After the last move of our beautiful (but extraordinarily heavy) CRT HDTV, I’ve become more interested in something lighter. I’ve visited numbers of sites and stores, but still in a bit of a pickle as to what set to buy …
The plasmas have a nice picture, but boy do they get hot when running (and I believe I read that they’re power hogs).
The LCDs look generally as nice, although when I’ve read reviews, most of them talk about a picture “almost as good” as plasma. Not a ringing endorsement.
I’d not considered DLPs much, but that’s more from ignorance (and that they’re not sexy and flat :))
I’m looking at a 37 to upper-40-ish screen size, cinema format, and HDTV (not EDTV). It doesn’t need speakers (I have a full surround setup) or really even a tuner.
I know that shopping is the best way to determine ultimately, but a little Doper advice would be appreciated.
I just jumped into HD myself. The research process was really frustrating, because everything has trade-offs. But we went with plasma (42"), and we’re *really * happy with the picture. Keeping our fingers crossed about burn-in, though.
I love my Sony LCD. I spent a lot of time comparing at the store and I didn’t find any difference between this and the best plasmas. Some people swear that there’s a lag when a lot is happening very quickly, such as during sports and sci-fi action sequences, but I haven’t noticed it.
The LCD is also by far the lightest of the bunch. I lugged my TV upstairs and put it in the entertainment center by myself with little trouble. Far less trouble, in fact, than the old (much smaller screen) tube TV it replaced. And on top of that, no burn-in worries. And in theory it should be much more reliable than plasma or DLP (no moving parts).
The only downside is that the really good LCD’s cost much more than the equivalent plasmas. And are the upsides of the LCD really worth that extra cost? I’m guessing that’s an answer that’s going to vary from person to person.
I suspect the topic of lcd vs. plasma has been beaten to death elsewhere, but I’ll add my minor bit of insight. First of all, DLP displays are probably your best option if you are on a tight budget and want a really big picture. Having said that, plasma or lcd is probably a better investment. Concerning one or the other, the newer lcds rival the quality of plasma, but you may pay a premium in the 40"+ size area. In reality, the only reliable way to check out the quality of a display is basking in it’s glow at your local or chain electronics store. It is also worth mentioning that if you intend on doing much in the way of video games on the display, burn in (as Ponder mentioned) is a concern. Newer plasma displays often have a technology to minimize or prevent this, but it is something to be aware of. Having said all of this, my bias is also towards the LCD display, just check one out from different angles to see how good the viewing angle and distance is, and watch scenes with high motion to see if you notice any quality issues.
IMHO, when I last looked (about a year ago), the best value (picture quality for price) was with DLP rear-projection displays. True, the sets are larger and you can’t hang them an the wall, but they gave as good a picture as plasmas and LCDs at twice the price.
I say DLP. It’s liek the best of all worlds when comparingh an LCD, CRT, and plasma. Lighter and smaller than a CRT (though still bigger and heavier than LCD or plasma), but uses less power than a plasma, and less glare and better blacks than an LCD.
I don’t know if plasma is a ‘investment’ as they seem to have a limited lifespan, IIRC one company even sellign a plasma that only lasts 2 years but most you can expect 5 years or more.
Here is the thing, you can buy a plasma right now, saving some $$$ over LCD, and, lets say, in 5 years when the plasma has seen better days you can most likely pick up a LCD (or hologramivision) much cheaper.
Burn-in is overrated as an issue. As long as you watch various different kinds of moving images, without anything bright permanently in the same place for extended periods (such as a Heads Up Display on a video game screen, or a channel bug that has unusual intensity) you should have no issues to speak of at all.
DLP does not burn in at all. Here’s a very simplified version of how a DLP works:
A light shines through a rotating “color wheel” onto the screen, making the image. LCDs and plasma use small pixels or cells that are all individually charged with a current to induce color. This is an electrochemical response that can basically get worn out or overused, hence the burn in.
The only real cons of DLP are the “rainbow effect” (and only if it uses a single chip. If it uses a triple chip, there is no possiblity of this) and the bulb will gradually get dimmer with the life of the unit. But, the bulb is easily user-replaceable.
Thanks. That’s what I thought, but I got this knowledge from my time working at Best Buy, so I tend not to trust it.
[off-topic] The saddest thing I saw at this job was before the store opened (before grand opening, that is) we unwrapped a display 60" CRT. It was smashed to bits in a shipping accident. My supervisor offered to sell it to me 10% off. [/off-topic].
Mostly been looking at cnet’s reviews, but they’re pretty heavy in the plasma camp. I’m still thinking the Panasonic industrial plasma (like this one), but have to find a few of their recs for LCDs at some store …
Think I’m going to have to make a trek to the Big City and sit in front of these things for a while. I’ll make sure and take a heavy action DVD (thank you, broken :)) I really appreciate everyone’s feedback!
I have a DLP and I love it. There is no issue with burn in, but there is one thing to consider and I feel it is minor. Every so often the light source needs to be replaced. I’ve had my Samsung DLP for about 3 years and about 6 months ago I had to replace the light source. I don’t remember what it cost but I think it was about $120. Doing the actual replacement is simple with just a screwdriver being the only thing you need.
That replacement price has already dropped by two-thirds what it cost originally. They’re also going to DLP TV’s using lasers and LEDs as light sources. With them there’s no lifetime burnout issues and no color wheel.
I’ve been watching DLP’s lustily for YEARS. The original TV I wanted has dropped from $3200 for the TV alone to $1700 with stand. That was a 720p, now they’re pushing 1080p, but there’s no 1080p signal you can feed to them, and I’ve heard at any reasonable viewing distance, you wouldn’t be able to see the difference.
Due to the way DLP’s are manufactured, they respond REALLY well to increased manufacturing numbers. While yields on big LCDs and Plasma displays are improving, a DLP TV is a realy simple thing. It’s a projection surface, a light source and a chip on a motherboard. It doesn’t much matter if it’s a 48" or 60" TV, all you’re doing is changing the size of the box. While the improvements are continuing to happen (smaller denser chips, better light sources, etc) I can see it easily continuing to be the best bang for the buck.
Now if only our 12 year old 48" Toshiba would just DIE already!
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