Difference between LCD and Plasma in 37"-42"Range??

dttomcat

dttomcat

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I was hoping to get some info on flat Panel TVs from someone with experience. I am looking at either a plasma or a LCD TV in either 37' or 42" size. The 37" LCD I'm considering is 1080p and the 42" plasma is on 720p. Is there a big difference in picture quality between the two in this size range? Also, I've heard that plasmas have a lifespan of 30,000+/- hrs (at least the models in my price range) and that they can develop dead spots on the screen rendering them virtually unwatchable but without manufacturers repair or replacement. Any truth to this? Thanks. -DT
 
At that size most of us don't notice any difference in picture quality. The lighting in your TV room is more of a factor. If it's brightly lit then the LCD is the way to go. (Glare can be an issue w/ plasma in a bright room.)

After that it's about refresh rates.
(60HZ vs 120HZ)

Finally there are various smaller options that are less critical to function, and more about convenience.

Check out the Consumer Reports website. It's a fee based site, but it's only about $25 and may save you quite a bit w/ your purchase.

Good luck
 
Plasma is best for sports and film but lcd is better in high light viewing situations.
 
I bought a 52 inch LCD Toshiba Regza. Very nice set indeed. However, I need new recording gear for it as my older DVD recorder and DVR are still 480p and need to be stretched using the aspect settings.

For my next upgrades I will need high def reciever for my sattelilte. And new high def recording equipement.

Go for the biggest screen you can afford. The 52 is nice, but as the saying goes Bigger is definitely better. In the ideal world I would like a wall of TV, then the 52 inch will go to the cabin.
 
They are both obsolete ! Now coming on the market are OLED screens [organic LED].
 
Bufford said:
I bought a 52 inch LCD Toshiba Regza. Very nice set indeed. However, I need new recording gear for it as my older DVD recorder and DVR are still 480p and need to be stretched using the aspect settings.

For my next upgrades I will need high def reciever for my sattelilte. And new high def recording equipement.

Go for the biggest screen you can afford. The 52 is nice, but as the saying goes Bigger is definitely better. In the ideal world I would like a wall of TV, then the 52 inch will go to the cabin.
Click to expand...

Well, here is what I'm looking at. I can get a 37" LCD in 1080p for ten dollars less than I can get a 720p 42" plasma. The wall and the viewing distance are small so much so that either could be considered overkill. My brother has warned me about the dead spots on the plasma. The LCD has recieved a favorable write-up in Consumer Reports. The plasma (made by a better known mfr) went unmentioned. :confused:
 
I don't know, but I do know you should make sure you look at the screen from an angle (like a guest sitting on the side wall. A lot of big screens look like crud, when viewed from an angle not directly in front of the screen.
 
My head hurts after trying to figure this out! 37" vs. 42", LCD or Plasma, 720p or 1080p, viewing angles, lighting... WTF? Do not know what to make of all this. I suppose I will end up flipping a coin. Maybe I'm overthinking this. Off to the store in a few hours. Any last thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks folks. -DT
 
I bought a tilting mount for the 52 inch TV. I can angle the screen up down and left and right. I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend the extra dollars for the articulating mount, but I found that it is worth the money.

Now I can angle the set when I have company over, instead of having to re arrange the furnature.
 
By dead spots are you referring to burn-in? This can happen with older plasmas but not so much with newer models. I wouldn't worry too much about this unless you only ever watch one channel. I have had a plasma for several years without any problems. As for resolution, I'd be surprised if you saw much difference with these screen sizes. As others have mentioned, the lighting in the room can make the biggest difference once you get the TV home. If you have windows on the walls opposite the location of the screen, go with LCD; glare on plasma can be a major distraction and it isn't necessarily evident in the showroom. Have fun!
 
Well, I went ahead and bought a 42" Panasonic plasma 720p. The glare is not a concern since it is going up in my windowless office and I've got incandescent lighting in addition to the overhead flourescents so I can turn those off. The viewing angle was a concern because it will sometimes be on while I'm at my desk which is off to the side. For more focused viewing there is a couch in front of where the TV will be mounted. Also, I will probably be watching sports and movies from time to time and the plasmas are supposed to be better for fast action media. Thanks to everyone for there advice and I will post again once I get it hooked up in a week or two. -DT
 
crm3137 said:
By dead spots are you referring to burn-in? This can happen with older plasmas but not so much with newer models. I wouldn't worry too much about this unless you only ever watch one channel. I have had a plasma for several years without any problems. As for resolution, I'd be surprised if you saw much difference with these screen sizes. As others have mentioned, the lighting in the room can make the biggest difference once you get the TV home. If you have windows on the walls opposite the location of the screen, go with LCD; glare on plasma can be a major distraction and it isn't necessarily evident in the showroom. Have fun!
Click to expand...

My brother was saying something about "zones" going bad and the mfrs not giving warrantee service because of X% of the screen is still good or some such thing. Could not substantiate that after doing much research. I read a little about phosphur burn-in and temporary ghost images but I think I know enough to avoid these problems and the technology has improved enough to make that fairly unlikely. -DT
 
It was a Viera but a very low end one. It should work very well for my application. I have a Harmon/Kardon AVR 135 5-channel receiver and a nice set of Polk Audio HT speakers. The only thing I need now is a DVD player. Any thoughts on those? Doubt I'll spring for a Blue Ray. I hear there is not too many movies available in this format. My office is kind of a home away from home and a great place to study and do school work also. I will be spending more time there than I will at home after Spring semester starts so I wanted to get a halfway decent setup without spending too much.
 
I think going for the 720p Plasma is not a bad idea at all. I have a 40' LCD that's capable of 1080p, but I only get a 720p signal from my cable. At this point I could only put it through it's paces with Blu-ray but I'm not that interested in getting one of those either.
 
I'm just watching over the air broadcasts in high definition on my 40" samsung LCD. To be honest with you, over the air looks better than cable did when I had cable. All I'm using for an antenna is a 50' roll of 22 gauge speaker wire screwed into one of those antenna-> coax adapters so I can plug it into the antenna connector on the back of the tv. I have around 8 feet of speaker wire unrolled so I can move the coil around which I have to do to get channel 9 here.
For your DVDs, I doubt if you would notice a difference with Blu-Ray. A well mastered 480i DVD might not look as good if you're sitting closer than 6 feet away, but that's about it. A component output (that's the one where you have 3 video cables, a red, a green and a blue, and these are not counting your audio cables) might give you a better picture than an S-video connector. You really don't need an HDMI cable, either, but it reduces the amount of cabling. If your movies look stretched out or distorted you need to go into the settings of the DVD player to adjust the aspect ratio. If you don't have those settings your DVD player is probably really old and due to be replaced anyway.
 
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