LCD or PLASMA which is more reliable?

[admin_exported]

In light of the rumours about Pioneer starting to produce LCD Tv’s, it got me wondering, which system, LCD or Plasma is the most reliable? Before I came on here I was led to believe that LCD was the better picture and Plasmas only lasted 5 minutes before troubles would occur.

Having now decided that I prefer Plasma, but slightly disappointed that LCD seems to be winning out, I wondered if they are more reliable, and if the costs of fixing both sets are comparable. Will LCD ever get the deep blacks sorted out, and what about FAST movement? I am now told by many on here that once you use High definition, movement is not an issue with LCD.

Any thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

I am NO expert but am an eager Google-er. I had gained the impression that it was LCDs that were beset with problems! Clouding, blurring, smearing, not to mention backlight failure and dead pixels. I found very few reports of systematic plasma problems and hence veered towards the Panny plasma 37 when buying. I'd be most interested in comments from those more knowledgable than i (i., anybody) about this 'reliability) issue! C

 

[Alec]

Very Annoyed - the motion point is interesting - i too would love to know if anyone thinks itll improve. My new set wont be til the end of the year probably, but its looking like plasma. i think of them as tellys, and lcds as pc monitors trying to do a job they werent designed for - tho some do it very well, and id rather have a good lcd than a bad plasma - based on my meagre experience so far. opinionssubjecttochangetermsandconditionsapply.

 

[Andy Clough]

I've had a Sony Bravia LCD 40in for two and a half years, and so far (touch wood!) no problems with it at all.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Old-generation Fujitsu plasma for three years, and it was at least a year old when I got it.

Not a sniff of a problem.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Panasonic series 5 is now in the bedroom after almost 5 years of say 6 hours a day usage and not a hint of a problem ever, and what did I replace it with? Yep another plasma. IMHO when it comes to a TV there is only one way to go and its not those jumped upLCD/PC monitors pretending to be a TV.

 

[Alec]

D.J.KRIME - you dont like lcds then...? LOL! ive read your (and others') opinions on plasmas with interest as im probably going to get a TV by the end of the year - timed quite nicely for me as im waiting to see some of the new sets. I've seen fewer lcds than plasmas, and with fewer sources too, but im impressed so far. The only things that bug me are A) will there still be decent plasmas around in my size when i want to buy (it MIGHT be as late as the first half of next year) and B) will i find i decent 32" set, or will i have to go for 37.

 

[Anonymous]

currently theres no 32" plasmas, they start at 37, but im another plasma fan as the colours are alot deeper and real, also you dont get so much of the motion blur with most LCDs (unless you sit very far away or go for the doble the price of a plasma)

 

[Anonymous]

I'll try to help. I am in the flat screen display business and have been involved with them since the start. I have bought both LCD and PLASMA product in screen sizes from 15" to 103" for large projects, often several hundred units at a time.
Simple facts first, if you require a screen smaller than 37" then TFT is the only technology available so that's a "no brainer". Above this and upto around 60" there are both LCD and plasma sets competing.
In short LCD will never be able to produce the black levels and therefore the high actual (rather than quoted) contrast levels that plasma can due to the nature of the technology. LCD's have a backlight that is always on (white) and the pixels are switched "black" to block the backlight, this will never be 100% effective and you will always get some light coming through. The net result is greyish blacks and colours with a white component. Conversley plasma pixels start off black and the pixel is energised to produce the colour required. Net result black- blacks and more natural colours.
To get a truly independent view you need to look at a manufacturer who produces both and therefore has no "axe to grind". The best example is Panasonic, take a look at this section of their UK site for a more detailed analasis. http://www.plasma-lcd-facts.co.uk/myths/response/
As regards reliabilty early plasma's suffered massively from screen burn and we had units with this problem within weeks of installing them. These days this problem has all but disapeared and is not an issue at all in domestic use.
In general (like anything else) buy the best you can afford from a brand with strong experience in TV's and let your eyes be the judge, ignore the specs take it from me manufacturers "spin" these big time!
You can't really go wrong if you stick with Panasonic, Sony or Philips. Samsung are also very strong as they have been producing the raw panels since day one and have a lot of experience.
Hope this helps.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

[quote user="al7478"]D.J.KRIME - you dont like lcds then...? LOL! ive read your (and others') opinions on plasmas with interest as im probably going to get a TV by the end of the year - timed quite nicely for me as im waiting to see some of the new sets. I've seen fewer lcds than plasmas, and with fewer sources too, but im impressed so far. The only things that bug me are A) will there still be decent plasmas around in my size when i want to buy (it MIGHT be as late as the first half of next year) and B) will i find i decent 32" set, or will i have to go for 37.[/quote]Yep you would be right on saying that I am not over fond of LCD tv's, well not as my choice of main display anyhow. I do have LCD sets in my house but these are only because there was not a Plasma alternative in the sizes I needed for the rooms that the tv's were intended for which were 2x 19"" for kids rooms and a 32"" for their games room. To date (to my knowledge anyway) there has only been 1 Plasma set at 32"" which was made by LG and it was not the best by todays standards and not HD ready(I'm not a LG fan either) but I am sure that even if you are going to make your purchase say later this year, early next year you will still have a option in the 37"" sector as Panasonic look set to continue making Plasma sets in that size but then the physical differnce in say a 37"" and a 42"" is not actually that much.

 

[Alec]

thanks! did you mean to say diference between 37 and 42 or did you mean 37 and 32...?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Stiggy, very helpful and confirms what I thought. I will definitely go with a Plasma, either 37 or 42. Waiting to see the new Panasonic PX80. I hear it is better than the PX70, but have not had the chance to judge yet.
Thanks to everyone else for replying.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

[quote user="al7478"]thanks! did you mean to say diference between 37 and 42 or did you mean 37 and 32...?[/quote]
Sorry I ment from 37"" to 42""

 

[Alec]

OK. bit confused as im on about 32-37, i cant go bigger. But maybe you were adressing someone else or ive misunderstood something. No matter, sorry if its me.

 

[Anonymous]

Well I know that plasma tvs are prone to screen image burn which is absolutely no good for static images that are static for any longer than 15 minutes because they burn a ghost image into the screen wheras lcd doesn't so thats one thing that lcd has over plasma. Thats actually the only thing stopping me buying a plasma because I wanna see my digital photos from my dgital slr camera on my tv and also play oldskool reto games on my sega megadrive. But with plasma i'd get definate image burn because there are static parts like the score, time and player life energy etc... on games that are on there until you turn the game off.

 

[Anonymous]

Screen burn has largely been eradicated in Plasmas these days, youre confusing it with retention- the ghost image of some static images that goes away after a few minutes. The old Pioneer 7 series used to suffer, but Panny, 8 series Pio and Fujitsu are pretty bulletproof IMHO. I have left my Fujitsu on with static logos, football scores for hours and no burn in or very rare retention (goes away after 2 mins). When you switch off the TV goes white for 2 mins which irradicates the retention.

Unfortunately some dubious salesmen are still putting this image burn myth about to sell LCDs which are inferior in most respects - black levels, motion, depth, Standard Definition picture and picture processing.I researched TVs including LCDs for months and the difference in quality is night and day in my view, several friends with crappy Sony LCDs have said how much better the Fujitsus picture is. I have had mine (Fuji 58 series 50" no longer in production unfortunately) for a year with no problems.

The only thing is to watch you dont leave on static logos for hours during the run in period typically 100-200 hours.