LCD or LED or Plasma

[Jonny]

I've been running a Samsung 40" 1080p LCD for three years now - great picture and no problems.

 

At the time I bought it I compared the picture quality to plasma and found the LCD to be better (personal "by eye" opinion).

[gogu392]

I will go for:

=> LCD now is the best, in 5 years from now probably OLED

=> resolution 1080p

=> Brands: Samsung, Toshiba. Sony is expensive but best quality.

=> if you live in 70-80km range of GTA check to have a ATSC tuner built in. Just hook a regular antena and you have at leat 10 HD channels for free of charge (no need to have cable). (Canadians and US channels)

=> Best store with a lot of choices and good prices: Costco. Greate return policy also.

=> Check you room dimesions. You should not chose a big TV for a small room. Ideal the distance from screen to your eyes should be at least 5-6 diagonals of TV. Best position for TV is under or at eye level. You should not raise your eyes to see the TV.

Enjoy.

Edited December 14, 2009 by Gogu

[Jonny]

=> Check you room dimesions. You should not chose a big TV for a small room. Ideal the distance from screen to your eyes should be at least 5-6 diagonals of TV.

 

Useful advice, except for this part, IMO.

 

Personally I think this is way off. In our TV room we watch a 40" LCD from about 11 feet away. The rule-of-thumb suggested above works out to a minimum viewing distance of about 16 feet for our TV, but 11 feet is plenty far enough. Even a 42" or 50" HDTV would work out fine at 11 feet. When we buy another TV, 50" will be our choice.

[ctdd2006]

LG changed that policy and is now 1 year too like everyone else.

 

Lots of good advice here for you, I will just add go with the one that looks the best too your eye and don`t get hung up on specs that most people don`t understand. LG has a longer warranty and that was the deciding factor for my last purchase.

[ctdd2006]

....a more accurate "rule of thumb" is 3 times the size...meaning 40 inches times three is 120inches or 10 feet!

 

Useful advice, except for this part, IMO.

 

Personally I think this is way off. In our TV room we watch a 40" LCD from about 11 feet away. The rule-of-thumb suggested above works out to a minimum viewing distance of about 16 feet for our TV, but 11 feet is plenty far enough. Even a 42" or 50" HDTV would work out fine at 11 feet. When we buy another TV, 50" will be our choice.

[boatman]

I just have to add that my 50" Panasonic Plasma sits on the main floor of my well lit house and we don't appear to have any glare issues. I just mentioned it to my girlfriend that people are saying you can't use a plasma in a well lit room and she just looked at me like I have 50 heads. I take it that meant she didn't notice a problem either.

[John Bacon]

....a more accurate "rule of thumb" is 3 times the size...meaning 40 inches times three is 120inches or 10 feet!

 

That is a more updated formula. If you sat that close to an older TV's would be able to see how granular the picture was. That is not an issue with a modern high definition TV. The better the picture quality the closer you can sit or put a bigger TV in a smaller room.

[JohnF]

I sit about 8' from my 46" Panasonic at a slight angle and have no issues at all. The image is awesome, particularly in HD. Oasis is great. Hockey is better than great. I hate to watch hockey in regular definition any more it looks so washed out.

 

The Leafs looked great skating rings around the Sens last night.

 

JF

[Jonny]

Hockey is better than great. I hate to watch hockey in regular definition any more it looks so washed out.

 

Ditto for NFL football. The colour and clarity is astounding, the camera work amazing.

[tdotfisherman]

I have a 27" Envision that I bought 4 years ago that is great, and still running strong. My main TV is a 42" 1080P Insignia TV in my living room that is absolutely fantastic.

 

Who says that you have to spend top dollar for the big name brands?

 

I would suggest LCD all the way.. I haven't had any problems with either yet.

 

I'll never be able to go back to SD TV... it's a shame that I have so many VHS tapes.. even DVDs are going extinct.. so expensive to upgrade..

[Lunker777]

Ditto for NFL football. The colour and clarity is astounding, the camera work amazing.

 

I just got myself a new room mate and He is into NFL pretty big... I watched my first game in HD on sunday... it was crazy !!!!!! Im not a fan of football at all, but watchin it in HD makes the game that much more interesting. I think my Proline addiction might return ! haha

[John]

In my humble opinion with Plasma only way to go is Panasonic......LCD more choice, but I would probably go Sharp. I think that Costco is the place to buy unless you want full service install etc....

 

I am currently in the market, want to go Plasma but trying to decide on room location and how much daytime watching will be effected by large picture windows in the family room.

[Flappn]

Plasma = Panasonic

LCD = Sharp

 

Plasma - basement with limited windows or room with VERY limited light - Better picture hands down. GLARE is the most frustrating

thing to deal with when dropping 1500-3K on a TV.

 

LCD - Rooms with light, natural or not - an awesome TV as well...who's kidding who.

 

I bought a Sharp 52" LCD. I love the TV. I did a lot of research and I'm technically in the industry as well. I went with LCD as my Basement

has two full size windows....was not going to deal with Glare. Plasma offers true color - you can tell when it comes to Blacks and Flesh tones.

 

You decide..all I can say is the two manufacturers above are the only two that manufacture their own panels.

Edited December 15, 2009 by Flappn

[JohnF]

Plasma = Panasonic

LCD = Sharp

 

Plasma - basement with limited windows or room with VERY limited light - Better picture hands down. GLARE is the most frustrating

thing to deal with when dropping 1500-3K on a TV.

 

LCD - Rooms with light, natural or not - an awesome TV as well...who's kidding who.

 

I bought a Sharp 52" LCD. I love the TV. I did a lot of research and I'm technically in the industry as well. I went with LCD as my Basement

has two full size windows....was not going to deal with Glare. Plasma offers true color - you can tell when it comes to Blacks and Flesh tones.

 

You decide..all I can say is the two manufacturers above are the only two that manufacture their own panels.

 

I think I may have mentioned this before but I had a minor problem with my new Panasonic Viera. All it took was a call to the service number provided and a description of the problem and I had a call from the local service people setting up an appointment. My son had a similar (actually identical) issue with his other brand name unit and went thru hell trying to get service. He finally got satisfaction but it took a lot of wrangling to get it, enough that he won't be dealing with that brand again. He also was very impressed with the difference between the quality of the picture on his year old bargain unit and my new Panasonic.

 

JF

[Jonny]

Who says that you have to spend top dollar for the big name brands?

 

You don't, actually. There are only a few manufacturers of video equipment, and a lot of the "budget" brands are simply re-branded by them.

 

I'll never be able to go back to SD TV... it's a shame that I have so many VHS tapes.. even DVDs are going extinct.. so expensive to upgrade..

 

I think DVD's will be around for a long time to come. If you look around you can find considerable consumer resistance to newer formats. Personally I'm still not sold on Blu-Ray. The machines are getting less expensive but changing format doesn't seem worth it to me yet.

 

Those old VHS movies... you can replace a lot of them if you have a DVD burner on your computer and a good internet connection.

[camillj]

I bought the Sharp Aquos 40" 1080p LCD about 3 years ago (paid a bomb) ... upstairs bedroom (with a window) .. it is by FAR the best picture I have ever seen on any TV period... (and with HDMI cables and HD PVR it is simply unbeatable for Hockey games - especially if the leafs win) for us its about 10 feet from our Pillow to the TV .. and really wouldnt want anything bigger ... in fact just a tad too bright at night ... it generates a surprising amount of heat and couldnt imagine a hotter Plasma in its place ...

 

 

Downstairs have a smallish 32" Samsung 1080p LCD (no windows) - sit a little closer because of the furniture .. it is also FABULOUS ...

 

Personally I wouldnt go for the plasma the general consensus seems to be LCD/LED for the future