Plasma > LCD

ShaidarHaran

hardware monkey
Veteran
I'll give away my motive in creating this thread:
I just swapped out a (dead) 42" Philips 1080P LCD w/1100:1/8000:1 contrast ratios (native/dynamic) for a Panasonic of the same size and resolution, but the kicker is she's a plasma. 20,000:1 native contrast 1,000,000:1 dynamic - blu-ray used to look good, now it looks hyper-real. I'd rather watch my tv than look out the window.

Now I will say this for LCD: they do tend to be somewhat cheaper than equivalently-sized plasma screens. Also with an LED backlight the notoriously poor black quality can be improved to near plasma levels, at least based on what I've seen down at the local Magnolia @ BB.

I watched The Host, 28 Weeks Later, and Casino Royale on Br thru the PS3 via HDMI, with the set adjusted for cinema settings (calibrated to my liking) and can honestly say I was gobsmacked at the difference in visible detail in dark, shadowy scenes. LCD owners don't know what HD is until they've seen a Br movie playing on their tv next to a plasma.
 
you swapped a phillips for a panasonic and you think the difference is only because of LCD vs plasma?
 
you swapped a phillips for a panasonic and you think the difference is only because of LCD vs plasma?

I'd suggest you do some research before making statements like this in the future. The Philips I purchased used an LG panel, had a video processor, and was similar in picture quality to Samsung models that cost 20% more on average.
 
I'd suggest you do some research before making statements like this in the future. The Philips I purchased used an LG panel, had a video processor, and was similar in picture quality to Samsung models that cost 20% more on average.

O'rly? The new Samsung's have a 50:000:1 (dynamic) contrast ratio.

New TV looks better than old TV, news at 11.


There are definitely some advantages to plasma, but its far from as simple as plasma > LCD.
 
Dynamic contrast isn't anything you should be paying attention to. Look for post calibration contrast numbers, black levels and color accuracy for your PQ needs.

Shaidar,

Hit up avs and get some close to professional calibration settings off there. There should be plenty posted for various devices. The new 800U series has great accuracy.
 
Plasma's are better than LCD when it comes to fast paced movies and dark scenes.

They have advantages and disadvantages - my old 42PX60 would kick most new LCD's ass when it comes to black levels and fast camera work.

It is just the nature of the technology ... Plasma's have had 9 generations to get to these kind of levels and LCD's are still improving but for movies - do yourself a favour buy a nice Panasonic or Pioneer plasma.

;)
 
There was a huge comparison in the biggest technology magazine in Finland comparing all under 2000 euro Full HD 42" LCD and Plasma TVs, and the Panasonic plasma (TH-42PZ85E) won it hands down (beating all current LCD panels as well). The only negative thing they said about the plasma panel was that it consumes around twice the amount of power (watts per hour) than the comparable LCD panels.

I bought myself one of those Panasonic Full HD 100Hz plasma TVs 2 weeks ago, and the quality is really outstanding. Much better compared to my friends one year older LCD. But I doubt the quality difference to a new high quality Full HD 100Hz LCD panel would be anywhere that large.

Here are the (marketing) specs of Panasonic TH-42PZ85E (G11 plasma panel):
- 1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
- 100Hz Double Scan, 24p Real Cinema, x.v colour
- Contrast ratio: 30000:1 (much better than any LCDs)
- Dynamic contrast ratio: 1000000:1 (no real meaning, just marketing value)
- Response time: 0,001 ms (?)
 
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the Pioneer Kuro Plasma is still the benchmark for HDTV's. high-end Panasonic Plasma's are also very good. Plasma's generally have better color accuracy, less motion blur, and usually have better blacks.

that said, LCD technology is catching up, and there are other positives for LCD technology vs Plasma. to mention a few, they have whiter whites, they don't burn in, and they generally use a matte, or a lot of brands are using a semi-matte now, to reduce glare. they also use less power than Plasma's, and generate less heat.

the current flagship models from Sony (Z4100), Samsung (A750) and Toshiba (XF550) offer PQ very close to Plasma's. they have much better color accuracy, they use 10-bit panels to make more colors available, they have 120hz technology to reduce/eliminate motion blur, and the blacks are getting better and better. because of the semi-gloss screen, the contrast is also improved over the full matte screens that most LCD's had in the past.

anyway, its arguable which technology is better. but one things for sure... LCD tech will eventually catch and surpass Plasma. overall, i still prefer to have an LCD, especially for gaming.
 
My widescreen CRT died a few weeks ago (not completely, it just wouldn't do blue any more), so I was forced to evaluate my options for 42" displays. Because my HDTV is hooked to my HTPC, which is also my primary PC, 1080p was something I really wanted, despite the fact that it was overkill for the display size/viewing distance. Contrast ratio was also really important to me.

After doing a lot of research and repeatledly settling on and then cooling on several models of LCD's I started to seriously consider a Plasma. Found a Panasonic Viero PZ80U for ~$1,330 with tax + free shipping. Just got it today and got it set up and so far I love it. This despite the fact that I forgot to order HDMI cables from Monoprice (D'OH!) and my PC is currently hooked up via component. These are very early impressions and I may yet find flaws with the set, but so far I'm really glad I went with the plasma. Just waiting for my cables to get everything hooked up in it's final configuration so I can calibrate it.
 
There's one reason I own a plasma (besides it being cheaper for me) it's black.

It shows best in advertisements where some company used a mac to replace the native text with some local text just by putting a slab of black with new text over it.

You can never see it on LCD, but it becomes really obvious on plasma.

That said, it's good to see people who just bought a new lcd tv twice the price of my plasma walking in and saying that the colors look so much better, more vivid on a plasma.

oh well.. I don't mind the 300W :|
 
LCDs are better for PC use since a lot of the images are static (no burn-in). A big 1920x1080 50"+ LCD could be used for both HD movies and PC use and on top of that still be cheaper than a comparable plasma.

I don't know why so many (video geeks) have such a hard-on for really black levels. It seems like that's the only thing left that LCDs haven't completely conquered and so that has somehow become the holy grail of image quality? I don't know about you but in real life the only time when you have a completely black environment is if there are no direct/indirect lights. Even then your eyes will eventually adapt and the once completely pitch black eventually turns into a lighter black.

Plasmas are good, but come on. A well calibrated high quality LCD can show many levels of "blacks". Besides if you are really serious about image quality and home theater and also have the space you'd be looking at a nice projector like this one. It costs about the same as a top of the line 60" Pioneer but can throw an image about twice as big.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/jvc_dla_rs2_home_theater_projector.htm
 
I don't know why so many (video geeks) have such a hard-on for really black levels

Plasmas are good, but come on. A well calibrated high quality LCD can show many levels of "blacks". Besides if you are really serious about image quality and home theater and also have the space you'd be looking at a nice projector like this one. It costs about the same as a top of the line 60" Pioneer but can throw an image about twice as big.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/jvc_dla_rs2_home_theater_projector.htm


First of, it's aliasing.

what's the dot-pitch on that beamer? for twenty years ago we brought that to acceptable levels and now the beamers are starting to introduce dot spacing again.
 
There's one reason I own a plasma (besides it being cheaper for me) it's black.

It shows best in advertisements where some company used a mac to replace the native text with some local text just by putting a slab of black with new text over it.

You can never see it on LCD, but it becomes really obvious on plasma.

That said, it's good to see people who just bought a new lcd tv twice the price of my plasma walking in and saying that the colors look so much better, more vivid on a plasma.

oh well.. I don't mind the 300W :|

I read that large LCDs actually use more power than large plasmas, both 1080p. I am not sure where I read it, but it seemed legit.
 
I want a Plasma, but LCDs are so much cheaper. I saw a 52" for $1500, that is a darn good deal.

I can sell you a box of sh*t for even less! ;)
Actually a good lcd isn't that much less these days. The cheaper, washed out ones sure are though...
I got my Panny 50" plasma for a bit under $2k.
 
The question is if you're using your TV in the daytime or in the nighttime. For daytime LCDs are probably a bit better, they have a brighter picture; but when it's completely dark, the lowest level of black they can provide is still a bright gray. The backlight will still shine through the pixels and if you employ any dynamic switching it'll be pretty disturbing.
Plasmas however can remain black even in complete darkness; the upcoming Pioneer stuff is even better in this. So that's why some people are into this black stuff, they view their TVs at night in a dark room.
 
So that's why some people are into this black stuff, they view their TVs at night in a dark room.

Well yeah but when was the last time anybody observed something completely absent of light? Even at night theres the moon so unless you've locked yourself inside of a closet with no light whatsoever it's pretty pointless. I think people are into this black stuff because it's the geeky thing to do and talk about with no realworld benefits. Even outerspace isn't completely black. When was the last time someone entered a black hole?:???:
 
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