Deciding whether to go w/ Plasma or LCD?

[cujo8]

This is my first post on this forum, so be gental :-).

I currently have a 50" Samsung DLP 1080i HDTV and I'm considering upgrading to an ~ 50" 1080p Plasma or LCD HDTV. The TV size is an issue for me, since the TV section of the entertainment center I built can only accommodate a TV with a width of 49" and a height of 36" Max. One reason I went with the Samsung is they placed the TV speaker on the bottom of set, rather than the sides, so it fit my TV opening nicely. I still want to fill the entertainment center opening with the TV I purchase, so I am looking for canidates between 46-49" wide.

I've heard that Plasma TV's have the best picture quality especially when buying the larger TV's (<50"), but they use much more energy and therefore also give off a lot more heat. That is why I'm also considering LCD HDTV's and I'm wondering how much picture quality differences there are between Plasma and LCD TV's in this size range.

Anyone have any recommendations for good quality 1080p HDTV that meets my requirements or have comments on whether I should go Plasma or LCD? Thanks.

[xsavoie]

I have heard that the laser televisions should be out soon.Is it worth waiting for.What are it's strenghts and weakenesses compared to the LCD and Plasma.Until OLED televisions comes out in a satisfactory size and price,someone should definitely settle for a present market television.Are LCD or Plasma televisions behind laser televisions,or at par with laser televisions.

[rex]

Engadget is reporting a rumor that LASERVUE may be the designated brand name for Mitsubishi’s forthcoming line of Laser TV. Their anonymous tipster is also reporting an announcement from Mitsubishi may come as early as April. This corroborates with our own recent intelligence suggesting new information from Mitsubishi will be “coming in the next month or so.” LAZRTV and LAZRTELEVISION have also been reported as potential brand names for the Laser TV line. http://laser-tv.org/

See: http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006226.html

Laser TV demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS6wsJRGqnQ

[rex]

Originally Posted by cujo8

This is my first post on this forum, so be gental :-).

I currently have a 50" Samsung DLP 1080i HDTV and I'm considering upgrading to an ~ 50" 1080p Plasma or LCD HDTV. The TV size is an issue for me, since the TV section of the entertainment center I built can only accommodate a TV with a width of 49" and a height of 36" Max. One reason I went with the Samsung is they placed the TV speaker on the bottom of set, rather than the sides, so it fit my TV opening nicely. I still want to fill the entertainment center opening with the TV I purchase, so I am looking for canidates between 46-49" wide.

I've heard that Plasma TV's have the best picture quality especially when buying the larger TV's (<50"), but they use much more energy and therefore also give off a lot more heat. That is why I'm also considering LCD HDTV's and I'm wondering how much picture quality differences there are between Plasma and LCD TV's in this size range.

Anyone have any recommendations for good quality 1080p HDTV that meets my requirements or have comments on whether I should go Plasma or LCD? Thanks.

Since no one else has responded, I will give you my $.02. Some people prefer LCD for brightly lit rooms subject to alot of glare. Otherwise, plasmas produce a better picture, especially dark blacks and varying shades of gray. On an LCD display you won't see any detail in dark areas of the screen; it will just all look gray. This is why videophiles prefer plasma. For a large screen, plasmas are not more expensive (may be cheaper depending on the size, etc.), so it is usually the best way to go for the best quality in a large screen.
It is true they do consume a bit more power; but the heat on newer models is not really a concern. If you touch the surface of a newer plasma screen with your fingertips, I doubt you will feel much more heat than on an LCD screen.

[cujo8]

Thanks for your replies. After more research I've decided to go with plasma and I've also decided that the Pioneer plasmas are the way to go, but I know have to decide which Pioneer 50" plasma is right for me. Some of the questions I'm struggling with is whether I should go with the Elite line or there non-Elite version and whether the 720p will be good enough instead of the 1080p version.

One dealer told me that I really won't be able to tell the difference between the 720p and 1080p HDTV's from 10 feet away, but he did suggest I go with the Elite series. He also said I'd be happier with the Elite 720p set over the 1080p non-Elite HDTV. I worried I might regret not purchasing the 1080p later. Anyone care to comment on what this salesperson told me and whether the Elite versions are worth the extra scratch? Thanks.

[cujo8]

Well on Saturday I picked up a Pioneer Elite 50" 1080p plasma HDTV (PRO-110FD) and a Sony BDP-S2000ES Blu-ray player. I got a couple of Tributaries Series 7 HDMI cables to hook up the Blu-ray and my Direct TV DVR to the Pioneer HDTV. Since my B&K Ref 50 preamp does not support HDMI or some of the new sound formats that the Sony Blu-ray player provides, I hooked up the Blu-ray sound to my pre-amp using the six analog outputs instead of the digital outputs. I was told by the sales person that I would be able to enjoy these new sound formats by hooking it up in this fashion, since the Sony player will decode them and send them on to my pre-amp. Besides the fact that it takes 6-interconnects to hook-up the sound in this way, does this affect the sound quality in a negative way? On my old DVD player I was using an AQ Optilink-3 toslink cable and I was quite happy with that set up.
I'm still getting use to this new setup, but I am truely loving the awsome picture from the Pioneer Elite 1080p plasma.