Researching a new TV

[gunnut]

I just went with a new Samsung Plasma. With the right content, the 3D is incredible. Bought online through Tigerdirect. They have some hard to beat deals periodically.

 

[Shooter77]

Love my samsung led. Really nice tv.

 

[EBC79]

Just bought a Panasonic plasma and I absolutely love it.

 

[IronMan]

Unless you are a Ham radio operator or listen to short wave radio it probable wont matter much. Plasma puts out a LOT of RF trash that makes listening to SW almost impossible within the immediate area.

Just my $.02

Rex

 

[tRidiot]

Unless you are a Ham radio operator or listen to short wave radio it probable wont matter much. Plasma puts out a LOT of RF trash that makes listening to SW almost impossible within the immediate area.

Just my $.02

Rex

Now there's a detraction on plasmas I haven't run into before... interesting. What kind of "immediate area" are you talking about? Like 5-10 feet or within a 30-ft radius or what? I don't do SW, but I've considered getting into it sometime in the future. It would be interesting to know if my TV is going to be a problem...

 

[IronMan]

Now there's a detraction on plasmas I haven't run into before... interesting. What kind of "immediate area" are you talking about? Like 5-10 feet or within a 30-ft radius or what? I don't do SW, but I've considered getting into it sometime in the future. It would be interesting to know if my TV is going to be a problem...

I know for certain,because my cousin has a Plasma TV, he cannot have it within 50ft of his radio gear. It puts out so much RF trash that it is impossible to hear any conversations. When I was looking to buy a new TV around Christmas he told me about the interference. I went to his house to check it out and sure enough if you get within 50ft of the TV with an HF radio it is total noise that can't be squelched out. His TV is 2yrs old so maybe some of the newer sets are better.
Hope this helps.

 

[Jon3830]

AHEM... *cough*BS*cough*

Some common fallacies in this post. No offense, but you've bought into marketing hype, not facts.

Personally, the jitteriness of the LED LCD displays was horrible, once I knew to look for it. I tried and tried to "not see it", but I just couldn't.

"Plasma gas" does not dissipate over time, this is a lie perpetuated by salespeople who haven't got a clue how the technology works. I have heard rumors of having to have your "plasma gas recharged" after several years... yet not a single person could ever point me to a person who could or has performed this service even once.

Sit down and figure out the numbers for the problem with "power consumption" and you'll find an average difference of just a few dollars per month (single digits here), and that's with heavy usage.

And for those who don't know, the reason LED LCDs always look so much better in a bright showroom in a store is that they DO have a much higher light output, which makes them much better in a very bright environment... thus explaining why so many people think they look so much better in the stores. However, in an in-home environment, the vast majority of people do not have anywhere close to as much light as the showrooms do. The massive light output of the LCDs isn't needed in most home environments... plasma brightness is still plenty bright, in fact, mine is still turned down to around 50-60 and gets painfully bright if I turn it up. I have a relatively low-light viewing room, so if your room if ultra-bright, this effect might be a factor.

Research, don't buy into hype. I personally found in-person comparisons to be next to useless, as the sets in the store are NEVER calibrated properly, the viewing environment isn't even close to that typically seen in a home. Salespeople are almost always very biased and are more likely to try to talk you into spending hundreds on overpriced useless high-end cables than to actually find out what situation is best for you. See what kind of questions they ask about your viewing habits and viewing environment. It's essentially like trying to buy a car without driving it or even sitting in it... they can let you look in the window, but until you take it on your own commute and park your kiester in the seat, you'll never really KNOW.

That statement you made couldn't be any further from the truth with a statement like that I am assuming that you must be a TV repairman, I don't get paid to sell TV's I do however on occasion get paid to repair them.

 

[tRidiot]

That statement you made couldn't be any further from the truth with a statement like that I am assuming that you must be a TV repairman, I don't get paid to sell TV's I do however on occasion get paid to repair them.

Really? So then you can back up your statement about plasma gas dispersing over time? Care to show us some objective proof of measured gas levels? Perhaps since you do the repairs you've done the measurements yourself?

And no.... I'm not a TV repairman OR TV salesman. Salesmen sell LEDs because they are the newest and most expensive technology... not because they are superior. If I were trying to build the hype to purchase more expensive products and pad my wallet, I wouldn't be advocating the older, less expensive technology on the market.

Plasma has superior response time, color saturation, black levels (yes, objectively measured by numerous companies with the most sophisticated technology available). It is better for gaming, for movies and for sports events due to it's MUCH faster response, measured in nanoseconds, unlike LCD.

LED LCDs are arguably better in much brighter environments. That's pretty much it. They also have slightly less power consumption, which is negligible in the real world in terms of cost of operation. Of course, shooting the messenger and casting aspersions on my motives is much easier than backing up your incorrect information with factual data... since it doesn't exist.

 

[Jon3830]

I have done no tests on plasma TV's in regards of gas I can only go on what I was taught in electronics repair (which I hate doing) but I don't see why an unbiased instructor would teach students a marketing trick. Now for how a plasma TV works plasma TV's are basically filled with tiny fluorescent bulbs and they have charging plates that energizes the gas and that in turn makes the pixels light up and gives you the picture, the earlier models of plasma TV's had gas leaks which would make the tv get dead pixels as for modern plasma they do not have the leaking problem like the older ones but they can still get tube leaks for any number of reasons and when they do the gas will dissipate. Another thing that people shopping for plasma's get suckered into is "true HD" don't fall for it if you want a nicer picture go with 1080p not 1080i I have had clients tell be they bought the giant tv that barely fits in their house because the salesman told them they had to have over a 40" tv to achieve true HD.

 

[sixseven]

If you decide on LCD or LED, i would stay away from Panasonic. I have 3 Samsung LCDs in my house from 32-55" and i couldn't be happier. I have a 42" panasonic in my bedroom and the picture is great but i can't stand that tv. To compensate for the black levels, the panasonic has a built in system that detects what is on the screen and will darken the picture when it is a dark scene. My wife can't see it, but i can tell every time it does it, and it drives me nuts. I would also take into account whether or not you are going to mount the TV on the wall. if you are not, i'm not sure i would spend the extra money on the LED for set that big. The plasma will by far be the heaviest of the three and you will want to make sure it is mounted to studs in SEVERAL places.