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Getting a 55"+ 1080p, lcd's the way to go right?

S

slackerinabox

Lifer
I like my 8 year old hitachi plasma tv quite a bit but it's beginning to show it's age (and it's only 720p), is LED lcd the way to go these days? I convinced my dad to go plasma for his recent purchase (a well regarded panasonic set), and it just doesn't seem as sharp as a decent brand LCD these days - am I right in that I should just go led lcd, or do AV snobs still prefer plasma?
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
I like my 8 year old hitachi plasma tv quite a bit but it's beginning to show it's age (and it's only 720p), is LED lcd the way to go these days? I convinced my dad to go plasma for his recent purchase (a well regarded panasonic set), and it just doesn't seem as sharp as a decent brand LCD these days - am I right in that I should just go led lcd, or do AV snobs still prefer plasma?
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Yep, you're right. No further research, room characteristics, or budgetary considerations are needed.
 
iRONic said:
Yep, you're right. No further research, room characteristics, or budgetary considerations are needed.
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I've researched quite a bit - most publications (cnet, etc.) suggest led-lcd, but forum murmuring still seems to prefer plasma. At the 55" level pricing seems to be a wash, lcd and plasmas all seem to live at the $1,000 starting point. I've been eying a LG 55" 1080p lcd with 3D for $999, but I'd say my hard budget's around $1,500 (3d isn't necessary). Room characteristics? Well, why does it matter - plasma's still mediocre in rooms with sunlight? I guess that would make LCD better than.
 
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You haven't pulled the trigger yet?

There's several threads in this forum on the topic though...
 
Based on reviews I've seen the plasmas around the $1000 price point seem better than the equivalently priced LCDs. It's been a few months since I've shopped around, but I did catch some reviews for the newest line of panasonic plasmas which claimed improvements over the previous models. Those previous models were generally considered to be the best in their price range as well.

My impression is that you have to go considerably more expensive for the LED-LCDs to show even marginal superiority.

As for general picture quality, I much prefer the plasmas over the LCD that I've seen personally. There's something about the color saturation of plasmas that just seems to pop more to my eyes. Maybe it's just the black levels that does that, but it's impressive when properly calibrated. Room brightness has been less of a concern than I thought it would be when I bought my plasma. I have my TV in a relatively dim room, but I have no problems with the lights on in that room either. Bright sunlight is an issue sometimes, but only when the TV is directly facing it. I imagine it would be somewhat of a problem for an LCD as well.
 
SlitheryDee said:
Based on reviews I've seen the plasmas around the $1000 price point seem better than the equivalently priced LCDs. It's been a few months since I've shopped around, but I did catch some reviews for the newest line of panasonic plasmas which claimed improvements over the previous models. Those previous models were generally considered to be the best in their price range as well.

My impression is that you have to go considerably more expensive for the LED-LCDs to show even marginal superiority.

As for general picture quality, I much prefer the plasmas over the LCD that I've seen personally. There's something about the color saturation of plasmas that just seems to pop more to my eyes. Maybe it's just the black levels that does that, but it's impressive when properly calibrated. Room brightness has been less of a concern than I thought it would be when I bought my plasma. I have my TV in a relatively dim room, but I have no problems with the lights on in that room either. Bright sunlight is an issue sometimes, but only when the TV is directly facing it. I imagine it would be somewhat of a problem for an LCD as well.
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Hmm, i'll check out the panasonic but my dad's has this horrible moire issue - add's a graininess to the picture that can't be adjusted away. When I'm write in front of my Hitachi I can see a similar pattern, but his is visible at standard viewing angles. I'll visit a b&m to compare for sure, it just seems that LED-lcds have a certain clarity and crispness that plasma seems to lack these days.
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
Hmm, i'll check out the panasonic but my dad's has this horrible moire issue - add's a graininess to the picture that can't be adjusted away. When I'm write in front of my Hitachi I can see a similar pattern, but his is visible at standard viewing angles. I'll visit a b&m to compare for sure, it just seems that LED-lcds have a certain clarity and crispness that plasma seems to lack these days.
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My TV has that, but to a lesser extent than you are describing. I can't see it unless my face is about a foot away from the screen. From what I've read on internet forums, this is just something plasmas do. From normal viewing distances I can't see it at all and it seems to have no material effect on the sharpness or color quality. The black levels are still better than any LCD I've seen even though if I look very closely I can see the "dancing pixel" effect there too.

I suppose if it puts you off too much you might want to avoid plasmas, but it really is a non-factor in my viewing experience.
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
Hmm, i'll check out the panasonic but my dad's has this horrible moire issue - add's a graininess to the picture that can't be adjusted away. When I'm write in front of my Hitachi I can see a similar pattern, but his is visible at standard viewing angles. I'll visit a b&m to compare for sure, it just seems that LED-lcds have a certain clarity and crispness that plasma seems to lack these days.
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It depends what you like. Different folks different strokes.
 
LCD's have their own issues, typically banding and hot spots (hot spots are lessened on full array LED backlights, but edgelit ones are very susceptible). Obviously the full array LED backlit LCD's are both thicker and much more expensive, which gets us back to what a previous post stated, that for the money, the plasma is a better TV, as you have to purchase a LED LCD TV that is typically 2-3x the price to get the similar image quality.

That said, if you do a lot of gaming (console or have a PC hooked up to it) and LCD is typically a much better choice due to screen burn-in (you need to be careful about input lag, but that is usually not an issue on the full array LED backlit ones since they are not typically cheeping out cutting corners to cut costs since they are already going to cost a lot).
 
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I just bought a plasma 55" Panasonic ST60 model. I spent way too much time trying to talk myself out of it by checking out dozens of alternative plasma and LED/LCD models. For sports and movies this was the best choice for me. I don't think there is a perfect answer for your question, as it depends on viewing habits, what you use the TV for, distance and lighting in your room. Hope this helps.
 
SlitheryDee said:
I know it's just an aesthetic thing, but I love the super thin bezels. It almost makes you forget you're looking at a tv. I'm sure this will be awesome.
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Hah, funny you mentioned that - I put two similarly specced tvs in front of my wife and let her make the final decision (I felt vain paying about $200 for a thinner bezel), she opted for the near zero-bezel unit and I'm glad she did!
 
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