HDTV Flat & Large Screen: LED/LCD vs. Plasma

[Roy Hersh]

Considering the purchase of a new large screen TV and see that there are a million different things to learn about. FIrst and foremost ... advantages/disadvantages of LCD/LED and also Plasma sets? Is it safe to assume that 3D is just a passing fad? I don't see anyone rushing to produce sports or other TV content in that format as of yet. My daughter could watch Avatar and things like that with the silly glasses, but it seems like a waste, what say you? As to brands ... beyond what is Consumer Reports ... what do you all think of the best brands. One friend told me to go with Samsung or Sony. Are these really the best? What else should I consider? Are there now wireless headphones that can be programmed so that I could watch a sporting event at my prefered volume without bothering the rest of the people on that floor? Is this Blue Tooth? Sorry for all the questions, but I have not kept up with the TV technology. Thanks for any and all suggestions and recommendations! Last but not least, my friend who is somewhat tech savvy told me to wait until after New Years when the new models come out for 2012 and the prices on current stock TV's will be discounted deeper than even stuff during pre and post Christmas sales. Is this correct advice?

[Andrew E]

Considering the purchase of a new large screen TV and see that there are a million different things to learn about. FIrst and foremost ... advantages/disadvantages of LCD/LED and also Plasma sets? Is it safe to assume that 3D is just a passing fad? I don't see anyone rushing to produce sports or other TV content in that format as of yet. My daughter could watch Avatar and things like that with the silly glasses, but it seems like a waste, what say you? As to brands ... beyond what is Consumer Reports ... what do you all think of the best brands. One friend told me to go with Samsung or Sony. Are these really the best? What else should I consider? Are there now wireless headphones that can be programmed so that I could watch a sporting event at my prefered volume without bothering the rest of the people on that floor? Is this Blue Tooth? Sorry for all the questions, but I have not kept up with the TV technology. Thanks for any and all suggestions and recommendations! Last but not least, my friend who is somewhat tech savvy told me to wait until after New Years when the new models come out for 2012 and the prices on current stock TV's will be discounted deeper than even stuff during pre and post Christmas sales. Is this correct advice?

On 3D:
I see it as a fad. It's been around for a couple of years now and only last month in a chance viewing at Sears did I ever say to myself, oh nice, the 3D is nice here. That particular situation involved watching a clip of How to Train Your Dragon on a 50" screen standing 2.5' away. The reason it worked was because it encompassed almost my entire field of view - obviously not a realistic viewing situation unless you buy a projector.

Plasma vs LCD/LED:
It's been the same pretty much since the beginning - Plasma has all the advantages in Image quality while LCD/LED has the advantages not related to image quality. The "reference" tv used by many sites today is a multi-year-old Pioneer Kuro Plasma because no one has topped it's image quality yet, with only Panasonic recently matching it. There are really high quality LCD/LED tv's that can have amazing image quality, but they always end up being much more expensive than a comparable plasma.

Best Plasmas:
Panasonic - Toshiba - Samsung - not accounting for cost
Panasonic probably makes the best one, but they've added so many "features" it's likely very expensive to reach that quality. It used to be they all shared the same image quality across the brand, but in favor of creating low cost panels they've started adding "features" that might make the best panel out of reach.
Samsung has many great options as well, and I haven't really followed Toshiba's progress.

Best LCD/LED's:
Sony - Samsung - Toshiba - Maybe Panasonic (They just started selling large LCD tv's)
The best panels will have LED lighting, but if you go cheaper LED might become a marketing term without actually giving a better image. I haven't really followed LCD/LED tv's much anymore because I always focus on image quality if I want to buy "the best" tv.


Time to get a deal?
I read just before Black Friday that these would be the best deals because after this year companies were going to start cutting production. If you want to catch those prices again it will probably be around super bowl time or in the time leading up to Christmas. Also, to catch those prices you will probably have to watch deals like a hawk or you'll miss them. My most visited site is www.slickdeals.net and it's a great site to catch when the deals go live.

You're in luck that I just started researching headphones too, albeit for different applications which does matter.
For wireless, Sennheiser probably makes the best bang for the buck headphones if you want to spend around $150. But if it's just for sports, you probably don't need anything that expensive, probably even less than half that price. The technology is usually just simple RF, but RF is always expensive.

I think that's about it for now.

[Andy Velebil]

I Have a Samsung LCD/LED tv and love it. Amazing picture quality and I don't get that greying-out when you move off to the side like many other tv's do. Before I bought it, I spent a lot of time researching tv's, reviews, and talking to others. The overwhelming info was to stick to LED/LCD and that Samsung was one of the overall best companies to go with. So far, knock on wood, it has been a great choice.

[Tom D.]

Roy, we've used a set of Sennheiser TR120 wireless headphones for years with no problems. They've probably been replaced by a newer line, and these were Sennheiser's lower-end ($60) model at the time, so the current models are probably even better.

[Glenn E.]

+1 to Andrew's very informative post. His information is pretty much exactly what I found when I was keeping track. Only one additional piece of information to add - if you're going to use a video game console with the TV, you probably want LED/LCD and not plasma. Why? Because even modern plasma screens suffer from burn-in, and video game consoles are particularly bad at causing that due to the static screens in games. Think game menus, pauses, etc... anything that you might leave on the screen while you go make dinner or whatever.

I'm probably going to be in the market for a new entertainment setup in the next year or so, too, and I plan to look primarily at LED/LCD.

[Eric Menchen]

I don't need the absolute high end picture, so will probably get an LED LCD instead of plasma. The LCD picture is good and they are more energy efficient. If you do care about contrast ratios and detail in the dark end, a TV with local area LED dimming will do a better job than an edge lit LED. The penalty is cost and thickness, but they are still thinner than the old bulb based LCDs. I'm not compelled to get 3D, but was seriously considering an LG 3D package that included a 3D Blu-ray player and four sets of passive 3D glasses because the cost difference wasn't much more than a non 3D TV.

Having skipped Black Friday, I have my eyes open now but expect the deals to come in the new year before the Super Bowl.

Another thing you didn't ask about was a "smart TV" with internet capabilities. Do you want to stream Netflix, etc. to your TV? I did, and in particular I wanted to play our own personal media. I bought a Samsung Blu-ray player with these capabilities. But while functional, it really left a lot to be desired in terms of playing our own music and pictures. I gave up on that and instead am using a WD TV Live Plus for that now. I am much happier with the dedicated box, and their new Streaming Media Player looks even better.

[Moses Botbol]

Plasma is generally considered better for watching sports.

[Andrew E]

On burn-in. I play on my Xbox 360 often, and many times fallen asleep while watching a DVD at night (8+ hours of static DVD menus, more times than I have fingers to count) and have never had burn-in.
In fact, many of the first generations of plasmas where used in airports to display arrivals/departures 24/7 and didn't experience burn-in. As long as you get a reputable brand, burn-in shouldn't be an issue.

There is such a thing as temporary image retention, but that tends to go away in minutes, and you'd probably only notice it on a full black screen.

[Peter W. Meek]

Plasma is generally considered better for watching sports.

...the reason being that LCD displays have a slight amount of latency. Much less than formerly, but still, fast-moving, high-contrast objects can leave a slightly visible trail behind them as the LCD pixels require a short (milliseconds these days) time to change between extreme brightness or darkness. You would have to be looking for it under (un)ideal circumstances to be bothered by it.

[Eric Menchen]

Plasma is generally considered better for watching sports.

...the reason being that LCD displays have a slight amount of latency. Much less than formerly, but still, fast-moving, high-contrast objects can leave a slightly visible trail behind them as the LCD pixels require a short (milliseconds these days) time to change between extreme brightness or darkness. You would have to be looking for it under (un)ideal circumstances to be bothered by it.

Yes, I think with the 120 and now 240 Hz monitors this isn't such an issue any more.

[Glenn E.]

As long as you get a reputable brand, burn-in shouldn't be an issue.

Hmm, good to know. I last did serious research on the subject 5+ years ago, and a cursory review of current FAQs on the subject confirms that it's apparently no longer an issue.

[Moses Botbol]

I just bought whatever is on sale at Costco and if I didn't like it; return it. Getting the color balance correct is the most important thing. My TV is nothing fancy, but many compliment on it that have much nicer sets.

[Luc Gauthier]

LED/LCD , plasma . . . What are you talking about ?

My tv is a 19" 1989 Panasonic .
No cable .
Have a decoder .
Get 5 channels .
I lose the signal when the train passes .

I think I'll read a book . . .

By the way , I'm back .

[Andy Velebil]

LED/LCD , plasma . . . What are you talking about ?

My tv is a 19" 1989 Panasonic .
No cable .
Have a decoder .
Get 5 channels .
I lose the signal when the train passes .

I think I'll read a book . . .

By the way , I'm back .

I only thought you received smoke signals

[Moses Botbol]

LED/LCD , plasma . . . What are you talking about ?

My tv is a 19" 1989 Panasonic .
No cable .
Have a decoder .
Get 5 channels .
I lose the signal when the train passes .

I think I'll read a book . . .

By the way , I'm back .

As long as you get the Habs game

[Luc Gauthier]

LED/LCD , plasma . . . What are you talking about ?

My tv is a 19" 1989 Panasonic .
No cable .
Have a decoder .
Get 5 channels .
I lose the signal when the train passes .

I think I'll read a book . . .

By the way , I'm back .

I only thought you received smoke signals

I only receive smoke signals when I play with the antenna ears .

[Andrew E]

Looks like a good price on a 60" Panasonic Plasma

http://slickdeals.net/f/3773934-1-099-F ... lasma-HDTV

I haven't read up on this particular model, but forum users on slickdeals seem to like it.

**EDIT**
CNET breaks down the 2011 Panasonic plasma's by model line:
http://reviews.cnet.com/2795-6482_7-683.html

ST30 line seems to be the best value priced tv line.

[Russ K]

get a 110 inch screen and a 1080p projector. you will not regret it!

[Andrew E]

get a 110 inch screen and a 1080p projector. you will not regret it!

Oh man, I was home for christmas and my brother had installed one recently and I've become spoiled since then.

We went to go watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie and they had it in one of the smaller theatres and the screen looked small. It's great if you never have to look at anything smaller ever again, haha.

[Derek T.]

get a 110 inch screen and a 1080p projector. you will not regret it!

Or buy a house like this…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38