Plasma VS. LCD

[mivanx77]

Hello everyone, I had recently purchased a new T.V. It is the Samsung 50in FPT5084. It is a great TV, but I THOUGHT I GOT AN LCD, but instead I find out that is a PLASMA. Should I keep it or should I just get an LCD TV. I got the tv for $2000 + tax. So I if I am going to get an LCD TV I can spend only the same or lower amount.

So should I keep it, or find another TV, because from what I read LCD's last longer and do not burn in.

The Specs of my TV: Samsung FPT5084
Product Features

* 1920(H) x 1080(V) pixel resolution
* 15,000:1 contrast ratio
* Natural True Color with 18 bit color
* Ultra FilterBright¿ anti-reflection filter
* NTSC/ATSC tuner with Clear-QAM

[Miker]

Plasma will look the best, but it will burn in/break if you don't treat it well. They are so heavy too.

[mivanx77]

Yea, I read up on that. Thats true, so would it be better to return it and replace it with an LCD or should I just keep it?

[Miker]

Do you plan to use it for PC/Console?

[westy87]

Plasma will lose quality over time, so depends how long you plan on keeping it

[mivanx77]

Do you plan to use it for PC/Console?
Nope, just movies and TV, but I plug my laptop to it so I can watch movies from my hdd.

Plasma will lose quality over time, so depends how long you plan on keeping it
I plan on keeping it a long time, maybe like 8 + years, my old sony that I bought in 1998 still works great.

[Miker]

Plasma is for you then. LCD is better for PC/Consoles as it doesn't burn in the same.

Plasma will lose quality over time, so depends how long you plan on keeping it

All TVs lose quality over time. But yes, a LCD will last longer.

[PP Mguire]

Ive always seen that an LCD looks better for anything.

[Miker]

Naa, a plasma is way better for quality of image.

[srpeters18]

I love my Plasma. Most of the newer ones have gotten around the burn-in with just a slight shift in the pictures every so often, so small you can't tell, all it really has to do is move every now and then.

Actually, the only thing I dislike about my Plasma is the heat that it produces. Its a 42" and uses over 400watts. It serves as a pretty good room heater.

Plasma's look better because you can get a more pure black color which kinda makes everything else pop out at you. Also, for bright rooms, the Plasma is much better because the contrast is so much higher. And with cheap LCD's you still get 8-9ms response times which can lead to image blurs, not a problem with Plasma's.

Also, the fading you have heard about is not as pronounced as it used to be. Remember plasma TV's have been around for 8 or 9 years now, they've had some time to work on it. Most TV's are rated at 50,000 hours or better now.

[PP Mguire]

LCD's you still get 8-9ms response times which can lead to image blurs, not a problem with Plasma's.Actualy this is not true. Remember back in the day whenever nobody wanted LCD cause they thought a CRT wouldnt ghost and was better for gaming? CRTs have a response of 25ms. Anything under that wont ghost.

[Frag Maniac]

Well plasmas have great picture quality and viewing angles, but banners, network logos and game HUDs will etch onto the screen. They also have a phosphor coated screen like CRTs but no means of degausing, so they lose half their brightness halfway into their lifespan, which isn't as long to begin with as LCD and way less than CRT or DLP.

IMO if you're going to go with a TV that large and don't absolutely need to or want to mount it on a wall, look into DLP technology. It's inexpensive, has better picture quality than LCD, lasts longer, and has WAY faster response time (about 16 micro seconds vs 8-12ms), so no ghosting and blurring even on very fast motion video.

Samsung has Ultraslim versions of DLPs now that are only about 10" deep even on 46" models. There was a rumor going around for a while that DLP technology was dying out, but recently both Alienware and NEC have announced they will be selling wrap around 2880x900 DLP monitors. If anything DLP may be the tech that helps launch the HD broadcast rollover due to affordable pricing, great picture quality, and long lifespan.

That's what those whom can't afford a lot on a TV are demanding. The high price of HDTVs was the main reason the HD broadcast rollover was pushed back 3 yrs. Not enough people owned them to warant doing it at the originally planned date and surveys indicated it was due to middle class Americans not being able to afford to pay so much for a TV.

[mivanx77]

Im still kinda iffy, right now. im just scared that one day, my plasma will just die then im screwed. I spend about $2590 that included tax and a 5 years warranty. I heard you can actually replace the light in the back for plasma's if it dies, is that true?

[Miker]

Im still kinda iffy, right now. im just scared that one day, my plasma will just die then im screwed. I spend about $2590 that included tax and a 5 years warranty. I heard you can actually replace the light in the back for plasma's if it dies, is that true?

Yes. They can cost money though. Sony I think replaces them for free.

Plasma vs LCD
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv/lcdtvreview.html

[PP Mguire]

DLP looks blocky up close. Really blocky and ugly.

[Frag Maniac]

I heard you can actually replace the light in the back for plasma's if it dies, is that true?The problem is that doesn't really solve the etching and fading problem, which is due to the way the screens are made, not the lamp wearing out.

[Miker]

The problem is that doesn't really solve the etching and fading problem, which is due to the way the screens are made, not the lamp wearing out.

Long as you don't burn in the TV a new bulb will bring it close to what it was at the start.

[srpeters18]

I have owned my plasma for over 2 years now, closer to 2 1/2. It hasn't gotten any dimmer as far as I can tell and there is nothing burned in. I have played console games since I've owned it with no issues. Just don't leave it paused for a long time. The burn-in reducer on this TV has worked quite well. Its a JVC btw.

[mivanx77]

Thanks everyone for their input. But I have decided to return it to Boscovs where I got it. Actually, yesterday, I had a couple of my friends come over and watched a 3 movies in a row, after the movie's finished(looked amazing on plasma), I noticed that as soon as the screen went blank when I turned off the dvd player, I can see the two horizontal black stripes, you know, when you have a wide screen edition movie, its in wide screen causing the two black stripes. So now I can see the 2 horizontal black lines compared to the middle of the screen where the movie were being displayed, also, when I clicked on the menu, and exited, I saw an afterimage of the menu, I was like "WTF" it hasnt been even a week yet. So I managed to put everything back in the box and brought it back to the store, where I got it. They told me I have to pay a 15% re-stocking fee, but I told them I was dissatisfied with the tv, showing the faded menu screen with the 2 horizontal lines. SO now I have to contact the service technicians to come over and look at the TV to declare it "broken" so I dont have to pay the 15% re-stocking fee which is $300!!!!

But I managed to see this instead of the plasma I have. Once everything is returned I will be getting this, which includes the Home Theater System since when I bought the plasma, I couldnt get a home theater system, it was just too much I paid for.

Purchase 1 (Boscovs):
1. Samsung 50" FPT5084 / $1999 + TAX
2. 5YR Warranty / 389 + Tax
TOTAL: $2505.16
-DOES NOT HAVE HOME THEATER SYSTEM!

Soon To Purchase (Amazon):
1. Samsung 46" LNT4665F / $1999 NO TAX (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WV8EK0/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3ALBXI5FSA4X4&colid=3RWQPZVYSN56P)
2. 4YR Warranty / $279.99 NO TAX (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CO77TQ/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3JNQJJ8677RBS&colid=3RWQPZVYSN56P)
3. Samsung 5.1 HT-TX75 DVD Home Theater System / $379.99 NO TAX (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PU6MBQ/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1ELQF9NY6LOS0&colid=3RWQPZVYSN56P)
TOTAL: $2659.97
-INCLUDES HOME THEATER SYSTEM


Also, both the TV's have the new 120Hz built in, and the soon to purchase has an extra 5000 contrast ratio, compared to the one I just purchased (15000:1 / 20000:1).

[Miker]

Yaa, Samsung LCDs rock. I have 2x 17s, a 32, and a 27...

[DemonicDerek]

Dlp Ftw!

[tomato]

Um, shouldn't your 5yr warranty that you paid for negate any re-stocking fee, or any other problem with the tv what-so-ever?

Also, burn-in shouldn't really be a concern in this day and age of technology... Even in your case... It's weird to have the black lines "after-image"... Were all of the movies you watched the same aspect ratio? Maybe you got a bum tv? Just curious...

From my understanding:
LCD - ghosting on some models... that's all i've got :P
Plasma - deeper blacks, no ghosting. Heat and lifespan were issues in the past, but newer plasma's have apparenlty solved/improved this issue

[Frag Maniac]

If you're talking about seeing the black bars right after the cropped image leaves the screen, much of that is a sort of psychovisual effect your brain goes through. You momentarily retain the image in your memory, esp in cases of high contrast.

[mousiness]

Generally, aren't LCD's a lot brighter than plasmas? I believe they also have higher resolutions and tend to last longer than plasmas, they also dont suffer as much because of screen "burn in" than plasmas do, look in an airport that uses plasma screens and their airport arrivals/departures screen is unreadable!

[srpeters18]

Plasma's have contrast ratio's of between 1:15000 and 1:30000. They are quite bright.

[mivanx77]

So, should the plasma be kept because I am having problems returning it. Boscovs is F***ing GAY!

[Miker]

If you can't return it keep it, you will be happy with it. Always run video in stretch not barred to have less burn in.

[hatakezetsumei]

It really dont matter unless you want a brighter picture because lcd has a brighter picture. The buring on the newer isnt as likely like the older plasmas they are trying to prevent it as much as possible now.

[Xero (1)ne]

Don't LCD's usually have faster response times?

I've never gamed on a plasma but my friend said it was horrible because it was very blurry, laggy, and slow.

I would also go with LCD just because their cheaper.

[srpeters18]

No, LCD's are slower. I would say your friend just bought a crap Plasma. I haven't had any of those sorts of problems. I tend to stay away from newer entries into the TV market, like Vizio. I would keep the plasma.

Also Miker, stretched looks like crap. I haven't had any issues at all with burn in on a 16:9 format. Figure most movies are less than two hours, I would imagine it takes longer than that to burn an image in on current TV's. What's the point in having an expensive widescreen TV just to stretch the picture?

[Miker]

My grandfather burned in his Samsung Plasma by running 4:3 not in stretch, the consistent black on the outside made it burn in.

[srpeters18]

I don't know about the sides, but I have watched many movies with letterbox across the top with no issues. I don't buy movies in 4:3.

[Miker]

Lets say you have regular DirecTV in 4:3. You watch that 100% of the time with black on both sides. When you finally get HD, it will look like ****.

If you have 4:3 letterbox (16:9 in 4:3) you should set your TV on zoom. As it fits the letterbox 16:9 to the size of your TV. If you have regular 3:4 set you TV to stretch. You always want to have video over your whole screen so it doesn't burn in.

[srpeters18]

The problem is, zoom doesn't just fit it to your screen, it zooms in. Thereby cutting off the top and sides of the picture, which I hate. The effect is not cumulative. If you watch a movie in letterbox and then switch to an HD program that takes up the full screen or even just hit zoom once during the movie, you're good to go. It's caused by the pixels not changing color and position at all. Once they change, it starts all over again (not sure that I worded that exactly right, hopefully you get what I'm trying to say). Also, most TV's nowadays, including mine which is 2 years old) have a burn-in reducer function built-in. All it does is shift the pixels ever so slightly every once in a while. Slight enough that you don't notice it, but enough to make it effective.

[tomato]

Some newer TV's have another "zoom" option called "wide zoom" on Sony's it changes a 4:3 picture into a zoomed-in-but-not-as-badly-cropped 16:9 image. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now. 8)

[Miker]

Here is my great picture.

This is a 16:9 TV, with 4:3 imput, in letterbox 16:9. Some TVs you can "zoom" in and the 16:9,3:4 letterbox will expand to the whole screen.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o81/mikerider123/tv.jpg

[willgetin]

I went with LCD for a couple of reasons...

1) The 37in LCD was the only size that would fit in my Entertainment Center. They didn't have 37in Plasma's when I bought it...

2) The LCD screen is generally not as shiny as a plasma, thereby reducing light reflection from windows and such. Mine is in a room with many windows..

Also, to address something said earlier in the thread...

You DO NOT have to keep you TV stretched to keep burn in from happening. If you regularly switch it up by watching some HD content and some SDTV content, you will not have a problem.

When I watch SDTV, unless it is animated, I watch it 4:3. Personally, it bugs me to spend that much money on a TV and only use a portion of the screen. However, it bugs me more to see shorter, fatter people...

[Frag Maniac]

I've gone to using Panorama mode for the channels I don't get in HD. It fills the screen and you don't get the fat people syndrome.