DLP, LCD or Plasma ?

Ragingbull2380

Ragingbull2380

CAGiversary!
Anyone know which is the best for gaming and watching sports? Or anyone know of reputable sites for research information on this subject?

I want to get between a 40-50" HDTV with tuner built in. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
I can say that Plasma is the worst. There are warnings about burned in images.

Since games have still images I would rule that choice out.
 
im also interested in something like this but just not as big maybe. can someone point out maybe the best tv for gaming...im looking for a hd tv but most bigger ones are projection....
 
DLP - if you have the room. They typically run about 18" thick though. Plasmas are around 4" thick so if you need the space or want to hang it on the wall (sweet looking) that is the way to go but it will probably be twice the cost. DLP offers a similar excellent picture and is a lot more affordable. You could probably end up getting a larger TV by going with DLP. My father bought a 61" DLP for $3,500.

I bought a Panasonic HDTV Plasma about 8 months ago and I love it. It hangs right on my wall and the picture is amazing. Whenever someone comes over they drool over it. I have no buyer's remorse even though it was expensive as hell. I guess it's a matter of preference. Check out the AVS forum for all the info you are looking for. I did about 4 months of research before I was confident enough to buy. Those things are expensive!!
 
[quote name='Indiana']I can say that Plasma is the worst. There are warnings about burned in images.

Since games have still images I would rule that choice out.[/quote]

This is a myth (or legend, maybe?). Burn-in has been almost entirely eliminated from today's models. Back when the technology was new (years ago) this was a problem (an overexaggerated one but a promlem nonetheless) but not anymore. You would have to leave the TV on one screen for days at a time for an image to get burned in nowadays - and even then it is unlikely. The risk of burn-in is probably about the same as LCDs or DLPs anyway. I do all of my gaming on my plasma and there have been no problems at all.
 
I would go for a DLP set. Plasma sets suffer from burn-in and also the picture gets dimmer with use. Burn-in is not a myth. While newer sets do a better job of preventing it, it is still possible to get burn-in on a plasma set. By the nature of their technology LCDs and DLPs don't suffer from burn-in at all, and they don't get dimmer as you use them over the years. I prefer DLP's over LCD's because I don't like the screen door effect I see on some LCD projection sets, and also I don't like the fact that you could possibly get a dead pixel on a LCD set. You could possibly get a stuck mirror on a DLP set, but I believe that that is pretty rare.
 
Weird, then my dad is just paranoid as hell about the burn-in for the plasma he's got downstairs. It might be an '03 model, maybe '02, but definitely not older then that.

But I will say the panasonic one I have is very nice-looking, so if that's true about the burn-in being a myth, then I guess I'd recommend it.
 
Go w/ LCD or DLP. Plasmas life span is approximately 10,000 hours. If you break it down on an average hours per day its pretty good but you would have to replace the whole thing. With LCD and DLP t.v.s you just have to replace the bulb/lamp within the t.v. every four years. Right now the bulb/lamp will run you about 250-300 bucks but like I said that'll be in four years from your purchase by then they'll be cheaper also its better than replacing a plasma at 2500 or so. I'm currently looking at getting a 60 inch LCD and from the research I've done (I also play alot and I mean alot of games and watch sports) its best to go w/ LCD but thats just my two cents.
 
What about your video source? I just have Comcast basic cable... even with this can I get HDTV for particular shows that advertise that they broadcast in HDTV? You know when they flash on the bottom of the screen "Broadcast in HDTV" or "Simulcast in HDTV"
 
DLP - if you have the room. They typically run about 18" thick though. Plasmas are around 4" thick so if you need the space or want to hang it on the wall (sweet looking) that is the way to go but it will probably be twice the cost. DLP offers a similar excellent picture and is a lot more affordable. You could probably end up getting a larger TV by going with DLP. My father bought a 61" DLP for $3,500.

I bought a Panasonic HDTV Plasma about 8 months ago and I love it. It hangs right on my wall and the picture is amazing. Whenever someone comes over they drool over it. I have no buyer's remorse even though it was expensive as hell. I guess it's a matter of preference. Check out the AVS forum for all the info you are looking for. I did about 4 months of research before I was confident enough to buy. Those things are expensive!!
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dam 4 months of research i hope you got the tv u were lookin 4. im in the market of buying one to at leeast 40 inchs
 
All of the research that I did pointed towards a 60,000 hour life span for the plasma with little to no chance of burn-in. Even 10,000 hours at the very least will get you almost 7 years of life on the TV if you watch 4 hours a day every day (which really won't happen unless you have no job, no friends and do nothing else but watch tv). In 7 years you will probably want something better anyway. This is the absolute lowest.

Keep in mind also that LCDs do not have as wide of a viewing angle whereby plasmas are viewable from anywhere in the room. I don't think you can really go wrong and everyone is going to tell you something different but I will tell you that I love my plasma TV and would recommend it to anyone thinking of buying one.
 
I'd go plasma since they're much more sexy. I remember reading that some early generation DLP sets had the screen door effect also. Go check out the AVS Forum and do research before you buy anything. They also have some pretty reputable dealers advertising there and their prices for plasmas are on par with some DLP sets.
 
I just bought a 44" LCD (Zenith) three weeks ago and I'm very pleased with it. I was asking the same questions as you in the showroom and the salesman told me the plasma screens have about an 8 year lifespan vs. 20 years for the LCD. I'm not swearing this is true but I also don't know why he would lie to get me to buy a cheaper TV. I saw very little difference in the picture quality on the DLP and LCD. The DLP had darker blacks. As far as viewing angle, I took that into consideration but at the angle the picture drops out, I would never be sitting that far to the side of the screen.

Good luck!
 
Oh, just a heads-up on the HD tuner - I explained to the salesguy that my cable company currently does not offer HDTV (coming soon) and he said I wouldn't need to get a TV with a built-in tuner since, more than likely, I will have to buy the cable company's tuner anyway to use with the TV.
 
The lifespan of plasma may be high. But I read somewhere that the screen will lose 50% of it's brightness after 5-8 years of normal use. that is pretty significant.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample']Oh, just a heads-up on the HD tuner - I explained to the salesguy that my cable company currently does not offer HDTV (coming soon) and he said I wouldn't need to get a TV with a built-in tuner since, more than likely, I will have to buy the cable company's tuner anyway to use with the TV.[/quote]

You are correct you need the Digital Cable box that supports HDTV from the cable company. A built in tuner on your tv would be for HD channels over attenna.
 
Id try to actually see what the tv looks like to see if you like it or not.

Thats probably the best bet. I would stay away from plasmas if you want a tv that lasts more than a few years.
 
If you're worried about prices with plasma, you could always go ED instead of HD... I can barely tell the difference, just make sure you're about 10 feet away from it and you will barely be able to tell the difference too, and they cost about half of what the HDs do... or they did about 6 months ago.
 
Here is an explanation regarding the burn-in issue. I guess the new models move the pixels around to prevent this.

The biggest pitfall of plasma remains the fear of burn in of static images, like those that you'll find as part of video-game display. The burn-in starts with simple ghosting that lasts for a few minutes and generally fades away but eventually becomes permanent.


However, this problem has been addressed by many of the manufacturers, and today the sets are designed to actually "move" the pixels slightly in a way that is virtually indistinguishable by the human eye. This brief readjustment is meant to reduce the likelihood of unnatural wear by constant images. If you did decide to invest a couple of month's worth of rent in this type of set you should probably try to run an few hours worth of programming following any lengthy game playing. Considering that plasma has about 20,000 hours to reach half-life where the picture will reach a noticeable amount of loss of brightness.
 
[quote name='MrBadExample']Oh, just a heads-up on the HD tuner - I explained to the salesguy that my cable company currently does not offer HDTV (coming soon) and he said I wouldn't need to get a TV with a built-in tuner since, more than likely, I will have to buy the cable company's tuner anyway to use with the TV.[/quote]

This is right. Getting HDTV signals is a collosal pain. The built in tuners allow you get over the air local channels, but not cable. To get cable or satellite signals, you need a cable or satelittel HD decoder. Built in would be nice if you don't have cable, but if you have cable, most likely you will never us it. Also, check out the signals from your provider. For some reason, when I had HD cable, it was much sharper than the HD signal I get from Dish Network. I would go back to cable, but my local service is incompetent.

Also, depending on what size TV you are looking for, you may want to check Wal-Mart.com. They have a 720p compatible 27" LCD wall mountable TV for $998. It is online only. I am forcing myself to resist the urge to buy it. Unfortunately, I don't have the link handy. As far as big TV's a local home theater store had all three types set up. Plasma far and away looked the best. It does generate quite a bit of heat, so keep that in mind. LCD and DLP both seem to have great pictures, with pluses and minus on each that seem to offset each other. To me, those two come down to personal preferance.
 
check out avsforum.com

it's a message board for hardcore a/v nuts and it's full of info for just about every tv you could possibly want. I did a ton of reasearch last year before I finally bought my 34" direct view widescreen HDTV and this site was a big help. I'm very happy with my Sony kv-34xbr910, and aside from the fact that it's heavy as all hell, I still think that you really can't beat directview TV's when it comes down to image quality, but that's just me.

Happy hunting!
 
What place has the best return policy so I could try out the TV for the longest period? At least that way if I'm unhappy with the picture quality I can return the TV.
 
Thanks for everyone's advice, I am thinking of going with either a 46" or 50" Samsung or Toshiba DLP. AVSforums.com is a great resource.
 
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