PLASMA vs. LCD: Revisited

Good read: http://hometheaterreview.com/plasma-vs-lcd-revisited/

BigMarcus ~ EVO 4G LTE

One thing not mentioned in the article, nor in most articles comparing Plasma and LCD is viewing angle. Our home has an open floor plan with the kitchen, dining, living areas basically one big room. When watching TV from the living room we are looking nearly perpendicular (70 to 90 degree angle) to the screen. When watching from the dining room we are at an 45 to 60 degree angle. From the kitchen the angle nearly parallel to the screen (10 to 30 degrees). We picked our last plasma because it offered the best picture from all angles and distances. The LCD's were better for viewing only from nearly perpendicular angles.

Great point!

Could not be anymore pleased with my 60" Plasma. There is zero artifacting/ghosting. And the colors simply pop without any bleeding. Viewing angles are great as well.

BigMarcus ~ EVO 4G LTE

our primary THEATER tv is setup at a distance - our viewing angle is very narrow and we got a 65" LCD for that - our primary tv in the family room is still a Sony XBR in 47" - LCD again - it is now 7 years old - when it goes, we'll find a 50" with almost no bezel that will replace it - and given the advanced in plasma power consumption - I think I'll go plasma still...

3 years ago my uncle renovated their apartment and installed 2 TVs. 53" Pana Plasma in the living room and a 42" Sharp(?) LCD in the bedroom.

I tried to give them/him advice. Told him 53" might be too big for the living room, better put 50", and 42" too small, better put 46" and make it plasma, not LCD.

But the guy is stubborn. Told me he hired a professional installer who recommended him that stuff. Was kind of politely dismissive of my advice. As usual.

A couple of months later, and he is quietly complaining that the LCD has a angle issues that even when they are in bed, right from the center and from a certain height the picture degrades.

His wife bitches that the plasma is too large and the the LCD is too small. Years later, and his wife still bitches every time I visit, that the plasma is too large and that the LCD is too small and has an inferior picture quality.

The first time he said that to me, I said "I told you so, you didn't think I know what I'm talking about" with an understanding expression. But inside I was like this:

I guess things have gotten better in 3 years.

LCD technology has progressed so much in the last couple years that the higher-end Samsung/Sony units have black levels nearing those high-end Plasmas.

The downside to Plasmas still will be image burn-in, power consumption, and the fact that they are too heavy. Plasmas can't match the awesome viewing angles of new LCDs at all.

Good read though!

I've had my XBR Bravia for about 5 years now and it's still fine. I'm itching for a new LCD, but it still hasn't died. One of these days, I wish it would.

Not bad. Dad recently wanted to buy a TV and I told him that the sweet spot for 55" units was around $2500 for LCD. Compare with the 55" Panasonic ST30 I bought for just north of $800. He settled on an edge-lit Samsung.

Originally Posted by AutoUnion

.... Plasmas can't match the awesome viewing angles of new LCDs at all.

huh??? The biggest drawback to LCD is the narrow viewing angle. It does not compare to plasma that has no viewing angle drawbacks


One thing not mentioned in the article, is that LCD/LED work well in a bright room and plasma is better in a room that is dark or can be darkened. That should really be the primary deciding factor IMHO.

It seems most people want a thin TV panel and are willing to sacrifice some picture quality to get it....then add a Bose sound bar....

Originally Posted by Frank Rizzo

huh??? The biggest drawback to LCD is the narrow viewing angle. It does not compare to plasma that has no viewing angle drawbacks


One thing not mentioned in the article, is that LCD/LED work well in a bright room and plasma is better in a room that is dark or can be darkened. That should really be the primary deciding factor IMHO.

It seems most people want a thin TV panel and are willing to sacrifice some picture quality to get it....then add a Bose sound bar....

And don't forget that you need to recharge the gas in the plasma panel cells, because it leaks, every few years.

Originally Posted by Frank Rizzo

huh??? The biggest drawback to LCD is the narrow viewing angle. It does not compare to plasma that has no viewing angle drawbacks

While other drawbacks are potentially of greater issue to me personally, you sure are right about the viewing angles. Plasma retains near 99% color accuracy at even extreme angles, whereas with a number LCDs, if you're not dead straight on, it's not worth paying for better quality because the viewer would be missing out on a lot of what was paid for.

One thing not mentioned in the article, is that LCD/LED work well in a bright room and plasma is better in a room that is dark or can be darkened. That should really be the primary deciding factor IMHO.

But even this has caveats. It's true that if you have direct light hitting a plasma glass surface, you will likely see reflections, but really it's about each individual model. Some LCDs happen to be terribly reflective, others not so much. IOW, some plasmas out there are probably less reflective than certain LCDs, and it's not necessarily the cheaper LCDs that are so reflective, they were sometimes of the best quality available at the time.

IMO, plasmas have always been better than LCD, and will continue to be so for a long time to come. The only reason I could see choosing LCD over a plasma, is for close viewing computer monitors because you can get greater resolutions than 1080 with LCD. That's it, for me. Power consumption differences are there, but even those are exaggerated, at least they used to be. Plasma only uses the listed max energy consumption when it's displaying a full screen of brightest white, LCD is always using max because of the backlight (okay, I suppose less with locally dimming backlights).

FWIW, I don't sell TVs, I've never owned any flat panel TV set whether LCD or plasma, but am quite an AV nerd (really a projector guy).

Regarding Plasma not working well in well lit room:

Here my 3-4 years old plasma right now. Right next to the open window. It works well.




On the other hand, if you have a direct sunlight falling on the screen, it will not be comfortable to watch. But in that condition so would the LCD in a direct sunlight. All you need to look at is your LCD cellphone screen outside in a daylight to see how bad it is. Or your LCD laptop in the sun.

Glass screen cover (some LCD have those too) add its own effect. But even if you use your non glass, LCD laptop in the sun you'll have major issues.

And BTW, my Plasma is not set to torch mode. It is set to very low very gentle intensity level for better color accuracy. Still, no issues in the well lighted, next to the window location.

EDIT: BTW, the picture quality looks better. This is my cellphone camera messing it up a bit.

Until this thread I didn't know plasmas still existed. Shrug.

Originally Posted by brkf

Until this thread I didn't know plasmas still existed. Shrug.

Don't know why....

PLASMA is the Best PQ among all televisions! That's not my opinion... That is every TV, Home Theater, A/V enthusiasts, reviewer, sales person.... You get the picture! ;-)

And YES Matt, My Plasma has zero issues showing great in sunlight as well.

BigMarcus ~ EVO 4G LTE

I have a 50 inch Pioneer plasma. It's around 8 years old. Picture is still great.

Originally Posted by 330soon2b

I have a 50 inch Pioneer plasma. It's around 8 years old. Picture is still great.

Now THAT is saying something! Nice.

BigMarcus ~ EVO 4G LTE

Originally Posted by Ilovemycar

The only reason I could see choosing LCD over a plasma, is for close viewing computer monitors because you can get greater resolutions than 1080 with LCD.

FWIW, I don't sell TVs, I've never owned any flat panel TV set whether LCD or plasma, but am quite an AV nerd (really a projector guy).

Agreed. I dont think you can get a computer monitor in anything BUT a LCD now.....That's another one of my pet peeves....A 23" monitor 18 inches away from your eyes @ 1080 wont have near the impact of a 50" plasma @ 1080 that is 10 feet away. When the monitor is that small and close to your dome, the lines are already compressed and don't contribute as much as they do on a large real estate screen. Nobody wants to hear it. It's more important to say they have 240hz refresh rates on the flux capacitor. Marketing is alive and well in the flat panel display industry.

I dont sell TV's either, but am in an industry that buys a lot of them. About 6mos ago the panels became fair traded, so industry pros pay the same price as regular consumers. We end up buying a lot on Amazon now. I guess it had to happen...there was no profit left in the deals anymore.

FWIW, my main TV is a 4-5 year old Panny 58" pro piece that is only 720. Im a pretty big audio nerd myself. It's a sickness. Im lucky I work in a business that I can indulge myself.

Originally Posted by MatWiz

Regarding Plasma not working well in well lit room:

Here my 3-4 years old plasma right now. Right next to the open window. It works well.

I dont think I meant that plasmas did not work well in direct light...It's just LCD's work better.


.

Originally Posted by Frank Rizzo

FWIW, my main TV is a 4-5 year old Panny 58" pro piece that is only 720. Im a pretty big audio nerd myself. It's a sickness. Im lucky I work in a business that I can indulge myself.


I dont think I meant that plasmas did not work well in direct light...It's just LCD's work better.

.

Same here. That's the Panny Pro 50. UK9 I think. Double duty as a computer monitor. I still don't get what you say about the LCD is better, since I've experienced zero issues in well lot room. I mean, if the picture is perfect, there's no "better". Otherwise I'd think of adjusting for daylight and creating a menu item for it. Anyway, I'm not trying to negate what you're saying. I'm just adding a perspective from my own experience.

I used my DLP for video games until the color wheel broke (irreplaceable due to the cost). I'm still afraid of burn-in on a plasma, even though they say it's being mitigated...

Originally Posted by WileECoyote

I used my DLP for video games until the color wheel broke (irreplaceable due to the cost). I'm still afraid of burn-in on a plasma, even though they say it's being mitigated...

don't believe them - I played for 3 hours on a newer plasma and switched back to tv - you could see the controls burned in - they did go away - but it took 2 weeks... I was in the dog house until they did. That's why I play 1st person shooters on the 65" LCD now...

Originally Posted by MatWiz

Regarding Plasma not working well in well lit room:

Here my 3-4 years old plasma right now. Right next to the open window. It works well.




On the other hand, if you have a direct sunlight falling on the screen, it will not be comfortable to watch. But in that condition so would the LCD in a direct sunlight. All you need to look at is your LCD cellphone screen outside in a daylight to see how bad it is. Or your LCD laptop in the sun.

Glass screen cover (some LCD have those too) add its own effect. But even if you use your non glass, LCD laptop in the sun you'll have major issues.

And BTW, my Plasma is not set to torch mode. It is set to very low very gentle intensity level for better color accuracy. Still, no issues in the well lighted, next to the window location.

EDIT: BTW, the picture quality looks better. This is my cellphone camera messing it up a bit.

dude, hide those wires

Originally Posted by HGilmore

dude, hide those wires

Originally Posted by MatWiz

If you did care, and didn't want to deal with going through the walls, there are some wire management solutions as a compromise, like channels/tunnels.

http://www.standsandmounts.com/wiremanagement.aspx

Or you could even just use some techflex. Figure out the width you'd want, though unfortunately they're only sold in greater lengths, and I'm guessing you'd want white. It's handy stuff for bundling up certain bunches of wires in an organized fashion.

http://www.parts-express.com/brand/techflex/299

LG OLED TV's to go on sale in March in the USA.