School me on LCD/Plasma

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

Im looking at buying a new TV. Last TV i bought was a 24" Sony Trinitron back in about 1995 and i know nothing about the LCD or Plasma TVs. I need a specific size to fit the current entertainment unit i have. Im not interested in replacing this unit so dont bother suggesting it. It has a hole of 960mm Wide and 655 Tall. Depth isnt an issue as its a corner unit. So from what i have found im limited to a maximum size of 37".

I currently have it narrowed down with no experiance in this to one of these units- I can buy this one localy for $1865 but they wont be in stock till the 9th of July http://www.panasonic.com.au/products/details.cfm?productID=6782 Or this one which is actually the perfect fit (its actually 1mm to wide but i can work with that) http://www.panasonic.com.au/products/details.cfm?objectID=4360 I have not enquired about pricing on this one but the only difference i see is the "Clear Screen". Is this worth the extra $$? I only came down to these 2 as they are the largest i have found that fit the hole.

The only reason i have only looked at LCD is because i have heard issues with the Plasmas overheating and only having short life expectancies and also using a lot of power to run.

I generally wouyld onl;y have the TV turned on for a few hours durring the evening and sometimes half the day on weekends so is power consumption a real problem.

Also i always thought the Plasmas were a lot more expensive than LCDs but i was just in a store that it seamed most 42" Plasmas were cheaper than the 42" LCDs they had on display.

Anyone had any experiance with the Panasonic LCDs? Are they good Quality? Should i spend the extra $$ for the "Clear Screen"? Is there anything better in this size and price range?

Please no technical salesman bullshit. I know nothing about these so please remember this when replying.

BigHomo4U Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Location: Melbourne

If it's a Panasonic you want i'd suggest going to Panasales in Brighton, Melbourne. Panasonic's factory outlet, cheaper than stores with factory warranty.

I've got a 50" lG plasma and i'm happy with it. That's about all i can say about that. Watch everyone bag LG now Wink

I don't beleive you need a tv that records. Better off with DVD recorder or foxtel iQ for that crap.

I'm sure others will be more insightful

Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Location: Sunshine Coast Qld

Can't comment on Panasonic as we have an LG 42" Plasma.
We went plasma because the picture quality is so much better.
The picture is the same from any angle whereas LCD's aren't. If you look at one (LCD)and then move up or down you will see what I mean.
My computer monitor is LCD and if I move up or down a bit the picture brightness varies considerably.
I could also see vertical lines in the LCD's which I can't in Plasma's.
Just my 2c but worth considering if you don't always view from directly in front of the screen.
Jas.

Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Location: Brisbane, Aus.

ok - they reckon up to 26 inch get a lcd anything over get a plasma.

i have a cheap and nasty 32 inch plasma and anything I watch looks great.

At work we have a 32 and 42 inch sony top of the range lcd with digital foxtel and it looks like rubbish - all blocky and pixelated.

Sure plasmas may use a bit more power and get hotter but they always look clear and sharp no matter what the source is.

Paul

Joined: 12 Dec 2002 Location: Wangaratta

If you can still get one .. get yourself another plain old glass CRT (same as your old Sony) TV.
A quality 100Hz CRT $ for $ will poop all over LCD's and Plasma's. They are tough, reliable and use little power.

CRTS have better blacks, less artifacts (look at a plasma\LCD you will see whereever there is subtle variation in colour it will not be smooth transiition .. it will be blocky .. this is called "artifacts" .. the better the LCD\plasma the less noticable this is) have faster color transition times ie something fast moving like watching car racing there is less ghosting.

Plasma's and LCD's are rapidly catching up to CRT's for this, but $ for $ they are not even close.

Unless you want to watch your telly in HD .. I would save the $$ for some decent DVD's as there is usally only crap in on the box anyway.

Joined: 15 Jan 2004 Location: Melbourne

barbz wrote:

ok - they reckon up to 26 inch get a lcd anything over get a plasma.

That's the same that the salesman told me at JB Hifi a few months ago. LCD technology is not yet advanced enough to match the picture quality of plasma in large panels. I ended up getting a 42 inch Panasonic plasma with built in HD tuner. To say that I'm happy with it is an understatement.

Make sure that whatever you get has a built in HD tuner. It's also worth spending a little extra and getting an extended warranty. I got 5 years for just over $100.

Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Canberra

I have a 42" LG plasma & I am happy as a pig in sh*t with it.

I can only help with the power consumption bit. I have no noticeable major power jump at the meter, we use ours for a couple of hours most nights after the girls go to bed, footy & car racing on the weekend if I am not busy. It's 3 years old & hasnt missed a beat, even on the 35 degree days. Ours doesnt sit in a cabinet though, we have a flat entertainment unit so maybe you might need to mod your entertainment unit if it is getting too hot.

Our old next door neighbours had the same TV, it was on constantly, I mean form the itme they got up to the time they went to bed. They even left it on when they were out so it gets abused & they didnt winge about the bill.

I think the power consumption thing come from the fact that it would use more power than a tube TV & you cannot turn them off comlpetely (they have a standby mode rather than an isolating switch).

I am in no way a TV expert but there are guys on here that are & have good advice.

There was a thread on here recently on this very subject SEARCH NOOB!!!!!!

Jingle, jingle......is that the bus keys I hear!!

Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Canberra

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic139969.php&highlight=plasma

coxsy looks like he knows a bit about the subject Wink

Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Location: sunshine coast

look at the resolution - the higher the better. Most tv's marked HD are not much higher than standard. that said i saw this article a while back and i fell its pretty true having owned a projector in HD and a rear projection tv in standard definition.

How important is resolution?
Not as important as you might think. According to the Imaging Science Foundation, a group that consults for home-theatre maufacturers and trains professional video calibrators, the most important aspect of picture quality is contrast ratio, the second most important is colour saturation and the third is colour accuracy. Resolution comes in a distant fourth, despite being easily the most-talked-about HD TV spec today.

In other words, once you get to high-definition, most people are perfectly satisfied with the sharpness of the picture. All other things being equal -- namely contrast and colour -- HD TV looks more or less spectacular on just about any high-def television regardless of its size or the HD TV signal's resolution itself. The leap from normal TV to HD TV is so big that additional leaps in resolution -- from high-def to higher-def, let's say -- are tiny by comparison.

Nonetheless the HD TV landscape is littered with resolution discussions, in regard to both sources and displays, so a little knowledge of how they interact is a good thing.

We now have a 32" LG LCD and its sweet as. they can be had for under a k and are good value. I am waiting for the 42" LG lcd to come out for $999 then I will buy it.

cheers bru

Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Location: Sydney

Just look around at a few shops and see which image you prefer. I personally like lcd as they are more reliable. I worked as an A.V tech for 3 years and the amount of dead pixels on plasmas we would get after a short time was kind of scary. Plasmas do look warmer, but in the long run I would say lcd.

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:04 pm

i dont think the definition is a problem, RUFF is old and his eyes arent so good anymore. The Finger

although he may be wanting the clarity when he is watching his german movies of ladies making toilet.

Joined: 28 Nov 2002 Location: Melbourne

bru21 wrote:

look at the resolution - the higher the better.

Yep, in a perfect world you want a 1080p HD TV. Personally if you want a larger screen (such as the one you're after) and especially if you like sports then stick with plasmas. Whilst LCD refresh rates have improved markedly over the years, they're still not up their with plasmas.

Joined: 12 Dec 2002 Location: Wangaratta

Ben wrote:

bru21 wrote:

look at the resolution - the higher the better.

Yep, in a perfect world you want a 1080p HD TV. Personally if you want a larger screen (such as the one you're after) and especially if you like sports then stick with plasmas. Whilst LCD refresh rates have improved markedly over the years, they're still not up their with plasmas.

And a good CRT will still flog a good plasma.

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:28 pm

Anything up to 42" go an LCD over the Plasma. Make sure you get 1080 dpi and dont get caught up in contrast ratios as LCD and Plasma use different styles to dictate the numbers.

Plasma has come a long way and is not as unreliable as it used to be but remember the picture on a plasma starts to degrade the moment it is turned on so they get worse over time. They are also very power hungry with some using the same amount of power as a 400w heater. You generally should have an a/c room where the plasma is fitted also as they do not like to work in a heated environment.

The reason most people are buying plasmas is price and size as most want 50" or larger, and the LCD does lack in the larger sizes.

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

Looking around it seams the Plasmas are mainly only available in 42"+ sizes. There are a few in the 32" range but i havent found anything in between.

Joined: 28 Nov 2002 Location: Melbourne

love_mud wrote:

And a good CRT will still flog a good plasma.

No argument there.

Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Location: Albury

Don't be afraid to knock the price down a bit too. We went to 4 different shops looking at a 50" Samsung Plasma last week. They all had a RRP of around $1999, we ended up screwing the last shop down to $1499 a saving of $500 in a couple of hours! So we got it at Joyce Mayne but The Good Guys were fairly priced also.

Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Location: Anywhere

I just bought a 50" Panansonic Plasma TH50PZ700A from Harvey Norman runout model. Bloody brilliant value for full HD Everyone in the house fights over watching it! Very Happy

Definitely recommend one! armsup

Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Location: Brisbane, Aus.

watch out for tv's that are hd ready - the resolution should be 1920 x 1080 - if it isnt then it isnt really HD.

you will find this on alot of the cheaper panels and you are just throwing your money away - if you are buying it for HD.

Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: perth wa

the power usage between plasmas and lcds is not huge the difference is only 40 watts between the 2. i recently bought a 50" fujitsu plasma thru my brothers work at cost price and i can say the picture on there panel shits all over panasonic and pioneer and lg and ................... u get the picture Very Happy

, and as for heat i can honestly say it doesnt get anywhere near as hot as people say.

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:38 pm

Probably to late but

http://www.kogan.com.au/

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

The panasonics i linked to above have HDMI inputs. Will i be able to plug in my RCA leads to this? Or am i going to need to buy a seperate cable/Adapter. What is the chance it wont be compatable with my Sony Surround sound that has the following inputs-

• 5.1 Multi-Channel
Analog Input
• 1 Coaxial Digital Input
(DVD/LD)
• 1 Optical Digital Input
(Video 2)
• 2 Analog Audio Inputs
(MD/Tape, CD)
• 3 Analog Audio Inputs
(DVD/LD,Video 1,Video 2)

Joined: 15 Jan 2004 Location: Melbourne

It should have plenty of RCA inputs as well. Mine has about 4 sets of RCS inputs and I think 2 HDMI inputs.

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

Emo wrote:

It should have plenty of RCA inputs as well. Mine has about 4 sets of RCS inputs and I think 2 HDMI inputs.

Your right i just checked the specs and it looks to have about 600 different connections Very Happy

Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Location: Brisbane

Don't forget about screen burn on a plasma.
most have a pixel shift function to help prevent it, but if you play any video games you could have problems

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

Frankeh wrote:

Don't forget about screen burn on a plasma.
most have a pixel shift function to help prevent it, but if you play any video games you could have problems

At this stage im still leaning towards the LCD and the Panasonics listed above as they are a perfect fit. And i still havent found a 37" Plasma or one that will fit the hole like the Panasonic LCDs will.

Do the LCDs suffer from screen burn?

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

I also noticed in previous threads some mentioned that the inbuild HD was not a good idea. Why is this a problem?

Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Newy

barbz wrote:

At work we have a 32 and 42 inch sony top of the range lcd with digital foxtel and it looks like rubbish - all blocky and pixelated.

Paul

Must be an issue with your setup at work, as the Sony Bravia LCDs give the best image I have seen to date.

What connector are you using and is the Foxtel output a good enough resolution?
The quality issue WILL NOT be on the display panel's end.

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

HotFourOk wrote:

Must be an issue with your setup at work, as the Sony Bravia LCDs give the best image I have seen to date.

I viewed a display model of the first panasonic i posted side by side with an LG and a Sony and the picture quality and colors were defianatly much better on the Panasonic although im not sure if i was comparing apples to apples they may have been different resolutions. They may also have been tuned differently.

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:04 pm

RUFF wrote:

I also noticed in previous threads some mentioned that the inbuild HD was not a good idea. Why is this a problem?

Some of the standard tuners are crap and will not work correctly without a good quality signal. If you have any problems with that let me know and I will come over and fix it for you.

I also know for a fact the power usage is a lot than 4w difference Wink