lcd or plasma tv?

[soulman]

am on the lookout for a 42inch tv to go over the fireplace.........any tv experts on here got any ideas for the best option and price ..
be interested in what ppl have and how good they rate it ....

thankyou Ian

[Duncan]

I can't recommend specific models as there's such a huuuge choice - depends on what features you want and of course budget - but I'd say LCD is the one to go for. Plasmas are being superseded by LCD as it's a newer/better technology.

[Dwabo]

depends on how close you are gonna be from the fireplace..as lcd can look blurred..depending on the size, you have to be further away from it..unless you have hd sky and stuff and then the picture will be really clear..if however you just have normal sky/freeview and are gonna be quite close then plasma would be your best option...although they can be liable to screen burn..ie watching say nick jr with the logo at the top..over lots of hours..that image can be burned into the screen of the tv...

[VectraV6CDTi]

There used to be an issue with some LCD's that when watching action type TV (such as the GP or a footie match) where the camera pans quite quicky the LCD TV cant catch up so you get the blurred effect for a couple of seconds.
Has this improved now?

[Dwabo]

mine is fine..samsung lcd

[Dwabo]

with plasma also...the contrast ratio is always higher..therefore better/clearer picture..
plasma's have a shorter life on them... but tbh, in todays house etc I dont think you would have an issue with that..unless your tv is on 24/7

[Dwabo]

in all honesty..i would compromise on a 37" lcd.. not too big and not too small..and at a couple of metres away then the screen would be good!!..whereas a 42 may be a little blurred

[JuzzyD]

Have a read through www.avforums.com as there is some useful information there.

As mentioned above, the quality of the pic depends on the source. We've got a 32" LCD (Videoseven) and my sister has a 42" plasma (Pioneer), we've got SKY+, she's got SKY HD.

On the SD channels there doesn't seem to be a lot in it - I find that sports like football seem better on our LCD than the plasma, but if its on HD then you'll really, really notice the difference! You'll be able to see the players wrinkles!

Even on SD it varies between the channels - watch an old sitcom on Gold and the picture will be soft and horrible, where as BBC news always seems crisp and clear.

Personally I'd probably always go the LCD route, even though plasma at the moment still seems to have the greater dynamic range for movies etc. The LCD's with Samsung panels mostly seem to have the best image, however Samsung's own LCD TV's have sometimes been known to have poor processing from some sources.

Be wary of the "HD Ready" stickers though - make sure what you buy has HD inputs (either DVI or, for ease, HDMI - electrically they are the same but HDMI also carries audio) that are HDCP compliant, there are many out there that aren't and it would be a shame to get one without to find that SKY and the BBC do decide to use the HDCP encryption in the future.

Hope that helps?! Lol!

[JuzzyD]

There used to be an issue with some LCD's that when watching action type TV (such as the GP or a footie match) where the camera pans quite quicky the LCD TV cant catch up so you get the blurred effect for a couple of seconds.
Has this improved now?

The original panels were a bit sluggish, and this coupled with slow processing caused the effect you describe. The later panels and TV's are fine as they appear to have cured it now.

mine is fine..samsung lcd

Which model have you got? Is it 32"? One of the models, which won some awards, suffered badly from "tearing" when playing from a component video source.

[nickc]

ive just bought a 37" lg lf65 from dixons, 1080p for £650 delivered - (to replace my 32" lg which is going up stairs)

i think they a do a 42 inch for about an extra 75 quid.

cant go wrong mate!!