Fires of Heaven Guild Message Board - View Single Post - Buying a Plasma TV.. what to look out for?

Murr · 10-04-2007, 10:19 AM

There's so much misinformation in this thread.

Plasma burn in is basically a thing of the past unless you leave a still image on for 12+ hours in the first few weeks you have the set. I got one back in May and have had ZERO problems, and I didn't bother with a burn in DVD or any of that bullshit.

Go with what you think looks best - personally I find LCDs to be inferior in picture quality, in particular they always look a little pixelated to me compared to a comparable plasma. You can also get glare-reduction coating Plasma models these days if reflections are a concern. The power consumption is a legitimate issue and if that's a concern then the premium for a LCD might be worth considering, but given the influx of new, high quality 1080p plasmas from Pioneer and Panasonic it's a tough call. Don't mind the retards comparing plasma to VHS... that's just dumb.

Good brands: Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung (newer models are good, older ones not so much)

What price/size range are you looking at? I picked up the 720p 42" Samsung HP-T4254 in May and it's been great. At this point you have some more selection, the best value probably being the new Panasonics just released. They came out with 1080p 42" and 50" sets this summer but had to sacrifice some contrast ratio to get there, but now they're releasing new glare resistant panels with 1080p at pretty nice prices. I'd take a look at the TH-42PZ77U or the TH-50PZ77U for a great quality/value option.

1080p is probably worth going for if you don't mind the price premium and are buying in the 42-50" range. That said, it's nearly impossible to tell the difference at 42" between 720p and 1080p unless you sit 2 feet away from the set. Another thing to consider resolution-wise is if you want to hook up a PC to it - I don't know why people hook up their PCs to giant displays, but running a PC at 720p = 1280x720 resolution which is kinda shit. If you don't plan on running a desktop on it, 720 is usually fine.

All that said, if you like LCDs better subjectively then there's some really good LCD models out there from Samsung and Sony. The newest 40-46" 1080p LCDs from Samsung are very, very nice aesthetically and feature wise.

Good forum to wade through:
AVSForum LCD forum
AVSForum Plasma forum

10-04-2007, 10:19 AM	#16 (permalink)
Murr Token Gnome Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Posts: 1,817 +11 Internets	There's so much misinformation in this thread. Plasma burn in is basically a thing of the past unless you leave a still image on for 12+ hours in the first few weeks you have the set. I got one back in May and have had ZERO problems, and I didn't bother with a burn in DVD or any of that bullshit. Go with what you think looks best - personally I find LCDs to be inferior in picture quality, in particular they always look a little pixelated to me compared to a comparable plasma. You can also get glare-reduction coating Plasma models these days if reflections are a concern. The power consumption is a legitimate issue and if that's a concern then the premium for a LCD might be worth considering, but given the influx of new, high quality 1080p plasmas from Pioneer and Panasonic it's a tough call. Don't mind the retards comparing plasma to VHS... that's just dumb. Good brands: Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung (newer models are good, older ones not so much) What price/size range are you looking at? I picked up the 720p 42" Samsung HP-T4254 in May and it's been great. At this point you have some more selection, the best value probably being the new Panasonics just released. They came out with 1080p 42" and 50" sets this summer but had to sacrifice some contrast ratio to get there, but now they're releasing new glare resistant panels with 1080p at pretty nice prices. I'd take a look at the TH-42PZ77U or the TH-50PZ77U for a great quality/value option. 1080p is probably worth going for if you don't mind the price premium and are buying in the 42-50" range. That said, it's nearly impossible to tell the difference at 42" between 720p and 1080p unless you sit 2 feet away from the set. Another thing to consider resolution-wise is if you want to hook up a PC to it - I don't know why people hook up their PCs to giant displays, but running a PC at 720p = 1280x720 resolution which is kinda shit. If you don't plan on running a desktop on it, 720 is usually fine. All that said, if you like LCDs better subjectively then there's some really good LCD models out there from Samsung and Sony. The newest 40-46" 1080p LCDs from Samsung are very, very nice aesthetically and feature wise. Good forum to wade through: AVSForum LCD forum AVSForum Plasma forum Last edited by Murr : 10-04-2007 at 10:22 AM.