[rockyracoon]

God, my heads wrecked, we went out today to look for a new TV, came home without one. I'm completely confused, the sales people didn't fill me with confidence, can anyone explain to me in simple terms what the advantages are of these different kinds of TV. Many thanks for any replies.

[Gormond]

I'm no expert but I will give it a go:

For starters LED is just LCD with an LED backlight to make the screen thinner and give better blacks.

The advantage with plasma is that they have very good blacks and more accurate colours, especially Panasonic's NeoPGP range. LCDs tend to be thinner, use less power and are very bright. I personally like LCD because of the brightness but it's down to preference.

I would personally go for a Sony LCD (LED backlight) or a Panasonic Plasma.

What's your price range? And what size are you after?

[rockyracoon]

Thanks Gormond, we're looking for 40", budget is about £800, but would probably go to £1000 if we really had to. I was keen on the Samsung, in the shop the picture quality seemed to be the best, but then we went into out local independent dealer to see his Samsung but he says he won't stock them cos he thinks they're shocking and aftersales is awful. He only stocked Panasonic so whatever brand we inquired about he may have said the same thing. FWIW the pictures on the Pana's in his shop were not great at all, my crappy thing I have now is better, I'm hoping thats more to do with his aerial than the quality of the product.

[niall campbell]

Panasonics are good, albeit biased as I have one

i have the G20 50 " and the G30 is this years model

Freeview HD is a must whatever you get

and the TVs in the shop will have all the brightest settings on , so all look good ............ if not garish . My TV has a THX setting and is quite dark in comparison

https://www.forumhifivisual.co.uk/Vi..._G30_3174.html

[AlanO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockyracoon

Thanks Gormond, we're looking for 40", budget is about £800, but would probably go to £1000 if we really had to. I was keen on the Samsung, in the shop the picture quality seemed to be the best, but then we went into out local independent dealer to see his Samsung but he says he won't stock them cos he thinks they're shocking and aftersales is awful. He only stocked Panasonic so whatever brand we inquired about he may have said the same thing. FWIW the pictures on the Pana's in his shop were not great at all, my crappy thing I have now is better, I'm hoping thats more to do with his aerial than the quality of the product.

You really have to be trying hard to make a Panasonic have a poor picture - even out of the box they are generally superb.

There does seem to be a difference of opinion between the independents and the multiples over Samsung.

The multiples (in which I include DSG, Comet, Argos, John Lewis and M&S) all seem to like Samsung and sell an awful lot - if there was an underlying warranty / support issue they'd be avoiding them - particularly JL and M&S since they offer 5 year warranties on them.

BTW I notice M&S have a number of Samsungs on special prices at the mo - with 5 year g'tee if that helps.

[niall campbell]

yes Samsung sell bucketloads as they are cheap

it depends if you want cheap and cheery ( though Samsung probally the better of a bad bunch )

[AlanO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niall campbell

yes Samsung sell bucketloads as they are cheap

it depends if you want cheap and cheery ( though Samsung probally the better of a bad bunch )

When you say cheap, you have to be a bit careful. Particularly with Samsung - because at any one time they seem to have about 4 ranges active.

1 - budget
2 - mid range
1 - premium

Which seem to be priced a bit above the 'own brands' in the case of the budget, around the price of the old 'mainstream' brands in the case of the mid-range and in the case of the 'premium' close enough to Panasonic or Sony. The latter two haven't really extended their ranges in quite that way (although Sony's BX seems to suggest they will).

[late8]

PLASMA

By far best picture for your £.

A £500 Plasma will give you a better picture than a £1000+ LCD.

Better colours, better blacks and better viewing angle.


LED are thinner and use the least electricity.

LCD are cheap and come in a wide choice.

But to this day Plasmas are still the choice to go for if you really care about PQ

[pocatello]

Plasma

Led is mostly hype at the low end, and bonus profit margin on a cheap lcd panel.

[ney]

LG is good I have a just under two year old LG 22inch LCD HD ready in my bedroom but I would recomend a Panasonic. They are great TVs. I have a 32inch 18 month old Panasonic LCD full HD in the living room and a 8 day old 19inch LCD HD ready in mum and dads bedroom and both have great picture and sound.
The sound on the Panasonic even beats the LG I got in my bedroom and the LG is a good TV.
Whatever make you get a full HD ready TV is what to go for.
Digital switchover in my area starts in 5 to 10 days time depending on what transmitter you use.

Darren

[geordielady]

Quote:

Originally Posted by late8

PLASMA

By far best picture for your £.

A £500 Plasma will give you a better picture than a £1000+ LCD.

Better colours, better blacks and better viewing angle.


LED are thinner and use the least electricity.

LCD are cheap and come in a wide choice.

But to this day Plasmas are still the choice to go for if you really care about PQ

Disagree, if your watching mostly SD then plasma is the way to go, but if most of your viewing is HD then a top of the range LCD give a better detailed, crisper picture.
But its all down to personal choice, there is no real right or wrong.

[pocatello]

Well no because top of the range plasma is also 1080p these days, so there is no crisper advantage.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pocatello

Well no because top of the range plasma is also 1080p these days, so there is no crisper advantage.

You can't have it both ways, either a plasma is better on SD or better on HD - plasma tend to be 'better' on SD because they blur the pixels together, hiding the artifacts better.

If it's as good as LCD on HD, then it won't be better on SD.

But regardless, Plasma is outdated technology, with almost all manufacturers having dropped it - it's just a question of waiting to see which of the three remaining ones drops it next (all of them make more LCD than Plasma already).

[rockyracoon]

Thanks to everyone for replying, I'm think I'm just gonna let the other half make a decision, there's far too much choice for me.

[Peter the Great]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

You can't have it both ways, either a plasma is better on SD or better on HD - plasma tend to be 'better' on SD because they blur the pixels together, hiding the artifacts better.

If it's as good as LCD on HD, then it won't be better on SD.

But regardless, Plasma is outdated technology, with almost all manufacturers having dropped it - it's just a question of waiting to see which of the three remaining ones drops it next (all of them make more LCD than Plasma already).

Depends what you mean by outdated technology. If you mean less of them being available then yes that is true but it's probably more to do with them being impracticable to produce. The only thing good about LCD's i can see is that they are easier to watch in a bright room. And on what you are saying about HD that is all personal opinion. LCD's still mostly give awful blacks and no HD content will change that.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter the Great

Depends what you mean by outdated technology. If you mean less of them being available then yes that is true but it's probably more to do with them being impracticable to produce. The only thing good about LCD's i can see is that they are easier to watch in a bright room. And on what you are saying about HD that is all personal opinion. LCD's still mostly give awful blacks and no HD content will change that.

You need to look at some decent quality LCD's then, many give better blacks than plasma - and certainly the blacks on my plasma (which I'm VERY happy with) are no where near as good as LCD's.

[soulboy77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockyracoon

Thanks to everyone for replying, I'm think I'm just gonna let the other half make a decision, there's far too much choice for me.

Ignore the fact whether it is a plasma. lcd or led. Create a shortlist for your budget by reading various reviews then go and try to view these to make your final decision on PQ.

[late8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordielady

Disagree, if your watching mostly SD then plasma is the way to go, but if most of your viewing is HD then a top of the range LCD give a better detailed, crisper picture.
But its all down to personal choice, there is no real right or wrong.

If someone was serious about watching HD then a screen technology that also offers better colour and shadow detail etc should be right at the top of your choice. - Plasma is still that choice.
A plasma has the same number of pixels for HD so there is no technical difference to begin with.

+ overly sharp pictures are a no no and a LCD can do just that if not set up correctly.


plasma will offer the best picture for the £.

[bobcar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

You can't have it both ways, either a plasma is better on SD or better on HD - plasma tend to be 'better' on SD because they blur the pixels together, hiding the artifacts better.

Of course a technology can be better on both SD and HD, you are taking one factor (image blurring) for plasma being better on SD and using that as an across the board generalisation. For example you might take darker blacks, faster response times or more "natural" colours which would apply to both HD and SD. LCDs are definitely better when it comes to reduced reflections and that applies to both SD and HD.

I'm not saying plasmas are "better" than LCDs but just that your logic that a technology can't be better at both HD and SD is false.

[Stiggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niall campbell

yes Samsung sell bucketloads as they are cheap

it depends if you want cheap and cheery ( though Samsung probally the better of a bad bunch )

I would completely disagree.

I have had 2 Sony LCD's (1 still in the bedroom), a Panny plasma and now onto a Samsung LCD and the Samsung feature wise, picture wise and in the looks department are much better than both sony and panny which never look up to much.

Its down to personal preference really i suppose but to say Samsung are cheap and cheery is just stupid.

This would disagree as well http://www.stuff.tv/top-10s/tvs

[Stiggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by late8

If someone was serious about watching HD then a screen technology that also offers better colour and shadow detail etc should be right at the top of your choice. - Plasma is still that choice.
A plasma has the same number of pixels for HD so there is no technical difference to begin with.

+ overly sharp pictures are a no no and a LCD can do just that if not set up correctly.


plasma will offer the best picture for the £.

Again disagree.

My telly was £1000 and my pals Panny was near £1500 and he even says the pic quality on my Samsung LCD is better than his. He is in fact selling his panny as we speak to by the same telly as mine.

[geordielady]

Quote:

Originally Posted by late8

If someone was serious about watching HD then a screen technology that also offers better colour and shadow detail etc should be right at the top of your choice. - Plasma is still that choice.
A plasma has the same number of pixels for HD so there is no technical difference to begin with.

+ overly sharp pictures are a no no and a LCD can do just that if not set up correctly.


plasma will offer the best picture for the £.

I have a friend who has a pioneer Kuro that has been set up properly, on SD it blows away my SD PQ but on HD would not swap my Sony for his Kuro, he even admits on HD the sony looks better.

But its still a matter of opinion, my view is buying a plasma after having an LCD would be a step backwards considering almost all of my viewing is now in HD

[soulboy77]

At the end of the day it's down to your own judgement. Most of the top manufacturers make a range of models from the budget end to the high end. So when people make statements about a Panny, Sony or Samsung being better than the other this is just a generalisation. Regardless of display technology used and make / model if you believe a particular TV offers a better PQ then another for your budget then that is your personal choice. Another person will have an entirely different but valid view.

[Peter the Great]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

You need to look at some decent quality LCD's then, many give better blacks than plasma - and certainly the blacks on my plasma (which I'm VERY happy with) are no where near as good as LCD's.

I think you need your eyes tested then because even some of the better Sony LCD's still can't produce blacks as good as a Plasma. The only ones that come near are some of the LED backlit models and they cost alot more than Plasmas.

[fosterite]

All down to preference really. I would advide that you go onto some forums and have a look at some of the threads. The advice I would give is make certain you go Full HD (1080P) and not HD ready. This is good for watching Blu Ray Discs. Check the lighting in the room you will be putting your panel. Really bright rooms with streaming sunlight will cause problems if you get a Plasma. This is because of the glass panel. LCD's are better in a bright sulit room as the panels are plastic (less reflection if any). Beware of what the PQ looks like in the showroom. A lot of shops will run a demo from a Blu Ray Disc loaded onto a USB inserted into the TV. Remember HD broadcasts are not in 1080P(Blu Ray) they are 720P or 1080i. The PQ is lower than Blu Ray by quite a distance. A 1080P scan show every line of image data where as a 1080i scan only shows 1 of every 2 lines of image data. I have a Plasma 42" full HD panel myself which really suits me as the panel is in a non sun filled room. The ambient light level is great however for a Plasma Panel hence the fact I purchased one to replace my old LCD HD Ready Panel. Hope this helps a little