Now, your treating yourself to a new HDTV, but your not sure which to get: LCD or Plasma? If you don't know, you've come to the right place. LCD Screens Liquid Crystal Display, aka LCD is powered by sandwiches of glass liquid crystal. Electrical charges are applied, and the LED backlights light up the glass sandwiches. The reason why LCD's have worse blacks than Plasma's is becasue the sandwiches are still being lit by the backlight. The biggest disadvantage LCD has is motion blur, that's when the picture is moving at an arguably fast rate that the picture is blurring. LCD Image fades slightly when seen from extreme angles from sides or from above or below. However, LCD screens have major advantages over Plasma: They are at almost no risk of getting burn-in, and the native resolution is usally higher, and LCDs are inexpensive whereas Plasmas could rip a hole in your wallet. Plasma Plasma TV's are powered by a matrix of millions of gas cells which are heated to create a picture. This means the blacks will be deeper becasue there is no backlight needed. Plasmas can be viewed from almost any angle, and has a richer color than LCD. However a major disadvantage Plasma has is that it is way more at risk to get burn-in, meaining if you leave the same non-moving image on the screen, the image will get burned into the screen, but most Plasma's today will fix the burn-in themselves if you leave it off for about 6-7 days. It also uses a whole lot more electricity than an LCD and is heavier. Plasmas are also usally more expensive than LCD. Also, Plasmas have a typically bigger screen size than LCD. And that's it. If you have a lot of money on you, you can buy a Plasma for the cinematic experience. If your on a budget but want great picture, get Plasma.
i kinda agrre with everything you stated except the price difference. my father just bought a samsung 50 wide screen plasma. granted its original price was $1699 on sale for $1399.with some talking them down we got it for $1180. now the samsung 52in wide screen LCD(couldnt find a 50in) that we were looking at also it was $2199 and they wouldnt budge on that price any. so even if the 50in we got wasnt on sale it was still $500 cheaper.. that s quiet the difference. im sure 2 inches in size isnt gona make up $500. i didnt know that about the burn in on the plasma's thats good info there. thanks
anyone know where i can get cheap lcd or plasma tvs from places like tigerdirect its for a ps3 thanks!
cincyrob is correct on the prices. Plasmas are a LOT cheaper than LCDs. I saw a 42" plasma panny on sale for $800 thursday in our newspaper-Conns I believe. And Plasmas do have a better picture. I bought an LCD just from the burn in worry but regret it now. My next one will be a plasma.
Plasmas aren't cheaper then LCD, only sometimes. Depends on the size and the year it came out. Plus, most of those plasma sets are only 720p. Most of these new LCDs coming out these days are working on their color reproduction. Soon, LCD will be better or in the same ballpark as plasma as far as contrast is concerned. I'm still waiting on the LaserVue line up.
I don't know where you live but inch for inch plasmas are cheaper in south Louisiana than LCDs. Yes measured in 720p. In 1080p plasma is cheaper also.
Prices still look high to me. Best set on there with a somewhat reasonable price was the 50" Samsung and it was on sale for 2399. All the others were either way too expensive, crappy brand, or 720p. And yes, I do want my sources to match up so I want a 1080p TV. Why buy into HD DVD or Blur-ray which outputs at 1080i/p, then have your tv downscale the image to 720p? Now go back to that website and look at any LCD in the same size and it's either around the same price, or cheaper. You have a much bigger selection with LCD so generally the prices will be the same or even better, cheaper. I'm not talking about items on sale either, look at any of the new LCDs compared to a new plasma.
First of all I'm not into the HD-Blu ray game and never will be. My 40" 720p Sammy has as good a picture that I'll ever need. HD channels are fantastic. And last year I paid a hellava lot more for the LCD than I would have for plasma. Circuit City is another where LCDs are more. So far I don't know of any close friends who have paid extra money for 1080p. That includes 60 somethings and 30 somethings. Rich and poor alike.
I'm sure they do look great on a screen that size, most 720p broadcasts will look better when displayed at it's native resolution. But now that we are talking 720p, most 720p LCD's are way cheaper then plasma. Any of those will be well under 1000 dollars and cheaper when on sale. It really all comes down to personal preference. I don't really care for either of those techs. Put a 65" Samsung DLP in front of me and I'll be ok. You get twice the screen size at about half the price of LCD or plasma and the picture quality is better IMO.
