Buying a Plasma TV.. what to look out for?

[Zordak Ragefire]

I'm thinking on investing on a plasma TV (my old widescreen finally died ). Yes, I've been living under a rock for the last few years and when I was browsing at my local electronics store, the range that is available is staggering and I haven't the slightest idea what to look out for in a Plasma TV and what sets one out better than the one next to it.

All I know is that HD is pretty much standard now but what else should I look out for? Any brands that I tends to be better than others? Or any manufacturers that I shouldn't go near to with a 10-foot bargepole?

Much help appreciated =)

[Ninajrr]

LCD?

[Hachima]

Choosing the Perfect Plasma TV: Top Selling Plasma Television Models lists the most popular sets. Panasonic has always been at the top and makes the best Plasma TVs I think. I have two Panasonic plasma TVs and have been very happy with them.

It looks like Pioneer has some popular models and one Samsung.

Even if you are going to buy online I'd look at floor models to see what you like. Something to look out for is that you can tweak a lot of stuff. so the store could make a good plasma set look like crap and make the crappy models look better.

The single most important thing is, no matter what TV you decide to go with, you should follow proper break in to make sure your screen will operate well for its lifetime. You can read my post here that goes over that here
http://www.fohguild.org/forums/gener...tml#post694908

Also one last thing. If you buy it at a place like BestBuy, even if they have it at a discounted marked down price, try asking for a better price. They were asking 2600 for my last TV when the normal price was 2700. I got them to take it down to 2450 or so without much hassle. This was cheaper than any online discount store or any other regular store.

[Dabamf]

Plasmas are pretty unpopular at this point. There are a lot of downsides to them (power consumption, screen reflection, minor burn-in potential). Research LCDs and DLPs (esp. the new LED versions) before deciding on plasma.

[Kaio]

With newer LCD's going 5000:1+ dynamic contrast ratio the reason for purchasing Plasma's are dwindling even more. They'll probably be obsolete when LCD's reach a dynamic contrast ration of 10000:1 on normal budget screens. I can't think of one positive plasma's would have after that point.

LCD's are just as thin if not thinner, weigh far less, use less power, generally have a higher pixel density (though 1080p plasma's have finally come out this year), usually greater lifetime, and FAR less chance of any kind of burn in (you'd probably have to keep a still image on it continously for over a week or so I read).

[Ninajrr]

Plasmas have a much higher chance to burn out pixels, which is a fucking bitch to deal with. That alone is reason enough to dismiss them altogether.

[Cor]

If you can afford a Pioneer, go for it. If not, go for a Panasonic. They're pretty much the only brands worth buying. The Pioneer has better picture quality and signal processing and is definately worth the extra cash, in my opinion.

Make sure to check out this chart to see if 1080p would benefit you at all. If you're not going to be sitting close enough to resolve the difference between a 720p and a 1080p image, there's obviously no point in paying the extra cash for a 1080p set.

Last thing, while people have pointed out 'disadvantages' (most of them are negligible), it is very important that you are able to control light in your room. Plasmas easily beat out LCDs and rear projection sets, but only in dark rooms. Natural light totally screws up image quality.

[Cor]

Originally Posted by Ninajrr

Plasmas have a much higher chance to burn out pixels, which is a fucking bitch to deal with. That alone is reason enough to dismiss them altogether.

Image retention is pretty much a non issue with modern sets. While older generation plasmas would retain images like crazy, it's near impossible to have them stick around on newer ones.

Just as an example -- I played a good 50-60 hours on Ninja Gaiden Sigma. If you don't know, the hud is very colourful and it is nearly always on the screen. Of course, the after image persisted after I switched to another channel, but after an hour or so of watching a movie/playing a different game, it was was only noticable if you put up a bright white image and closely inspected the screen.

I used to worry a lot about image retention initially, but after the 200 hour break in period, it hasn't been a problem at all.

[Zordak Ragefire]

Hmm... I've done a bit of LCD researching aswell and whilst the general consensus is that LCD has advantages over Plasma, one of the disadvantages is LCD is still more expensive than Plasma.

Is it worth the extra investment for a LCD over a Plasma?

The image retention issue does concern me after you guys brought it up. As Cor mentioned, I thought with newer technology, I shouldn't have to worry about it too much?

[Cor]

Originally Posted by Zordak Ragefire

Hmm... I've done a bit of LCD researching aswell and whilst the general consensus is that LCD has advantages over Plasma, one of the disadvantages is LCD is still more expensive than Plasma.

Is it worth the extra investment for a LCD over a Plasma?

The image retention issue does concern me after you guys brought it up. As Cor mentioned, I thought with newer technology, I shouldn't have to worry about it too much?

As long as you burn it in correctly for the first 200 hours (keep contrast and brightness low, download the burn in dvd and leave it playing whenever you're not watching tv), it isn't an issue at all.

[Burf]

1) Check out Vizio (at least give them a look, I'm very happy with mine)
2) Get one with at least 2 HDMI ports (most have at least 2, but some still come with only 1)
3) Decide if you really want "true HD" (1080p), or if you can live with 1080i. You have to look close at some of the brands to see what they can do (not all advertise it prominently), and the 1080p versions cost a fair amount more.
4) Find out where you want to put it and decide which size you want, then get one size bigger.

[Ninajrr]

I was referring to when a pixel actually breaks, rather than is burned, sorry poor terminology. You know, when you've got those bright orange spots?

[spronk]

I can second Vizio, bought a plasma for my parents and I have a lcd in my home office on the wall and they both work great. Bought em at Costco, the 42" plasma was 1k and the 32" lcd under $600. I'm not much of a video nut, we only have regular cable at home and no hd-dvd/blueray so everything looks great to me. If you've got hd-dvd/blueray or high def cable you may be more picky about 1080i vs 720p and such.

[Grumath]

Buying a plasma is a bit like buying a VHS player once DVDs hit the market. Yeah its still viable, but if you are forward thinking, don't bother with the plasma. LCD panels are soooo much better. If its too expensive, wait a few months, they are coming down pretty fast.

[Cor]

Originally Posted by Ninajrr

I was referring to when a pixel actually breaks, rather than is burned, sorry poor terminology. You know, when you've got those bright orange spots?

Can't say I've heard of that. Got any links to places reporting about it?

Originally Posted by Grumath

Buying a plasma is a bit like buying a VHS player once DVDs hit the market. Yeah its still viable, but if you are forward thinking, don't bother with the plasma. LCD panels are soooo much better. If its too expensive, wait a few months, they are coming down pretty fast.

Your analogy would only work if VHS picture quality was better than DVD. When it comes to image quality, lcds don't come close to good plasmas (ie. Panasonic, Fujitsu and especially the new ultra black Pioneers).