What’s best LCD or Plasma

[admin_exported]

Hi I’m looking to buy a new TV in the next few weeks but I can’t decide on what’s the best for what I’m looking for. The main reason is to run my PC through it as well as the normal like playing PS3, watching Movies and sport etc, but cant decide between a Plasma, LCD or brand. My budget is £1000 to £1200 and obviously i want the best for my money. Does any body have any suggestions on what to buy? Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Forget about choosing LCD or plasma or a certain brand. Judge each tv on it's individual merits. For your budget, the best tv that you can buy is the Panasonic 42PZ70. Buying this tv would be an excellent choice. It is full HD (ie it has a resolution of 1080p) which means you will get the most out of your PS3 which outputs 1080p, and this tv will accept such (1080p) content at it's optimum speed of 24 frames-per-second which again is outputted by the PS3. This superb tv has two HDMIs (both of which accept the afore-mentioned 1080p/24fps format) plus component and, usefully for you, it also has a PC input. It is, by the way, a plasma and offers brilliant picture quality with high-def sources such as Blu-ray or Sky HD, but also offers a pretty decent picture with standard-def sources such as the set's inbuilt Freeview tuner.

All in all, this really is the best tv you can get for your budget. In fact, I have seen it online for £888 which is even more amazing than the tv itself. To get a better tv than this you would have to spend well over £1500 to get a Pioneer 428XD, which doesn't have the full HD 1080p resolution. This tv really is your best bet.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Ben

Thank you for your advice.

I have read a lot or reviews and also people keep telling me to buy the Sony KDL-40W3000 as this is also in my price range.

What's your opinion on this?

Cheers

Sean

 

[D.J.KRIME]

As far as using your pc goes you may find that you prefer a LCD as that was what they were originally intended to be used as pc monitors. With your PS3 it will look great on either a LCD or Plasma, but IMHO a good Plasma knocks the socks off of any LCD I have ever seen when it comes to Movies from either DVD and your PS3 with Blu-Ray as the Plasma will deliver a true black that LCD can only ever dream about. I use a pc, PS3, XBOX 360,Wii and I have a Plasma and it looks fantastic with all of these.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that,

So does anybody have an opinion then on the Sony KDL-40W3000?

Cheers

 

[Clare Newsome]

It's a strong, five-star TV. I'd still choose the Panasonic or Pioneer plasmas over it, however (we've tested them head-to-head).

 

[Anonymous]

So it's between Panasonic or Pioneer with a budget of around £1000 - £1200

The Pioneer that I can afford is not 1080p but the Panasonic is? Will I notice the difference between the two?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Yes, you'll notice the Pioneer outperforms the Panasonic in many areas, including colour, contrast, motion-handling (especially as the Pioneer supports native 24fps from Blu-ray/HD DVD, as part of its full 1080p compatibility).

So, don't get hung up on the spec in this instance. The Pioneer may lose out to the Pana on the last degree of detail when showing a Full HD pictures (if you're sitting really close to the set), but all its other many advantages outweigh that.

 

[Anonymous]

My Brother in law has the sony you mention mate, and i have the samsung 50" plasma, my viewing is predomantly sport and movies, and to this end i have to say i'm more than happy with my Sammie - might be worth a more budget option and gives you a larger screen size; i'm sure this would leave a decent amount to upgrade the cable if you need to.

Just a thought and i'm really no expert....

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry for my late reply. The Sony KDL-40W3000 is a superb tv. The only reason I didn't mention it was because I didn't think it was in your price range and I was quite suprised when I checked the various prices available online. Despite what I said about judging each tv on it's own merits and not being hung up on whether it was a plasma or LCD, there is a difference in picture between plasmas and LCDs - I don't mean that one is better than the other, I just mean there are different characteristics in the image that each type of tv displays. It is completely a matter of personal preference as to which image is 'better' for you as an individual person with your own tastes. The differences have to be seen really, as they can only be described to a limited extent. But I will try to explain as best as I can. LCDs pictures tend to be sharper and brighter which is obviously a good thing. This is the reason why LCD panels do a good job as PC monitors. The only drawback with the often superior sharpness that an LCD display offers is that they show up standard-def content, especially poor standard-def content such as many Freeview channels, making such material look pretty ropey. Very ropey, in fact! More importantly, when showing high-def content, although the brightness means that sometimes, movies might not look as 'cinematic' as on a plasma, many people may prefer the extra detail and clarity that an LCD can offer. Having said that, LCDs can blur when displaying fast motion, and this is an area where plasma often beats LCD.

To my eyes, LCD tvs (especially the mentioned Sony KDL-40W3000) seem to have an image that appears to have a kind-of matte texture, while plasma's images (particularly with Pioneer's Kuro range) have a slight 'glossy' look. With colour, LCDs can look slightly washed out, with plasma presenting deeper, more realistic colours. With blacks, plasmas can go pretty deep, while LCDs blackest blacks can look a little grey or even navy blue (a tiny bit). How much this matters is again down to personal preference and your individual taste. Like I have said, it is common for people to prefer plasmas for movies - but again this might not be the case for you.

Like I mentioned before, LCD's razor-like sharpness can bring out the worst in standard-def pics. Plasmas are generally more forgiving, although standard-def is never going to look when blown up to 42" or higher.

I must mention the fact that while I have been talking about LCDs and plasmas, I have often been thinking about the Sony KDL-40W3000 in particular, but as a shining example of LCD's potential, I think this is quite appropriate.

To come to some kind of conclusion, I would just say to reevesey that you should definitely see for yourself the three tvs in action - the Panasonic 42PZ70 plasma, the Pioneer 428XD plasma and of course the Sony 40W3000 LCD, which you may well have guessed that I am a fan of. In fact I am a big fan of all three of these wonderful tvs. Please make sure you have a good look at these tvs 'in the flesh'. And good luck.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Just make sure not to make you judgement on these tvs on a brightly lit shop floor as this is not a good representation of your living room and a LCD being back-lit will allways look better in these situations. The reason a plasma is superiour to a LCD when it comes to fathfull Black reproduction is that a Plamsa emits a natural light as opposed to a LCD panel which emits no natural light and in order for you to see the image must be backlit, so a Plasma can turn a indivual pixel on and off hence leaving that pixel black as where even if a LCD panel tells a pixel to display a shade of balck, it will allways be grey as the filters in the screen can not stop the back light shining through. This process results in a LCD having a higher brightness but the Plasma will have a higher contrast ratio giving you a far ballance between black and white.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everybody for your advice.

I'm off out this weekend to view them all in the flesh

 

[Anonymous]

How did you get on and which one did you choose?

I am also looking for a 40" / 42" lcd or plasma TV and was contemplating the sony w3000 or even the x3000 as they have both fallen in price recently. The 100hz feature and 24fps on the x3000 really grabbed my attention.

With my heart set on a 40" sony x3000, I have just read the specs on the latest Panasonic 42" plasmas. Most notably the PZ85 and PZ80 struck me as serious (and cheaper) alternatives to the x3000.

Any thoughts / opinions out there on the new panasonic range? I also see that there is a PZ800 due later in May?

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone. Some very useful info on here - thanks.

I am also ready to buy but more confused than ever !

I am looking at around 40in for viewing mainly low def football and will spend around £1k.

I was going to buy a samsung 100hz lcd but now I am thinking I may be better off with a panasonic plasma (also 100hz) - model TH-42PX80 @ £899

Can one of you experts please confirm which set will be better for viewing football on a standard broadcast??

Cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

100% the plasma boroash, 100Hz doesnt really make a difference with motion handling (on plasmas) in my opinion because they are wayyyy better with fast moving objects that LCDs

 

[Anonymous]

Standard Definition, Football, has to be Plasma. LCDs suffer from motion blur in fast moving images.

Panasonic 42PX80, HD Ready, just out, at £750+ internet shops.

42PZ80. out in April. Full HD, price? at a guess around £850-900

 

[Anonymous]

Which plasma is the best buy??

 

[Anonymous]

what size do you want?

 

[Anonymous]

40 to 46 in for standard def football mainly.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="boroash"]
40 to 46 in for standard def football mainly.

[/quote]

What budget? The Pioneer Plasmas seem to be the "best" . But for value for money I would go with the Panasonics. And for standard definition viewing it would be the TH42PX80, at £750+ at internet prices.

 

[Anonymous]

Thankyou.

I will probably go for the panasonic unless I find a really good deal on the pioneer.

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone got a view on the Sony lcd x series - most notably the 40x3000 which I see has now dropped in price to under £1400 or am i simply wasting my money and ought to buy a 1080 panasonic plasma such as the PZ85?

 

[PJPro]

I had a wander round a few shops today. I was deeply impressed by 7 series Panasonics and by the TH-42PX80. The PX80 had slightly less deep blacks than the Pio 4280 (in the same shop) but for the difference in price, I can live with it.

I was a Sony fan and had convinced myself to get one of their big LCDs. However, I've changed my mind and want to go for one of the Panasonic Plasma 46"ers either 80 or 85.

Anyone know when these are out? I heard May.

Incidently there are a number of posts on another well known forum of guys who have already got their hands on a PZ80. They've started an owner's thread. It makes for interesting reading.

 

[JSM15]

Could you give me the link to the other forum as i am really interested in what they are saying about the PZ80.

Cheers!

 

[PJPro]

Just google pz80 forum