The eternal debate LCD or Plasma

TheMafioso

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Jun 2, 2005
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Hi Guys,

I'm looking to buy my first big screen TV...I wanna know which technology I should go for..
Problem here is budget constraint...I can accommodate a 37'' LCD or 42'' Plasma but not a 40'' LCD...

My requirements, in order of priority are as follows:

1. Watching Movies (mainly divX rips of SD DVD's via HTPC)
2. Standard Defination TV Broadcast, don't have hd broadcasts in my country yet...
3. Gaming (via HTPC for now, may add a Wii or x360 later)
4. HD Rips

I'm itching towards going the plasma way as I'm getting a bigger screen but the plasma I'm getting in my budget are entry level Panasonic and Samsung models whose panel resolution is 1024x768 while LCD panel is 720p or 1080i capable...while this maybe good as I won't have to invest in a very powerful graphics card in the HTPC to play games, but is this gonna affect the quality of HD content that I'm gonna see on it...
I mean will the 720p HD Rips will look more good on the LCD compared to the Plasma?
My viewing distance would be around 10 feet...

Also if someone give me brief pros and cons of LCD and Plasma, i would be grateful...
Regards,



 

olds

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Mar 3, 2000
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It's been asked a million times. People are probably bored with it.
 

TheMafioso

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Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
It's been asked a million times.

which leads to lot of confusing & contradicting information too :)
anyways can anybody clarify about the resolution part of my query...will 720p video look more good on LCD compared to that of plasma or will it be barely noticable?
 

olds

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Mar 3, 2000
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Originally posted by: TheMafioso
Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
It's been asked a million times.

which leads to lot of confusing & contradicting information too :)
anyways can anybody clarify about the resolution part of my query...will 720p video look more good on LCD compared to that of plasma or will it be barely noticable?

I don't disagree with you, I was just responding to your question.
:p

 

Slammy1

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Apr 8, 2003
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Too many variables. Room lighting, sources, brand, cost, personal experience. Both have advantages. Go check them out at a retailer, build your opinion on preference.
 

vi edit

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With a bulk of your content coming from a HTPC or a gaming console I think you are better off with an LCD.
 

TheMafioso

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^^I've been reading some threads on avsforum, they all seem to agree on plasma is better for console gaming :confused:
 

vi edit

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Originally posted by: TheMafioso
^^I've been reading some threads on avsforum, they all seem to agree on plasma is better for console gaming :confused:

I own a plasma screen. I've gamed on two different branded plasma screens. Most of them suffer image retention in gaming. This is like "burn in lite" where bright, static parts of the image "stick".

When I play rock band, the bright white "ROCK BAND" logo will stick to the black background in the song selection screen. When I'm on song selection screen the city name that I am touring will stick on the actual in-game playing part. Other games that have a HUD or some sort of static image that stays put will do the same thing.

It goes away if you have a full screen movie/video playing for a few minutes, but it's still sort of annoying and a bit scary.

I've got the brightness and contrast cranked way down and followed the proper "break in" techniques but it is still an issue.

I haven't experienced that problem with a number of LCD TV's that I've gamed on. But my biggest problem LCD's is that movies and regular TV watching just doesn't have as natural of a picture as Plasma.

Each has their tradeoffs.
 

TheMafioso

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hmm...almost all of burn-in issues have resolved in mordern plasma screens selling thesedays, especially from tier 1 manufactures like panasonic, samsung...isn't that true?
 

zinfamous

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it looks like you'll be gaming with your PC--so you probably want to stick to 1080p. In those size ranges, for anything else I would say you are fine with 720p. In which case, go with the 42" Plasma. bigger, and it's plasma. I think plasma does just fine with gaming, as they tend to handle motion better than current LCDs.

One thing to remember is that Plasma panels are ~2-4 generations ahead of LCD in terms of production. LCD is quickly catching up, however, and many industry folks estimate that they will hit the plasma PQ specs by sometime next year.

and yes; absolutely no need to worry about burn-in with plasma. I game on my 42" Samsung, and I've never had a problem.
 

vi edit

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Originally posted by: TheMafioso
hmm...almost all of burn-in issues have resolved in mordern plasma screens selling thesedays, especially from tier 1 manufactures like panasonic, samsung...isn't that true?

Burn-in is permanent. Rentention is short term. And it affects most of them from what I've seen & read. LCD isn't as (if at all) susceptible to this.

That's really the only reason that I suggest LCD for display that will mainly be used for gaming & HTPC applications.

I do about 80% Movies/TV and 20% gaming so I put up with the shortcomings of the Plasma for the 20% that I use it. And it's really only bad in a handful of games that have very bright static images.
 

zinfamous

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Jul 12, 2006
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Originally posted by: vi_edit
Originally posted by: TheMafioso
hmm...almost all of burn-in issues have resolved in mordern plasma screens selling thesedays, especially from tier 1 manufactures like panasonic, samsung...isn't that true?

Burn-in is permanent. Rentention is short term. And it affects most of them from what I've seen & read. LCD isn't as (if at all) susceptible to this.

That's really the only reason that I suggest LCD for display that will mainly be used for gaming & HTPC applications.

I do about 80% Movies/TV and 20% gaming so I put up with the shortcomings of the Plasma for the 20% that I use it. And it's really only bad in a handful of games that have very bright static images.

I concur. I should have mentioned that there is IR on certain games that I have played-mostly from the menu screen, but it goes away after a few seconds of a new, moving image. I use it about as much for games, if not less, so it doesn't really bother me.
 
Jul 10, 2007
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plasma's have darker blacks, better viewing angles and livelier picture (imo).

lcd's have to worry about ghosting, 24p for movies but are better in bright rooms and consume slightly less power.

personally, i will be going for lcd in the bedroom and moving the plasma to the living room, mostly due to the way my rooms are laid out.
 

TheMafioso

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hmm...I will be placing the TV in my bedroom which would mean low amount of ambient light..
Should I go for LCD instead then, LCD though expensive but still not much difference in the prices...I'm worried about the power consumption part as I plan to run the TV from UPS sometimes during power faliures..