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Thread ID: 124886	2012-05-25 10:40:00	Plasma or LCD TV?	gradebdan (2186)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1277370	2012-05-26 12:34:00	I sell TVs and lots of them, I have my preference, but much like the new LCD back lighting technology you can now get Neo-Plasmas, these are brighter, smoother, crisper, faster discharge to black, very slim and almost as cheap as an LED to run. Both Technologies - Plasma and LCD have their pros and Cons. Plasmas are fast and do have a higher graduation of shading/colouring than LCD/LEDs But LCD/LEDs will give you less reflection but won't eliminate it. For me it's all about screen size AND smooth motion, so that's where your pixel refresh rate comes in, if you choose LCD/LED then be sure it has that motion flow processor, different brands call these chips different names but they are important to have for an enjoyable viewing experience. Plasmas are typically much faster starting at 600Hz Subfeild drive, not directly comparable to a LCD/LED Motion flow rating but help to smooth the picture non the less. Also be sure to put a good input into your TV, such as FreeviewHD, Mysky and use HDMI where possible, Composite and svideo connections are not good for smooth motion. FYI FreeviewHD - HD Channels are only 1,2,3 and mostly run at 1080i and for True HD the program needs to carry the HD logo, otherwise it's just upscaled, which is never the same. At the end of the day whichever TV you choose (assuming you do buy a good brand) will look good, you haven't got TVs sitting beside it to throw judgment and it will look stunning at your house. :thumbs:	radium (8645)
1277371	2012-05-27 11:38:00	Plasma - bright rich colours, deep natural blacks We've been through this before . No TV produces black; not CRT, CFL LCD, LED LCD, Oled LCD, nor any breed of Plasma . Black is simple zero illumination, i . e the pixel is off, so any perceived level of 'blackness' is simply contrast between the fully off state and any adjacent pixels that are lit at that time . Take a look at your screen when it is turned off, whatever type it is, and that is the deepest black you are ever going to see on it . 'Natural black' as mentioned above is a function of the contrast between lit pixels and unlit pixels, and the harder (brighter) the lit pixels are driven, the darker the black appears to be, but it is all an optical illusion, smoke and mirrors, as are any form of moving picture displays . Movies produce 'black' on a white screen, but you never notice that, because your eyes just see the contrast . Nobody ever left a movie theatre singing the praises of the 'rich natural blacks' displayed on the white screen . Mostly they watch the movie for entertainment, or sit in the back row and don't watch it at all, which still seems to be a moderately popular pastime . Cheers Billy 8-{) :illogical	Billy T (70)
1277372	2012-05-27 23:56:00	All true Billy, black being the absence of something it can't really be "produced" However a key difference between LCD and plasma is that LCD's have a backlight and to show black have to block the light from it. There is always some leakage so LCD's manage a dark grey at best. Plasma on the other hand emits light from the pixels themselves and can turn them off completely to show black so it naturally gets closer to displaying a true black. The upshot isn't really about how "black" the black is but rather how good the resulting contrast is. On top of that movies at the theatre are watched in a dark room which is not as common at home where many people watch TV with the lights on or in a room with the curtains open in daylight. This requires a lot more contrast that that white screen in the movie theatre can pull off so the blackness becomes more relevant. Here's a random thought for you, look at how black that screen is and consider how black it looks. Now wait until it's dark, turn all the lights off and look at it again. THAT is the blackest it will ever look :p and you can watch movies in that enviroment.	dugimodo (138)
1277373	2012-05-28 00:10:00	Go into a shop, make sure they show the same channel and compare them side by side. Choose 1)Reliable 2)The one that looks good to you Unfortunately, many shops dont know how to setup a modern TV. Ive seen excellent TV's made to look absolute crap with the signal they were feeding into them. Arnt many TV's defaulted with setup to make them look good in a shop , rather than a good setup for home use ??	1101 (13337)
1277374	2012-05-28 00:20:00	Unfortunately, many shops dont know how to setup a modern TV. Ive seen excellent TV's made to look absolute crap with the signal they were feeding into them. Arnt many TV's defaulted with setup to make them look good in a shop , rather than a good setup for home use ?? And anyway most TV stores have animated content, which will look good on most screens, and doesn't really show how 'good' the TV is.	Nick G (16709)
1277375	2012-05-28 00:35:00	Yeah shop displays can be unreliable, and they may well tweak the one they want to sell to look better in some shops. One time while shopping for a new TV with a colleague we were admiring how good an expensive samsung looked next to a much cheaper model from another manufacturer that was sitting beside it (I forget what it was) and decided to have a play with the settings to see what we could achieve. When we were done the samsung still looked better but we got the cheap one pretty damn close which made the price difference seem a lot less justified. Many TV's have high contrast or vibrant colour type settings which make certain types of content look amazing and shops tend to set them that way.	dugimodo (138)
1277376	2012-05-28 01:37:00	Unfortunately, many shops dont know how to setup a modern TV. Ive seen excellent TV's made to look absolute crap with the signal they were feeding into them. Arnt many TV's defaulted with setup to make them look good in a shop , rather than a good setup for home use ?? All three of my TV's when cold started display a menu asking if its to boot into display mode or home use mode, The people in the shop do zero setup, its all factory defined.	Metla (12)
1277377	2012-05-29 00:18:00	Yes TVs have shop mode and home mode, Shop mode will run the TV in dynamic for richer brighter colours because in a shop environment they need to stand out and most stores have some sort of florescent lighting. As for the quality input some stores my not provide the TV with Full HD content, as splitters tend to degrade the quality. But the stores that split digital into analog and feed them to all their TVs such as I have seen at Noel Leeming - Shame on them!	radium (8645)
1277378	2012-05-29 00:25:00	Funny enough I just heard a radio advert where they claimed that the single best technology for televisions is Plasma, and that out of all brands Panasonic make the best.	Metla (12)
1277379	2012-05-29 02:23:00	where is my TV's 50000000000000000000:1 claimed contrast ???? viewing a full black screen on my LCD certainly isnt black at all :banana	1101 (13337)
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