Low-end 55" LCD vs. middle-range 46"

[Knavish]

Now I'm seeing quite a few 55" edge-lit LED LCDs well below $1500, for example (from Ben's Bargains):

• Sharp Aquos LC-55LE620UT 55" 1080p 120Hz LED LCD HDTV $1180 at Dell
• LG 55" 55LH85 2.7ms 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV $1300
• Toshiba 55UL605 55" 1080p 120Hz LED LCD HDTV $1209 at BuyDig.com

Do you think these are exceptionally lower quality (picture or reliability) vs. a 46" edge lit LED LCD like a:

• Samsung UN46C6300 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV $1080 at Amazon
• LG 47LE5400 47-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV $1050 at Amazon
• Sony BRAVIA KDL46EX710 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED $1125 at Amazon

...I'm tempted by the 50" Panasonic Plasma deals out there, but I've basically convinced myself that the potential for burn in is a concern since this TV will be used 50+% of the time for gaming.

 

[novasatori]

if you're not looking for 3d i would get the 55 vizio with full arry led back lighting
I think its like $1300

 

[Nebor]

Burn in doesn't seem to be bad with my new(ish) plasma but temporary image retention is pretty bad. I haven't played any games on it, but it might effect them.

I'd go for the 55" Vizio or LG.

 

[Emulex]

58-60 plasma will cost less and be far better. panasonic or LG talking

 

[HomerSapien]

I have the 42" S2 panasonic and have not had a problem with burn in, but then again we dont watch for long periods of time and the video games is usually a game of base ball a few times a week.

If you are really paranoid about it, go to avsforums and research burn in / image retention prevention.

 

[Knavish]

If this TV was for 80% movies / tv, I'd get a Panasonic plasma. I've read too many comments on different forums where people talk about video game logos / health bars / gauges getting "retained" on the screen for many hours after just playing for a couple hours in an evening. This is why I'm thinking LCD is the correct choice.

This is a really good article on TV gimmics that are used to sell new screens:
Display Myths Shattered: How Monitor & HDTV Companies Cook Their Specs

After reading that, I've decided that Quattron, refresh rates over 60Hz, and most anything else you see printed on a TV ad are junk. 3D and internet apps are real features, but I (personally) don't like 3D and the apps are redundant when you've got a Xbox360 or PS3 plugged in.

I'm pretty sure that black levels on a really high end array-backlit TV and on plasma are superior to regular LCD, but I don't think I'd be able to see this in a big-box electronics store. My eyes don't bleed when I watch movies on my CCFL 24" IPS computer monitor, so I'm thinking that I'd value size over plasma or array LED backlighting.

As far as reliability, Consumer Reports' statistics only show Westinghouse, Polaroid, and Mitsubishi as being lesser brands. All others are equivalent.

 

[mmntech]

I bought the 26'' version of that edge lit LED. Honestly, I wasn't impressed with it. At least as a TV. I'm using it as a monitor now.

I'm tossing my hat into the plasma camp. All LED has going for it over plasma is lower energy usage. Plasma still has the best blacks and highest refresh rates out of the flat panel displays. They're fairly inexpensive now too.

 

[Emulex]

no kidding and the thickness. my 60" LG is 2" thick - and the power is only based on the brightness. so unless you watch a full bright white screen 24 hours a day - i doubt you'll feel the pain. also in this cold weather i'm guessing some of that heat might be re-used lol.

i lived with S-IPS For 5 years and am loving plasma. the 42" to 60" was the best judgement call and i went with the cheaper LG 60PX950 (2 free glasses) to get 60" over the same price for a 50" Panasonic - i'm glad i did. 3D i've watched avatar twice and coraline a few times but otherwise the 3D is just that. unused.

3D units require higher refresh rates (plasma is faster than IPS lcd). Well active shutter needs the faster refresh. this also reduces image rentention.

btw i've had this plasma since xmas and i use it the same way as i use my old westy 42" and i've never seen any Image retention. serious hype or the orbiter does its job

 

[s44]

refresh rates over 60Hz

If you watch films, this (5:5 or 10:10) is a real feature.

 

[monkey333]

Got a Sony nx810 46 inch for 1500, it's awesome. Hooks wirelessly to my sever and plays all of my media without a pc...

 

[0roo0roo]

depends entirely on how far away you sit

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

For someone coming from a Sony 32" XBR to an LG Plasma 3D 50PX950 I instantly notice watching pretty much anything how much more uniform and darker the blacks are. I do ocassional game on the TV and have no problems with lag either on the LCD or Plasma.

3D is a risky investment, it will take years before it mature (if we even get there) as adoption rate is less than desirable. Where we really need to be is to be able to view 3D content without the use of glasses. Early adopters are slowly forging ahead, where we end up is anybody's guess.

 

[JackBurton]

If you want the worst 3D performance, get an LCD. If you want the best 3D performance available, get a plasma, with Panasonic having the best implementation of 3D.

If you don't care about 3D, I'd still recommend a plasma, Panasonic specifically, and even more specific, a GT30 (soon to be available). And let me point out, not all plasmas are created equal. If you are concerned about IR, Samsung plasmas are the worst. They've improved over the years, but if I was planning to play a lot of games on it, I'd go for a Panasonic. If you HAVE to have something now, I'd recommend a Panasonic GT25 (3D) or G25. Either one would be great for movies and gaming.

 

[Nebor]

Rather than being the type of person (this thread seems to be full of them) that simply praises their own choices because it's THEIR choice, I'll tell you that I went with plasma over LED because of the price difference and the inability to see them side by side in a store. I had to make my choice entirely online. Coming from an LCD, the Plasma just seems much more "precious" (in UK lingo.) If you let anything bright sit on the screen for more than 30 seconds or so, it'll retain that image for another minute. I haven't experienced any permanent retention, but I find it very annoying. I was playing plants vs. zombies on it for 3 hours the other night with a friend, and then we decided to watch a movie. Naturally we now had both the sidebars caused by the 4:3 aspect ratio of plants vs zombies clearly visible on the blu-ray movie, but also the faint impressions of sunflowers and pea shooters and the swimming pool.

People talk about black levels and such, but I don't really notice a difference. Or at least, I don't notice a difference that outweighs the annoying issue of image retention.

 

[Knavish]

Rather than being the type of person (this thread seems to be full of them) that simply praises their own choices because it's THEIR choice, I'll tell you that I went with plasma over LED because of the price difference and the inability to see them side by side in a store. I had to make my choice entirely online. Coming from an LCD, the Plasma just seems much more "precious" (in UK lingo.) If you let anything bright sit on the screen for more than 30 seconds or so, it'll retain that image for another minute. I haven't experienced any permanent retention, but I find it very annoying. I was playing plants vs. zombies on it for 3 hours the other night with a friend, and then we decided to watch a movie. Naturally we now had both the sidebars caused by the 4:3 aspect ratio of plants vs zombies clearly visible on the blu-ray movie, but also the faint impressions of sunflowers and pea shooters and the swimming pool.

People talk about black levels and such, but I don't really notice a difference. Or at least, I don't notice a difference that outweighs the annoying issue of image retention.

And this is exactly what I'm wary of.

 

[Auric]

Edge-lit ain't for quality (indeed may be worse than CCFL). Recently got the local dimming XVT553SV and would recommend it. Have not seen it for $1300 mentioned but $1450-1650. Snubbed the 554 (3D) due to the glass screen. Only downside is the glossy bezel but apparently ya can't have everything (realized after mucho research). One caveat is some users experiencing a so-called blooming effect which seems related to a poor viewing angle (neither issue here). Check out the thread at avsforum, user reviews at amazon, and pro reviews elsewhere including cnet and hometheatermag.

 

[JackBurton]

Rather than being the type of person (this thread seems to be full of them) that simply praises their own choices because it's THEIR choice, I'll tell you that I went with plasma over LED because of the price difference and the inability to see them side by side in a store. I had to make my choice entirely online. Coming from an LCD, the Plasma just seems much more "precious" (in UK lingo.) If you let anything bright sit on the screen for more than 30 seconds or so, it'll retain that image for another minute. I haven't experienced any permanent retention, but I find it very annoying. I was playing plants vs. zombies on it for 3 hours the other night with a friend, and then we decided to watch a movie. Naturally we now had both the sidebars caused by the 4:3 aspect ratio of plants vs zombies clearly visible on the blu-ray movie, but also the faint impressions of sunflowers and pea shooters and the swimming pool.

People talk about black levels and such, but I don't really notice a difference. Or at least, I don't notice a difference that outweighs the annoying issue of image retention.

AGAIN, not all plasmas are created equal. Samsungs are the worst with IR. Panasonics handle IR MUCH better and Pioneers are the best (no longer in production though). You have a Samsung, so experiencing IR is not really surprising. I have a Pioneer and just got done playing 5+ hours of Resident Evil 5. Not a single trace of IR. My recommendation for preventing IR? Get a Panasonic and have it calibrated. You should be good to go after that.

Samsungs also have among the worst black levels so you not noticing a difference in black levels is not surprising. With my TV, when I watch content with black bars in a pitch black room, those black bars pretty much disappear in the dark. THAT is what blacks should look like. Panasonic's new GT30 sounds like it may have a good initial black level from what I'm reading, but Panasonic has a bad reputation for rising blacks over time so we'll have to see if it is more of the same with their new panels. Good news is, they MAY have fixed this issue with their new models.

So again, if you want a nice panel, you're going to have to pay for it. And IMO, a Panasonic G series is pretty affordable. If you want something even better, get a V series.

FYI, Amazon has Panasonic's 50" G25 on sale for ~$1000 now. But you can have the GT25 (3D display) for just ~$200 more. I'd either go with the GT25 or wait for the GT30.

 

[NAC]

I have a 6 year old Panisonic Plasma. I love it. I've never seen any image retention, and have no evidence of burn in. TV is used perhaps 20% for Wii.

 

[Nebor]

AGAIN, not all plasmas are created equal. Samsungs are the worst with IR. Panasonics handle IR MUCH better and Pioneers are the best (no longer in production though). You have a Samsung, so experiencing IR is not really surprising. I have a Pioneer and just got done playing 5+ hours of Resident Evil 5. Not a single trace of IR. My recommendation for preventing IR? Get a Panasonic and have it calibrated. You should be good to go after that.

Samsungs also have among the worst black levels so you not noticing a difference in black levels is not surprising. With my TV, when I watch content with black bars in a pitch black room, those black bars pretty much disappear in the dark. THAT is what blacks should look like. Panasonic's new GT30 sounds like it may have a good initial black level from what I'm reading, but Panasonic has a bad reputation for rising blacks over time so we'll have to see if it is more of the same with their new panels. Good news is, they MAY have fixed this issue with their new models.

So again, if you want a nice panel, you're going to have to pay for it. And IMO, a Panasonic G series is pretty affordable. If you want something even better, get a V series.

FYI, Amazon has Panasonic's 50" G25 on sale for ~$1000 now. But you can have the GT25 (3D display) for just ~$200 more. I'd either go with the GT25 or wait for the GT30.

"Blah blah blah MY TV is the BEST TV because I am so smart, S-M-R-T! "

My recommendation for avoiding image retention? Don't get a plasma. You can let an image sit on your LCD for 2 weeks and not worry about retention\burn in.

 

[Chapbass]

"Blah blah blah MY TV is the BEST TV because I am so smart, S-M-R-T! "

My recommendation for avoiding image retention? Don't get a plasma. You can let an image sit on your LCD for 2 weeks and not worry about retention\burn in.

Wow, talk about a childish response in response to a post that's pretty much spot on...

 

[Nebor]

Wow, talk about a childish response in response to a post that's pretty much spot on...

As far as credibility goes, I think you're likely to get a much more honest response from someone who's bought something and is unhappy with it than someone who has bought something and is still trying to convince themselves that it's awesome.

Oh, and I did all the "break in" slides that I was told to, and the calibration. The TV isn't super horrible, but I really only use it around ~2 hours in the average week. I imagine if I were a heavier user I'd be less happy with it.

 

[manimal]

Image retention unless you are a complete idiot is a non factor with plasmas....seriously stop the shens....


best value in your price range is a panny 65...

 

[0roo0roo]

no slides, no problem either, just didnt' do anything bone headed early on.

 

[JackBurton]

"Blah blah blah MY TV is the BEST TV because I am so smart, S-M-R-T! "

My recommendation for avoiding image retention? Don't get a plasma. You can let an image sit on your LCD for 2 weeks and not worry about retention\burn in.

No, you are just an uninformed consumer pissed about his uninformed decision. You created a thread a few months ago asking for people's advice on what technology to go with plasma or "LED." You didn't know what you were talking about then, and you don't know what you are talking about now. That is why you were asking for advice. What, because you bought one plasma, you think you are an expert on all plasmas now? The ONLY thing you are qualified to comment on is your experience with YOUR particular model plasma. That's it! I already explained with FACTS why you were experiencing what you were experiencing with your plasma. And your response pretty much amounted to what a little kid would do when he was confronted with something he didn't want to hear. You can plug your ears with your fingers and scream, "lalalalalala" all you want, but it won't change the facts. Next time do more research on what your buying and you won't be surprised with what you get.

And FYI, the "break in" slides are not designed to prevent IR or BI. Another example of your lack of knowledge on the topic.

 

[Knavish]

While I am going with an LCD, I'm still curious about Plasma break-in. None of the manufacturers recommend this. I wonder how much of this is a psychological thing vs. getting real results. (meaning ... It feels good to do some special maintenance procedure to the $1000-$2000 favorite piece of new equipment to make sure it is in top condition, kind of like paying for special paint sealant from the dealership for a new car.)

If the screen has to burn-in, to me this implies that the pixels are extra sensitive for the first XXX hours. If the pixel is so much more sensitive, wouldn't is also be brighter during this period? Does the TV lose 10% of its initial brightness while burning in, and then it reaches a stable period? I'd love to see someone confirm this with an optical power meter, color calibrator, or even a Kill-a-watt to show that the output characteristics change or that it changes its power consumption.