What kind of HDTV should I get?

[Mickey Massuco]

I wanted an LED since those seem to be all the rage, but I'm kinda shocked at how choppy it looks when I watch sports on it and I've heard for motion-related stuff it's best to go plasma. I don't wanna spend more than $1000, and ideally I'd like something closer to $700. I like picture sharpness as well. The size won't be too large, I'm thinking somewhere between 40-50 inches.

I watch a lot of sports so I feel like motion is important and at that price range Plasma seems like the best option. Please help me out here, TRTSM.

 

[CanadianGuitarist]

To me, the benefits of plasma outweigh the negatives (as well as the benefits of LED/LCD) if your situation warrants it.

The first thing I'd ask is where you'll be watching your new set. Plasmas, being a glass screen (instead of the moulded plastic of LED/LCD), are susceptible to glare, particularly from the sun. If you have curtains or lamps placed in a way that won't hit the screen, you're golden. If not, I wouldn't recommend plasma at all.

A second drawback to plasma is the issue of image retention or screen burn-in. If you leave your TV idle too long, the pixels will retain the image left on screen. Everyone always says "Well, I won't leave it on the same screen for hours on end", but think about something like a score in the corner of a screen during a ballgame, or a stock/news ticker. It's relatively easy problem to solve (leave a blue or snowy screen on for the length of time it took the image to burn in), and plasmas may have progressed in this area since I left retail in 2008, but if it seems like a headache, go with LED/LCD.

Finally, plasmas are both heavier and much worse on power than their counterparts.

On the bright side, plasmas do a much better job reproducing colour (particularly blacks) and have a wider viewing angle than LCD. LED combines the benefits of both plasma and LCD, but, as you mentioned, at a higher cost. Plasmas are cheaper now more than ever because LED has become the market leader.

Another thing you mentioned was choppy images. This is measured in HZ. Most LCD/LED's offer either 60 or 120hz (meaning the image on screen is re-drawn 60 or 120 times per second). Plasmas offer 600hz. Apart from Jeopardy!, I only really watch sports, so the benefits would be great for me, but the last time I was looking at TV's (when I helped my grandparents purchase their set in 2009), I noticed a huge difference from 60 to 120 watching Conan O'Brien deliver a monologue - he was, well, being Conan: Moving his arms about, dancing, etc. The judder from something as simple as talking with his hands was noticeable.


Hope this helps!

 

[CanadianGuitarist]

Incidentally, you'll have no trouble getting a plasma in the neighbourhood of $700 if you avoid either 3D or SmartTV.

 

[Dandy]

Go with a 240hz LCD or LED. You will be able to find them in the $700 - $1,000 range easily.

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

A second drawback to plasma is the issue of image retention or screen burn-in. If you leave your TV idle too long, the pixels will retain the image left on screen. Everyone always says "Well, I won't leave it on the same screen for hours on end", but think about something like a score in the corner of a screen during a ballgame, or a stock/news ticker. It's relatively easy problem to solve (leave a blue or snowy screen on for the length of time it took the image to burn in), and plasmas may have progressed in this area since I left retail in 2008, but if it seems like a headache, go with LED/LCD.

I can tell you the 2013 Plasma I have gets image burn simply from having, say, an open status box on the 360 for a quick download... but it also goes away extremely quickly. So, whatever they've done with the burn-in technology, it seems to have both sped up the process of getting an after-image and also made it so it goes away quickly (the first cheap HDTV I got in 2006 ended up with seemingly permanent 4:3 ratio marks on the side of the screen). The TV also has a "scrolling bar" option which says removes pixel debris (or some term like that - basically it cleans up the after-image burns).

 

[skullman80]

I have one of each kind of TV in my house.

My Panasonic Plasma gets the best picture by a pretty good margin. It's also the most expensive of my tv's though. It's a 50".. think it was around 900$ when I got it a few years back. It was one of Panny's top models The glare thing though is legit. If you have a room with lots of light.. it could be an issue. I have dark blinds for this reason. Never have had issue with burn in at all, but there is a screen saver thing that kicks on either from my direct tv box or the tv itself after so many minutes of a static picture to help with that. Plasmas have come a long way though from when Burn-in was a big issue.

The LCD and LED I have, both 42" are pretty close in picture quality, LED maybe being a bit better cause its a newer set.

Really can't go wrong with any style of TV these days. Whatever you do though please don't judge the picture quality by how its set up at Best buy or wherever you go to get a set. They often have those things cranked up on Vivid mode or something similar and it just kills the picture.

Do research into specific models that you are looking at, read other reviews. Get peoples experiences. That's what I did before I bought any of my TV's. Don't just walk in and get the first tv that catches your eye...

I strongly recommend getting a calibration disc to calibrate the picture of you TV, the out of the box settings are not gonna give you the best picture quality.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm probably going to go with the Plasma based on the fact that it has superior picture quality for motion, burn-in isn't as much of an issue, the better picture quality in general and of course, the price.

I'll let you know which one I buy, it'll really depend on what local stores have and which models have the best online reviews.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Hey so I wanted to get a Panasonic TV that's been discontinued but available at a few local stores here:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-P50S60-50-Inch-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B00ARAHBIW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

It looks amazing but there's one sticking point; someone mentioned something called 'automatic brightness limiting' which basically means that the TV dims itself for images that are too bright. That sounds like a dealbreaker after reading up on it more online. Everything else sounds great (it's in a darker room so I'm not worried about light reflecting off of the TV) but I'll be really pissed if I'm watching hockey or something and then have the image automatically darken. I am sensitive to that sort of thing so I think not seeing the real image would really be noticeable for me. It also appears that most plasma tv's have this technology built in.

Anyone with experience or insight into ABL?

 

[Mickey Massuco]

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-19410_102-593287/minimizing-impact-of-automatic-brightness-limiter-on-plasma/

Here is a link featuring someone complaining about it occurring in a TV much better than the one I want. It's like the options are either choppy or flickering.

I may take my chances with a 240HZ LED depending on what others may say, although it will probably set me back more than I'd like in terms of cash.

 

[skullman80]

I have the 50" version of that Panasonic. It's either a p50s30 or p50st30, cant remember without getting up to look at the back of the TV. Never had any issues with brightness flickering the year plus I've had it. I did calibrate it though so I'm not using out of box settings.

 

[CanadianGuitarist]

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-19410_102-593287/minimizing-impact-of-automatic-brightness-limiter-on-plasma/

Here is a link featuring someone complaining about it occurring in a TV much better than the one I want. It's like the options are either choppy or flickering.

I may take my chances with a 240HZ LED depending on what others may say, although it will probably set me back more than I'd like in terms of cash.

Really have a look at the refresh rate settings. I have 120hz on my LCD but it kind of "overdoes it". You'll know what I mean when you see it; there's almost a soap-opera effect. I prefer it, but I seem to be in the minority. In my case, the Philips I have offers 120 hz at high, low, and off. My grandparents' Samsung has six or seven different settings such as smooth, clear, etc. I have to admit I've never looked too hard at a set with 240hz, but I imagine it'd be apples to apples.

I will say, and I don't say this as a spokesperson for plasma, I saw no judder or blur whatsoever during four hours of Wrestlemania on a plasma yesterday.

 

[NoCalMike]

I am not fanboy of one over the other, it probably depends on brand, specs, etc etc.....but I will say that I have had two plasmas (the first one I had replaced under warranty when a pixel burned out on it) and a lot of the criticisms I hear of plasmas, I have seen none of. I never get any burn in issues, and I have made the dumb mistake of passing out while on a pause screen of a game before, but no burn-in at all.

It seems like a lot of people are just repeating the downside of plasma technology from back when it was a new thing and ignoring the strides the technology has made since it's debut.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

I'll throw in my two cents. I have a 55" Panasonic Plasma in my living room. You can't see any burn-in, however you can see silhouettes of the various Lightning Returns gauges on the bottom corners of the screen when there is something that is a very bright white on the screen. You can also see burn-in from the Fallout 3 radiation gauge from time to time, too.