Plasma or LCD TV???

[Cliff Rogers]

Looking at getting a new TV; any comments?

[dzcook]

have lcd myself think they are fine i really couldnt tell that much difference in the sets in the shop and the price was better for the lcd and i also understand the running costs on plasma is a lot more ( but i turn mine off at the wall anyway when not in use ) do lose a little bit when you arent sitting straight in front as they tend to ( blur fade ? ) when looking at them from a angle but i can live with that
just my 2 cents worth david

[Waldo]

Plasma, by far has the better screen image.

I'm using a Hi-Def 24" Apple LCD display on my Mac which I bought 3 years ago, it cost me a bomb, now if LCD TVs were to its equal then I'd go for a LCD TV, but they're far from it. Plasma is the way to go.

Have a look at this

http://www.cnet.com.au/tvs/0,239035250,240036500,00.htm

[Geoff Dean]

Spoke to the local repair guy about 6mths ago on this subject. His recommendation was LCD, they hardly repair any, whilst plasmas are always being repaired.

I have also heard that plasma technology has probably reached its peak and will be being phased out shortly whilst LCD is still being developed and will continue to be for some time.

Plasma better for fast action like sports (I think due to refresh rate)

LCD better for stuff like nature shows where depth of color is more critical

:D

[RufflyRustic]

I wasn't happy with the higher use of electricity, repair reports and a couple of house-burnt-down reports in regards to the plasma, so LCD was the only choice for us. No regrets whatsoever!

[BobR]

Cliff, the current Choice mag has a test on large TVs. As Wendy said, LCD use less power. Their top pick was a LCD followed by two plasma.

[Ashore]

LCD all the way , not only do plasma use more power ( and when carbon trading comes in cost go up again ) and they run hotter , so if its in a cabinet it needs more air space around it :2tsup:

[Rattrap]

go LCD for sure. as has already been said they use far less power & therefore produce much less heat & need to be serviced much less. As waldo has mentioned there is, or was an issue with picture quality if you're not sitting directly in front. this problem has been dramatically improved in later models. The picture quality loss is very minimal at wider angles. Go to a big TV retail store where they have the plazma & LCD side by side, you will still see that the plazma has a slightly sharper picture, VERY slight tho.
Personally for me LCD is the way to go without a doubt. I used to be an electronics tech with my own service shop a few years ago & tho i'm not deeply familar with either LCD or plazma, ( they were becoming popular as i was shutting down bis) the heat issue is a very important factor especally in Australia. Pretty much all TV brands in Australia haven't been designed for our climate & as a result component failure in the high temp areas of the power supply etc are very common. They were my bread & butter. My work load used to almost double thru the summer months of SA.

[Ellemcbeast]

Cliff,

I baulked for a long while about the choice of Plasma or LCD.

We bought a Sony Bravia 46", because it looked the best in the shop and it had enhanced movement capability, which is is important for watching sport.

I was immensely satisfied with the Olympic games experience and would strongly recommend the product to anyone who asks.

[RufflyRustic]

forgot to add that another big point for us getting the LCD is that the screen doens't suffer from glare as much as plasma screens do and as our lounge room suffers a fair bit of glare, well, not any more:)

[Cliff Rogers]

There is a $2700 differance.... that will buy a LOT of power & still leave change for the repairs. :unsure:

[Steve Fryar]

I was asked by a sales man at Harvey Norman if I had kids when faced with the same problem.I have two young boys.If a ball or something hard hits the LCD,it can damage the screen.Thats why he sold us a plasma instead.I'm happy with it.
Cheers, Steve.

[Shutterbug]

I'm a Pioneer convert.
Go to JB Hi Fi and look at a Pioneer Plasma Screen next to the others before making a decision. Not cheap though. (Of course!)
Five year warranty plus free delivery and installation.

Get the Choice review on TVs.

http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=106424&catId=100170&tid=100008&p=1&title=TV%3a+LCD+%26+plasma+127-132+cm+reviews

Mike

[clubbyr8]

Cliff,

I have a 50" Pioneer Plasma. Cost a bomb. Came with 5 year in home warranty. It is the best pircture I have ever seen bar none, especially on Blu-ray. It's teamed up with a Pioneer receiver (7.1) and all audio and video is run via HDMI. This plasma uses significantly less power than the previous generations.

Bob

[Rossluck]

Looking at getting a new TV; any comments?


Yeah: go for it Cliffie!


Seriously, we've had a Samsung plasma for about 5 years now. It's been brilliant and perfect.

[echnidna]

Looking at getting a new TV; any comments?

So yer giving up the forums ?????? :p

[Sprog]

The modern HD 100hz LCD tv's do not now suffer from motion blur, the picture is camparable to a plasma. Limit to screen size for an LCD, plasma has larger sizes.

They are both very good and you will be happy with either.

[rrich]

There is a $2700 differance.... that will buy a LOT of power & still leave change for the repairs. :unsure:

Cliff,
We looked and looked. Finally we went to a store that had almost every brand on display.

Our conclusion was:
If you have a glare free room capable of comfortable viewing a 105" set (Yeah almost 3m.) go with plasma.

If you are just normal folks and a tiny 46" set will fit your needs, go with LCD.

We got two, a 32" 720P for the bedroom (LG) and a 46" 1080P for the family room (Samsung). IMHO, the LG has better sound. Can't say what but it sounds better through hearing aids.

[rod1949]

When I got me tax cheque back (this year) I was in the market for an LCD and nothing else but Sony and I was prepared to wait to the after xmas sales. Then one day I seen the Goodguys August cataloge a
Sony KDL40X3100 40IN X SERIES FULL HD BRAVIA LCD HD1080 was advertised at around $2600 which was an extremly good price and the there's pay less for cash. I saved another $200 bucks. Nobody else could beat it, they'd match but not beat. I saved over $900 off the Sony RRP.

After my Daughter seen it she wanted one. The Goodguys didn't have any immediate stock so we went to Harvey Norman who had stock and played them off against the written price I had from the Goodguys. She got an exceptional deal which included HN's additional 4 year warranty for around the same $2400.

A word of advise check what the manufacturers charge for the extended warranties (5yrs) against the store warranties. Sony, and it on their website wants $600+. From HN it cost my daughter about $230, and when I realised this I went back to Goodguys pleaded my case/ignorance and they gave me theirs for around $400.

Incedently the TV has been bloody fantastic. Watching the Olympic's on it was bloody fantastic too.

[glock40sw]

We have a 42" LG Plasma and a 42" LG LCD.

I like the plasma. The missus likes the LCD. for watching TV

For watching DVD I like the LCD.

[Cliff Rogers]

I got an LG 42" LCD after all that.

The LG Scarlet 42LG61YD LCD Full HD LCD TV.
It has 1080p & TruMotion 100Hz & a pile of other stuff that doesn't mean much to me.

Also got a 6' HDMI cable & an LG RC389H DVD/VHS Combo DivX, USB, DV input HDMI it will record to DVD & has a Dub button to copy form VHS tape to DVD.

It is all hiding in the shed, I'll set it up tomorrow while Gina is at work. :wink:

[RufflyRustic]

Can I buy a vowel with that?:?:wink:

We got the Scarlet LG 46" LCD :)

Enjoy surprising Gina :2tsup:

[RETIRED]

I got an LG 42" LCD after all that.

The LG Scarlet 42LG61YD LCD Full HD LCD TV.
It has 1080p & TruMotion 100Hz & a pile of other stuff that doesn't mean much to me.

Also got a 6' HDMI cable & an LG RC389H DVD/VHS Combo DivX, USB, DV input HDMI it will record to DVD & has a Dub button to copy form VHS tape to DVD. This doesn't mean anything to me either.:D

It is all hiding in the shed, I'll set it up tomorrow while Gina is at work. :wink:Couldn't resist.

[glock40sw]

Cliff.....Don't take any notice of ...

He's Just being a Mongrel :D.

Not up on the Electronic Entertainment Lingo eh ....:no::2tsup:

[Cliff Rogers]

Does Google mean anything to you ? :wink:

[Geoff Dean]

Does Google mean anything to you ? :wink:

:? Do they make TV's? :?

[Cliff Rogers]

All set up & going. Awesome. :2tsup:

[Ironwood]

I'm just wondering if you still need a "set top box" if you buy one of these latest TV's. to get access to all the different channels.

I've still got a couple of old style TV's at my place, waiting for 'em to die so I can buy a big LCD, but they just seem to keep on going. :((

[RufflyRustic]

Not for the scarlet LGs, Ironwood


So Cliff, what was Gina's reaction?:)

[Cliff Rogers]

One of alarm initially... one of the other blokes at her work spent $7K on a big screen & big stack of HiFi/Video gear to go with it.... she calmed down a bit when I told her that it was THAT much. :D
This morning we had Rage on for the first time in many years. :p

[Rossluck]

One of alarm initially... one of the other blokes at her work spent $7K on a big screen & big stack of HiFi/Video gear to go with it.... she calmed down a bit when I told her that it was THAT much. :D
This morning we had Rage on for the first time in many years. :p

When we bought our plasma for $4000 5 years ago the way people reacted it was as if we'd bought a Roll Royce or something. But if the tv died tomorrow I'd be content in the knowledge that it provided good value. At the same time we bought the plasma my brother bought one of those projector screen models. He recently took it to the tip and bought an LG plasma.

So far as the difference between LCD and plasma is concerned, I don't think that it's all that important. I've looked at them in stores and I can't really tell the difference until I read the labels. The fact that the debate continues indicates the lack of a clear front runner.

[Cliff Rogers]

Once you know what to look for, you can see the reflections in a bright room on the plasma screens that the LCDs don't have but you can also see that the plasma screens have blacker black than the LCDs have in a dark room.

[losonogo]

i used to sell tv's for david jones and the questions i would ask people is when do you watch the most tv?
This was important as the the tvs project differently
If it was during the day (this lended itself to oldies more than the rest) - i would recommended lcds. The colours are vivid and compared to a plasma, brighter.
If tv was watched more at night then a plasma is definitely first choice as the colours are phenomenal!
Pioneer is premium, superb viewing experience for plasma - makes there own
Sony is biggest seller of lcds, very trusted by consumers - made by benQ
Panasonic best range for the masses- makes there own
lg and samsung - can you spot the difference? great for market competition - make there own
all the rest on the market are made by the above companies, great to know when getting a budget screen.

If your after a screen that dosent reflect light like glass? ask for a panel with a diffuser like panasonics current range or standard with sony's screens.

Best viewing for sport? who cares! most of the time you end up soo wasted or engrossed in debates with your mates, you never end up watching the screen that closely to notice any faults:) my favourite selling line, worked wonders!
Seriously, if u needed a screen dedicated to sport, get a panel with a quick refresh rate ie '2ms', they say the tail behind the ball greatly reduces with quicker refresh rate.
Keep in mind if you have eye problems or are wearing old glasses, this becomes irrelevant as most testing is done with 20/20 vision

The important thing to remember is once in your own home, you have nothing to compare it against like you would in a shop, so you WILL be happy with the choice no matter what (unless it stuffs up of course)
The rule definitely applies, buy middle of the range. This will ensure it doesent age as quickly and will have some cool features without being excessive.
One last tip if your not confident or want backup if something goes wrong, buy from a reputable dealer. They will go out of there way to help if you ask nicely!

[Cliff Rogers]

Good info. :2tsup: