Posted: 9/7/2008 2:07:29 PM EDT
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Lots of posts comparing these two technologies, and I thought I'd post my most recent experience. We bought a 40" Samsung LCD in 1080P last fall, and we love it. Couldn't be happier. Now we want a bigger model for our den. I like the LCD better than plasma for several reasons. It's lighter, puts out less heat, uses less energy, and the picture is much brighter. The plasma fans and salesmen are quick to point out the far faster refresh speed of plasma, and that LCD's "pixillate" with high speed movement. I didn't think I could notice when comparing the two side by side in the store, so we bought a 52" Samsung LCD 1080P Series 650 at HH Gregg. I got it home, got it setup, clicked on an HD channel and it looked great. Clicked on the Cowboys game on HD and it really looked blurry. Called HH Gregg and they said to look at several HD channels...that it makes a difference what camera the network is using. The Indy Car race in HD looked great with no "pixillation." The US Open in HD looks blurry. The salesman at HH Gregg says even his plasma sometimes looks blurry depending on what camera a network is using. Is this the "fatal flaw" of LCD's in this size range? Or is it inherent in all TV's in this size range? Will the plasma perform better in this respect? I have ten days to exchange it, so I'll give it a while and continue to ask questions. Any additional feedback is much appreciated. Blake |
| As far as your problem with the game it has nothing to do with the TV. Just to station itself. Many local channels CBS/ABC/NBC won't use HD cameras or even convert the video into HD. So you may have some games that appear to be no better than normal 480p depending on how your station sends the data. It is your service provider not your TV. |
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I have the same TV and your salesman is right. Once you get used to HD, you can see differences in the various networks, even when they switch cameras at an event. If it is motion blur you're talking about, you can set the TV to 120Hz mode. I haven't found the need to do it. |
Haven't tried that...but I will. Thanks. Blake |
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LCD tv's have a tendency to pixel blur. Although the latest models seem to have gotten better but is still there. It also depends not only on the network that is providing it, like cameras and whether they just take a normal 480i signal and upconvert to HD, but also the bandwidth they give per channel. Cable/satellite can only carry so much info so they pick and choose what channels get the most/least. If you go the plasma route there is none better than the Pioneer Kuro series. They have the blackest blacks and a very wide color gamut. They stopped making the Kuros so you can find a good deal on them if they are still around. Since you have a den, have you thought about front projection? Best bang for the buck IMO. I have a Mitsubishi HC1500 DLP projecting on a 90" screen and couldn't be happier, it's awesome...  The only drawback with FP is you need somewhat of a light controlled room, but it is bright enough to still enjoy with some light in the room during the day. |
Since when and where did this info come from? |
Except for the claymation face effect and the poor color gamut.  Each has it's issues. Most people have zero idea that they're suppose to set these things up before using them and just plug them in and go "gee that looks good". For the OP - run an antenna up onto the roof and see if you can pick any HD off the air. Those signals will look many times better than whatever crap cable or satellite is sending you. The cable and satellite services take HD from 30-50 (or higher) Mb/sec and drop it down to 3-4 Mb/sec. If you notice the difference between a CD and an MP3 you'll see the same effect. Paul CBPE |
ETA wrong link, here is the updated one: It's Official: Pioneer Ends Plasma Manufacturing, But Infinite Contrast Kuro Dream Still Lives |
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I'm not gonna get into the middle of the LCD vs Plasma debate, but I do know that the quality of HD content varies widely. In the first place, some of it is SD/480i content upconverted at the station to HD, which each station seems to have a different way of doing. Some stretch it to fill the whole screen, some put bars on the side so they don't change the aspect ratio when they stretch it to the HD/1080 height, some put bars on the sides and top and send it as is. In addition to that, even for actual HD content, the quality depends on how much bandwidth they dedicate to the channel. All digital video is compressed, and the more they compress it, the worse it looks, but the more channels they can fit in the satellite/cable/OTA bandwidth. Higher compression than usual generally results in a slightly blocky appearance, especially when there is a lot of movement on the screen. IMHO, signal compression probably has a lot more to do with observed picture quality than what kind of TV it is. |
There is no definitive proof in that article that Kuros were discontinued yet. That was back in march and they are still selling the Kuro and Kuro Elite models. It said that another company would be prodcucing them. Which is kind on the norm for these things. Samsung manufactures Sony's LCDs. edit - OK, the new article says that the Kuro line will continue and made reference to outsourcing not affecting the quality. So I guess it will still remain the best HD TV out there. |
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Plasma is not better. The only reason they are still made, is because of all of the tooling ( and $$$$$) up that was done before LCD was perfected. True, they have better black levels, smooter transitions, but they burn in badly. In the past 5 weeks, I ( and work crew) have hung more than 70 LCD TV's around campus where I work. Yes, you are seeing a difference in TV stations. Now that it is expanded, you see every flaw there is. Welcome to HDTV!! BTW, Wait until later this year, or early next year. I got to see the prototype of the new Pioneer LCD coming out. TOTALLY AWSOME!!! It is going to be the next generation of LCD TV's. Looks better than plasma, half as thick as current LCD's, and very low heat output. |