LCD Vs. Plasma

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

I'm getting ready to take the jump to Hi Def. Originally I was sold on a
plasma display. But in doing research I found that plasma displays,
although better initially, degraded over time and were subject to burn in.
Second thoughts are now creeping in. $4K is nothing to sneeze at.
At the showroom I came across a Sharp 36" display that looked almost a good
as the 42" Panasonic I was getting ready to buy. I have read all the FAQ's
but need some real world input.
Models I was considering:
Sharp LC37-G4U
Panasonic TH42PX 25U.

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

> BudMan wrote:
> > I'm getting ready to take the jump to Hi Def. Originally I was sold on a
> > plasma display. But in doing research I found that plasma displays,
> > although better initially, degraded over time and were subject to burn in.
> > Second thoughts are now creeping in. $4K is nothing to sneeze at.
> > At the showroom I came across a Sharp 36" display that looked almost a good
> > as the 42" Panasonic I was getting ready to buy. I have read all the FAQ's
> > but need some real world input.
> > Models I was considering:
> > Sharp LC37-G4U
> > Panasonic TH42PX 25U.
>
>

Believe it or not, but I went through the same "tire spinning" between the plasma
and LCD TV. I figured my own eyes would be the best judge. I found a retailer
who had both the Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY and the Sharp Aquos LC-37G4U on showroon
floor. Fortunately they were just a few feet from each other and there were
lounge chairs about 7 feet away. I plunked down and watched. Pictures were good. I
talked to the sales guy and he said that a local hdtv guy had setup their entire
display of 50 hdtv sets for best video. I was very impressed. This was no Best
Buy store. The setup guy obviously knew what he was doing. After watching several
HD programs for about 15 minutes (it was early in the morning... no other
customers) I asked to see some SDTV programs. Sales guy went into back room and
switched on a SD program. After a while another SD program and so on. You get the
idea. I wanted to see as much SD as possible.. I figured to watch SD and DVDs
mostly and just a little HD at home.

My conclusions are that both displays produce excellent HD pictures. Panasonic
TH-42PHD7UY was a tiny bit better on brightness, but it also had glare from lights
in store which I didn't like. Dark levels were very good on all material on
Panny. The Sharp Aquos LC-37G4U had virtually no glare (probably due to design of
screen). SD was good on both sets. Black level was very good on Aquos with no
blurring noticed on fast motion. The Aquos has a black besel that seems to draw
you into the scene. I liked the layout of the Aquos and the fact that it comes
with a separate AVC box for all connections. So only a couple of cables to back
of display are needed. The Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY has its connections on back and
if you want to add more you need to add an input box of some sort. Sharp Aquos
LC-37G4U has great sounding speakers and they are detachable if you are tight on
space. I could see that I was leaning towards the Sharp. I am also intrigued by
the LCD technology. I have an LCD projector. A lot of what you hear about poor
black levels and motion blur with LCDs has been taken care of with the Aquos.

Then I checked around the internet and AVS Forums. Found that the Panasonic
TH-42PHD7UY has a problem with SD material on s-video. It will probably get fixed
but is causing consternation to some who have it.

As you may have guessed, I now own a Sharp Aquos LC-37G4U and just love it. I sit
about 6 to 7 feet away and the screen does not have any glare from windows or
lights. I'm very impressed with the smooth texture of screen . It is more than
bright enough and I actually have it turned down at night as it is too bright. HD
is, of course, great, but SD and DVDs are also better than my old Sony Wega.
Remember that this is a biased opinion. Suggest that you go to a "good" store and
see for yourself....

George

>

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Somewhere around 24 Jan 2005 05:04:32 -0800, while reading alt.tv.tech.hdtv,
I think I thought I saw this post from trader4@optonline.net:

>"A lot of what you hear about poor
>black levels and motion blur with LCDs has been taken care of with the
>Aquos."
>
>Does Sharp claim this, or is this just your opinion? These two
>problems would appear to be inherent with all LCD displays. Both are
>caused by LCD displays relying on moving crystals suspended in liquid
>to either block or allow light to be transmitted. You can't move the
>crystals real fast, which causes the motion blur and you can't get them
>all perfectly aligned to block all light transmission, which creates
>the black level issue. If Sharp has done something to really improve
>this, I'd like to know what it is.

If you want to know about current state of the art for LCD regarding motion
blur, just check out the gaming sites. LCDs are increasingly becoming
accepted by gamers, who demand much better response than most, if not all,
other applications. If you aren't familiar with what's going on in the
gaming world, you might not believe it, but they are pushing the technology
much harder than normal computers or video. Modern video cards have more
technology than the computers by far.

Also, I've read that in a fairly light room, LCDs actually have a higher
contrast ratio than plasma, although this may be hype from the LCD makers.
I have no way to measure it, so I don't really know. But I think they look
good (the ones I've seen); they were just too expensive for me.

--
Marty - mjf at leftcoast-usa.com
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...
well, I have others." - Groucho Marx

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

> However, LCD TVs still have higher black levels and that remains their
> biggest weakness for watching TV and movies - along with the high price
> tag per diagonal inch for big screens. They are improving, but still
> trail CRTs or the Panasonic plasmas for true contrast ratios. The next
> 2-3 years will be interesting to watch to see how the competition in
> technology and price between LCD, plasma, and SED (starting in 2006)
> shakes out.

I don't know about the American panels, but the UK's new titanium range
LC**GD1E has switching times of 16ms on the 32 and 37" (1366x768), and 14ms
on the 45" (1920x1080). The light filter absorbs 98.5% of available light
and looks great even directly under fluorescent and tungsten lighting in the
showroom. Blacks are superb next to a Pioneer PDP435. The only issue I saw
was the lesser contrast when placed by the plasma, but then if you consider
the flaws of something like the pioneer, the Sharp is certainly a good buy.
Showing HD motor racing on the 45" there were no motion issues