I'm not asking brands, I'm asking technology. LCD? Plasma? Millions of tiny little mirrors? Something I don't even know about?
I keep hearing differing opinions on longevity vs. color and clarity, etc. so I figured I would go to well of information that is lrc.
I had this same debate about a year ago; I am not an expert, but for my needs I chose plasma. My understanding was that plasma had better image quality for movie-type use (deeper blacks, richer colors), with the downside of the (lower these days) potential for burn-in (not a problem for me, as I do not play video games or use the TV more than an hour or two a day at the worst).
That said, I think that all of the technologies these days are very good.
I bought a plasma tv in August. It looks great, as I'm sure most of the others do to. I bought the plasma primarily because the picture is viewable from different angles, whereas the LCDs need to be viewed from straight on. Also the price was better than an LCD with comparable features.
My husband and I have started looking into this too. It seemed to us that the pictures/color on the LCD and LED were better than the plasmas, as well as being seen from the side. There seemed to be only a slight bit more of clarity to the LEDs. I'm curious for more responses....The plasmas seem to be priced the lowest, then LCD then LED - at least for this season. More info please!
Well, plasmas used to be far superier to LCDs b/c you would sometimes get lag or jagged pics from fast moving images on the LCD. They have greatly reduced/eliminated that, and you are now seeing plasmas production eliminated by many companies, I think, due to the weight and power suckage they produce. I think that's why they are cheaper now. I personally still feel that plasma is the superior technology b/c of better black tone and better viewing angles. The only drawback is (I think this is still the case) that the screen is glass so you get back light reflection if you have it opposite some windows.
I've had a 50" Panasonic plasma for 3+ years now and everyone who comes over raves over the picture (it's only a 720p). I love it. The only annoying thing is it puts off a lot of heat if it's on for several hours.
Don't even bother with DLP (mirrors)...do they even make those anymore? Everyone I know who bought one 3+ years ago is now having problems. Also, the viewing angles are very poor.
Laser is by far the best technology out there; unfortunately, it will set you back $4,000 - $6,0000. If money is no object, then get a laser tv. Mitsubishi sells these.
Plasma tends to play better for live action sports than LCD or LED.
Two websites are are good to check out.
http//www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com
http//www.hdguru.com
Sweet. Thanks all.
Some opinion on the matter from the Minneapolis Star Tribune Multimedia columnist, who seems a plasma fan (at least for criteria of 42-inch, sub-$1000):
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/111683179.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
Screener wrote:
Some opinion on the matter from the Minneapolis Star Tribune Multimedia columnist, who seems a plasma fan (at least for criteria of 42-inch, sub-$1000):
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/111683179.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
It seems though that one of his faves is an LCD/LED over a plasma:
"One of my favorite televisions is the 1080p 42-inch Panasonic TC-L42D2, an LED-LCD HDTV that lists for $1,299 but sells for $849 and $899. It combines the best qualities of plasma TVs and LED-LCD TVs. It has the natural look and flesh tones of plasma combined with the hyper-sharpness and bright, deep color of an LED-LCD set.
To achieve this picture quality, all I had to do is set the television on the standard picture setting and the color temperature to warm. Motion rendition was excellent, as well, and it had none of the slightly unnatural look I see in many flat-panel LCD sets with strong motion processing.
The TC-L42D2 is a model I would strongly consider over comparably sized plasma sets and is worth checking out for anyone seeking a sub-$1,000 television."