Solved Plasma, LCD or LED?

[Mual]

I've been looking around for a new TV....
I don't know which one I should pick because I visit a lot of local store, and all of them give me different statement about their products.
Some say this is not good, that is not good.... I don't really know which is true and which is fake.

So can anyone give me some suggestion which one I should get? :huh:

 

[boohbah]

have a read of this it should help.

Plasma vs. LCD vs. LED: Which HDTV Type is Best? | PCMag.com

 

[seavixen32]

As you've found out, all have their pros and cons.

For me personally, I would:

1) Discount plasma on running costs alone as they need more power.

2) Prefer not to go for LCD as picture quality is not so good.

3) Have found that an LED set gives me what I want, which is reasonable running costs combined with good picture quality.

Also, definitely go for HD, it is far superior in terms of picture quality.

If you are buying a large screen-size TV, do take into account your room size as the bigger the screen, the further away you need to sit so as not to see pixelation.

LED TV vs LCD TV : LCD TV Buying Guide covers LED vs LCD

 

[Mual]

Let me read and reply you guys soon

 

[Wishmaster]

I have both a 60" Plasma and a 46" LCD.
I would say, go with a Plasma if you can. Its far superior Picture-wise.

Both have very good picture quality, unless comparing side by side.
In which case, Plasma is a clear winner by a longshot.

Plasma has better color accuracy IMO. For example:

Flesh tones look more natural. LCD seems to have a orangish tint to them.
Its something you may not notice (I never did) untill compared to a Plasma image.

Plasma seem capable of showing more detail in dark areas as well.

The Plasma does have really dark blacks, dont get me wrong, but its just different. You can see the wrinkles in a black jacket for example, where as they tend to blend in on the LCD.
Hard to explain what I mean .... but LCDs sometimes tend to have reallly dark blacks, but to black at times.

Look at them side by side and you will see.

 

[Mual]

What you think of this Panasonic model?
TH-P50U30k?
Is a okay for Plasma?
Some salesmen told me that Plasma is going to be outdated, is is true?


seavixen32: So LED is better?

 

[jumanji]

Does your room size limit you to a maximum of 37" of flat screen? Then Plasma is not for you.

Does your room in which you want to have the flatscreen TV has plenty of sun shining into it? Then Plasma is not for you.

A last but not least primary concern and an important one. Do you want your TV to double-up as a PC monitor? Will it be the monitor for your HTPC? Then Plasma is definitely not recommended. For this one reason primarily, I turned down the thought of Plasma. Excessive power consumption and associated heat (remember heat is the no. 1 enemy of anything electronics), burn-in ,fragility, altitude dependent gas pressure and performance, are other reasons. IMO, Plasma is a dying technology.

I shall desist on the LED vs LCD debate since at the time I bought my flat screen, LED TVs just started showing up and were costly.

 

[Wishmaster]

What you think of this Panasonic model?
TH-P50U30k?
Is a okay for Plasma?
Some salesmen told me that Plasma is going to be outdated, is is true?

Panasonic in general is pretty good. My LCD is a Panasonic.

I can't sat for sure about Panasonics Plasmas, no personal experience with them as I have a LG Plasma.


As far as outdated ... It may or may not be true, I do not know.

One thing I have learned though, is do a bit of research yourself.
Don't put too much into what a salesman tells you.
Sometimes they are simply trying to push a specific product, and will say whatever to sway your decision.
This of course is not always true of all salesman, but something to be aware of.


@jumanji
Im just curious why you say if you want it to double as a PC monitor or a HTCP then plsama is definatley not the choice?

They are setup up for both out of the box, including DLNA compatability. At least mine does.

Burn in used to be problem, but they have counter measures built in now. Burn in is no longer a issue as it used to be.

 

[Mual]

Does your room size limit you to a maximum of 37" of flat screen? Then Plasma is not for you.

Does your room in which you want to have the flatscreen TV has plenty of sun shining into it? Then Plasma is not for you.

A last but not least primary concern and an important one. Do you want your TV to double-up as a PC monitor? Will it be the monitor for your HTPC? Then Plasma is definitely not recommended. For this one reason primarily, I turned down the thought of Plasma. Excessive power consumption and associated heat (remember heat is the no. 1 enemy of anything electronics), burn-in ,fragility, altitude dependent gas pressure and performance, are other reasons. IMO, Plasma is a dying technology.

I shall desist on the LED vs LCD debate since at the time I bought my flat screen, LED TVs just started showing up and were costly.

Well, my room is enough for a at least 40-50 inch of TV.
No, no sunlight coming in at all.
Nope, I won't be using it as a PC monitor...
Is it use a lot more power and produces a lot of heat?

What you think of this Panasonic model?
TH-P50U30k?
Is a okay for Plasma?
Some salesmen told me that Plasma is going to be outdated, is is true?

Panasonic in general is pretty good. My LCD is a Panasonic.

I can't sat for sure about Panasonics Plasmas, no personal experience with them as I have a LG Plasma.


As far as outdated ... It may or may not be true, I do not know.

One thing I have learned though, is do a bit of research yourself.
Don't put too much into what a salesman tells you.
Sometimes they are simply trying to push a specific product, and will say whatever to sway your decision.
This of course is not always true of all salesman, but something to be aware of.

I see.... Thanks for the info.
Well, I have asked around different store for the pass few days, and yet a lot of the salesman give me different answer. I also have asked my cousin, aunt or uncle for some answer, but because I never bought a Plasma, LCD or LED before, so I not sure about it.



Is Samsung Plasma TV have shorter lifespan compare to other brand? I heard a lot of people around me saying that is not good compare to the others. Sorry to ask so many question as I don't have these knowledge...

 

[Zepher]

As you've found out, all have their pros and cons.

For me personally, I would:

1) Discount plasma on running costs alone as they need more power.

2) Prefer not to go for LCD as picture quality is not so good.

3) Have found that an LED set gives me what I want, which is reasonable running costs combined with good picture quality.

Also, definitely go for HD, it is far superior in terms of picture quality.

If you are buying a large screen-size TV, do take into account your room size as the bigger the screen, the further away you need to sit so as not to see pixelation.

LED TV vs LCD TV : LCD TV Buying Guide covers LED vs LCD

LED and LCD are the same (both use LCD Panels, just different backlighting).
Plasma has the most natural picture and colors.

Plasma uses a little more power than the other tv's but they have gotten very efficient in the last couple of generations.

 

[Mual]

As you've found out, all have their pros and cons.

For me personally, I would:

1) Discount plasma on running costs alone as they need more power.

2) Prefer not to go for LCD as picture quality is not so good.

3) Have found that an LED set gives me what I want, which is reasonable running costs combined with good picture quality.

Also, definitely go for HD, it is far superior in terms of picture quality.

If you are buying a large screen-size TV, do take into account your room size as the bigger the screen, the further away you need to sit so as not to see pixelation.

LED TV vs LCD TV : LCD TV Buying Guide covers LED vs LCD

LED and LCD are the same (both use LCD Panels, just different backlighting).
Plasma has the most natural picture and colors.

So what you will recommend me to get? On your opinion....
Do you think Panasonic TH-P50U30K is okay?
And do anybody know what is the problem why the TV that have USB cannot detect my external hard disk?
And I'm using MKV files, is it okay ?

 

[seavixen32]

If you are really undecided as to which format to go for, a good TV retailer will let you try out each one at home for a few days.

That way you can make your choice on what you see in your environment rather than relying on other peoples' perceptions, whose TV viewing area may be totally different to yours.

One thing I have found out is that TVs in a retail environment are usually set up to give the best picture for that environment, and you may need entirely different settings at home.


You have other things to consider as well. Will you want a home cinema setup with it? Will you want a Blu-Ray DVD player and/or recorder to use with your new TV?

 

[Mual]

If you are really undecided as to which format to go for, a good TV retailer will let you try out each one at home for a few days.

That way you can make your choice on what you see in your environment rather than relying on other peoples' perceptions, whose TV viewing area may be totally different to yours.

One thing I have found out is that TVs in a retail environment are usually set up to give the best picture for that environment, and you may need entirely different settings at home.


You have other things to consider as well. Will you want a home cinema setup with it? Will you want a Blu-Ray DVD player and/or recorder to use with your new TV?

Okay...
I dont really need a home cinema setup because all my neighbour is annoying.
And I also don't need Blu-Ray DVD player and/or recorder to use with my new TV.
I going to use to watch movie downloaded from the internet, which is usally MKV 720P.
Do I need to let you test a sample of the file?
I heard that I need to buy something like a converter and use it with my hard disk or pen drive to play these format on other brand of TV which support USB because I tested a Samsung Plasma and all format is working and some other brand doesn't work fine.

 

[seavixen32]

I can't answer your query about downloaded films as I never use them, but someone else should be along shortly.

 

[Mual]

I can't answer your query about downloaded films as I never use them, but someone else should be along shortly.

Well is okay....
Anyway, thanks for all the suggestion and help given to me just now.

 

[jumanji]

.....@jumanji
Im just curious why you say if you want it to double as a PC monitor or a HTCP then plsama is definatley not the choice?

They are setup up for both out of the box, including DLNA compatability. At least mine does.

Burn in used to be problem, but they have counter measures built in now. Burn in is no longer a issue as it used to be.

Well, when I was researching on the issue years back, I had gone through this article http://www.hi5electronics.com/index...plasma-series&id=4:plasma-vs-lcd-tv&Itemid=34 which says for computer use LCD has an advantage. I had also seen a computer enthusiast stating "I am more a computer enthusiast than a video enthusiast. LCD monitors are especially good at displaying large amounts of data - like you would find on an Excel spreadsheet for example - with exceptional clarity and precision. In a Plasma TV used as a computer monitor all the letters and numerals will have jagged edges and appear horrible to read. Same applies for web browsing."

I use my HTPC as a desktop PC too at times with my 42" Full HD LCD TV. So I naturally went the LCD way. At that point of time 42" Plasmas were not full HD too - don't know whether it is now or it is still 720p.

 

[Wishmaster]

If the TV has DLNA capability, streaming is actually quite simple.

Basically, connect it to your router and either:
Install Nero Media Home (which may come with it, & works really well)
or
turn on media Streaming in WMP and your good to go.
Just go to the My Media section on the TV, and start streaming Videos.


Although I can not speak for other brands, I know mine supports MKV, MP4 containers as well as most popular stream types such as .. H264 video, AAC and AC3 audio.


I would think that any TV that has DLNA capability would be quite similar.

 

[Mual]

If the TV has DLNA capability, streaming is actually quite simple.

Basically, connect it to your router and either:
Install Nero Media Home (which may come with it, & works really well)
or
turn on media Streaming in WMP and your good to go.
Just go to the My Media section on the TV, and start streaming Videos.


Although I can not speak for other brands, I know mine supports MKV, MP4 containers as well as most popular stream types such as .. H264 video, AAC and AC3 audio.


I would think that any TV that has DLNA capability would be quite similar.

I see.
Can I know know about the audio file... "dts" is it?
If the TV does not support it, then there is no sound coming out from the TV right?

 

[Wishmaster]

If its an unsupported stream, you should get a invalid file message. It will likely refuse to play it at all.

But to know for sure exactly what is supported, once you've decided on a TV & if it has DLNA, you'll need to look up its DLNA supported file types.


If, for example, it does not support DTS you have 2 options.
Recode the DTS Audio track to AC3 or whatever type is supported
OR....
Use a media server that can transcode on the fly, such as TVersity or Nero Media Home.
Both of these have a free version, which streams your media as is.
The paid versions are the ones that can transcode on fly, so it would be an additioanl expense.

However, it would be easier & cheaper to recode the Audio track to a format that is supported by the TV.
Simply because, unless you are using a High End Home Theatre, you will not likely tell any difference between DTS and higher bitrate AC3.


But thats getting into something entirely different than Plasma vs LCD/LED ..
So Ill try not to derail anymore

All of this is pointless unless you decide you want a TV with this feature anyway.

 

[Mual]

Thanks for the info mate
So how do I recode the audio format? And will it take a long time to do it?