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Plasma vs LCD

122K views 334 replies 119 participants last post by  livestreamtv 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
In this article, Digital Home presents five reasons why consumers looking for a flat panel HDTV 42” inches or larger should pick plasma over LCD. Edit by 57. (link dead, but topics discussed are relevant)

Archive link found by toleero. Thanks

http://web.archive.org/web/20090208195853/http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/1961/206/

I'm sure that this article will get a lot of LCD owners steaming mad so...


If you disagree then please objectively tell us why.

This thread will likely be read by a lot of people who are sitting on the fence trying to decide whether to choose LCD or plasma so this is your opportunity to objectively discuss why you agree or disagree.

Please note that off-topic, rude or inflammatory posts will simply be deleted.

If any LCD panel manufacturers are reading and disagree, please feel free to contact me and I will happily consider publishing a rebuttal to the arguments put forth in the article.

The goal of the article was to cut through the crap and try to get accurate information about the two competing technologies.

Cheers,
Hugh
 
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#110 ·
I think there's an overall shift away from Plasma to LCD for whatever reason. I believe Sony has stopped making Plasma's entirely, or will be shortly and only offer LCDs for flat panels in the near future.
 
#111 ·
I attended the HDTV Conference in LA last year and here's what Stan Glasgow, the President of Sony, said about why Sony had chosen to support LCD over plasma:

  • No glass in screen means less reflection
  • Higher brightness
  • No false-contouring or motion noise
  • No burn-in
  • No buzzing or humming at altitudes > 2500 feet
  • Lighter in weight
  • Lower power and no cooling fans
 
#112 ·
I've just finished reading all the posts in this thread and thought I would add my 2 cents worth.

I'm by no means an expert in display technologies, but I've attended several display trade shows and conferences (CES, InfoComm, CEDIA, SID, HDTV Conference) over the past few years and it seems to be a common opinion that LCD will overtake plasma in the not-so-distant future. Plasma may currently hold an advantage over LCD today in terms of things like contrast ratio, colour gamut and motion blur; but continuous improvements in LCD technologies are very quickly closing the gap. Plasma technology is improving as well, but not at the same pace as LCD.

That said, the factor that will likely cause the demise of plasma is cost/price. As some of the earlier posts mentioned, plasma panels contain much more electronics than LCD panels and I understand that the glass is more expensive to manufacture as well (maybe due to the hermeticity requirements?). As the 8th generation LCD fabs come on line, the cost of 50" to 60" 1080p LCD panels will decline significantly, to a point where plasma won't be able to compete. At that point plasma may continue to survive in the larger sizes (72", 80", 103") but LCD panels will likely dominate mainstream sales.

Another factor that the panel marketing folks are zeroing in on is resolutions higher than 1080x1920. The big buzz at CES this past year was 4k x 2k LCD panels. You might argue that panel resolution won't make much of a difference as long as the resolution of the HDTV source doesn't change but once you hook up your 8 Mpixel still camera to your 4k x 2k panel, you might just change your mind. And this is just what the marketing types want: a new number to promote when they are explaining why theirs is better than the competition. LCD panel technology is already capable of reproducing 4k x 2k resolutions. Plasma has no chance of doing this at a comparable cost.
 
#113 ·
Plasma manufactueres have no ones but themselves to blame for the downward trend. I own a plasma (traded in a LCD for it) and can't believe how bad plasma makers are at dispelling myths and pointing out LCD weaknesses.

Percerption is reality and LCD has created a bogus bogeyman while plasma has done a poor job of pointing out some really valid flaws in their competiiton.

Ultimately Plasma is destined to be Beta to LCD's VHS.
 
#114 ·
If plasma is to die, then LCD will also die. LCD isn't good enough, period. Something better than lcd has to replace plasma if it dies. Will it be laser, sed, oled, etc, I have no clue but it's gonna happen. As for my personal prediction, front projection (yeah, projectors) will become more popular than ever because of price and PQ. As for TVs, it all depends on the product cost of upcoming technologies. If they can make cheap sed or laser tv down the road, they might have a winner in their hands.
 
#115 ·
One reason to pick LCD over everything else: economics

As I mentioned in my earlier post, LCD manufacturing technology is now entering its 8th generation. It's hard to imaging that a new display technology can mature fast enough to compete with LCD on cost. For a while SED looked like it might take a run at LCD but in the end Toshiba & Canon just couldn't get the cost down fast enough. OLED appears to have a very attractive cost structure but it's hampered by reliability concerns that currently make the plasma burn-in issue look trivial.

Check out the last couple of sentences in this article.
 
#117 · (Edited)
the great/safe part about having anything that uses LCD is that its just a standard reliable technology.

of course people will say their not as good as CRT/plasma, but they have already taken out CRT from the equation for anything from under 32" and soon will step right over plasma. many will say its has already occurred.

I'm going to enjoy watching you die....
it is inevitable
Agent Smith - The matrix

just look around your home/work and there are so many devices that use LCD's and most if not all have worked for years and years. they have proven that the technology does last. the good part is that its not a living display like plasma(its just a liquid color filtering screen), its passive AKA transmissive, so the rate of failure is much lower.


the list of items is endless
this one still amazes me till today


many will say, a watch is totally different then a TV, true...but can plasma technology create these sorts of mini devices?
I think not.
its took them till just recently to come out with a 32" EDTV(852x480) plasma tv. LOL

also power fluctuations is one of the big issues with plasmas, if u display a solid white image on a plasma compared to a solid black image, the power need total jumps causing constant spikes in voltage and eventually destroying resistors/transistors. this leads to constant plasmas repair issues include changing circuit boards.

where with a LCD, the power is constant regardless of whats displayed on screen.
of course this leads to the common issue of backlight leakage or cloudiness. but is mostly visible when viewing dark video sources or black solid backgrounds. newer LED backlighting is continuing to improve on this issue.
 
#118 ·
also power fluctuations is one of the big issues with plasmas, if u display a solid white image on a plasma compared to a solid black image, the power need total jumps causing constant spikes in voltage and eventually destroying resistors/transistors. this leads to constant plasmas repair issues include changing circuit boards.

Are you making this up?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=73439


According to iSupply, the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for LCD and Plasma over the next 4 years will be 32% and 16%, respectively. Both technologies will be around for a long time.

http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20071205PR200.html
 
#120 ·
LCD won our hearts

Well, I bit the bullet and chose LCD over plasma.
I bought the Sony Bravia KDL52W3000 LCD. In the end, after reading all the reports and advice in various forums, I left the final decision to my eyes. In my side by side comparisons with the Panasonic 50PZ77 plasma, the Sony won hands down. My whole family arrived at the same decision.
The plasma looked soft and blurry to all of us, while the LCD "popped".
And then, in side by side comparisons between the KDL52W3000 and the XBR4,
we couldn't see a difference that would justify the $1k higher price of the XBR4.
We have the new set hooked up to our HD cable box and we couldn't be happier.
The picture is truly stunning. Hockey, football, sitcoms, documentaries and Xbox 360 games are all extremely impressive. No bad pixels, no motion blur, no clouding; nothing but 52 inches of amazing tv.
 
#121 ·
#122 ·
It is true that stores do not calibrate their TVs and they are running in Viivid mode. However, as I mentioned earlier in the thread I recently calibrated a 1080p Panny plasma and compared it to my 3 year old LCD RP. Even though my TV is a lot older (i.e. probable not as technologically advanced) I still prefer my TV's picture.
This thing is a little bit of matter of taste. Does not matter what specs etc say... I am pretty sure if I buy a new TV today, I would buy an LCD
 
#123 ·
Some Posts removed. This thread is for discussing the merits of LCD and Plasma in an objective fashion. It is not for which television to buy (we have lots of those threads) or other topics.
 
#125 ·
Star Article about plasma vs LCD

In the Star article, just a small slip: "Perhaps that's why manufacturers such as Panasonic, LG and Sony, which sell both technologies ...".

I believe Sony stopped selling plasmas a couple of years ago.
 
#127 ·
Those 5 reasons are the exact reasons I was satisfied with plasma over LCD. Now this was last Feb, so at that time LCD wasn't even close to competitive at the +40" range as well. I got a 58" Panny and it is spectacular... even more so with a PS3 hooked on.

I have wondered where LCD was this year... a friend got a 40" Bravia, which I was able to watch 300 on one evening. Overall, I thought the picture was pretty much comparable to plasma, with one exception. There were several scenes where there was this strange (disconcerting) effect of the actors eyes sort of floating slightlyindependant of their face. It must be some sort of decoding artifact, but it keeps me solid on the plasma side of the fence for now.
 
#131 ·
What makes you say that? There are still plenty of plasmas being sold and all of the big names are still in the market producing new models.
Every big box store I've been to lately has at least a 10:1 ratio of LCD:plasma on display. It's pretty clear they're pushing LCD's over Plasma and RP. Why? I really don't know. Perhaps there's more profit for them in LCD over Plasma. I dunno, especially when Plasma's consistently outperform LCD's in reviews. 'Tis a mystery to me.
 
#136 ·
Being in the CE repair industry, I can throw my objective hat into the ring here... and I can safely say that all manufacturers have defects, and all brands have good models and crappy models (and the price is not necessarily an indication of quality)... Japanese brands have panels made in China, Malaysia, Korea, etc... so that's also not a reference anymore...

Both PDP and LCD technologies have made major bounds lately, and both technologies have dropped in price lately as well, which accounts for the incredible number of flat panel displays being sold at the moment (of course, the extinction of most of all the other technologies, except maybe DLP still kicking hard, must have something to do with it as well...)

In a not so distant future, many more improvements in both technologies will benefit the consumers by delivering better color rendering, better response times, etc... OLED, 120Mhz, etc...

In a small percentage of the market, a concern for burn-in, related to constant image display (as in bars, gaming facilities, airports, etc...) pushes them to chose LCD panels... But it actually only comes down to personal preference in this battle... with a few major points :
- true black is only produced by PDP cells that are off... hence the better black reproduction (whereas LCD has to block the backlight completely to produce a black pixel) but this will soon change with the advent of LED backlighting...
- quicker image response is easier to achieve with 8ms and 4ms LCD panels response time... hence the use of LCD almost exclusively in computer monitors...
- the cost of producing defect-free PDP panels is higher than defect-free LCD panels, heavy glass PDP substrate is not as environmentally friendly as the lighter LCD, more uses can be made of the smaller cutouts of LCD panel material (camcorder screens, ipods, cellphones, etc...)

At the moment it seems more oriental plants are producing LCD panels than PDP, and the north american market has known somewhat of a dumping phenomenon - causing PDP prices to drop considerably... and it is an industry rumor that PDP will eventually be phased out - although its popularity in HDTV setups at this time is causing market resistance to the planned shift to LCD...

Bottom line : look at them in actual residential environments.
Go see your friend's recent purchase. Watch a football game or a movie on it.
Make sure you see it displaying the same source you will be watching in your home (satellite, cable, dvd, HDTV content, etc...)
Make your choice based on what looks best to you.
The rest of the technological mumbo-jumbo is often just made to mix everyone up...
 
#137 ·
Hi,
I'm still on the fence about replacing my 15yr old TV on our main level with a flat screen. I have a Plasma 42" in the basement and really like it. The main reason I am/was leaning towards LCD for the main level is simply the reflection on the screen as the main level is quite a bit brighter. I have looked at some of the new 120mhz OLEd displays and still
think my 2 yr old trusty plasma is much better than the new LCD's
I think I am going to put off any decision for another 6 months till LCD improves
Anyways, that's my 2cents :).
 
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