DS Forums

 
 

Lcd Or Plasma?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 14-10-2008, 07:03
zestfulmass
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 805

Been looking at my fave electronic website and they have totally slashedtheir prices on LCD tv.

Have been looking to upgrade the 32" to maybe 37 or 40.
Samsung series 5 "40 is on there for £550. but rumours suggest plasma is better at that size.

Is this true?
zestfulmass is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 14-10-2008, 07:36
OranguMaTang
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 712
For me it would be

37" - Panasonic PX80 plasma or Panasonic LCD, also the Toshiba XV LCD's
40" - Sony LCD
42"- too many to choose from.... PX80 again probably.

I don't think there is that much between plasma and lcd these days, and I'm sure you'd be happy with whatever you end up with.
OranguMaTang is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 07:55
roddydogs
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 6,355
ignore

Last edited by roddydogs : 14-10-2008 at 07:56. Reason: wrong
roddydogs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 08:08
MAW
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,589
In spite of the numbers, plasma still has the edge in black level and contrast in the real world, though there is sufficient variation between manufacturers to cover this up. A cheap and nasty plasma is not going to be anywhere close to a top LCD, I mean by that. Beware the shop demo under bright lights in dynamic mode, it won't look like that in your living room.
MAW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 10:30
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
As you've got HD, LCD is generally far better on HD, but Plasma tends to be better on SD - but a decent make and model of either will be reasonable on both.
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 12:18
stvn758
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,338
LCD for me, can't be bothered worrying about screen burn.

I'd probably get fixated on the endless on screen logos and wonder what they were doing to my TV.
stvn758 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 13:12
MAW
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,589
As you've got HD, LCD is generally far better on HD, but Plasma tends to be better on SD - but a decent make and model of either will be reasonable on both.
I'm utterly in disagreement with this I'm afraid. LCDs can be bright and brash and over sharp, and if you like that fair enough. It's not exactly natural looking though. Calibrated, they rarely have a decent greyscale gradation, and never go as black as is made out.
MAW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 13:22
stvn758
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,338
The blacks on my Samsung 46 full HD LCD are amazing, I was expecting wishy washy grey listening to the way people go on about this.

My model is not even the best in their lineup, I'm watching Project Catwalk right now and the detail and contrast between colours is superb.

Reminds me of Spinal Tap, how more black could that be, the answer is not very.
stvn758 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 13:37
paulr2006
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 1,098
The blacks on my Samsung 46 full HD LCD are amazing, I was expecting wishy washy grey listening to the way people go on about this.

My model is not even the best in their lineup, I'm watching Project Catwalk right now and the detail and contrast between colours is superb.

Reminds me of Spinal Tap, how more black could that be, the answer is not very.
I was also going to comment on the quality of the Blacks on my Samsung LE40M86 but you tend to get quite a bit of Samsung bashing on here from the Experts who have never owned one (or set one up well) I had always been a Sony CRT fan due to their excellent blacks so when I decided to go LCD & HD I did an awful lot of viewing on both Plasma & LCD & had almost resigned myself to plasma until I found this model Samsung, the blacks are truly outstanding & everyone who see's it has to admit they have never seen such good black & colour definition. Quite different to the awful "Shop" mode they come out of the Box with! when I unpacked mine initially I thought it was faulty until I got rid of the Dynamic everything!
paulr2006 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 14:09
MAW
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,589
For most of the pro's, it's not so much the product we don't like, but Samsung the company. Disgraceful after sales. I refuse to sell them, as if something goes wrong you are on your own. Warrnties disavowed at 367 days, so if it goes tits up a day out of 1 yr warranty, I'd be liable. No, thank you very much.
MAW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 14:35
paulr2006
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 1,098
For most of the pro's, it's not so much the product we don't like, but Samsung the company. Disgraceful after sales. I refuse to sell them, as if something goes wrong you are on your own. Warrnties disavowed at 367 days, so if it goes tits up a day out of 1 yr warranty, I'd be liable. No, thank you very much.
If that's the case I can clearly see where you are coming from! back up to the trade is all important. Are they so different to other manufacturers though in this respect? (Genuine question)

On a personal note i have found the Service to be very good within warranty but assume they will be like most other manufacturers as soon as the Guarantee runs out! in that they don't want to know (I have had this from two Big Name main stream companies).
paulr2006 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 14:59
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
I'm utterly in disagreement with this I'm afraid. LCDs can be bright and brash and over sharp, and if you like that fair enough. It's not exactly natural looking though. Calibrated, they rarely have a decent greyscale gradation, and never go as black as is made out.
They need to be sharp to give good HD, Plasma's are much less sharp, blurring the artifacts and giving better SD, but much poorer on HD.

Anything can be bright and brash if you set it that way!
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 15:03
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
If that's the case I can clearly see where you are coming from! back up to the trade is all important. Are they so different to other manufacturers though in this respect? (Genuine question)
It does really depends a lot on the company, Sony have always had a good reputation in that respect, and Panasonic (for an example) have always had a very poor one. But Sony's customer service is now out-sourced to a third party, and they aren't as helpful as they used to be. Sharp used to be pretty helpful, but I don't know if they still are? - as suggested, Samsung are usually unhelpful.
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 15:22
MD_Zero
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: London
Posts: 2,163
They need to be sharp to give good HD, Plasma's are much less sharp, blurring the artifacts and giving better SD, but much poorer on HD.

Anything can be bright and brash if you set it that way!
So why is my PZ81 so much better for HD than my W4000?

and don't say calibration
MD_Zero is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 15:39
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
So why is my PZ81 so much better for HD than my W4000?
Personal preference? - W4000's are cracking sets, on both SD and HD.


and don't say calibration
I wouldn't, I consider it more a scam than anything else

No offence intended to MAW.
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 16:22
sancheeez
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,762
So why is my PZ81 so much better for HD than my W4000?
By the sound of it, it depends on the set.

HD on my (meagre) 40" U3000 looks great to me.

On my mates 42" Plasma though it doesn't look nearly as well defined ..... or as good ..... to me. Mind you, the 42" plasma in question is a Philips ...... which may well have something to do with it!
sancheeez is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 16:37
Hooblue
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 27
I always thought (although I am probably wrong here as I'm no expert) that the general rule of thumb was that 40" and below LCD is generally better like for like, and over 40" plasma has the edge.

However my friend has a 42" panny plasma and I have a 37" LG LCD, and mine looks so much better than his. We both have a Wii and when playing mine looks sharper with richer colours and blacker blacks. True, this might be to do with the way they are both set up, but I was expecting his to blow mine out of the water, especially as it cost £300 more!
Hooblue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 17:28
zestfulmass
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 805
To be honest I've got alot of time for samsung, not just because they all look ace but they have never failed to impress with the quality of the picture, see a fair few in the field and would say that thery are close to panasonic at being the most popular too.
Not going anywhere near sony, never had any faith in them, and don't they get alot of their components from other manufacturers now??

Think I'll get a series 6 42" LCD then, much lighter too so wall mount will be alot cheaper too.
plus I wouldn't be worrying about 15 or more KG's instead of about 8 or 9 on the chimmney breast.
zestfulmass is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 18:05
MAW
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,589
Nigel, none taken re calibration. Well, nor anything else, this is a place for discussing exactly such things after all. As a CI professional, I always calibrate my customer's screens as part of thr install. I'm not ISF qualified, and take no huge trouble with it, it's 45 mins to an hour usually, whilst we finish and test the remote control. It will leave them with brightness, contrast and sharpness correctly set, and colour balance very much in the ball park. I too think ISF is for the serious enthusiast. If you want to pay for the ultimate viewing experience, fine.
MAW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-10-2008, 19:13
sancheeez
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,762
I use a Samsung monitor on my PC and I have to say, the picture on that is fantastic.

If they can translate that quality onto their TV's, I don't see why they should be damn good as well.

Unfortunately, the only Samsung LCD I've ever seen actually running, the guy hadn't configured it at all from the factory settings. It looked like someone was pointing a military searchlight at the back of the picture. It was almost sticking out of the screen it was so bright.
sancheeez is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-10-2008, 10:55
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
I'm thinking of buying 3, one for each of the spare bedrooms, do you think they will offer a small discount?
I would imagine so - we did a really good deal on two 52 inch Sony's, bought a week apart (he liked the first one so much he wanted a second one).
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 16:39.