Saturday, March 26, 2005

Is LCD TV really better than plasma TV?

We've just created a new HDTV Review website. This is not the usual mass market crap! We get straight to the point. We'll focus our unbiased reviews on topline HDTV products. The www.the-hdtv-review.com is a new website and we will be adding to it frequently.

We've added a couple of articles to our site. Read about the innovative technolgy Philips uses on its 37 inch LCD TV. The Philips 37 inc LCD TV

There's an odd screen size. The 46 inch EDTV is manufactured by Daewoo. Read our review of the Daewoo 46 inch plasma TV

Here's an interesting Q and A from the AVS Forum. A great place to learn about HDTV
Question:
Is LCD really better?
I've been planning to buy a flat panel HDTV and had originally thought about a 50" plasma (maybe Panny). One of the other forums warns to stay away from plasma because of burn-in (primarily) and other issues such as heat. They steered me toward LCD and I've been seriously considering the Sharp Aquos 45". It's real nice but the best price is well over six grand. The wife insists on a flat panel, wall-mounted, so it has to be plasma or LCD. The plasmas cost less. Is the LCD really that much better? Thanks for any advice!


Answer:
There are definately some differences between the technologies to make one "better" for you, but it depends on what you identify as being most important.

Cost: Plasma is better, cost per inch is lower.
Color staturation: Plasma, plasma produces more accurate and more highly saturated colors.
Viewing angle: Plasma, there are no viewing angle issues, LCD is a mixed bag, some are better than others, but in general Plasma is going to be at least as good if not better.
Response time: Plasma. LCD suffer from lag which can result in ghosting of images. Just try doing some serious gaming on LCD and you'll understand.
Blacks/greyscale: Plasma is better, the best Plasma sets can achieve CRT like blacks at .02 nits, and the grey scale ramp is more accurate.

Weight: LCD, they tend to be a bit lighter than Plasma.
Pixel density: LCD, currently, there aren't any "high" resolution Plasma sets below 50 inches.
Heat: LCD, LCD doesn't produce the heat plasma does.
Power consumption: LCD consumes less power.
Burn-in: Plasma has a higher chance at burn in. I've seen LCD screens "yellow" over time, but this isn't technically burn in. However, it's just as bad in my book. I don't know if LCD technology has done anything to address the yellowing issue.
Reliability: This is a tough one to call, but I tend to think LCD will be more reliable. Why? Because it's been with us in the consumer marketplace a good deal longer than Plasma. I feel LCD has had more time to work out the kinks than Plasma.


Other items to note: Due to burn in issues, Plasma performs a few tricks to help keep it from being an issue, one in particular can be annoying. If going from a dark screen with some white to a full white screen, several Plasma sets don't output the true white level of these mostly white screens, the result is a sense of whites not being correct.

Plasma screens are usually smooth reflective glass, I prefer this look to the antireflective coating of LCD sets. I think the coating interferes with the quality of the picture, to me it seems similar to the silkscreen effect. Some find the antireflective coating to be a plus in bright rooms.

That being said, I'm really looking forward to the new crop of LCD sets in the 40 inch range. The new CR numbers and response times, and price points could potentially make these sets the ones to beat.


Here's links to our other pages.

Flat panel monitor advantages of plasma TVs and LCD TVs
LCD TV ratings
best LCD TVs in the 26 inch screen size
best 42 inch plasma TVs
NEC 42VR5 plasma TV.
Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY
NEC-42XR3
Pioneer PDP-4340
Panasonic 50 inch plasma TV
Pioneer 50 inch plasma TV
FAQ for HDTV
EDTV vs. HDTV
A link exchnage page


Go to our other site for audio visual equipment reviews. Check out www.dvd-recorder-review.com This site keeps current reviews of popular selling DVD

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