Page 1 of Plasma or LCD

I am thinking about getting a new TV. I have about £5000 that I could spend, but don`t want to if I don`t need to. I personally prefer the image on a Plasma screen to that of an LCD. The trouble is I seem to remember reading that the lifespan of a Plasma wasn`t particularly great(something like 10000 hours). Could somebody comment on this please? I asked the guy in my local Panasonic shop, and he said that the 10000 hours was rubbish. He said that it was more like 35000 hours.

I would also appreciate opinions of models available, I have only really seen the Panasonic ones, and a Daewoo at £2500 in Dixons which looked pretty good. I am tempted by the Panasonic 5 year guarantee that is thrown in, but am sure that I could get the TV cheaper elsewhere. Am I correct in my opinion that Plasma produces a more pleasing image on the eye than LCD, or is it just that the display models I have seen haven`t had anything better than a common aerial attached?

Thanks,
Paul

OK...time to try and explain...

Plasma and LCD technology are different. Plasma have little "pockets" of a gas that change colour when hit with a charge to red, green or blue, and make up your picture.

LCD is a digitised picture, and is "back lit" which may be what you see as the differences.
LCD is less likely to screen burn than Plasma (about 24 hours on LCD if I remember correctly, or 2 hours on a Plasma for any static image)

Plasma does give the better picture, however, if a low quality signal is fed in, "artifacting" can be seen on a Plasma screen.
Getting the telly cheaper; well, you can usually get most models cheaper, but in most cases you`re buying a plasma *screen*, not TV. Difference is a massive downgrade on input connections, and in some cases, functionality (and it isn`t always just a case of adding a "generic" tuner box!)

Lifespan: the "needs regassed" rumour (if you`ve heard it) is absolute crap, there is no such process.
Average life of a Plasma/CRT/LCD TV used for 8 hours per day is expected to be 10 years.
(This is called MTBF, or "Mean Time Before Failure")
This however differs set to set as this is the *average* lifespan...some will last 20/30 years, others will last 2...same as any other TV on the market.

The Daewoo is a very low resolution screen, but for 2 1/2 G`s, it`s a good buy, with plenty of connectiveity, but if you have 5G`s, do yourself a favour and go butcher`s the new Pioneer.
It`s 4 1/2 G`s but what a picture!!
(oh, and if you intend to wall mount it, make sure whatever you buy DOES have a seperate tuner box!)

Jimbo : oÞ

The Pioneer Jimbo is on about (I guess) is the PDP-434HDE which can be yours for a little under £4K if you look around. Its stunning when fed with a prog scan component input but is absolutely awesome when fed direct from the DVD via the HDMI link (you need a HDMI capable DVDplayer to take advantage of which Pioneer do several at around £600-800ish)...you won`t be dissapointed

The Panasonic TH-42PW6 - What Video & TV Review" - "The best plasma monitor in the world"

If I had the money its the one I would have!

You can pick which board you want with it so different prices depending on set-up.

Price seach here - http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPC-Panasonic_TH_42PW6B

I can send you the full review if you want it?

Quote:
The Panasonic TH-42PW6 - What Video & TV Review" - "The best plasma monitor in the world"


go see it side by side with the Pioneer.

And don`t be fooled with Panasonic`s 4000:1 contrast ratio...if we all rated Red/Green/Blue as seperate contrast ratio`s we`d have them at 4000:1 as well.

The Panny *is* a superb set, no taking away from it, but at the moment, the Pioneer *definitely* wins it hands down.

The only time the Pioneer kinda falls down is on a terrestrial broadcast station, where it`s really showing up the failings of normal TV. DVD/Sky/Freeview *or* multi-media card input (from your digital camera..it comes with a PCMCIA card reader) is *stunning*

Jimbo : oÞ

Oh...it has a crap table top stand though <grin>

Thanks for the help. Just before I buy, are the prices due to decrease dramatically within the next 6-12 months? I have noticed that the high street retailers are carrying more stock of both Plasma and LCDs, which generally means that they are due for a price drop.

They will come down in price gradually like most things. I`m sure that in a years time you migt pick up the Pioneer or Panasonic mentioned above for about £2K but by then there will be something even better for the same price as the Panny and Pioneer now (£4K) You`ve just got to take a deep breath and take the plunge when you find something you like and forget about the fact that it will be out of date before you even open the box at home.

As for the High Street Retailers stocking more. Right, well the manufacturers have stepped up production because they see it as the next big thing. The problem with manufacturing Plasmas and the reason why they have cost so much is because the main screen part needs to be assembled in a vacuum. As the manufacturers have got to grips with this they have got better at it and can make more. The general cost has come down and you can pick up a semi-decent one for £2.5K now. Now, the retailers sell like to sell big TV`s because they are more pricey and hence they make more profit. They have also seen `free` advertising increase, practically every TV prog or film has a Plasma or LCD in the background somewhere, so the consumer is being exposed to the idea much more. A big CRT doesn`t cost that much less than a Plasma or LCD these days but a they do have a big disadvantage in that they take up much more space than a Plasma or LCD (Bulk) which means more storage space too (and hence cost/overheads)...So, all in all Retailers are rubbing their greasy little mits at the prospect of millions of people upgrading their ten year old Toshiba with nice shiny Flatscreen to take advantage of Digital Television.

What does annoy me is the fact that the retailers advertise the `wonderful` flatscreens as the greatest revolution in TV with `stunning` picture quality. The average Joe on the street won`t realise until he gets home that his ten year old Toshy CRT he just dropped off at the tip still has better picture quality with most formats (excepting DVD) than his `revolutionary` flatscreen...its a big con (Mind you the Pioneer does come very close!!!)

Just wish I could afford one :(

This item was edited on Tuesday, 20th January 2004, 23:22

I have a friend,and seen a few threads of people who have spent £4000-£5000 on a plasma,and regretted it ever since.
Unless its impossible to get the size you want on a standard CRT,get one of those.Plasmas give superb pictures with quality fed in,but low quality,like Sky Digital is made to look awful.
If you spend most of your time watching SD,I would think more than twice about spending 5K on a set based on how you saw it play a dvd.If its for dvd most of the time-enjoy

Quote:
they are more pricey and hence they make more profit
So you are in plasma retail are you GregWW? If the margin is tiny as with plasma profits plumet. Believe me plasma sales may make your turnover look good but are crap for profit.

All the best,

The 42%er.

Give me a chance to shine and I will blind the world.

Quote:
Believe me plasma sales may make your turnover look good but are crap for profit.


Dammit..ya beat me to it there! Lol

anyways, CRT better than plasma? Depends on what YOU want out of your telly.
do you want a bulky chassis and big "footprint"?
Do you want high glare?
Do you want to attach your PC to it?
Do you want to hang it on your wall?
Do you want to input a Progressive scan signal or HDMI signal?

Do you want a telly or do you want a serious screen that will give you endless hours of pleasure when you want it to most?

And if you want the screen size without the "distortion" thats mentioned above, then get a front projector, black out your windows and find that guy with the "how to" guide for making the screen.

Plasma doesn`t give a "crap" picture with a low quality signal, there are downsides to plasma technology which highlight low quality signals (artifacting I mentioned before), but in this case, Plasma also shows just how bad the Sky Digital conversion quality really is.

Pioneer`s big win this time is they have addressed the artifacting issue to make it "gradual", so unless ya sitting almost on top of it when viewing, the effect should be minimal.

Jimbo : oÞ
PS: They`ll only come down in price when they become "mainstream" which won`t happen if everyone "holds off" to buy one. ;)