Buying my first flat screen- don't know diggly squat- help please

hook a sista up

I bought a LCD TV last month,and I love it!

Isn't plasma much more expensive?
Your computer screen is probably LCD, if that helps.

plasma is usually better, but usually more expensive and they use more electricity. if you want the best, then grab a pioneer kuro as they are stopping the line. these are some of the best panels made

if you go to a decent store that has panels setup properly you will see that plasma always looks better. you don't get many cheap/crap plasmas, certainly not new models

if you can't stretch to a pioneer then try a panasonic, or if are on a budget, try samsung. if you had plenty of money to burn then get a fijitsu panel and scaler, it'll beat the pants off anything, but will cost a few quid

Evvy said:

LCD or LED.

Graycap23 said:

well they have plasma- lcd- and lcd led which is the newest one

found this: http://bestbuy-cnet.com.c...83301.html

Evvy said:

LED is the newest one. LCD is next.
I believe plasma is being phased out.

What size room do u have?
U may want 2 consider an HD projector.

Depends. If it's a tv you're gonna watch all the time and have turned on for hours a day, I'd do LCD for sure. If it's not for primary viewing I'd go with plasma. For instance, I have an lcd in my bedroom where I spend most of my time because I may keep the same channel on for hours. If you do that with a plasma, a channels logo or tickertape at the bottom can burn into the screen if you're not careful. LCD doesn't do that. I have a plasma in the living room which gets turned on maybe once a week.

Plasma, hands-down.

http://www.practical-home...cd-TV.html

LCD is great for less money. Plasma uses more energy but has a better picture. But if you are not a videophile, you won't care about that! Get an LCD. Good recommendations are on cnet.com

LED is way more expensive right now.

SCNDLS said:

modern plasmas don't suffer from burn in like that. unless you are buying something second hand from about 10 years ago, it's not something you need to think about

i have a few lcd's and a plasma, and i've helped a number of people purchase panels, and they all agree that my pio plasma beats em all hands down, even my mates £6k bang and olufson (it's actually got a panasonic viera panel inside)

ask anyone who knows what they are talking about and they will say if you have the budget, go for plasma. HD projectors are great, but not for regular viewing. you will still get a better image with a plasma, only a projector will give a bigger image for the money. you just need a dark room to see the image at it's best, so no use for watching daytime tv unless you like to live like a vampire

unique said:

I have a 3 year old 50 inch Samsung plasma that burned in. There's still a problem with them if you are going to watch the same channel for a long period of time which is what i said.

LCDs major... major drawback is it's off-axis viewing. The whole color spectrum and view-ability goes down the shitter when not looking at it from straight on.

squirrelgrease said:

That's true, that's why location is key. Mine is in the bedroom which means I'm only going to view it from one angle. The plasma's in the living room where people watch it from various angles. That's why I said, it depends.

How much do you want to spend?

LED is an option now as well.

A DLP is also a good option if you aren't married to hanging it on the wall.

LCDs do suffer from viewing problems if placed in a bad spot, but plasma's also have those shiny screens that will give you the same types of problems if placed by a window or light source.

Brand-new Plasmas do have to be seasoned by playing them for 100 hours with no static images. Running a 16:9 DVD for 4 days will eliminate permanent burn in, unless you were to leave CNN and it's tickers up for a couple of days straight.

Ask a simple q.....lol.

Mars23 said:

OLED is an option if you have money to burn, but if you did, or you knew your stuff, you wouldn't choose OLED. OLED is fine if you want a nice looking chassis, but you aren't concerned about performance, and you certainly can't get large size OLEDs

DLP's aren't a realistic option as they suffer from a number of image related issues, they are usually much bigger and the bulbs don't last as long as they suggest, and they are hellishly expensive to replace

plasmas have a glass screen just like a CRT, so if you are replacing your old tv in the same spot with a plasma, you aren't going to have any more problems than you did with the old screen. many modern plasmas have an anti glare screen, so this isn't an issue. LCDs usually have a matt screen, and that's the start of the picture quality problems right there

squirrelgrease said:

no they don't. that's another thing for old plasmas, and the recommended way to do this is to detune your tuner so it's showing static, not showing an image or movie. modern plasmas don't require this at all. technology has moved on so much in the past few years. these days you can buy a panel without having to worry about all these things. the only main difference between plasma and LCD image wise is viewing angles are better on plasma, you get far better blacks on plasmas, and overall picture quality is better on plasma. the only drawback is price and running cost as plasmas use up more electricity. plasmas are typically a bit thicker and heavier, but compared to a CRT it's not an issue. you can still mount a 60" plasma on the wall without a problem

Vizio LCD. We have 2, and both are spectacular.

unique said:

Didn't suggest OLED. An LED lit LCD (commonly referred to as LED) can be had in up to 60" models pretty commonly right now.

thanks everybody!

if I get the lcd first- I should get a tilt bracket right?

and looks like I need a plasma for the living room

-duly noted

Evvy said:

Plasmas have image-burning issues, are WAY heavier, and run a LOT hotter than an LCD.

ernestsewell said:

image burn isn't an issue these days. they are a lot heavier, maybe almost twice as heavy as an LCD of the same size, but compared to a CRT it's not an issue. you can still wall mount them and they wouldn't cause a problem weight wise on any stand. a 50" weighs about 37.5kg for example

they do emit much more heat though. in summer if i have my 50" on all day at the weekends it really heats the room up. i wouldn't say it was a problem though as it's probably warmer in the middle of winter in america as it is in the middle of summer here in scotland

Mars23 said:

i thought you meant OLEDS which cost a fortune. over here we don't normally use the term LED, it's just LCD

unique said:

That's not true. People are still having burn issues w/ plasmas, albeit not as harsh as in the past, but it is still an existing problem. Cheaper LCDs have burn issues as well. I've been people's TVs have the cable guide temporarily burned into the screen, just from scanning to see what's on television.

ernestsewell said:

you can't get image burn just by scanning to see whats on the other channel. some old plasmas had burn issues, but modern ones don't. any burn in from overuse of the same image can normally be removed by showing a different channel or leaving a static/interference/detuned channel for a short period. most DOG's these days are designed to avoid burn in, they change and fade and move about. in saying that, if you really watched the same channel with the same DOG all the time you probably wouldn't notice or care about screen burn in the first place

Graycap23 said:

I just ordered an LED 55". It's coming tomorrow. I'm sooo excited.

I went to check out the clarity between LCD, PLASMA, LCD/LED at my local electronics store and I was sooooo impressed with the LED.