Plasma or LCD?

funkyphantom

funkyphantom

funkyphantom

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Plasma Or LCD?

Hi guys. Im confused.
I want to buy the tv thats going to give me the best picture quality for my budget of £400. I know its not going to be AMAZING quality, but this is my absolute max.
The tv is going to be used for general watching. I would love to start watching blue ray movies that would be played via my sons playstation 3.
It will also be used for gaming too.
So far ive narrowed it down to 2 tvs. Both tvs are 37inch. 1 of which is a Plasma tv. (Panasonic TXP37C10) and the other is an LCD TV (LG 32LH3000) which is also 1080p ready. Am i going to see the benefits of 1080p at this size?
Also im a little worried about the sound, as i dont have extra speakers or amp. So if anyone knows which one sounds the best,out of the box, that would be great too!
Thanks
 
There were a lot of complaints about how bad the glare was on a TX-P37C10, just something to watch out for.
 
In say plasma, but I have also heard about the glare on that model panasonic, something to do with the lack of anti glare that is standard on other series. So I would think it would be worth getting the 37X10 for a little bit more investment.
 
I found that anti glare coatings do help reduce reflections, but still leave the picture semi washed out when the TV is subjected to bright windows/sunlight etc.

The best cure for glare is to close the curtains or position the screen so its not subjected to reflections/sunlight ;). Blinds on the window will sort that too.

Personally I still prefer plasma over both conventional LCD, and LED backlit LCD's as well. OLEDS are pretty nice, but still limited to small and expensive screens, SED is in legal patent disputes, and plasma tech is still advancing nicely. Panny's latest plasma's are really pretty efficient on power (50 inch for example have dropped from 400+ watts to 275ish watts in the last 12 months)
 
I dont think im overly bothered about glare too much. What i am more interested in, is this whole 1080p buisness. Will i really see much difference in quality over a 720p set?
Regards
 
Depends how far away, from 12ft you cant see the difference between 1080p and 720p on a 42inch set, scale down to 37 inch, and you have to be less than 9ft to see a difference.

If your sitting right ontop of the set (1m etc) then sure a 1080 might look better, but I've seen a lot of 720p plasmas that put 1080p LCD panels to shame. It really does depend on the viewing distance, on my 24inch computer screen 1920x1200 and you can still see that pixels are quite big from half a meter away :P.

I sit 12ft from my TV, and I am planning to upgrade to 50 or even 60inch so that 1080p actually means something :P.

I wouldnt worry too much about the sound from the TV.. IMHO they all sound equally rubbish compared to even the most basic add on speaker system. Best to get the screen with the best picture, live with the sound, and when you can upgrade the sound later. Even a soundbar speaker system will be a massive improvement against any built in speakers.
 
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After a lot of research I went with the HD Ready Panasonic TXP42X10 - it's a brilliant TV. If you get a 37" and sit that far away the common concensus is you won't benefit from 1080 over 720 (go for the larger screen if funds allow btw :))
Some are even saying the X model is better than the G model for SD quality.

AVF has an owners thread that is well worth a look.
 
funkyphantom said:
I dont think im overly bothered about glare too much. What i am more interested in, is this whole 1080p buisness. Will i really see much difference in quality over a 720p set?
Regards
Click to expand...

At 37", you would be hard pressed to notice a significant difference between a 720p and a 1080p HDTV, subject to viewing difference of course and even then, it's going to be difficult to tell in normal viewing. The resolution of a HDTV certainly shouldn't be the deciding factor on which one you purchase and is really the last thing you need to look for. The resolution does not define how good a HDTV will be overall. Much more important is how deep the blacks are, primary colours, processing etc. You would be far better of with a high quality 720p HDTV than you would with a sub-standard 1080p HDTV.

I know you have said that £400 is the maximum amount of money you want to spend. However, if you are willing to spend a little extra, you can get the Panasonic TX-P37X10 for around £480 with a 3 year warranty or £500 with a 5 year warranty. Though, the retailer that is selling the TX-P37X10 with the 5 year warranty, it is currently out of stock.

The Panasonic TX-P37X10 is a 720p set but as already said, the resolution does not ultimately determine how good a HDTV will be. The TX-P37X10 is without a doubt the best HDTV you can get for around that sort of money in terms of the overall picture quality.
 
Ok, thanks, im im getting somewhere! :)
Ive decided on the plasma. I can get the PANASONIC VIERA TXP37C10 for £439.90 with a 5year guarantee. Or the PANASONIC VIERA TXP37X10 for £483.90 with 5 year guarantee. I'm presuming its worth paying the extra £45 for the X10?
Thanks
 
Forgot to say - the C10 doesn't have the anti glare coating the X and G range does
Also the 42" X10 can be had for £499 with 5 year warranty
 
do it mate!

my sister has the TXP42X10.... fantastic tv... so im sure the 37" will be just as good. never seen the C10, but i would pay the extra £45
 
funkyphantom said:
At a guess, i would say i sit about 8-10 feet away from the set. So i guess the 1080p set is looking faveorite then?......
Click to expand...

Most people can't see the difference between 720p and 1080p at any distance until they see teh pixel structure on screen. The majority of people who do see a difference are either not seeing the difference between the 2 resolutions or are seeing the pixel structure.

Lots of misinformation out there from users harping on about things they haven't even compared in a planned controlled test.

Essentially it's I used to have this tv, now I have this totally different one and can see the difference over 720p with 1080p. What they fail to realise is that are many things different and are putting it all down to the res. Tards. :p
 
funkyphantom said:
Ive just been reading more about plasma TVs, is it really ESSENTIAL to 'run them in' for 200hrs ?
Click to expand...

Not really, standard recommendation is to set the brightness and contrast at 50% for the first 200 hours, thats about it. Thing is after 200 hours, 50% on contrast/brightness was the optimal viewing level for having good black detail and a nice bright picture anyway (at least for my panny TV). Anything more than 50% was just blearh, over bright, washed out blacks and generally poor.

So in otherwords, to run it in, take it out of shop TV "demo" mode, set it to the proper normal brightness/contrast, and enjoy.
 
ive got the PANASONIC VIERA TXP37C10 . my first hd set moving up from a 32 " old panny crt which was 6-7 years old . i'm well happy with my purchase . had £500 to spend back in june .. didnt fancy an lcd as i knew plasmas were better blacks .. i'm using the panny as on my media centre pc as well .. not that great for looking at stuff , but great for movies on blu ray off my pc :)

the glare is noticable ...IF you looking for it . i can wipe it from my thoughts pretty easy , and in a dark room it doesnt matter
 
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