LCD vs. plasma in a reasonably bright room

[Ken90630]

So I'm thinking about finally getting my first HDTV. I'm probably going to put it in my home office for awhile, and said office is reasonably well lit. It's not stark or blindingly bright (there aren't any fluorescent lights), and sunlight won't beam directly onto the TV, but the room has very good overhead lighting that suits my needs.

AFAIK, conventional wisdom has been that LCD TVs are generally better than plasmas in bright rooms because, well, they're brighter than plasmas. Is that still the case, or can today's better plasmas achieve comparable/acceptable brightness in bright rooms (without cranking the brightness & contrast settings up so much that the backlights burn out prematurely)?

My picture-quality preference would be to go with plasma, but not if it's going to look dim or washed out in a bright room. If it matters, the HDTV will be wall mounted ~ 6-8' from where I'll sit at my desk.

 

[queequeg99]

Brightness isn't the problem with plasmas in a well lit room. They are plenty bright. The problem is glare. For reasons which I have never bothered to investigate, plasma TVs tend to have mirrored screen finishes. I'm sure there is some terribly interesting engineering reason why this problem plagues plasmas and not LCDs but I don't really care for the details. The end result is that this issue tends to turn plasmas into mirrors to some extent in brightly lit rooms. Obviously, this is really bad if the light is behind the viewer. But even intense ambient light can cause distracting reflections.

That having been said, there are some mid to higher end plasmas that have anti-glare treatments. I would read up on these sets over at avsforum.com. The treatments have varying degrees of effectiveness. Additionally, I have read some reports that the treatments can be easily damaged (e.g. scratched) if applied as the final layer of the screen.

If the room is really terribly bright and you won't have any ability to control ambient light, I would strongly consider LCD.

All of the foregoing being said, I faced the same decision and eventually still went with a plasma. The daylight viewing conditions suck and I cannot control ambient light. But I don't watch TV during the day so I could rationalize a plasma purchase (one without any anti-glare treatment even). I've been totally happy with my purchase.

 

[SlickSnake]

The only other thing I would add is that plasmas have a better off center viewing angle than most lcds do. But, if you are expecting a lot of glare, that might not be that great of a benefit for you, since off center viewing will be washed out with light glare with a glossy screen.

 

[micrometers]

The only other thing I would add is that plasmas have a better off center viewing angle than most lcds do. But, if you are expecting a lot of glare, that might not be that great of a benefit for you, since off center viewing will be washed out with light glare with a glossy screen.

I'd say the biggest reason for going for plasma is that on a daily basis most people will spend all day in front of LCD screens.

For movie watching and stuff, don't you want a different screen?

 

[SlickSnake]

I'd say the biggest reason for going for plasma is that on a daily basis most people will spend all day in front of LCD screens.

For movie watching and stuff, don't you want a different screen?

Not necessarily. My Samsung 120hz LCD has black levels nearly approaching any plasma out there. And I fiddled around with and compared a plasma sitting right next to it before buying it. I find that having an exaggerated black level and color saturation to be distracting when watching a movie and I can't clearly make out details in dark scenes. Which is why I don't like to max out my contrast, which many plasma users seem to like. But I guess if you watch a lot of cartoons or play games on it an exaggerated black and color level might seem superior somehow. I also think the matte finish on my LCD which resists glare is superior to a glossy one reflecting room light from every angle.