We will probably buy all three at one time. In each room, we will likely see to mount the tv on a wall (so, thinking flat panel) and may have external speakers mounted in the family room as well.

Should I consider plasma or LCD? I've been researching it and I'm having trouble understanding why one is better than aother. Or, is there another type I should consider? Thanks.

Answer 1

I know a little bit about TVs and I have researched this quite a bit lately myself. Let me try to make this as simple as I can. First, you have a general idea as to size, which is very important. You need to make sure you have the right size TV for the room (and proper viewing distance). Generally, you should sit 3 times the distance away from a TV as it relates to screensize. For example, if you buy a 42" TV, optimal viewing will occur at 126" which is about 10.5 feet. This is a general recommendation, not a hard fast rule, but you certainly do not want too huge of a TV in a small room or a too small TV in a large room.

Second, you will have to decide whether you will really use or need the latest and greatest in high definition technology which can cause the price of a TV to balloon. This gets a little tricky. The ultimate (arguably) in high definition is 1080p which means that the TV will display 1080 lines of resolution at one time (progressively which is what the p stands for). Because so many lines are displayed at one time, these TVs have many more pixels than TVs that cannot display 1080p (sometimes up to twice as many in the same screen size). Some people claim that 1080p produces the sharpest images. Some of the costlier LCD (and LCD projection and DLP or LcoS) TVs can display 1080p. 1080p plasmas are just being produced right now and are prohibitively expensive. Pioneer has one (50") that retails for about $7,000. Most plasmas can display 720 lines of resolution progressively, not 1080. However, these 720p plasmas can usually display 1080 interlaced lines (aka 1080i). Basically, 1080i uses half the pixels needed for 1080p but tricks us into thinking that 1080 lines are displayed by interlacing them. There are many people who claim that there is really no discernable difference between a 1080p display and a 720p display, especially if the 720p display has a better contrast ratio, black level and color saturation. I have seen some 720p plasmas that look much better than some 1080p LCDs. (For example the Pioneer 5070 plasma is a very, very nice plasma display that will rival the best 1080p LCDs for quality of picture).

Right now, the only way to get true HD (1080p) is via a BluRay DVD player (including the Playstation 3--but not all PS3 games are displayed in 1080p). Other HD sources (cable box, antenna, DirectTV, HD DVD (not BluRay), etc.) pass only 720p or 1080i signals at present. "Up-convert" DVD players upconvert to 1080i. Some argue that 1080p is the future and BluRay DVDs certainly look incredible. But you have to decide if it is worth the premium to pay, especially because BluRay players cost $800 plus and the movies (discs) are at least $25 each.

Once you decide resolution issues, you need to consider the light in the room where you will be watching the TVs. If you are watching in a well-lit room, or if you have a lot of sunlight and will watch in the daytime, you should go with an LCD because the lights will not glare on an LCD screen. Plasma screens have glare and are generally better in a darker room. Also, LCD is not subject to burn in like plasma. However, if you are careful with a plasma display, you can prevent burn in.

Unfortunately, most retail stores do not have all of their TVs calibrated the same way. So, one TV may not look good sitting on the store shelf, but with a little tweaking, it could look great. This makes it all the more difficult to shop for, and buy, a good plasma or LCD TV. Some people have loyalty to certain brands. Some people listen to retail salespeople (be careful at the big box stores because some of the salespeople know less than you would think about this stuff). Some people check online ratings from CNET, consumer reports, amazon, etc. Some people buy based on price. Some people buy based on look of the product. It all just depends on what you want and what you like I guess.

So, I hope this is is helpful. It can get very confusing. Buying a TV is a lot different these days than it used to be. Some brands to consider in my opinion: Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, LG. Panasonic makes a very nice 50 inch plasma (720p) for about $2000. The 50" Pioneer (model 5070) plasma, also 720p, has one of the best pictures I have seen. You can find this online for under $2500. Personally, I chose the 46" Sony LCD 1080p which also has an amazing picture, but can be a little pricey. For additional information, check out avsforum.com or cnet.com. Good luck!

Answer 2

As a owner of both and a former Circuit City employee, it's hard to say which would suit you best.

Plasmas have better contrast ratios for the price, are often bigger for the price and have richer blacks for the price. However, sometimes plasmas can experience burn-in - thats when an image gets sort of imprinted on the screen. It happened to me on my TV, but was fixed over time.

LCDs however, are made in smaller sizes. You'd have a hard time finding a Plasma under 37 inches.

An important thing to consider is brand. Brand really does matter when you're buying a LCD or Plasma TV.

I've owned both a 37" Panasonic Plasma (panasonics are among the best plasmas for the price) and a Sony Bravia LCD (which are also among the best LCDs - however they are more expensive).

With LCDs, you wont have to worry about burn-in.

So I would say in your situation, get 2 LCDs for the smaller TVs and 1 Plasma for the larger TV. Also, get the biggest you can, the price difference isn't much for all the extra size.

One last note, to prevent burn-in on your plasma, never leave the screen frozen (dvd paused or tv guide on screen) for any time period longer than a minute or 2. Also, always STRETCH the picture if you have the bars on each side of the screen. The bars are what burned into my plasma.

Answer 3

If i were going to buy a tv and had enough cash to spen i would choose a DLP. it all depends on how picky you are if you want 1080 i or p. the diffference is hardly noticable buy makes a huge difference in price.

Answer 4

Palsma, my friend told me once why Palsma is better but I can't recall yet.
Will update once I can recall.