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Is plasma still better than LCD?

MrMatt

MrMatt

Banned
I remember a while back someone mentioning that Plasma was pretty much the future of HDTV, as LCD's couldn't go any further than they currently had gotten. Is this true? If not, are there things that LCD's are better at than plasma's, and vice versa?
 
I would think the opposite is true. Plasma still has a superior picture, but I don't think there's much headroom for plasma technology to advance much further. LCD still has a lot of ways they can tweak and reinvent. The future is probably with LCD technology. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Plasma is still better if you like true color reproduction, great black levels, and no motion blur.

Panasonic just expanded their plasma plant, so it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I'm waiting for OLED's to get larger (I.e. 50") and affordable (I.e. under $1500). In the meantime if I have to buy another TV, it will be a plasma.

I just wish that Vizio and LG would still sell their 32" Plasma...I'd buy one for the bedroom...in the meantime, the 20" tube TV will work fine.
 
Plasma for sure. Panasonic or Samsung would be my top choice. (Although, my 3 year old Vizio 42" Plasma has a great picture). Watching Shepard Smith doing sports on the sidelines of the Cotton Bowl is kind of strange and funny 🙂

Of course as with any TV you purchase, you want to calibrate it when it arrives and then again after a few months of use.
 
Fallengod said:
From what ive heard, plasma is actually on its way out. It will no longer be made. Just fyi.
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Yep, on it's way out, that is why Panasonic invested millions in a new plant to make plasma panels.

VCR's are on their way out...yet you can still buy them.
CD's are on their way out...yet you can still buy them.

..and last I checked these still both work and don't 'blow-up' when you try to use them after their expiration date. 😀
 
This is highly subjective since picture is dependent upon the person. Plasmas actually offer the most accurate picture. The average consumer however in a store will lean towards an LCD every time because it looks better to them.

More then likely your going to see both produced for some time. Most TV makers are moving towards LCD's only or as their primary product. Panasonic however has been expanding their plasma lines/plants and bought patents to the pioneer plasma technology.

Panasonic has done so well this year they have been sold out of their large tv's 58 and 65 on both their low end and high end tiers. In fact they just raised the price on the 58/65 inch models on their empoyee pricing programs. Basically plasma is going no where until the next big technology jump (OLED is not there yet).

As to what's better that depends on the person. From a technical stand point though plasma will provide the most accurate picture/color representations.
 
Go to the store, compare plasmas vs. lcd's. That's it.

Don't listen to all the technical jargon and biased opinions.

It's for your eyes.

I prefer LCD's by faaar. I don't give a rat's ass about "accurate color production" yadda yadda yadda - I get that in real life and the movies is the distant second.

One flaw about plasma's I can't overlook - GLARE!!!

It's like a mirror.

But what ever, do not let anyone else be the judge other than you, in person, in front of the TV.
 
I know someone that keeps on telling me that LCD is a fake picture blah blah blah. As oatmeal said, get the picture you like. Myself, I prefer LCD because its bright and it pops out of the screen. Some people don't like that. Get whatever picture you like best.
 
I just got a Panasonic 42" plasma and it looks really really good. Exceeded my expectations. And that is before I did any adjustments.
 
BarneyFife said:
I know someone that keeps on telling me that LCD is a fake picture blah blah blah. As oatmeal said, get the picture you like. Myself, I prefer LCD because its bright and it pops out of the screen. Some people don't like that. Get whatever picture you like best.
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Keep in mind stores run their tvs in "store mode" Or affectionately known as "Torch Mode"

Marketing tells the mfgs that the brightest tv on the wall will get the most attention. Why do you think most high end samsungs are glossy now? Oo look at how bright that tv is...

That pop you so affectionately refer to will give you eye strain, make your sources look fake, give you false shadows, make your blacks look grey, and ruin your teeth!

Ok the teeth part is bs...

While I own a few lcds the plasmas are much more accurate and nuanced. My a650 sits unused because the g10 and pz still blow it away. Now I do like to game on my lcds but thats another story all together..
 
oatmealstorm said:
Go to the store, compare plasmas vs. lcd's. That's it.

Don't listen to all the technical jargon and biased opinions.

It's for your eyes.

I prefer LCD's by faaar. I don't give a rat's ass about "accurate color production" yadda yadda yadda - I get that in real life and the movies is the distant second.

One flaw about plasma's I can't overlook - GLARE!!!

It's like a mirror.

But what ever, do not let anyone else be the judge other than you, in person, in front of the TV.
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Worst advice EVER. Dont EVER compare in the retail store. Unless you can talk the sales person into giving you the remote for the two TV's you want to compare and get them out of retail mode, turn down contrast, etc. You *do* know about retail mode, right?

And sorry, but

I don't give a rat's ass about "accurate color production" yadda yadda yadda
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is absolutely asinine.

edit: oops didnt see manimal's response. So, +1. And yes, you may *think* you like torch mode...all bright and stuff...but what youre also looking at is blooming, and actually a pretty shitty picture. Once your picture is tuned in, when you watch HD it should look like youre looking out of a window at real life.
 
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The manufacturer wants you to leave the TV in "Torch" mode all the time, even after you get it home. It won't last as long this way forcing you to buy a new TV sooner. Go for it, enjoy your 'fake' image. I bet you like HDR photo's, too.

hdr-truck.jpg


To each their own.
 
oatmealstorm said:
Go to the store, compare plasmas vs. lcd's. That's it.

Don't listen to all the technical jargon and biased opinions.

It's for your eyes.

I prefer LCD's by faaar. I don't give a rat's ass about "accurate color production" yadda yadda yadda - I get that in real life and the movies is the distant second.

One flaw about plasma's I can't overlook - GLARE!!!

It's like a mirror.

But what ever, do not let anyone else be the judge other than you, in person, in front of the TV.
Click to expand...

Worst advice by far. Definitely go by what looks best to your eyes. However realize one key thing what you see in the store is not what you'll get at home. The extremely bright lighting of the stores makes torch mode look good in particular having so many tv's right next to each other.

If you get the tv home an in torch mode it's going to look much worse particularly at night.

For a nice comparison buy a lcd and plasma and put them in the same room. Return the one you don't like best.
 
I remember a while back someone mentioning that Plasma was pretty much the future of HDTV
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OLEDs are the future of HDTV, they have all of the strengths of LCDs and Plasmas without the weaknesses each tech suffers from.

as LCD's couldn't go any further than they currently had gotten.
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In terms of IQ, LCDs aren't going much further then XBR8s, but most LCDs aren't remotely close to that level yet. 3D TVs are going to start getting a big push this year, at the moment LCDs are looking like they will have a decisive advantage in that aspect.

are there things that LCD's are better at than plasma's, and vice versa?
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LCDs are better in any setting with large amounts of ambient light. When compared to lower end plasmas LCDs don't induce headaches due to refresh rate issues. At the highest end of the spectrum the Kuros edges out the XBR8 for IQ, but the differences are quite small. You can flip LCDs around as much as you want without worry, may sound like a minor issue but I have seen more then a couple plasmas destroyed because they weren't moved properly(you can not tip them too much). LCDs are rather easily superior in terms of power useage and can be quite a bit slimmer then plasmas. LCDs have no issues with image retention or burn in(which have improved with plasmas, but haven't gone away).

Plasmas are much, much cheaper to get a decent display. While the XBR8 is superior to most plasmas, its' cost is significantly higher(~$4K for a 50") then very good quality plasmas(although it isn't out of line with what the Kuros was selling for). A $1K plasma display on average will wipe the floor with a LCD in terms of contrast, killing them in black levels and eliminating the lag that can be seen on some LCDs while offering better colors most of the time. Plasmas have no issues with viewing angles and do not suffer from issues revolving around back lighting(bleeding, uniformity etc).

I'd say in a realistic assesment the biggest advantage plasmas have over LCDs is cost- but this ends up being a big advantage in a lot of other areas. Without local dimming tri color LED backlighting LCDs aren't competitive with plasmas on an IQ basis, and local dimming tri color LED backlighting more then doubles the price of the display. LCDs biggest advanatege over plasmas is there superiority with high amounts of ambient light(although curtains can take care of that for a lot less then the premium LCDs need to overcome their obstacle).
 
FWIW, we just bought the cheapest 50" plasma that Panasonic sells...their X1 series, 720p. Right out of the box the picture was amazing....with standard def Dish Network.

We had the HD Dish installed last week and WOW! the picture is fabulous. I did some research and have tried the adjustments suggested by CNet, and it has improved overall picture quality.
http://forums.cnet.com/hdtv-picture-settings-forum/?tag=hdtv;hdtv_l
(I made a couple of adjustments to their recommendations)

Yes, the one big drawback is glare...but in the room where we have the TV, it isn't a big factor. I think at the most, we have to move one lamp, or just not use that one at night when we watch tv.

We looked at HDTV's for nearly a year. (I have a long thread here about it) It's difficult to compare HDTV's in a store because of the way they have them set up, yet even so, it's surprising at the differences you will see in the store for picture quality.

(I'm still madly in love with the picture quality on the Mitsubishi 73" DLP at Costco...and it was only $1499 the other day when we were there...it just won't fit)
 
I've owned my plasma display for a year & a half now & I wouldn't trade it for any LCD. The colors are amazing, absolutely no motion blur whatsoever & the only complaint I have is when it's connected to my PC using HDMI. The text is awful, but everything else is fine, with the exception of not being able to play BF2. I use VGA for superb looking text & BF2 plays just fine. There are HDMI threads on the forums discussing the problem I referenced. Blu Ray, HD-DVD & Comcast HD all look amazing on my display.

I'm not saying LCD is crap because it's not, but IMO, plasma looks much better. I always tell people, if you truly want to know which looks better, go to your local Best Buy & watch a basketball game on a plasma display, then on an LCD.

It really is too bad that plasma is on its way out because it truly has evolved into great technology. Right next to LED, it's the best looking technology we have in our displays.
 
Huh? LED is LCD. You say Plamsa > LCD and at the same time LED LCD > Plasma...makes no sense. Now if you meant to say OLED, then maybe.
 
Sit the two best plasma and LCD TV's side-by-side in a 'real' room at you home, with both calibrated perfectly, and I don't see how anyone would choose the LCD.

And the 'cheap' plasmas just thump the 'cheap-to-mid' LCD's.


That said, all of them look good, so it's like speakers.....whichever one you like.
 
Sit the two best plasma and LCD TV's side-by-side in a 'real' room at you home, with both calibrated perfectly, and I don't see how anyone would choose the LCD.
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Ignoring price I think you would be shocked how many people would take the XBR8/XBR10 over the Kuros. The blue tints on the Elite models is a large turn off, the 72Hz refresh rate can be headache inducing(although not nearly as bad as Pannys 48Hz... ouch) and the whine they generate is annoying.

http://gizmodo.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/06/Bravia_Shootout_1.jpg

The display that chokes on black in that comparison shot is a Kuros. Now, when you take into account the $2K price premium, it makes things a bit more complicated. I've seen them calibrated side by side, I would take the XBR8 without hesitation over the Kuros. Better contrast, better colors, better blacks, no whine and no strobing effect from refreshes. Kuros has an edge in terms of blooming(XBR8 exhibits it very slightly, Kuros I couldn't see any) and a big price advantage(if you can still find one). Once you move to the XBR10 to the Kuros I think you have a much better comparison for the plasma. The XBR10 can't match the contrast or black levels of the Kuros, has more blooming then the XBR8(which is already worse then the Kuros) and is only equal in terms of color quality.

Once you step down to lower end LCDs like the Sammy 950s, XBR7s/XBR9s and the like then the field tips decidedly in favor of the plasmas, but in the top tier it really is far closer then you seem to be thinking.
 
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