LED or Plasma - Which way to purchase?

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Posted in another thread about a certain TV I wanted, and after 6 years since my last purchase, it appears I have got completly out of touch with the progress of TV's in that time, since I never kept upto date with that side of things

As my Sony TV is showing its age, I am looking for a 46" TV (no larger) that will be hooked upto the PC, and will be used heavily for gaming (primarily my beast of a PC) but maybe some PS3 & XBOX as well, light web browsing, light film viewing.

Based on what I have said above, does anyone know the best TV I should be going for? I just need to get upto speed, as I will probably jump at purchasing one when the boxing day sales start off. A ceiling limit in terms of cost? Well, if there was a payment plan available, anything upto £1,500 as I am not looking to purchase a TV for a long, long time after this
 
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The only negative thing about plasma seems to be the large power consumption. Hopefully someone can give me a "best of" choice for me to go looking, as I currently have my eye on the Samsung's 46" flagship LED TV, but as this is a massive purchase, I dont want to go running in and making a mistake
 
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The best bang for buck Plamsas at the moment are considered the Panasonic ST50 range so if you want the 42" model search for 'Panasonic 42ST50' to have a look
 
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I have a plasma now, but if i were in the market for a new TV I'd go for an LCD or an LED mainly for the much lower power consumption.

Once turned down from the stupidly high factory settings Plasma's will use around 100W more than a LCD/LED, over the space of a year that isn't that much extra spent on electricity.

If you're not putting the TV in a really bright room, or you can control the lighting conditions get a plasma, otherwise get an LCD/LED.
 
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The only negative thing about plasma seems to be the large power consumption.

Image retention is definitely a negative for plasma's although the 2012 models it doesn't seem to be much of an issue as long as your aware of it and you use pixel orbiter + screen savers + tv sleep timers + avoid blacks bars during 100 hour break in period.

Also the buzzing sound the tv makes on a fully white screen is also a downside.
 
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Caporegime
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Image retention is definitely a negative for plasma's although the 2012 models it doesn't seem to be much of an issue as long as your aware of it and you use pixel orbiter + screen savers + tv sleep timers + avoid blacks bars during 100 hour break in period.

Also the buzzing sound the tv makes on a fully white screen is also a downside.

Image retention is pretty much non existant now, and shouldn't scare people of Plasma's.

Get the best Pani you can afford :)
 
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I have a plasma now, but if i were in the market for a new TV I'd go for an LCD or an LED mainly for the much lower power consumption.

Ditto, and also because the image for PC viewing/gaming is MUCH better at 1080p with an LED. Reading text on my 50" Panasonic G10 Plasma is like reading it on a bad CRT. For movies, however, nothing beats it.
 
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dont have a problem with text on my gt30 at all tbh.
running a htpc my biggest issue is IR as i have to always be aware of it, i get IR all the time but its never screen burn (its never permanent)
Its not an issue unless you have a htpc/pause games etc but could be something to think about.
also if you cant keep sunlight out of your room definitely dont go for a plasma.
LED is probably better with kids and animation (they do look amazing with CGI)

Despite all of that i still would have gone plasma today, the PQ is amazing on THX and its nice and fast for games.
I like horro films, watch in dull conditions, like playing games and hate bright tvs so it was a no brainer for me, again, the only issue i have is IR

3D isnt bad also, might be better on LED i dont know, but the colours in avatar 3D look amazing

DONT be fooled by showroom lighting, i almost was in JL and almost ended up getting the samsung LED at the time (it looked amazing).. a good test of how bright the showroom is compared to your house is to set a smart phones brightness to a comfortable level at home for reading and note it and then compare that to the showroom. For example i fount at home my slider is at 1/3 max, but in the showroom i had to set it to max! (which really hurts at home) At that moment my decision was made, id get retina burn from the LEDs and swiftly told the rep to stop telling me how good his samsung led is he had at home and give me the panny.. which look the worst set in the bright condtions out of everything as rthey had cheakily put it in the LED section
 
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my folks have been looking at tv's for new house, problem is they want a big tv, 50 inch or more, where plasma's seem a lot cheaper, but the room they want to put it in, hanging on a wall, is basically what is reffered to as the "sun room" lol, where its surrounded by windows, this room is open with the kitchen at one end so they want a screen big enough to see from the kitchen aswell as being suitable for what is essentially an average sized living room. I'm worried if they get a plasma becuase its cheaper they will not be able to see the screen half the time for reflections.
 
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my folks have been looking at tv's for new house, problem is they want a big tv, 50 inch or more, where plasma's seem a lot cheaper, but the room they want to put it in, hanging on a wall, is basically what is reffered to as the "sun room" lol, where its surrounded by windows, this room is open with the kitchen at one end so they want a screen big enough to see from the kitchen aswell as being suitable for what is essentially an average sized living room. I'm worried if they get a plasma becuase its cheaper they will not be able to see the screen half the time for reflections.

Could definitely be a big problem in that case!
 
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if you cant keep bright light off it i wouldnt go for plasma, it will cause all the benifits to be lost imo

This, plasmas are ruined if their not in a dark room. I always game, watch movies in a dark room it ruins it.

Infact it looks like a mirror when its turned off in a light room - though I spose most TVs are like this.
 
Soldato
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Phosphor lag and 30fps motion handling are valid plasma issues. The former I see constantly while gaming - enough to return my last 3 Panasonic plasmas - and while I appreciate how well Panny plasmas handle motion at 60fps, at 30fps motion jerks around (prob not an issue with your uber PC, but many console games run at 30fps. Halo for example looks much better in motion on my led). Dithering can be an issue if you sit close and the 3D sets sometimes have a ghost like after image running alongside the picture when viewing 2D. Hard to see, but I've noticed it on all the current 3D models. In my experience gaming brings out the worst in plasmas, while movie watching brings out the best. Retention falls way down on my list of plasma gripes.

For a lounge tv for movie watching and general channel flicking, go plasma. For a gaming only set, I'd pick an led with decent input lag all day long.
 
Soldato
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My st50 is fine a bright room the infinite black pro anti reflective screen coating definitely does it's job and actually has less reflection than my led samsung.

Also the OP has a big enough budget for a vt50 which has an even better screen coating (infinite black ultra).
 
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