Which are better tv's overall, LCD, LED, or Plasma?

[Berserk87]

plasmas are the cheapest and have the best picture out of all of them, but they suffer from glare and image retention.

leds cost the most, but are the most power efficient, super thin, and better contrast ratio than normal lcds.

a lcd/led tv with comparable picture quality to a $700 plasma your looking at ~$2000.

[ThaCrip]

Turning on and off the TV sharply degrades the life span. That's why they say to never turn on the TV and turn it off right away. It's probably impossible to test, but if you go back and forth to the TV multiple times a day, I'm sure the life span of the bulb will be much much less than the 100k hours it's rated for.

so the question is...

is it better to leave the LCD's on most of the time?

or...

is it better to set them to turn off (in Windows) if you away every 15-20minutes?

as far as the lifespan of it.

[DDStriker]

I find Plasma having a better quality when it comes to image reproduction. I am sure some people are going to cry about the latest generation of LCDs taking care of that which is not true. For those who buys big TVs for the quality, not for the sack of buying the TV would say the same thing.

I do find it odd at times when there are two tv's side by side LED/Plasma that the LED always looks superior in all aspects perhaps they are trying to sabotage plasmas by using a lower quality tv against a higher quality led-backlit tv

Just can't wait for them to bring oled tv's out in the 50"+ range at a reasonable price :D

[WhoTheF]

I moved from plasma to led and i gotta i say enjoy led a lot more. i like the hd quality on there. got a 42" for about $1100 few months back with a free bluray player. (everything samsung)

nothing I'd complain about, seriously. good investment. if you're waiting for 3d, i don't know. do you really wanna buy those $150 glasses?

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

It depends on what you want. If you want the best image quality, then go for a plasma HDTV. It has the truest blacks out of all the HDTVs available now (LCD, LED-LCD, DLP, etc). It also has amazing colour reproduction and zero ghosting which is perfect for fast-moving media like sports. Unfortunately, plasma HDTVs suffer from glare and image burn-in. If you want low power consumption with no glare and image retention, then go for a LCD or LED-LCD HDTV. The latter uses the same technology but instead of using cold cathode fluorescent lamp for backlighting, it uses light-emitting diodes.

I do find it odd at times when there are two tv's side by side LED/Plasma that the LED always looks superior in all aspects perhaps they are trying to sabotage plasmas by using a lower quality tv against a higher quality led-backlit tv

Just can't wait for them to bring oled tv's out in the 50"+ range at a reasonable price :D

People are easily fooled by the better-lit LED TVs.

[DDStriker]

It depends on what you want. If you want the best image quality, then go for a plasma HDTV. It has the truest blacks out of all the HDTVs available now (LCD, LED-LCD, DLP, etc). It also has amazing colour reproduction and zero ghosting which is perfect for fast-moving media like sports. Unfortunately, plasma HDTVs suffer from glare and image burn-in. If you want low power consumption with no glare and image retention, then go for a LCD or LED-LCD HDTV. The latter uses the same technology but instead of using cold cathode fluorescent lamp for backlighting, it uses light-emitting diodes.

People are easily fooled by the better-lit LED TVs.

It's hard not to when the plasmas they use are inferior, I should take my plasma down there with my own equipment and compare the two properly :laugh:

[Marshall Veteran]

How come I cannot display my tv or dvd's in full 1080p? When I press info (on an HD channel) it says 720p instead of 1080p? Is there something I'm missing?

And yes, the LCD tv is 1080p capable.

[dknm]

The source , in both cases isn't 1080p .

A DVD player can usually upscale content ( dvd is 576p ) , while with Digital TV you get ..what you pay for - HD channels aren't many ( arguably ) and the subscription fee rises quite a bit .?

[TAZMINATOR]

How come I cannot display my tv or dvd's in full 1080p? When I press info (on an HD channel) it says 720p instead of 1080p? Is there something I'm missing?

And yes, the LCD tv is 1080p capable.

HD system detects the TV show or DVD content and show you HD info based on the content... For example, the show/movie maker develop a show/movie in 720 then it will show 720 on your TV... otherwise it will show you 1080 if the content is made with 1080 ..

It's what I think. My TV is actually 720p as the box says but I play xbox games that shows 1080 on my screen.

My screen resolution for my computer for that TV is 1360 by 768. I can not go larger than that. It is at max.

[morebaker]

I like most modern tv's and i recommend going to the store and choosing the one that looks best for your eyes.

As long as it has decent specs you should be happy with it. They all have their pros and cons.

[BigCheese]

Plasmas have the best picture quality and are much cheaper than LED lit LCDs.

[Minifig]

Out of all those?

LED.

However... If you're looking for best picture and soon to be best deal, OLED will blow away anything else on the market.

Once you see one OLED monitor, there really is no going back.

[Marshall Veteran]

HD system detects the TV show or DVD content and show you HD info based on the content... For example, the show/movie maker develop a show/movie in 720 then it will show 720 on your TV... otherwise it will show you 1080 if the content is made with 1080 ..

It's what I think. My TV is actually 720p as the box says but I play xbox games that shows 1080 on my screen.

My screen resolution for my computer for that TV is 1360 by 768. I can not go larger than that. It is at max.

Do they make dvd's that are filmed in 1080p, and if so are they more expensive? Sorry I'm a noob when it comes to modern TV's.

Will the 1080p DVD eliminate the black lines at the top and bottom of the screen? (letterbox)

[shakey]

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/LN55C630K1FXZA

The picture on this TV puts to shame many TVs. I'm very happy with it :)

You can do better, but the picture of this really is like looking into a portal of a world that is much more vivid. You have to get 120hz as well.

[Southern Patriot]

Plasma is usually cheaper in my findings.

I was going to say the same thing. I don't know where people are getting the idea that a plasma TV costs more than an LCD. For the same size and resolution, plasma is almost always cheaper than LCD, especially in the larger sizes.

[Jeston Veteran]

Do they make dvd's that are filmed in 1080p, and if so are they more expensive? Sorry I'm a noob when it comes to modern TV's.

Will the 1080p DVD eliminate the black lines at the top and bottom of the screen? (letterbox)

No, that's why there's Blu-Ray...

[Southern Patriot]

Do they make dvd's that are filmed in 1080p, and if so are they more expensive? Sorry I'm a noob when it comes to modern TV's.

Will the 1080p DVD eliminate the black lines at the top and bottom of the screen? (letterbox)

DVDs are never going to be high definiton. What you need for that is Blu-Ray. Depending on the original aspect ratio of the movie, you may still have bars, although usually thinner ones, either on the top and bottom (if the movie you are watching was wider than 16:9), or on the left and right (if the movie was 4:3, like most non-widescreen DVDs and older TV shows).

[lukvdh]

When shopping for a TV I always aks to turn them all OFF to have a look at them that way to.

As there is no "black light" the deepest black you will ever see on your TV is the 'color' you see when there is no light in it at all.

You'll be surprised to see how "gray-ish" many sets are.

[TAZMINATOR]

Do they make dvd's that are filmed in 1080p, and if so are they more expensive? Sorry I'm a noob when it comes to modern TV's.

Will the 1080p DVD eliminate the black lines at the top and bottom of the screen? (letterbox)

I wasn't talking about regular DVD movies. I was talking about HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, Widescreen formats... You have black bars when watching widescreen based movies.. If you don't want the black bars, then you either watch full screen based movies or zoom-in with your remote that has zoom button.

Some special TVs have special widescreen format which you will not have black bars during the movies. But this kind of TVs are very expensive depending the screen size.

I don't care about black bars in widescreen movies on my TVs...

I was going to say the same thing. I don't know where people are getting the idea that a plasma TV costs more than an LCD. For the same size and resolution, plasma is almost always cheaper than LCD, especially in the larger sizes.

It's depending on the model's features, age, factory cost... Plasmas looks great in dark rooms. LCD can be seen in broad daylight. No matter you are in dark room or not.

[Marshall Veteran]

That's the information I needed....thanks everyone.

[splur]

Alright, I've decided to hijack this thread as the OP is done with it.

I'm trying to decide on the three right now. My parents recently bought a 50" LCD 240Hz Samsung which by the specs seems amazing, it was definitely a bargain and nothing seemed wrong about it on paper. This is something someone who knows more about this stuff can explain to me. Why does it seem TOO sharp? It's almost like everything I watch on it was taken from raw footage off the camera, you know like those British or Canadian (mid-low budget) detective dramas which visually feel very off. Very cold and unnatural. This is a comparison to a 47" Samsung plasma which my friend has, playing the same movie the images are much warmer. It's really hard to explain.

Now I'm trying to figure out what exactly causes this, what the difference between the plasma and LCD is, and if I can avoid that cold unnatural sharpness with the LED.

[Raa]

Definately LED. LCD next, then plasma.

You'd have to be really nitpicky to see the differences between GOOD panels on each thesedays though.

I love my Sony Bravia. :D

[Purple Haze]

For gaming, plasma all the way, especially a Panasonic or Samsung.

[Sikh]

For gaming, plasma all the way, especially a Panasonic or Samsung.

Plasma is WORSE option for gaming. While burn in isn't a big deal anymore it still happens. I have a few friends with plasmas that have slight burn in everytime they play for an hour or so.

Plasma is the BEST option for movies. The quality is unbelievable. I would also recommend panasonic as top for plasma tvs.

But I would say LED > LCD > Plasma. Also samsung, panasonic, lg and sharp

[jerzdawg]

Alright, I've decided to hijack this thread as the OP is done with it.

I'm trying to decide on the three right now. My parents recently bought a 50" LCD 240Hz Samsung which by the specs seems amazing, it was definitely a bargain and nothing seemed wrong about it on paper. This is something someone who knows more about this stuff can explain to me. Why does it seem TOO sharp? It's almost like everything I watch on it was taken from raw footage off the camera, you know like those British or Canadian (mid-low budget) detective dramas which visually feel very off. Very cold and unnatural. This is a comparison to a 47" Samsung plasma which my friend has, playing the same movie the images are much warmer. It's really hard to explain.

Now I'm trying to figure out what exactly causes this, what the difference between the plasma and LCD is, and if I can avoid that cold unnatural sharpness with the LED.

Check to see if the "motion" feature is enabled in the settings. I know on my Samsung when this feature is on high it def gives a vey unnatural feel to whatever I am watching. I keep this setting turned to off.