Plasma, LCD, or LED LCD

Plasma - has burn in issues, cheap for a reason
LED - still too expensive, differences between LED and LCD aren't especially noticeable unless you're looking at them side by side.
LCD - best choice for most

 

If you buy a cheap Plasma you get burn issues. I have a very nice Panasonic plasma which is touted as one if the best precisely because it doesn't suffee from burn issues. For my money Plasma offees the best all round performance if you are playing games and HD movies. LCD is the best choice if tou are just concerned about gaming. LED has yet to convince me. I think the colours and blacks in LED are outstanding but on all the sets i've looked at they have this awful motion issue which looks like the movie is some super cheap POS shot on video. I've got a feeling it's like a 120hz or higher refresh rate that causes it. No doubt you could turn it off but i'd have to see what it looks like before I'd buy one.

 

Yeah it's odd that we've come to associate higher framerates with cheap video. Don't lcds have smaller pixel majoggys than plasma?

 

I decided to go with an LED LCD this year when I upgraded my TV. I haven't experienced any problems with the quality of motion on the display, and it consumes about 40W less electricity than my old LCD even though the screen is 8" larger. Pretty good...it's a Sharp Quattron.

 

How come LCD is best for gaming? We'll probably look to get a new main TV over the next year or so and a friend was convincing me an expensive plasma is the one to go for. Any truth in that? I'm well out of the loop regarding AV stuff so I've no idea if he was talking shit or not.

 

I have a 52" LG 1080p/120hz LCD that I picked up as a discontinued floor model at Compusa/Tigerdirect for $800. It's gigantic and looks great and I don't see myself upgrading anytime in the foreseeable future.

 

I've got a 42" LG set, same spec, for my games room. Had it for 3 years (can't believe it's been that long) but it's got a great HD picture. SD is pretty decent but I'd want better when getting a new main TV.

 

What are your thoughts on 3D TVs? I think the whole 3D thing is a passing fad.

 

The refresh rate on plasmas can cause some artefacting or trailing on games that are particularly fast; I've noticed it in a couple of games on my Panasonic. LCD's usually have blazingly fast response times so it's not an issue. Even on my older Sony LCD games run perfectly.

I guess it's all down to what you want from your TV. I enjoy movies as much as I enjoy my games and for me I want something that can really do both well. Although LCD's are good for movies too I find the colour and contrast on Plasma TV's to be better. It's just a personal choice though I think.

 

Cheers for that. I couldn't remember what the LCD advantage was when he was telling me; must have been refresh rates then. I'm dreading getting a new main TV; I hate researching all the options but I don't want to buy a dud. Tsk.

 

Unless you buy from some knockoff Walmart brand, I don't think you'll get a dud. Most brand name TVs look pretty good these days.

 

The 120hz doesn't give it that VHS soap opera look. Alot for the 120hz tv's don't do a 5:5 24fps output. They apply some real-time software processing to deal with the 3:2 pull down. Not only is that weird to watch, but when it starts to auto-correct things that don't need to be corrected, it gets annoying real fast.

"True" 120hz tv will display smoother 24fps (some blu-rays) video without the soap opera effect. But you need the stars in alignment, with the correct tv and correct blu-ray. I bet it isn't worth it to most.

 

I have noticed puxels are larger on plasmas, which seems to be why they're never smaller than about 40". LCDs are finer so they've squeezed down into the 20-30" for a 1080p set.

 

I know that in general, Plasma TV's are designed to handle very fast motion on screen and mine is superb when it comes to watching football and movies but in games I see some weird trailing sometimes. It's supposedly something to do with phosphor trailing and apparently most people don't see it but you get the odd one, (me), cursed with super sensitive eyes who see it. It's generally seen when I'm playing a game and the camera or scene shifts very quickly. It's also a side effect of having your contrast too high. Like I said, I don't see it all the time but I do occasionally see it.

However, Plasma would always be my first choice over LCD simply because I think the colours and contrast are superior; black looks black on my Panny where they look Grey/Dark Grey on the Sony LCD.

 

Prior to buying my current edge lit Sharp Quattron, I read alot of conflicting information regarding edge lit vs. back lit. Some people claimed that edge lit screens had uneven lighting and that back lit was superior, but I previously had a back lit screen and I can't see any quality reduction with my new edge lit. If anything, it seems significantly better than my old screen. Maybe the 1st generation of LED LCD's had a problem with it.