Plasma TVs

[HoosierAlum]

I'm looking to buy my first plasma, but don't know much about the different brands. Price isn't an issue, I just want the best quality available.

I would appreciate some recommendations for a TV in the 50 or 60 inch range, and maybe which retail store would be best to make my purchase at.

Also, is plasma even the best way to go?


Thanks

[Dynamic]

for picture quality plasma has the richest colors. But if you want to be able to play video games get a LCD, I think they are cheaper and very similar picture quality at Plasmas. The only complaint Ive heard was that LCDs seemed to be to bright in certain images, but i long for the day to play my 360 on a HD TV.

[tagtastic]

Get an LCD if the room you're going to put it in is very bright and will generate a lot of reflections. Otherwise plasma is the way to go.

Ignore the comments about gaming, that's really a thing of the past. Current gen plasmas from decent brands have no issues with permanent burn-in.

Pioneer, Panasonic & Samsung are top tier for mainstream consumer brands. I suggest looking at them at the nicest electronics store you can find in your area where they'll likely be set up best, then buying at the cheapest. Places like Best Buy often have the TVs setup so terribly (bad video feeds & bad picture settings) that a comparison there can be next to useless.

I have a 50" Pioneer plasma I bought around New Year's and I absolutely love it. HDTV, DVDs, HD-DVDs, Xbox360 - all look spectacular. Even SD is very watchable (unlike many HDTVs, this is one of the big reasons I went w/ Pioneer). If you really wanna educate yourself, spend some time at www.avsforum.com, there's a massive amount of info there, but it takes a quite a while to sift through and learn the ins and outs of that forum.

[mikecrooks]

Burn in is an issue with Plasmas. This guy has no idea what he is talking about. There is anti burn on them, but it is still a risk.

Get the new Samsung Aqua LCD. It has a 15,000:1 contrast ratio. The price on them is fairly reasonable.

[tagtastic]

[ QUOTE ]
Burn in is an issue with Plasmas. This guy has no idea what he is talking about. There is anti burn on them, but it is still a risk.

Get the new Samsung Aqua LCD. It has a 15,000:1 contrast ratio. The price on them is fairly reasonable.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not like I spent 2 months researching my purchase, bought a plasma TV, and have been using for many hours per day for the last 6 months.. Oh wait, that is the case.

Burn-in is simply a non-issue with modern plasmas. Yes, it is theoretically possible to get permanent burn-in, but not in any kind of real world home situation. I've tortured mine (games w/ static HUDs for many, many hours, huge amounts of SDTV and full widescreen movies w/ black bars for days), and yes you can get some faint temporary image retention if you abuse it, but it disappears fairly quickly and is not permanent. Unless you're going to use it as a billboard with a static image on it for months at a time (which will burn in CRTs and LCDs as well), permanent burn-in is a thing of the past.

Also, I think you were referring to the Sharp Aquos line of LCDs, not "Samsung Aqua". You're clearly an expert.

[HoosierAlum]

Thanks for the info on the forum Tag, I'll check it out for sure.

I don't play video games so thats not an issue.

Do you have your plasma mounted? If so, how much of a process was that?

[tagtastic]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the info on the forum Tag, I'll check it out for sure.

I don't play video games so thats not an issue.

Do you have your plasma mounted? If so, how much of a process was that?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not mounted, I bought a nice tv stand/entertainment center and I have it sitting on top. I didn't really wanna commit to a spot in the room and I'm planning on buying another bigger TV in the next couple years and moving this one up to the bedroom.

Mounting can be a pain, and if you wanna do it right (no wires visible) you gotta make holes in the walls and conduits for the cables. Technically according to fire codes you're even supposed to put in a new power outlet behind the TV instead of running the TV's power cable through the wall. I'm not a real handyman and I know it's at least a two man job for a 50"+ tv (they're fairly thin, but heavy). Many stores will mount it for you though (for a price obv), this is what I would have done if I really wanted it mounted.

[Suiteness]

You'll find everything you need at this address.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7608_7-....html?tag=tnav

[lozen]

Plasma go Pioneer great deals at Costco.

I struggled same as you with the descision and ended up getting a Samsung LCD I love it

[Nicholasp27]

plasma is better for gaming as lcd has ghosting issues

also, check em out in store; i can't personally stand LCD; they are overly sharp and text looks jagged a lot of times; also, around the edges of people, etc...ugh

plasma has best colors; go with pioneer for the best, but panasonic is a great brand for less money and has very deep blacks

plasmas have ZERO viewing angle issues, while LCDs can get darker/brighter depending upon the angle, so unless u are gonna be viewing straight on, that's also a big negative for LCDs

burn in was also an issue with CRTs, u know, the tv u've had the past FOREVER...but as long as u aren't leaving it on one thing a lot, u'll be fine

and plasmas lose 1/2 their brightness after 60,000+ hours, or 20 years of 8 hours/day watching...so don't worry about them not lasting...and that's only half the brightness anyway



mounting isn't too bad; u get a metal plate that u screw into the studs in the wall; then u screw in a metal thing onto the back of ur tv; then u just lift and set into the wall plate...not too bad

if u can, then run conduit down from the tv so u don't see anything...if doing on a standard wall, just open a hole in it behind where the tv will go...then stick conduit down the wall there to near the baseboard, where u cut out an outlet-sized hole...then all the wires can go in there and up to the tv