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#31
TweakGuides.com - A Guide to HDTVs
A Guy
P.S. I'm a TV tech
Great...come fix our's buddy...
From what I've seen in the local stores, it looks like plasma is not only cheaper (for now), but has a warmer picture. So when we get a new TV we'll go with that probably.
Of course it's my wife that wants a new TV. The thing is, we watch almost all our stuff on the PC....
Thanx for the link A Guy
Apparently in the UK Double HDTV is out next year! So consider waiting for this as the pic quality will be hard to beat. Problem is though Double HDTV cameras won't be available for a few more years yet!
To clarify, the flat screens advertised as LED refer to the backlight. LED's have replaced fluorescent tubes as the light source in LCD screens. The only direct LED unit I know of was a madly expensive OLED TV sold in Japan.
Plasma screens have a better picture and they are faster than LCD so when you're watching an action flick you don't get the ghosting you might see on an LCD. As noted they draw more power, they are heavy and the phosphors will eventually degrade just like the phosphors in your old CRT.
Here's a great video on how flat panel LCD displays work
My Hitachi Plasma TV is now about 6 years old and is still running perfectly. As one of the first HD sets on the market it was extremely expensive but has been worth every penny. It's a 37in screen and I have it backed into a bay window to avoid any sunshine on the screen.
The running costs are slightly higher than LCD/LED as everyone says but I think it's worth it.
My daughter has a new Samsung 40in LCD HD, all singing/all dancing TV, and I find it uncomfortable to watch. Seems to me that all LCD TVs have very high contrast settings to try getting rich blacks. Go outside, look around and you won't see high contrast, bright colour scenes. What you will see are mostly pastel shades which are faithfully reproduced in Plasma.
Just my personal opinions, that's all.
I agree with what you are saying and would like to add another reason to pick plasma if you have children. If you have ever seen a damaged lcd screen you see that most of the pixels in the damaged area are destroyed in the damaged rows of pixels. I chose to get a plasma because kids throw things and glass is less likely to break from small things hitting it. Six Grandchildren that are prone to throwing toys haven't hit the TV yet.
Yes the plasma screens are best for colors and blacks which is crucial for a great picture. The power consumption and heat generated they are far less efficient from today's greener LCD - LED/LCD's.