Plasma TV vs LCD TV

[sportyaccordy]

Regular broadcasts will be going to 720p right?

[565]

SJ, you already have a pretty decent TV so I would wait for prices to go down lower but if you really wanted a new TV I'd go with a 1080p LCD. I think LCD's last long than plasmas because plasmas burn out.

Short lifespan Plasmas was a relic problem from the first generations of plasma TV's.  Some lower end plasmas are still rated with a half-life of 30,000 hours, the most decently higher end versions achieve 60,000 hours.  The LCD's also achieve around a 60,000 hour half life.

By comparision a CRT is supposedly rated for 30,000 hours, though I have CRT TV's from like the 80's that often just got left on overnight that still work.

[565]

Regular broadcasts will be going to 720p right?

Exactly, no one is broadcasting at full 1080p resolution yet.  So if you watch HD TV programs on your 1080p HDTV, it won't be running at 1080p.  You need a Blu-ray or HD-DVD to get 1080p picture.

[Cobra93]

If 2500 is around your price range, then I'd definitely recommend a Kuro Pioneer Plasma similar to what Cobra93 has purchased.

I'm not sure which Kuro set Cobra93 picked up, but the 50 in 720p version is at $2200 or so from Best Buy, and it is an absolutely amazing set.  Even the 720p version is the best HDTV reviewed by CNET so far, and higher end KURO versions earn equally rave reviews from every source.  They are pretty much agreed to be the best HDTV's to hit the market to date.


http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-6485_7-168-101.html?tag=dir
http://bestof.ign.com/2007/gear/3.html
http://www.switched.com/2007/12/21/our-best-tv-pick-pioneer-kuro-elite-50-inch-plasma-hdtv/
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2007/tc20071221_198870.htm
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/TVs_And_Large_Display/Industry/E4A6M6B8?page=2
http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/pioneer-kuro-plasma-hdtv-1233.shtml

1080P is largely useless for a HDTV's of 50 inches and under unless you plan to sit very close to the TV.  There is a measurement for how close one needs to sit to actually resolve the 1080 progressive lines of resolution, and for a 50 inch TV it's something ridiculous, like 5 or 6 feet being the farthest possible assuming you have incredible vision.  Mostly 1080P is for bragging rights or when you look at a picture a foot away at the store.

We all know that comparing specs is a poor way to decide on a TV.  So instead many people go to a place like Circuit City or Best Buy and find the TV that looks the "best" compared to the other TV's around it.  It may sound counter intuitive, but this is an equally poor way to decide on a TV.  The HDTV's in a store like that are in a bright room competing for your attention amongst a collection of other TV's.  Usually these TV's are all set to the "dynamic" or "vivid" mode, a setting that cranks up the sharpness and brightness to insane levels.  This is great for making those special (and unrealisticly sharp/vivid) HDTV display videos loops look amazing in that brightly lit room, but terrible for actual movies and TV in your house.  It's also impossible to assess black levels in a large well lit display area like that.  Black levels doesn't simply refer to how black the color displayed, but rather the absence of light.  In a well lit store, it's difficult to distingush a TV with an excellent black level from a TV that has only a mediocre one.  Often times people end up going home with the brightest set, or the set with the sharpness cranked all the way.  The best way would be a private room with controlled lighting, displaying a fast action non-computer animated high definition movie, however usually only one TV per store is featured this way.  Thus buying HDTV's based on viewing experience at the store is alot like trying to buy high performance sports cars based on a leisurely test drive in NYC where the speed limit is 25mph.  Ultimately, and rather sadly we as consumers must rely on critic reviews for an idea of how these machines do when used as they are meant.

Excellent points on shopping for the TV. I bought the 60" 1080p Kuro, and my decision was largely based on the strength of the reviews. I would, however, buy almost anywhere but the "big box" stores. I got mine for almost $2000 less than Best Buy and still got it from a Pioneer authorized distributor (non authorized distributors have no factory warranty).

[SJ_GTI]

Exactly, no one is broadcasting at full 1080p resolution yet.  So if you watch HD TV programs on your 1080p HDTV, it won't be running at 1080p.  You need a Blu-ray or HD-DVD to get 1080p picture.

This is why I have considered going with one of the cheaper 720p sets. I doubt I could ever tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a normal sized TV.

[ChrisV]

We all know that comparing specs is a poor way to decide on a TV.  So instead many people go to a place like Circuit City or Best Buy and find the TV that looks the "best" compared to the other TV's around it.  It may sound counter intuitive, but this is an equally poor way to decide on a TV.  The HDTV's in a store like that are in a bright room competing for your attention amongst a collection of other TV's.

Most of the stores like that have them set up in DARK rooms in the corner of the store, not brightly lit rooms.

Usually these TV's are all set to the "dynamic" or "vivid" mode, a setting that cranks up the sharpness and brightness to insane levels.  This is great for making those special (and unrealisticly sharp/vivid) HDTV display videos loops look amazing in that brightly lit room, but terrible for actual movies and TV in your house.

If they are all cranked up, then it's still a case of which one is better at doing that. I watch TV in the daytime, and I have mine set to "vivid" as well. I also tend to have at least one set of lights on when watching at night. Vivid works perfectly, and looks good in my house. I don't turn everything off in the house and only watch at night just to be able to dim down my TV picture to get some esoteric version of "perfect."

So looking at the TVs side by side to start with, to determine which looked best TO ME was the most logical and worked out perfect. I'm quite happy with my choice 2 years into ownership, and it still looks good with blu-ray movies. And I'm the one that has to be happy with it.

[r0tor]

^ +1

I always have my brightness cranked because I also watch tv inthe daytime and have lights on in the room while watching tv... and a test drive seems to be the best way to make a car buying decision to me

[565]

Most of the stores like that have them set up in DARK rooms in the corner of the store, not brightly lit rooms.

If they are all cranked up, then it's still a case of which one is better at doing that. I watch TV in the daytime, and I have mine set to "vivid" as well. I also tend to have at least one set of lights on when watching at night. Vivid works perfectly, and looks good in my house. I don't turn everything off in the house and only watch at night just to be able to dim down my TV picture to get some esoteric version of "perfect."

So looking at the TVs side by side to start with, to determine which looked best TO ME was the most logical and worked out perfect. I'm quite happy with my choice 2 years into ownership, and it still looks good with blu-ray movies. And I'm the one that has to be happy with it.

The problem is that while they are all cranked up in vivid mode, they are not cranked up all the way.  Usually vivid and dynamic are cranked to around 60-70% of max. Go to the store and find the brightest screen there, chances are you can manually crank any dimmer screen in the store to be even brighter than the one you had your eyes on.

The point is that things like brightness and sharpness can be adjusted.  Don't buy a TV because it was the brightest in the store, because any of those other TV's can be cranked way brighter.  The same goes with the sharpness setting and the constrast setting (note that the constrast setting should not be confused with the actual constrast rating of the unit).

Buying a TV based on brightness, constrast, or sharpness setting is like buying an audio system based on which one goes louder, or which particular system had more bass turned up at the time.  The point is everything can be adjusted.

Choosing a TV should be much like choosing an audio system.  Just like how for audio systems it's not about how loud you can turn it up, or how much you can shake the floor with the subwoofer, it's not about how bright the TV can be turned up.  Rather it's all about the fidelity of the reproduction of the sensory input.

Now you can say that you don't care and you just want to watch TV and you wanted to pick a TV that happened to have been set to something agreeable to your eyes at the time.  That's totally understandable.  Not everyone is expected to be an videophile, just not like everyone is an audiophile, and not everyone is a car nut.  For those people it's completely understandable to just walk out of the store with a TV with the adjustments to happen to stand out from the rest, or an audio system that seemed to sound pretty good, or a car that you took on a extremely limited test drive and had a smooth ride.

[Raghavan]

Short lifespan Plasmas was a relic problem from the first generations of plasma TV's.  Some lower end plasmas are still rated with a half-life of 30,000 hours, the most decently higher end versions achieve 60,000 hours.  The LCD's also achieve around a 60,000 hour half life.

By comparision a CRT is supposedly rated for 30,000 hours, though I have CRT TV's from like the 80's that often just got left on overnight that still work.

Oh, ok.
My neighbor said a few years ago that his plasmas burn out every few years and have to be replaced, but I guess they've improved since then.