Topic: Should I get it?

[Canuck]

Ive been looking to purchase a nice HDTV, and this is currently on sale

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0770HDS0010093647&catid=23524&logon=&langid=EN

I can get it price matched, and use the employee discount of a friend, so essentially Im going to get it for $1450. 

A few things people have argued.. plasma will be better for fast moving images (hockey games etc), and the blacks will be very black on the LCD.  Is it really that bad though? I have heard Sharp is one of the best brands to go with. Are people being really picky? or should I really worry about the quality of the image?

Comments are welcome!

Thanks

[Perspective]

I'd take LCD over plasma just so I can hook my computer up to it. Looks like a nice tv to me.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Plasma televisions have that screen door effect.  They are unable to overcome it (within reasonable prices).  LCD all the way.  LCD better contrast, faster response, better durability, and less power consumption.

[Steve]

l cd

[drakkenkorin]

elle see dee for mee

[Steve]

LUHCD? :P

[Rob]

I just bought a Sharp, and I love it.

http://www.techstore.co.uk/detail.php?prodLineID=107923

The HD output is superb.

[KnuckleBuckett]

plasma man

Okay you voted plasma.  Why?

[micah]

I like my DLP.  it was cheaper and is actually quite thin, considering it uses projection.  Mine's 46" but takes up half the depth of my old 26" tube.

.... "it's the mirrors"

[KnuckleBuckett]

I'm cool with DLP as well.  Plasma gets all the hype and is visually the worst of the bunch with unavoidable screen door effect (unless you spend $10K- Pioneer Elite).  Also they can burn if an image is frozen for "too long".  Yikes I thought that would have died with CRTs!  The picture quality from a DLP, CRT, or LCD is almost always superior to the plasmas.  Plasma technology just is not keeping up with the others unless you spend big $$.  However they like LCD and DLP are quite thin.  Hanging it from a wall is neat until you have to run power and signals to and from it.  Then it is a mess. 

[Steve]

ethic likes plasma, thats reson enuff  for lcd

[VBprogrammer]

I'm cool with DLP as well.  Plasma gets all the hype and is visually the worst of the bunch with unavoidable screen door effect (unless you spend $10K- Pioneer Elite).  Also they can burn if an image is frozen for "too long".  Yikes I thought that would have died with CRTs!  The picture quality from a DLP, CRT, or LCD is almost always superior to the plasmas.  Plasma technology just is not keeping up with the others unless you spend big $$.  However they like LCD and DLP are quite thin.  Hanging it from a wall is neat until you have to run power and signals to and from it.  Then it is a mess. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_door_effect

Hmm, can't agree with you on plasma bashing. The screen door effect is normally much more pronounced on large LCD screens I've seen than Plasmas. It is more usually a criticism of large screen projectors than flat panel TV's since on a TV it is invisible at anything but the shortest of distances. DLP screens look shit at anything but along the viewing axis and LCD's have a horrible gray black which makes viewing dark scenes horrible.

The only valid criticism I'd give you is the screen burn effect. It means you can't play a games console through it. Thats one of the reasons my dad has a 8ft screen and DLP projector which comes down in front of the plasma which is mounted on the wall (with all the cables trunked into the wall so you can't see them).

Its always a trade off!

[KnuckleBuckett]

Maybe this comparison can help....

http://www.flattvpeople.com/tutorials/lcd-vs-plasma.asp

[edit]
and
http://www.audioholics.com/education/display-formats-technology/display-technologies-guide-lcd-plasma-dlp-lcos-d-ila-crt/display-technologies-guide-lcd-plasma-dlp-lcos-d-ila-crt-page-3

Lots of professional comparisons out there.  I think all three are due for some real competition when the laser and organic LCD based televisions arrive (due in 2010).

[VBprogrammer]

Hmm, Knuck, can't help but notice that neither of those 'professional comparisons' are anti-plasma and don't contradict anything I said. In fact the only reference to the screen door effect was in relation to low quality LCD panels?!

Plasma televisions have that screen door effect.  They are unable to overcome it (within reasonable prices).  LCD all the way.  LCD better contrast, faster response, better durability, and less power consumption.

As a point by point:

• Screen door effect is a mute point on either type.
• LCD's have a muddy black compared to plasma's. Even though they have a higher contrast ratio because they can be much brighter.
• Durability is not something I'd ever worry about, its not like a 40" TV is going to be moved around a lot unless your 'Pimping your ride'
• Power consumption I would suspect this wouldn't make any real difference to anyone

Not saying plasma's are better, in fact if I didn't have a perfectly nice and reasonably big wide screen CRT in my home (my parents have a 42" plasma) I'd probably want an LCD for the sake of playing games on it.