What To Look For In A Flat Screen TV Purchase

[JLed79]

Ahh yes. Plasma vs LCD. Age old debate.


Plasma:
Pros- Deeper blacks. More vibrant colors. Better picture definition overall.
Cons- Cost. Heavy. Live bacteria pixels can die. Burn in can occur.

LCD:
Pros- Inexpensive. Lightweight. More energy efficient than plasma.
Cons-Colors appear washed out in comparison to Plasmas. The backlight bulbs burn out much quicker than plasma pixels die.

Conclusion:
I prefer plasma to LCD. I have 5 flat panel tv monitors in my house, three of which are plasma and two are LCD.
The LCDs are fine for the kids rooms for them to watch their cartoons on, for the theatre room I wouldn't even consider anything other than a high quality plasma display. Simply unbeatable for picture quality, color vibrancy, ominously dark blacks and long life. They do produce much more heat than an LCD monitor and care must be taken to prevent burn in (though a high quality unit will be virtually burn in proof).
For LCD there really isn't a bad brand to go with. For plasma you don't want to skimp.
Hope this helps.

[Xtremca]

I prefer plasma unless the room it's going in is very bright or has a large light source on the opposite side of where the tv is going. Plasma's still have the gloss screen whereas your LCD or LCD w/ LED back lighting or LED are going to have the matte finish. My 5 yr old samsung 720p plasma is still going strong with no burn in issues. My 2 yr old Samsung had a new panel put into it just before it's 1yr birthday. I've recently just added another 51" samsung plasma that is 720p from the Big W in their close out rack unopened for $440. ( sad part is I sold these when they came out and you could not buy one for under 20k). I did have a Samsung Smart TV for a week before it went back. Every time I went to use the "smart" portion it wanted to spend 5 minutes updating. If it was so smart, it should have updated when I wasn't using the TV. So far I haven't been impressed with the Smart TV options. And you have to keep in mind that not all Smart functions are created equal from one brand to the next. I've got my Mac mini strapped it to my new plasma to make a nice display and I've got more internet based things to access that isn't available on the Smart TV's. As far as 3d tv's are concerned, many have the capability but I can say that no one that I know utilizes the feature nor ever had even in the 3d push. So with that being said, I wouldn't buy into that. Like someone else mentioned, if you go LED you will want at least a 120hz or larger refresh rate. Otherwise you get some blur in higher motion video.

For me, I'm still partial to Plasma TV's as I like the deeper blacks, no LED bleed, and you can find them fairly inexpensive these days. As far as weight, they are not like they used to be. My 51" weighs about 40lbs which I think is about 10lbs lighter than my 5yr old 42".

[Wadcutter]

thanks again guys for all the new replies, comments and recommendations. Really appreciate all the great feedback here.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by JLed79

I prefer plasma to LCD.

Originally Posted by Xtremca

I prefer plasma

Plasma lovers are REALLY gonna hate 4k, as I don't think anybody's planning on releasing a 4k set in plasma.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by JLed79

Ahh yes. Plasma vs LCD. Age old debate.


Plasma:
Pros- Deeper blacks. More vibrant colors. Better picture definition overall.
Cons- Cost. Heavy. Live bacteria pixels can die. Burn in can occur.

LCD:
Pros- Inexpensive. Lightweight. More energy efficient than plasma.
Cons-Colors appear washed out in comparison to Plasmas. The backlight bulbs burn out much quicker than plasma pixels die.

Conclusion:
I prefer plasma to LCD. I have 5 flat panel tv monitors in my house, three of which are plasma and two are LCD.
The LCDs are fine for the kids rooms for them to watch their cartoons on, for the theatre room I wouldn't even consider anything other than a high quality plasma display. Simply unbeatable for picture quality, color vibrancy, ominously dark blacks and long life. They do produce much more heat than an LCD monitor and care must be taken to prevent burn in (though a high quality unit will be virtually burn in proof).
For LCD there really isn't a bad brand to go with. For plasma you don't want to skimp.
Hope this helps.

What do you mean by live bacteria pixels? I'm just curious.

[Sage97]

I have both plasma and LCD TVs and both look great. The plasma in the basement is 65 inches and it rocks!

[JLed79]

Originally Posted by robj144

What do you mean by live bacteria pixels? I'm just curious.

Plasma panel tvs use bacteria to create the colors and images.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by JLed79

Plasma panel tvs use bacteria to create the colors and images.

I've never heard of that. After Googling, I could not find this info anywhere. Here's the Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_display

Can you point me somewhere where it mentions this? That is bizarre, if true.

[JLed79]

Hmmm. I may stand corrected. I don't remember where I was told that, as it was years ago. I can't seem to find any supporting evidence just yet either. Will update this if/ when I do. Apologies.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by JLed79

Hmmm. I may stand corrected. I don't remember where I was told that, as it was years ago. I can't seem to find any supporting evidence just yet either. Will update this if/ when I do. Apologies.

It's ok. I was just wondering how that would work and how a live organism could survive in a hostile environment without a food source. No worries though.

[Chicago Sandy]

Originally Posted by robj144

I've never heard of that. After Googling, I could not find this info anywhere. Here's the Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_display

Can you point me somewhere where it mentions this? That is bizarre, if true.

I think the misconception may have come from the term small “cells” (that ionize gases into the plasma state). The usual scientific connotation of “cell” implies a living organism, whether animal or vegetable. This is not the case with electronics--e.g., a battery is a “cell.”

[Gunny]

Still have the old Panasonic plasma in the basement and has been a great set. With newer sets, burn-in & other early problems never plagued mine. The biggest consideration in today's "Green" mind is power consumption. My 42" Panny plasma eats 360+ watts while my new-ish Panasonic 55" LED is around 110 watts. Big difference. I won't even look at 4k sets right now because TV isn't important enough to me and I tend to buy last year's best sets at a big discount. Now is a good time to look at good sets while people are starting to pony up for the ultra sets. 3D is not something I cared about when I bought my Panasonic last year, but it was a feature. I like the fact that it is passive 3D & came with 4 sets of glasses. The Wife & I have watched a grand total of 2 3D movies. Gravity was pretty darn cool though.

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

Plasma lovers are REALLY gonna hate 4k, as I don't think anybody's planning on releasing a 4k set in plasma.

What do you need 4k for, since nothing but a video game broadcasts in that format?

[Chicago Sandy]

Whatever you buy, DO NOT use Installs, Inc. (they are subcontractors for Costco, Best Buy and other stores). They were supposed to come today between noon-4pm, and they’re not here yet (it’s a quarter to 6). They are difficult if not impossible to reach by phone--flaky on-hold system that cuts in & out and sometimes hangs up. Never taken me less than 20 min. to reach them. I called the scheduling operator, who said the tech wasn’t answering his phone and she had to e-mail him and call me back. She just called me back to say he e-mailed her that he was here at noon and there was nobody home. HORSE HOCKEY! My husband and housekeeper were downstairs from 10 am and I was from 11:30, and we heard SQUAT. No footsteps on stairs, no knock on the door (either with the knocker or pounding on it), no shouted “hello,” nada. (We have no doorbell, and a sign that directs visitors to use the door knocker). I bet he went to the wrong house or even wrong block (though the scheduler confirmed I’d given her the right address). He could have called to say he’d arrived and needed to be let in. I am certain he is either lying or went to the wrong house. (Not unusual for mail sorters & carriers, deliverymen, cabbies, etc. to mix up the digits in my address--happens all the time. There seems to be a striking degree of dyslexia in these occupations around these parts).

UPDATE: The earliest appointment they can give me is Friday! I told the operator that nobody called to confirm he was en route--and neither did anyone call me to say they were outside waiting to come in. I requested that he do both on Friday. Though she said he had my phone number, “it isn’t our policy to call to confirm or have techs do that.” What a bunch of unprofessional losers! But I paid for the service, and have no alternative, so I’m stuck with them.

I am not alone--this seems to be a recurring theme in online reviews of this firm all over the country. Better to tear up nine sawbucks, flush them down the toilet, and haul your old TV out yourself (or commandeer a friend or neighbor to help you).

[Ciarre]

Originally Posted by robj144

What do you mean by live bacteria pixels? I'm just curious.

Bioluminescence!!

Just kidding, you guys already solved it.