Better blacks, viewing angle, power consumption, weight, bright room, dark room... I'M SOOO CONFUSED!!!

Both technologies have come a long way in a short time and with the prices dropping I may have to make the "investment" in the somewhat near future.

I'm thinking in the 40" to 50" range, not a very bright room, don't want to need a nukular power plant to drive it, don't need it to be a space heater either.

What say ye?

Read the book.

^I'm too lazy. Besides, that's what I have you for.

Im in the same boat as you n00b. Sonystyle has a 46" lcd with 120 hz refresh and a PS3 for 1000 bucks right now. Im considering it.

^I'd pull that trigger

I'm no TG, but it is my belief that plasma is good, LCD is better, and LED is better still.

Not sure where DLP falls in that line.

*shrug*

^DLP has a bulb that eventually burns out and costs several hundred $ to replace.

I'm withya macs. I have a DLP projector at 480p to an 85" screen and have been satisfied with that for DVD movies. TV sucks on it and I can't afford to upgrade the projector to 1080p and have to buy a BluRay player to take advantage of it.

LED would be awesome but right now it's only a backlight and not a screen technology (yet). Those thin Sammy's are tempting but only because of the thickness.

northamus, hmmm that sounds like a great deal! I may have to look into that.

Simple answer.... less than $2000 Plasma is going to be a better bet. Higher contrast, truer colors, great viewing angles. Panasonic models in the $600-1800 are awesome. 42" - 50"

Greater than $2000 it is a wash and depends on features, sales, options, etc.

I have had plasma for three years and never found a better bang for the buck in the less than $2000 price range. A fellow enthusiast at work fully agrees with me.

If you want to do the foot work and verify what I am claiming.....avsforum.com

Best bang for the buck if you are not viewing within 5 feet is a 50" 720p Panasonic Plasma going for ~600-800. 1080p makes little (if any viewing difference) if viewing past 5' on anything smaller than a ~60" (Additionally, there isn't much true 1080p content today)

Have had LCD, great picture but bulbs do blow out and cost bunches of bucks....LCD in store room and I gave it to a friend to use when he decides to buy the bulb. Have newer versions of other technologies and they all look great.....all a matter of choice I guess.

Do the research if you like, but just go to store and buy the best deal with the most features.

Charlie

Features stated at stores are overblown and full of BS (even if you know what they mean)....gota do the research if you want to get the most for your money. What's a few hours of time for something you should be getting years of use out of?

Plasma's are about $700 or so right now. They use more power than a LCD or LED.

46in LCD, 120hz, 100K-1, is about $1000 right now at Costco.

46in LED, 120hz, 3M-1 ( I beleive, not sure... maybe 1M-1 ), was $1500 at BestBuy.

I got the LED based solely on picture quality.

I have a Plasma and an LCD...

The Plasma is better,,,

wheel,

Which has better levels of grey? Black is nice but too much emphasis there reduces the amount of details in darker scenes. This is the one area that my projector excels in.

Also artifacts and motion blur drives me crazy. Have both of these been taken care of in current offerings?

^ Neither of those is an issue in new TVs.

The draw back with LCD is viewing from the side.

As I said earlier I have 36in Vizio LCD in my Bar and a 50in LG Plasma in the Family Room.

The Plasma has a better picture,but both look good,

wheel,

picked up a 46" sony bravia lcd, 240Hz, LOVE IT. go with the faster refresh rate if you enjoy watching sports and/or blu ray movies

Plasma sounds cooler...like you could crack it open in an emergency and either fashion a space-age weapon or stop the bleeding.

"Neither of those is an issue in new TVs." (in reference to artifacts and motion blur)

That's completely incorrect Wheel.

While refresh rates have come up on the higher end units, there are still new, lower cost TV's being released that have slower refresh rates and blur issues. As for artifacts, those issues still exist in droves. Even some of the new high end stuff suffers from artifacts at times.

hey TG, how much do you attribute those two issues to the signal end rather than the monitor?

also, arent the "HD" signals broadcasting in 1080i? if so, will we be seeing 1080p res soon or is it a bandwidth issue?

thank you, wiki.