Plasma vs LCD // Your view!

[Nitrojan]

Which one would you choose and why? I'm thinking of buying a widescreen for my room.. about 40", 1080p etc but I have heard many different things regarding LCD and Plasma.

Not sure whether it's totally true or not but some people say that Plasma's don't last as long and that it's worthwhile buying an LCD.

 

[Warbie]

Cue loads of replies saying plasmas have better better pq, black levels, and look a whole lot better with standard def.

I'd only pick an lcd if using it as a monitor or only for HD gaming. For movies, sky and gaming, plasma all the way.

 

[AnastieByte]

Cue loads of replies saying plasmas have better better pq, black levels, and look a whole lot better with standard def.

I'd only pick an lcd if using it as a monitor or only for HD gaming. For movies, sky and gaming, plasma all the way.

Could not have said it better. Although LCD's are getting better I have still to see one that beats my Panny PX60.

 

[Nymins]

Depends what the majority of viewing will be as stated above.

Majority SD stuff = Plasma

Majority HD Stuff = LCD

Plasmas are very expensive for a 1080p one, whereas LCD's have become fairly affordable.

 

[Chris C]

Cue loads of replies saying plasmas have better better pq, black levels, and look a whole lot better with standard def.

I'd only pick an lcd if using it as a monitor or only for HD gaming. For movies, sky and gaming, plasma all the way.

100% agree

 

[ssmacc]

Depends what the majority of viewing will be as stated above.

Majority SD stuff = Plasma

Majority HD Stuff = LCD

Plasmas are very expensive for a 1080p one, whereas LCD's have become fairly affordable.

Agree, plus LCD is better as a monitor.

 

[Margaret]

Plasma was a no-no for me as I intended on using my TV for a PC monitor, plus as said 1080P Plasma = expensive.

The amount of times I leave my PC doing nothing with the screen on just to nip downstairs to get a snack would most definitely get me some screen burn if I had a Plasma because I would forget quite often about screen burn I reckon.

I don't watch much SD either, but to be honest I'm well impressed with the quality on this LCD, looks pretty darn nice, still not as good as the Plasma downstairs but not all that far off it, the Plasma is somewhat smoother though.

 

[Corasik]

1080p plasma prices have plummetted since the launch of the Panny TH42PZ70B, which gives perfect picture for HTPC, gaming, and of course TV & DVD/HD-DVD/BluRay.

Screen burn on plasma these days is about as likely as on an old fashioned TV. Yes it does happen, but you have to be pretty stupid to do it. Even if your using a PC you can enable a screensaver to kick in after a few minutes of idle, to protect the screen if you go get a snack. Although screensavers can be annoying if your mediaplayer doesnt override the screensaver while watching movies.

I have a HTPC, a Wii, and of course my DVD player hooked up to my Plasma screen, and it's great does everything, and not even a hint of screen burn.

 

[NightSt@lk3r]

LCD wins hands down for me, but that is only because my TV is also my main PC monitor.

 

[[DOD]Asprilla]

Majority HD Stuff = LCD

Not in my experience.

LCDs are cheaper and better for gaming.

Plasmas have better PQ, better blacks and better motion handling.

If you are not gaming, get a plasma.

 

[Nymins]

Not in my experience.

LCDs are cheaper and better for gaming.

Plasmas have better PQ, better blacks and better motion handling.

If you are not gaming, get a plasma.

I found motion handling the same for HD content on a Plasma and LCD. In SD stuff Plasmas are much better, because LCD's tend to suffer from grain and a slight ghosting type of effect.

But for HD stuff, they are basically the same and LCD's are a lot cheaper for 1080p.

 

[Corasik]

I've yet to see an LCD panel that I could watch for more than about 10 minutes of video, regardless of HD, or SD. LCD colours look artificial to me, and they still ghost and smear even when given a true HD source. Higher resolution cant hide the technological limitations of the system.

Of course I will conceed to the point that it could be like rainbow effect in DLP projectors. Perhaps some people are not sensitive to it, while others can see the limitations of LCD technology. So if you dont see any problems in an LCD set... thats great. But to me the differences between an LCD panel, and a Plasma panel, assuming both panels are 1080p are obvious and instantly recognisable.

As for price... a 40inch 1920x1080p Sony Bravia is more expensive than a 1920x1080p Panasonic TH42PZ70B. Im pretty sure that panasonic remains the only brand with a true 1080p plasma, rather than a 1080p downscaled to a 1024x768 panel.

The wider choice of LCD panels does bring the price down, but the Panny can be found for under £900 now, and given the choice of a LCD @£500, or the Panny, I'd take the plasma every time.

I've been in TV stores with my GF a few times, and asked her to pick out the plasma's just by looking at the picture quality, and she's picked the plasma's correctly every time.

 

[Hamish]

I'm in the same position trying to decide whether to get an LCD or Plasma, initially I was going to get a plasma but after narrowing down between the 42" panny PZ70 (Plasma) and 40"/46" Sammy M87 (LCD) and checking them out in multiple shops I have to say that the LCD looks far better - more vivid colours, darker blacks. this is with both SD and HD content + LCD is cheaper. Obviously SD looks terribly pixilated on both but thats more to do with the size.

 

[Rotty]

I have 1 Plasma and 2 LCDs , the plasma is the best by a huge margin for TV stuff ( dont use them for gaming )

 

[Margaret]

I've yet to see an LCD panel that I could watch for more than about 10 minutes of video, regardless of HD, or SD. LCD colours look artificial to me, and they still ghost and smear even when given a true HD source. Higher resolution cant hide the technological limitations of the system.

I don't know what you are on about with ghosting and smearing, all my LCD's have been 8Ms or under and I have never once seen ghosting or smearing.

As for colours, I don't see any real difference between my LCD and the Panny Plasma downstairs, the blacks are a fair bit deeper, but that's about it. (and of course, SD looks better)

 

[Corasik]

I don't know what you are on about with ghosting and smearing, all my LCD's have been 8Ms or under and I have never once seen ghosting or smearing.

As for colours, I don't see any real difference between my LCD and the Panny Plasma downstairs, the blacks are a fair bit deeper, but that's about it. (and of course, SD looks better)

As I said, perhaps the difference is subjective and some people simply cant see the difference, or dont care. Not everyone for instance can see rainbows in cheap DLP projectors.

Its not just the black level by the way, its the number of shades of dark colours. With LCD the darker blacks often get compressed, while on a good plasma you can more clearly see the differences between the various shades of grey as they head towards black. For Sci-fi "space" TV/Movies it makes quite a difference imho.

If your happy with your TV, there is no problem is there.. but it doesnt mean that everyone would watch it and think its amazing. The fact is that many people still consider ultimate TV quality to be a CRT (or CRT projector). With the current generation of Plasma screens they have almost caught up with CRT. LCD is still the worst of the current techs for TV with the exception of its advantage over crt/plasma of being virtually burn proof (although retention is still possible).

It's down to your eyes at the end of the day, just as some people dont think a 10k hifi system sounds much better than a 200 note music system, or those who think 128kbps MP3's sound the same as the uncompressed CDs.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

I don't know what you are on about with ghosting and smearing, all my LCD's have been 8Ms or under and I have never once seen ghosting or smearing.

My 40M86 smears.

The quote 8ms is against a standard benchmark which doesnt cover all transients of video. I watched apocalypto on BR and the colours and resolution are awesome but in the faster moving scenes like chases through jungle you see how the sharp detail drops off and then when the footage slows again its like the camera focus's properly back to a HD picture as the LCD pixels catch up. Panning around fast in Halo or COD has a similar effect. I was watching footy on my parents 37px70 today and it is better than mine for motion but seems more blurry on SD stuff and I cant really live with the grid effect of plasmas, they seem very noticable to me.

 

[Amnesia]

I've yet to see an LCD panel that I could watch for more than about 10 minutes of video, regardless of HD, or SD. LCD colours look artificial to me, and they still ghost and smear even when given a true HD source. Higher resolution cant hide the technological limitations of the system.

Of course I will conceed to the point that it could be like rainbow effect in DLP projectors. Perhaps some people are not sensitive to it, while others can see the limitations of LCD technology. So if you dont see any problems in an LCD set... thats great. But to me the differences between an LCD panel, and a Plasma panel, assuming both panels are 1080p are obvious and instantly recognisable.

As for price... a 40inch 1920x1080p Sony Bravia is more expensive than a 1920x1080p Panasonic TH42PZ70B. Im pretty sure that panasonic remains the only brand with a true 1080p plasma, rather than a 1080p downscaled to a 1024x768 panel.

The wider choice of LCD panels does bring the price down, but the Panny can be found for under £900 now, and given the choice of a LCD @£500, or the Panny, I'd take the plasma every time.

I've been in TV stores with my GF a few times, and asked her to pick out the plasma's just by looking at the picture quality, and she's picked the plasma's correctly every time.

depends on the lcd's you have seen and how they have been set up....i bought a hitachi lcd for about 500 quid and it was absolute crap picture quality...colours were really bad especially when i compared it to my samsung 226bw(s panel).

i went back to the store and bought a sharp lcd which was priced at 1400 quid...picture quality is fantastic and it looks so much better than my sammy.
yes i did have to manually adjust the picture as the shop settings are an absolute joke.

as for ghosting...im yet to see any and im used to 2ms on my 226bw.
HD content looks great...wether its ps3/pc or movies.

past 2-3 years ive seen nothing but plasma's and yes they look great but i am so glad that i bought this particular lcd as to me it does look better at sd/hd/ps3/pc and only worse when my bro plugged in his xbox360 through composite connection or what ever it was(wasnt hdmi).

all that needs to be done for sd content is reduce the sharpness and u get the blurryness round the edges to take away the pixelated effect....aslong as the t.v remembers the settings it isnt a problem.

i wouldnt advise someone to get a lcd if they were not going to use it for pc/ps3 as you may aswell get a plasma.....but i do see a lot of ppl slating lcd's when there are some really good ones out there.

 

[Nymins]

My 40M86 smears.

The quote 8ms is against a standard benchmark which doesnt cover all transients of video. I watched apocalypto on BR and the colours and resolution are awesome but in the faster moving scenes like chases through jungle you see how the sharp detail drops off and then when the footage slows again its like the camera focus's properly back to a HD picture as the LCD pixels catch up. Panning around fast in Halo or COD has a similar effect. I was watching footy on my parents 37px70 today and it is better than mine for motion but seems more blurry on SD stuff and I cant really live with the grid effect of plasmas, they seem very noticable to me.

My M86 only swears/ghosts when viewing average to bad quality SD stuff on Sky. Watching BR clips or playing games on the PS3 however causes none of this.

Have you tweaked the settings much for both SD and HD stuff?

 

[Corasik]

My 40M86 smears.

I was watching footy on my parents 37px70 today and it is better than mine for motion but seems more blurry on SD stuff and I cant really live with the grid effect of plasmas, they seem very noticable to me.

Is grid effect where plasma's dither to make up for colours they cant reproduce perfectly? The TH37PX70 is only a 1024x720 panel, so the plasma artifacts will be more obvious than one of the TrueHD 1920x1080 panels.

Although, at a reasonable viewing distance it shouldnt be to obvious. If you compare the 37PX70 with a 42PZ70B, not only does the PZ70B have higher resolution (native 1920x1080), it can display 3.5x more "pure colours" than the PX's.

Anyway, each to his own eh? It would be a boring world if everyone liked the same thing. The best advice I can offer to the OP is go to a good TV store, one which will allow you to play with the settings on the TV's so you can get a better idea of which TV you like the best. Many people on forums like thie one (no doubt including myself) are pretty passionate about the technology they have chosen, and will always defend the strong points, while ignoreing the weaknesses.