LCD, Plasma or LED and on a budget

Bikertov

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Panasonic Plasmas are very good, as are Sony and Samsung LCDs
They all have their good and bad points
....
Purely from a gameplay point of view you would probably be best going with the plasma as they have very little 'lag'. Id recommend NOT going with a Samsung as they have some awful lag (model depending).

Just curious why you recommend Samsung in one sentence, but then not the next ? Or are you suggesting just not Samsung for gaming because of the lag ? (re-read your comment about purely gameplay, but want to make sure ...)

Bikertov

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

My old TV has been written off and so I am due to get a warranty payout. The condition of this policy however is the payout of circa £650 is in argos vouchers.

Not a technical comment, but more financial ...

If you do use the vouchers to buy the TV from Argos, don't pay ALL of it in vouchers - pay SOME of it (even £10) by credit card (NOT a Debit card).

WHY ?

Because you will then get protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act (look elsewhere on this forum for more details). In case of future problems, the Credit Card company will be joinly liable, as the item was over £100, and at least some of it was paid by the Credit Card.

With more and more TV's and other large, expensive electronic items (eg games consoles) failing prematurely, this is a valuable protection to have. Especially as retailers are going to the wall more and more, and manufacturers washing their hands of warranty claims where at all possible.

aliEnRIK

Bikertov wrote: »

Just curious why you recommend Samsung in one sentence, but then not the next ? Or are you suggesting just not Samsung for gaming because of the lag ? (re-read your comment about purely gameplay, but want to make sure ...)

Purely on lag (Though as ive said, its dependant on the model)

almillar

You'll not get one single correct answer on this OP - if LCD was factually better than plasma, or vice-versa, they would've stopped manufacturing one of them. People have different preferences, and will tell you on here. What's your preference? Go out and have a look at some screens, preferably at your mates' houses, as TVs are generally stupidly set up in shops.
'Turn the brightness up to MAX! Brighter is better!'
The 600Hz thing is marketing guff, (UK TV is broadcast at 50Hz, Blu Ray is 24 frames per second) and so is contrast ratio. Screen burn is not a problem in normal use (normal use meaning not leaving a static image on for 24 hours, but be gentle for the 1st few months). Plasma screens are not less reliable (Richer sounds for example charge the same for a 5 yr warranty on both, and is a good place to buy from).
Motion blur is more of a problem with LCDs. Plasmas are inherently 'faster' and more solid than LCD, but LCD has got a lot better in this regard. Remember seeing the pointer trails on old laptops?!
A lot of the plamsas that are very cheap aren't FullHD, that's all. Plasmas have been slower to go to 1080.
I've got a Panasonic G10, which adds FreeSatHD and a couple of other features, and I can highly recommend either.

BillScarab

I bought a Panasonic Plasma a couple of years ago, a TH37PX80B and it has been superb. It is only 720p but whether you need a 1080p TV depends on what HD sources you have. The distance you sit from it combined with the screen size is also a major factor.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Plasma set. One thing I'v noticed with ours is that it seems to handle SD sources better than mosst LCD's I've seen. Whether being a 720p set makes a difference in that respect I'm not sure but it does do an excellent job of handling SD.

Bargain.hunter_4

Thanks for the help evryone, it seems from experience and the feedback i have received that I may go with LCD... question is which one...

HarrowArrow

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

Thanks for the help evryone, it seems from experience and the feedback i have received that I may go with LCD... question is which one...

Wait 6 months and LED will be affordable - they are super-thin and super good picture. Colleague just got a samsung 40 inch one for 800 and is well chuffed.

aliEnRIK

HarrowArrow wrote: »

Wait 6 months and LED will be affordable - they are super-thin and super good picture. Colleague just got a samsung 40 inch one for 800 and is well chuffed.

Wheres that information come from then?

HarrowArrow

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Wheres that information come from then?

"Beyond Television" offered him thsi discount www.beyondtelevision.co.uk £200 eco cash-back.

Or if you mean "it coming down in price" - all new technology does!

jaydeeuk1

If you're gaming/watching blu ray, definitely go for a 1080p screen. And to echo what 'rik says, you can't go wrong with a Sony LCD, though I've heard people have issues with the 'S' model and 1:1 pixel mapping, so avoid the budget end imo.