Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater lcd vs plasma??

I'm considering buying either one not sure which is better for a normally lit room (Apartment) room size is L19'x 11'L I have 2 questions. 1. Which is better( LG or Panasonic, any other brands to look at?)2. what would be the right screen size I'd be sitting about 6-7 ft away from TV. Thanks for your help.

Bruce, by no means am I an expert, but I'll give you my thoughts. I just recently bought an LCD tv and spent plenty of time staring at different models. Here's what I noticed:

Plasmas had a bit more vibrant color representation. Downside is that most have a highly reflective glass screen--you really need to be aware of light sources in your room. An LG model had a coating to reduce glare. I don't think any of the other brands had this.

LCDs don't have quite the color or deep black as the plasmas, but they are pretty darn close. In terms of brands, I liked Sony, Samsung, and LG. The Toshibas seemed to have a greenish tint to the color--this I saw at a couple different stores. What I don't quite get is that most stores get one HD feed for 30-50 TVs. Yup, the signal gets split umpteen times and ends up looking like poo. Keep that in mind when looking, and, more importantly, spend some time trying to adjust the picture settings yourself. Most display TVs are not calibrated.

In the end, I went with a Sony KDL-40V2500. I have a couple of things against Sony, but dang it, the picture on this TV just looked better than the others. The Samsungs and Sharps did not have quite as crisp of a picture, but this may be remedied by some adjustments.

Bang for your buck has got to be LG. Both plasmas and LCDs had very nice pictures for less money than the other big name players.

I sit about 8 feet from my TV and initially I bought a Sharp LC32D62U (32"), but felt it was a bit too small. My current Sony is 40", and for my viewing distance I feel it is just right. I'd think you'd be okay with 42", but anything more may not look as good.

Like I said, I'm no expert, but those are my findings.

I agree with the size/distance ratio you just mentioned. I have a 42" plasma and sit at 10 feet and it seems to be perfect. If you are watching regular TV on any larger a set I feel the picture gets a little fuzzy.

I also have a 32" LCD. I prefer the colors on the plasma, but as mentioned before, if you have too much natural light in the room it will reflect on the plasma glass screen. Our room is quite dark so that was not a concern.

Bruce,

The LCD will be much better in a normally lit room as yours. I really hated screen reflections of the plasmas, but they are currently the better $$$ value!

Sitting 6-7ft away, I'd make sure to get a 1080P set if you go 40-42" size, as anything less than 1080P may show pixelation! However, a 32" to 37" in a 720P set would also look nice a that distance!

Whatever brand you choose (Samsung-Sony-Pany-LG), get as high a CR (contrast ratio) as you can...wide lighting dynamics (blacks to whites) will be the greatest and yield the best PQ!

Good Luck,

Ted

Bruce, at that distance a 37" should be fine and this one would be a good buy.

Always buy an LCD over a plasma. LCD's use much less electricity to run and will cost you much less over time. Plasma is heated gas, so the monitor has to first heat the gas to display the image, then fans have to cool the TV so it won't overheat. Think about how much energy it takes to have a device that has to heat up and keep cool at the same time. The problem has gotten so bad that in places like the UK, the British government has warned people to stop buying plasma TV's or else they'll have no choice but to open 2 new nuclear power plants! A 65’ plasma TV uses 1100 watts of power every hour!

In comparison, there are several brands of LCD TV's that are Energy Star rated.

Bruce,

The choice is really personal preference. At 10 ft, 1080p doesn't matter - you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 780p / 1080p. Additionally, that distance would favor a 50" over a smaller TV. With TVs, you can't get them "too big".

Assuming picture quality and reliability are the key drivers for you, my thoughts:

LCD is usually better for a bright room, plasma if the room is somewhat light controllable (no direct sunlight/reflections)

For LCD, the choice is Sony with Sharp coming in 2nd. Both are a bit pricey.

For plasma, panasonic and pioneer. They have the best blacks, colors and contrast. Plus, the reliability is terrific. A couple of my friends have LG plasmas and they look a bit washed out (and they both have had problems with the TV).

I bought a 50" Sony Grand Wega LCD (2nd gen) 3 1/2 years ago. Then I got a 42" panny plasma for the great room. In January, I sold the 50" Sony and got a 58" panny plasma. Very happy with the plasma.

If you opt for a plasma, panny has consumer models (PX and PZ in the model numbers)and commercial/professional (PF and PH in the model number) models.

The differences are that the professional doesn't have a stand, speakers or a tuner. If hooking up to a receiver/speaker system and a cable/satellite box, you save money.

Visual Apex has the panny plasmas at excellent prices and Reseller Ratings has them ranked 9.5 out of 10 for Customer Service and satisfaction.

Good luck with the choice.

Bruce,

Here's a good relationship chart for viewing distance\screen size\resolution needs:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.png

Ted

I would disagree that plasmas are much more expensive to run than LCD. All the new Panny plasmas are energy star rated and have similar power consumption than their LCD counterparts.

Panasonic UK site.

I'd take the performance, colours, and faster response time in plasma over LCD any day.

If you are in a brightly lit room with no ability to control the light, then LCD will suit you better.