I finally saved up $1600, and I'm getting my dad what he's wanted for his birthday for the last 4 years...a 42" flat HDTV screen. Problem is I can't really find the diff b/t LCD and Plasma screens.

Anyone know what would be the better tv? My dad isn't really that big into technology, but I want something both he and my mom can appreciate. Their living room is kind of odd, so the screen will need to be clear from a # of different angles.

Thanks!

9/14/2007 12:08:20 AM

get LCD. props to you for getting something that nice for your dad.

oh and there are lots of threads about this that people will mention in the following posts

9/14/2007 12:11:20 AM

Plasmas have better blacks (important for movies), though generally are lower resolutions (especially at that price point). They also have a pane of glass on the front so they're a bit more susceptible to glare from external lighting sources.

Buy a plasma.

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 12:15 AM. Reason : .]

9/14/2007 12:14:20 AM

Personally I've alwasy thought the plasma picture is far and away better than the LCD but most would say its about the same with the LCD edging in price etc, make sure you go to several stores and look at a bunch of models though to figure out your picture quality preference


I sadly have neither

9/14/2007 12:38:15 AM

^^he is right about everyting but the final decision.

Get the 47" Westinghouse LCD from best buy for 1400 bucks.

Your dad isnt going to notice or care about the contrast difference or the color difference. Bigger is better for old people. It's a 1080p set, he will be in heaven.

I've bought my parents several HD sets, they dont know or give a shit about the finer points. They care about a) how flush it will mount to the wall and b) how big it is.

9/14/2007 1:04:00 AM

Quote :

"Get the 47" Westinghouse LCD from best buy for 1400 bucks."

9/14/2007 1:54:59 AM

I'd go with a plasma too, easier on the old people's eyes. LG has an excellent 42" plasma that will blow the Westinghouse out of the water for overall picture quality, that I think is on sale at Best Buy this week for like $1050 or something like that. You might could even use the money you save to pick them up a surround sound or a blu ray player or get it installed for them.

Of course, if you buy anyone a TV, they're not going to complain regardless.

9/14/2007 1:57:09 AM

The first tv i got for my parents was a 42" plasma. They STILL bitch about how "bright" it is, and how much it fucking weighs.

Their favorite so far is the 37" Olevia that by FAR the cheapest shit set, because it's light, easily mountable and its not as "bright"

9/14/2007 2:35:21 AM

again my samsung has energy saver mode which i <3
cause when its dark out i put it on high (dims the panel) and the black look awesome and the whites don't feel like they're burning holes in my eyes.

but when its mid day ( big bay window in the living room ) i still don't turn energy saver off but i turn it to low and it is more than bright enough to shine through any glare that may come from the window.

9/14/2007 8:02:53 AM

Quote :

"Get the 47" Westinghouse LCD from best buy for 1400 bucks."

9/14/2007 8:28:09 AM

As you can see, everyone here will have varying opinions. I'm a ricer, so I bought a tv with goofy lights on it.

Buy whatever you like, because most TV's are at the worst, just good.

9/14/2007 10:01:40 AM

yeah if they won't notice / don't know stuff then get a decent (not crap) LCD screen

pretty much what Noen said

9/14/2007 10:14:02 AM

My parents are edging into their early 60's, so I don't want to cause blindness...

I really can't tell the difference myself when I went to go look at them. All the bestbuy/circuit city guys gave me different info.

Thanks for the advice...keep it coming!

9/14/2007 11:29:00 AM

Get the 47" Westinghouse LCD from best buy for 1400 bucks.

9/14/2007 11:42:20 AM

that's what i'd do for something like this....

at least 1 hdmi input, with digital/hd cable or a hd antenna and you're gold

9/14/2007 12:12:36 PM

i wouldn't get them a plasma just because they will burn 4:3 shit into it

plasma's are superior for dvds and hdtv, both of which are 16:9

old people do tend to get less upset when stretching 4:3 to fill the screen. it will take them a few weeks to even notice everyone they watch on tv gained weight and got shorter.

9/14/2007 12:17:40 PM

^ Plus plasmas look better for SDTV, and have less noise generally and less decoding artifacts (i'm not sure why this is, since newer LCDs are suppose to have better response times where this shouldn't be an issue).

LCDs, especially the Westinghouse, have a more reduced viewing angle (as far as color, not brightness) than plasmas too.

9/14/2007 2:20:29 PM

check out sites like slickdeals.org or dealcatcher.com and get a nice Plasma. My parents just recently went out and bought a new Plasma over LCD because it was a better pic quality to them. I like the Plasma, but like everyone else said, you really can't go wrong.

If you are looking for big, they have a 50 inch Plasma Visio on sale at BJ for about that price or cheaper.

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 3:52 PM. Reason : ,]

9/14/2007 3:52:10 PM

I bought my 42 inch phillips for the less then 1400.

Seriously, westinghouse only if you're hurting for money.

9/14/2007 4:07:03 PM

if you're hurting for money you probably don't need either.
but he's not.

i like the sharp aquos beergolftile has one and its niiiiice.

but i like my sammy too (both 1080p lcds)

9/14/2007 4:50:03 PM

wait what? people still buy plasma TVs?

9/14/2007 4:50:23 PM

Yes, people who actually care what the picture on their TV looks like.

9/14/2007 4:56:15 PM

my impression was that the current gen LCD's are very close to the plasma's now in terms of color and contrast

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 5:58 PM. Reason : .]

9/14/2007 5:57:47 PM

Nothing like dropping a grand on something "very close".

9/14/2007 6:23:31 PM

I think your dad will be more concerned with everyone calling him 'old' and having poor eyesight, that he won't notice Plasma vs LCD.

9/14/2007 6:45:04 PM

New LCD's, out of your price range, have LED backlighting. Not saying they rival Plasma's, but damn, they sound as if they look awesome.

I'd go LCD all the way. I'm loving mine.

[Edited on September 14, 2007 at 6:55 PM. Reason : ]

9/14/2007 6:49:53 PM

^sound or look? Cause sound sucks on all these tv's compared to a nice surround sound system.

9/14/2007 6:54:52 PM

*sound like they look awesome

9/14/2007 6:55:16 PM

hahaha

9/14/2007 6:56:01 PM

Yea, I have yet to see any of the LED backlit LCD's, but if their contrast ratios are even half of what they claim they will look amazing.

9/14/2007 6:57:02 PM

yeah my cell on speaker sounded better than my lvd speakers

9/14/2007 7:01:53 PM

what's the best deal going in the 50"-60" range?

9/14/2007 11:14:10 PM

ummm... you're loooking at alot of money for either in that range... dlp/lcd projection still dominate there
(in 1080p) i think 720 plasmas aren't horrifically expensive though

9/14/2007 11:58:42 PM

yeah, i'm aware of that and willing to pay the price for something 50"+. closer to 60" is preferable. the 47" Noen mentioned is very attractive at that price though.

forgot to mention being able to occasionally use it as a monitor is a pretty big priority also.

other than that, i'm not a big scrutinizer of picture quality. i just want a big screen size unit and need the space savings and mounting a plasma/lcd offers.

9/15/2007 1:30:31 AM

big price jump moving up past 50"

even getting comparable to that westinghouse, which is a very average set, is going to at least double your pricepoint. Getting a quality 50+ screen is going to run you up in the 5-10K range.

If you buy a 720p screen over 42" I'll personally shoot you in the face.

Sony will have their first retail OLED screen out before the end of the year, 1000000:1 contrast ratio, super thin and light, and beautiful color depth compared to LCD.

9/15/2007 9:05:01 AM

LCD > Plasma

9/15/2007 12:06:43 PM

They might have fixed this since they have been out for 6years or so now...

but the plasma's I have worked with (original sony and what used to be the REALLY nice pioneer 42"s) all have really bad burn in and pixel falling problems...

the pixels have settled to the bottom of the screen and cause streaks after 4-5years. this looks MUCH worse and MUCH more noticeable than dead pixels in an LCD...

I probably won't ever own a plasma regardless of how pretty they are initially

9/15/2007 3:13:05 PM

I hate to throw a good thread off topic, but I've been somewhat curious:

Do most HDTVs come standard w/ split screen dual output? I don't know if that's the correct technical jargon.

My friend's dad had a tv with a vertical split screen. You could play dvds/cabletv on one side and videogames on the other. The split could be adjusted left or right in order to increase one side in comparison to the other.

Perfect for multi-taskers. I'm not sure if tv size, plasma/lcd would somehow come into play.

9/15/2007 4:59:38 PM

^they have screens where depending on your viewing angle, you'll be watching something different. I don't think they've hit the market yet though.

9/15/2007 5:01:47 PM

^^ It's not uncommon but not standard either. They call it PBP (picture beside picture). So look in the description of the set.

Quote :

"Plus plasmas look better for SDTV, and have less noise generally and less decoding artifacts (i'm not sure why this is, since newer LCDs are suppose to have better response times where this shouldn't be an issue). LCDs, especially the Westinghouse, have a more reduced viewing angle (as far as color, not brightness) than plasmas too."

This isn't even close to true. The artifacts are caused by the ENCODING not the decoding. They are just as prominent on 1080P plasmas as 1080P LCDs. They are less visible on lower resolution displays because the image is not as sharp. I watch SDTV on my Westinghouse LCD all the time and it looks spectacular as long as the sharpness is turned down.

The faster response times have eliminated something entirely different referred to as ghosting, where the pixels don't update fast enough in high-motion scenes and part of previous frames is sustained into current frames.

The Westinghouse LCD LVM##-W# like the one that Noen is referring to have 179-degree viewing angles (i.e. you can view the monitor with your eye aligned at any edge of the display and the picture is not distorted in color or brightness). The LTV## models have smaller, but still adequate viewing angles. If the viewing angle is over 160 degrees, then it doesn't matter beyond that because any further out and you can't tell what you're looking at from that perspective.

For any TV 42" and below, LCD is the clear choice. 42" to 50" there are a few good LCD models to compete with plasmas. Above 50" and you should consider a 1080P plasma (for quality) or rear projection (for economy).

9/15/2007 5:59:09 PM

Quote :

"For any TV 42" and below, LCD is the clear choice. "

Explain.

9/15/2007 6:03:54 PM

Quote :

"The Westinghouse LCD LVM##-W# like the one that Noen is referring to"

old model from 2 years ago - monitor without tuner

hope he was referring to the TX series

9/15/2007 7:39:20 PM

^^

1. Higher resolution
2. No burn-in (burn-in on modern plasmas is not permanent, but if you watch a channel for an hour, then change the channel, there will be a ghost logo for the next few minutes -- not as bad now that most channels have gone to transparent logos)
3. LCDs do not suffer the effects of time as badly as plasmas
4. LCDs have sharper images
5. Newer LCDs have dynamic contrast enhancement (between 3000:1 and 6000:1), so color is well-represented in dark scenes

9/15/2007 7:49:10 PM

It's really hard to even find a plasma below 42" anymore. I know Panasonic use to make one, but i don't know if they still do.

If you walk in to a BB/CC now though probably the smallest plasma you'll see is a 42" anyway.

9/15/2007 7:57:02 PM

Quote :

"^ Yes it's "old" and does not have a tuner. Tuners only matter if (a) you want OTA broadcasts or (b) you only use standard cable. Digital cable (even without HD) requires a set-top box. Satellite requires a set-top box. If you own a VCR or have $5 to buy one, then you have a tuner for (b). "

i was just using the fact about the tuner to further identify the TX model. There are numerous improvements over the LVM series

9/15/2007 8:46:00 PM

i went to c/c today and asked the saleman to "educate" me on lcd vs. plasma
he was all high and mighty on plasma saying it was much cheaper, doesn't need to replace parts, and they fixed all the burn in problems

he said the only plus with lcd is less glare

he kept trying to sell me on the plasmas
dunno why

9/17/2007 10:40:36 PM

oh do i need to look into DLP too?

and is it worth it to invest in 1080p vs 720p?

9/17/2007 10:43:33 PM

^I am loving my new 1080p Samsung DLP! I had a 720p DLP samsung before it and watching HD-DVD's and Xbox360 has never looked better.

9/17/2007 11:30:59 PM

Quote :

" Quote : "Plus plasmas look better for SDTV, and have less noise generally and less decoding artifacts (i'm not sure why this is, since newer LCDs are suppose to have better response times where this shouldn't be an issue). LCDs, especially the Westinghouse, have a more reduced viewing angle (as far as color, not brightness) than plasmas too." This isn't even close to true. The artifacts are caused by the ENCODING not the decoding. They are just as prominent on 1080P plasmas as 1080P LCDs. They are less visible on lower resolution displays because the image is not as sharp. I watch SDTV on my Westinghouse LCD all the time and it looks spectacular as long as the sharpness is turned down."

That's not true. Look at Pioneer's plasmas and then look at a Samsung or even a Sony XBR4 LCD, and you'll see that the Sony has much more noticeable artifacts than the Pioneer. You can even compare the Sony to a Panasonic plasma, and you'll clearly tell the Panasonic is a smoother picture.

Quote :

"The Westinghouse LCD LVM##-W# like the one that Noen is referring to have 179-degree viewing angles (i.e. you can view the monitor with your eye aligned at any edge of the display and the picture is not distorted in color or brightness). The LTV## models have smaller, but still adequate viewing angles. If the viewing angle is over 160 degrees, then it doesn't matter beyond that because any further out and you can't tell what you're looking at from that perspective."

NO LCD on the market has a true viewing angle of 179 degrees (maybe the Samsungs with the glossy coatings), ESPECIALLY NOT the Westinghouse. I don't know what they are measuring there with the 179 degrees, but the image clearly distorts in color at angles more than other LCD TVs.

9/17/2007 11:39:44 PM

^^ so what's the difference between plasma/lcd vs. dlp.....
salesman was saying dlp is rear projection and thus also thicker, can not hang on wall

but in terms of video quality, how great is the difference

9/18/2007 12:04:25 AM