Plasma or LCD

[killivolt]

My Dad 82 yrs old this year. Finally had his Pro-Scan RCA/CRT go out and he is wanting to get it fixed.

In the meanwhile I'm going to help him choose a small Screen about 20" or so for the upstairs bedroom. What brand do you recommend? I'm needing DVD Hookups with a Tuner.

If the RCA/CRT is not repairable or cost effective. He wants a new TV. So, the question is Plasma or LCD? But, I still need to know a good brand and type what is your recommendation. This is his main TV and I need several inputs and outputs sort of like the Pro-scan had if your familiar with them basically it was overkill for most people.

I figure I will have better luck in the choice if I have some feedback rather than just going it alone.

kv

 

[killivolt]

Picked up a samsung 31" hdmi 720p I think.

Thanks anyway.

Kv

 

[HiTech]

Samsung and Sharp are leaders in the LCD type of televisions. Samsung is very good when it comes to LCD technology and performance. I've had good luck with Hyundai and Samsung plasma sets that are left on between 8 to 14 hours daily 7 days a week without any problems.

 

[killivolt]

Thanks, HiTech. I hope my father isn't going to really need it that much. He's currently is active and my hope is he will continue. It's when your less active problems begin.

He is able to understand how some things work. I'm going to try to get him a Blue Ray Disk Combo VHS. Most of his films are still on VHS. Maybe I can find them on Re-mastered blue-ray and loose his VHS stuff. I'm also considering getting him a Ps3 with a hard drive. That way maybe he can surf the net ?


kv

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Thanks, HiTech. I hope my father isn't going to really need it that much. He's currently is active and my hope is he will continue. It's when your less active problems begin.

He is able to understand how some things work. I'm going to try to get him a Blue Ray Disk Combo VHS. Most of his films are still on VHS. Maybe I can find them on Re-mastered blue-ray and loose his VHS stuff. I'm also considering getting him a Ps3 with a hard drive. That way maybe he can surf the net ?

Can you still get VCR's or Combo's over there? - they are long gone over here.

Same for Plasma really, it's all but disappeared, hardly any manufacturers make them any more - the only ones I can think of are Panasonic, Samsung and LG.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Plasmas do have the blacker blacks and very fast pixel transition, but consume more power and are still (although much less than before) susceptible to burn in. They are also cheaper than LCDs

I prefer LCDs as burn in of any sort would drive me nuts. Who wants a station logo burnt into their set?

 

[tcmtech]

I've got a pair of commercial NEC 30 inch LCD HD monitors on my computer and I love them! I have no problems with their clarity and color.

I am hoping to find a 52 inch for the living room someday but its low priority. Since I got the two monitors for the computer I have not used the living room TV in about a year or more. I shut off the satellite subscription when I got high speed internet being everything I want to watch is on line some place for free any way and the computer monitors have much better picture quality than my old CRT TV ever had.

I figure when I do find a big LCD unit some day I will just set up an old basic computer with a good video card to work as the video and audio source so I can hook it into the home network system and watch everything from DVD, hard drive or on line sources.

If your setting him up for a LCD HD system and internet access perhaps just get a basic reliable computer system and a good large LCD monitor. Basic internet and HD video dont need a high powered high end computer system. A 1 GHz processor, some good ram, a 250 Gig hard drive, and a DVD,CD drive will do everything he would possibly need.

Just a thought.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Plasmas do have the blacker blacks and very fast pixel transition, but consume more power and are still (although much less than before) susceptible to burn in. They are also cheaper than LCDs

Cheaper to buy, but I'm sure they are more expensive to manufacture - a Plasma is a LOT more complicated.

I have a Plasma, and the blacks aren't as good as decent LCD's, but it's crap on HD - though SD is better than LCD's.

 

[HiTech]

I believe Samsung(?) has a downloadable video that you can run via DVD player into a plasma screen to eliminate or greatly reduce burn-ins. It runs for hours, like overnight! I have seen it's results and it works pretty good.

As for VHS/DVD combo units on this side of the pond, yes they are still available. As for strictly VHS decks, they can be had through certain retailers who happen to have old stock. VHS decks and VHS/tv combo units are plentiful at garage/yard sales. I just bought one this past weekend at a yard sale for $2.50 US It's powered by 120vAC or 12vDC. I even picked up a DVD player for $5 to connect to the AV input jacks. Now I have a nice , cheap setup for my RV camper.

 

[Speakerguy]

I have a Plasma, and the blacks aren't as good as decent LCD's, but it's crap on HD - though SD is better than LCD's.

'Tis bad form to judge a technology on one sample, yes? In general plasmas will have better blacks. Pioneer didn't name their high-end plasmas "Kuro" without reason (Kuro is Black in Japanese). I would think the SD picture quality would depend on the video converter in the unit, anything not in native panel resolution will depend on the front end processing as much as the panel itself.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Not a good sign when Pioneer now no longer makes Plasma TVs.

 

[Speakerguy]

Well, they were chasing after the ultra-high-end. In this economy when you can buy an almost-as-good Panasonic for half the cost, it's not surprising.

 

[HiTech]

Not a good sign when Pioneer now no longer makes Plasma TVs.

Pioneer sets were way, way too heavy, requiring two men to lift them. Then there was the chronic issue with faulty power supplies that the factory was fully aware of. They lost a good amount of revenue repairing them under extended warranties, often to the tune of several hundred dollars or more per set! Pioneer has been a household name through the 70's and 80's and for as much as they had nice looking equipment for consumers, their stuff was par. It was far from brands like SAE, JBL, Maratnz, Rotel, etc. Technical specs were good but longevity of their products didn't cut it when compared to other brands. Apparently this same stigma applied to their plasma sets too!