What do you prefer and why? (LCD vs. Plasma)

[Digital Designs 10+ year member]

I'm sure it looks better than cheap brands, but from what I've seen, for the price you can usually do alot better, especially with a samsung or lg. Their entry level tvs that I've seen looked like poo honestly. Thier top and mid tier look great though, but still for the price usually, you can get a samsung, even a size larget and higher quality screen. But everyone has thier own tastes, just like car audio. Like I said, lots of people think plasmas look better

I looked at all the different brands. I liked the Sony I bought, and 2 different Samsungs. The Sony looked just as good as the Samsung and it has a few features that the Samsung didnt have(USB, automatic brightness changed by the light in the room, more HDMI ports, coax and optical audio out, to name a few...) They were about the same price, so the Sony won hands down. I was not looking for top of the line, just a budget 40-42 inch TV, and the Sony I bought is perfect for what we needed. It looks amazing with anything we play on it(blu ray, ps3, xbox360, hd cable, etc...)

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

Also, you say you want the screen size to be 2 times the viewing distance. So this means since my viewing distance from my couch to my TV is about 8 feet, I should have a 16 foot tv? That makes a lot of sense......

I think he ment half the viewing distance..

8'*12"/2 = 48" TV

I sit about 5 feet away from my 52" and I think its perfect...

 

[Digital Designs 10+ year member]

I think he ment half the viewing distance..
8'*12"/2 = 48" TV

I sit about 5 feet away from my 52" and I think its perfect...

I figured, just wanted to point that out. We have a 40 inch and it is plenty for our living room. We dont need a huge tv.

 

[nateberrier 10+ year member]

i think 40 is a huge tv lul

 

[benzmansl65amg 10+ year member]

I have seen a ton of bad information. That is all. Buy a Samsung LED LCD but that is way out of your budget. I would get a plasma. Unless you are using game consoles on it then i would get an LCD.

 

[Slayerx 10+ year member]

I think he ment half the viewing distance..
8'*12"/2 = 48" TV

I sit about 5 feet away from my 52" and I think its perfect...

Ya you're right, I switched it, just woke up haha

 

[Slayerx 10+ year member]

Next time you're in a store looking at HDTV's place the back of your hand an inch away from an LCD screen, then repeat that with a plasma.
Plasma's run a lot hotter, which tells you how much more electricity they will end up using.

Most plasmas are energy star certified now, just like the lcd's.

 

[BlactimusCrime 10+ year member]

I have a 42" sanyo 720p plasma, i love it, its a clear image and it cost me $480 after tax at wally world.

for me, the biggest difference is the refresh rate. my plasma is 600hz, which is a huge difference over the 60 or 120 out of affordable LCDs. it eliminates the flicker that drives me bonkers. my .02

 

[Digital Designs 10+ year member]

I have seen a ton of bad information. That is all. Buy a Samsung LED LCD but that is way out of your budget. I would get a plasma. Unless you are using game consoles on it then i would get an LCD.

Mind elaborating on what information is bad?

 

[cotjones 10+ year member]

Conclusively, Plasmas are only on par with LCD's if you ONLY watch movies ( 30fps.)

In all other situations LCD is All around better.

Just don't be a dummy and use 240hz refreshing while watching 30 fps content.

The whole artistic value of movies is the dark rich tones and smooth motion resulting from the framerate.

The basically Higher frame rates resulting from the frame interpolation of 120 or 240hz rates isn't meant for movies, its meant for football games and other TV content because it gives extremely sharp motion and bright realistic color while decreasing juddering.

Go to a movie theater and look how juddery the motion is on slow pans. It's ironically meant to be like that. When its not like that the picture looks funny, it doesn't feel like a movie anymore.

The other option is: some TV's have a setting where they simply refresh the same frame at 240hz rather than creating interpolations. This is fine with movies, but a feature usually in more expensive TV's.

 

[cotjones 10+ year member]

Oop's double post

 

[cotjones 10+ year member]

You are being misled, Your 600hz refresh rate is a system known as Subfield drive. Which means the picture is broken into 10 subfields making the total picture refresh rate more comparable to a 60 hz LCD refresh rate.

 

[Slayerx 10+ year member]

I looked at all the different brands. I liked the Sony I bought, and 2 different Samsungs. The Sony looked just as good as the Samsung and it has a few features that the Samsung didnt have(USB, automatic brightness changed by the light in the room, more HDMI ports, coax and optical audio out, to name a few...) They were about the same price, so the Sony won hands down. I was not looking for top of the line, just a budget 40-42 inch TV, and the Sony I bought is perfect for what we needed. It looks amazing with anything we play on it(blu ray, ps3, xbox360, hd cable, etc...)

Doesnt sound like a entry level sony, nor a budget 42", which is what the OP is looking for. I said thier mid levels are good and everyone had thier own tastes and needs.

 

[Slayerx 10+ year member]

You are being misled, Your 600hz refresh rate is a system known as Subfield drive. Which means the picture is broken into 10 subfields making the total picture refresh rate more comparable to a 60 hz LCD refresh rate.

This is correct. Companies like to throw out big numbers to uniformed or misinformed consumers to make sales

 

[Slayerx 10+ year member]

You are being misled, Your 600hz refresh rate is a system known as Subfield drive. Which means the picture is broken into 10 subfields making the total picture refresh rate more comparable to a 60 hz LCD refresh rate.

This is correct. Companies like to throw out big numbers to uniformed or misinformed consumers to make sales