lcd or a plasma

kittyclaire_2

we r looking into ugrading our tv...after spending a whole amount of time going to different shops we cant decided whats 2 go 4.... family and friends have and say lcd is better but whats the difference.
ive asked a couple of shops 1 shop said the plasma is made from gas and lcd is chrystal which realy didnt make no sense to me lol but basicly he said 4 the size tv we want and our price range a plasma would b better..then went to another shop and found the 1 we liked, asked there whats the difference and he said lcd have soft screen which makes a mrk if u touch the tv and plasma he was basiclly punching the screen he said plasmas perfect if u have got young kids and a dog, to which we have....but i do know salesmen will tell u anything to get a sale...
what is better??????

superscaper

kittyclaire wrote: »

we r looking into ugrading our tv...after spending a whole amount of time going to different shops we cant decided whats 2 go 4.... family and friends have and say lcd is better but whats the difference.
ive asked a couple of shops 1 shop said the plasma is made from gas and lcd is chrystal which realy didnt make no sense to me lol but basicly he said 4 the size tv we want and our price range a plasma would b better..then went to another shop and found the 1 we liked, asked there whats the difference and he said lcd have soft screen which makes a mrk if u touch the tv and plasma he was basiclly punching the screen he said plasmas perfect if u have got young kids and a dog, to which we have....but i do know salesmen will tell u anything to get a sale...
what is better??????

It's a question asked almost daily (well seems it) on here. There is no real better one. They each have their own advantages and disadvantages. I'd ignore what the 2nd saleman said but the 1st one sounds right. If you're after a particular (large) size and have a limited budget then plasma may be better as they're cheaper for larger screen sizes. As for actual screen/viewing quality it seems rather subjective and is completely down to you, whether you particularly notice LCD or plasma being apparently worse than the other. They are different but whether you like one over the other because of those differences is a personal matter and not an absolute. As far as getting advice here, it really comes down to your budget and screen size as the 1st salesman said, and advising on the best deal. I think to certain extent for me personally it's more about getting a better build quility/brand that makes far more of a difference than the display technology in terms of viewing quality.

geewhiz

If you have sky+ and pause tv then don't go for a plasma unless you want the pause icon burnt into your screen !

Other than that it depends on your budget and what you want to use it for, hd or standard definition tv, ps3, blu-ray etc ? Oh and what's your budget ?

Inactive

I have both Plasma and LCD Tv's, the picture quality on SD Material is far better on the plasma, than on the LCD, blacks are blacker.

That is just my experience.;)

mjhmjh2

I work for a maker of both LCD and Plasma (and projector), so perhaps have the ability to comment (not that anyone else doesn't of course!). If you speak to a maker of purely LCD, of course they are best, and vice versa.

Cheap LCDs and Plasmas are just that - they do not compare to premium brands IMHO. However it is always subjective to your personal preference. If you can't tell the difference, buy the cheapest and ignore anyone that tells you that Panasonic etc are best.

The easiest rule of thumb is up to 42" = LCD, anything over 42" plasma. If you have a particularly bright room or prefer very fast moving action (high contrast sports action for example) then go for plasma.

That's in a nut shell, like PP geewhiz, if you are likely to have static scenes a lot of the time, then plasma can suffer burnin.

Go on, buy a 103" plasma from Panasonic, you know you want one ;-)

mjhmjh2

Oh and one more piece of advice, shortlist what you like and ask the dealer to setup a demo of each for you, take your favourite DVDs/VHS/blu-rays along and watch a bit of each. Make sure that the light in the room is similar to that at home.

What you prefer is subjective, and very personal, no one can tell you any different.

A salesman is there to make money, IMHO, and does not try to sell you the best for you.

Aliktren

LCD is cheaper to run from what I hear

mjhmjh2

Aliktren wrote: »

LCD is cheaper to run from what I hear

yes, that's corect, an average LCD will be abuot 150 Watts, a plasma of the same size about 500watts

To give you an idea of cost for a family that watches quite a bit of TV,
6 hours per day viewing time and 10 hours at the weekend (50 hours per week). At a cost of 15p per unit of electricity, that would be
LCD 50 x 0.15 x 0.15 = £1.13
Plasma 50 * 0.5 * 0.15 = £3.75

Cost per year
LCD £0.75 x 52 = £58.50
Plasma £3.75 x 52 = £195.00

hope that helps.

superscaper

mjhmjh2 wrote: »

yes, that's corect, an average LCD will be abuot 150 Watts, a plasma of the same size about 500watts

To give you an idea of cost for a family that watches quite a bit of TV,
6 hours per day viewing time and 10 hours at the weekend (50 hours per week). At a cost of 15p per unit of electricity, that would be
LCD 50 x 0.15 x 0.15 = £1.13
Plasma 50 * 0.5 * 0.15 = £3.75

Cost per year
LCD £0.75 x 52 = £58.50
Plasma £3.75 x 52 = £195.00

hope that helps.

I think you've made an assumption most people do, you've used a very high figure (500 Watts) which presumably you've picked as a typical maximum rating of a plasma. This isn't the typical power usage, although an LCD uses it's maximum power all the time, a plasma is variable depending on the picture. You'd have to have pure white display at full brightness on a plasma to reach it's full power which I assume isn't what people typically watch.

Last figures I saw (a few years ago) which actually looked at average viewing, a typical plasma pulled in only 20% more power than an LCD per square inch.

Edit: looking at the most recent power tests for different TVs the current generation doesn't seem to have much to choose between them and there are plenty of LCDs that draw more power than some plasmas. http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6475_7-6400401-3.html

peediedj

i bought a 42" plasma at christmas a lg,from laskys online with a big stand cost me £650 for both,best purchase ever superb quality tv 1080 full hd great price laskys are good for prices

mjhmjh2

superscaper wrote: »

I think you've made an assumption most people do, you've used a very high figure (500 Watts) which presumably you've picked as a typical maximum rating of a plasma. This isn't the typical power usage, although an LCD uses it's maximum power all the time, a plasma is variable depending on the picture. You'd have to have pure white display at full brightness on a plasma to reach it's full power which I assume isn't what people typically watch.

Last figures I saw (a few years ago) which actually looked at average viewing, a typical plasma pulled in only 20% more power than an LCD per square inch.

Edit: looking at the most recent power tests for different TVs the current generation doesn't seem to have much to choose between them and there are plenty of LCDs that draw more power than some plasmas. http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6475_7-6400401-3.html

Yes you are right I used the max rating, easy mistake I guess, oops sorry! The LCD power is being taken by the back light most of the time I think... However I notice that plasmas tend to have 4 or 5 cooling fans, whereas LCDs don't so there is a heat build up there for sure.