LCD vs DLP vs Plasma

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

I don't mean to stir up a bee's nest, but I am sincerely interested in
current opinions of current technology of LCD vs. DLP vs. Plasma.

This interest hits home because I am about to make my first purchase of an
HDTV set.

To add more fuel to the fire, I would be interested in opinions about
brands. I am a long time Sony TV and monitor fan and have been highly
impressed with their HDTV's as seen in local stores. Still, I am interested
in hearing what others have to say about various brands.

I will be looking for something in the 50 inch screen size. HD, not ED. I
will be on cable with an HD DVR. I'll probably have a low profile antenna
as well that will see a small number of local off-airs from a nearby
mountaintop. This will be for back up mostly since I will use the cable
feed 99% of the time.

My cable operator has all the local stations in HD plus the usual array of
satellite HD channels. My viewing habits have me on local stations mostly
with some limited satellite channel viewing (IE HGTV, which of course is not
available in HD yet). Never-the-less, I am interested in comments about SD
viewing on an HDTV type set. Some brands I know are not good at producing a
quality SD picture. Also, I'm not a huge DVD viewer but do watch a movie
from that source a few times a year.

Let the comments begin. Thanks in advance... (please, no flaming among
commenters.)

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

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 22:40:11 -0700, "Sixeye" <1@1.com> wrote:

>I don't mean to stir up a bee's nest, but I am sincerely interested in
>current opinions of current technology of LCD vs. DLP vs. Plasma.
>

....yawn....

www.avsforum.com


It's been done already.

PS that's a singular on the forum

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

It all comes down to what you can live with. In my opinion, plasma had the
best picture than any of them, hands down. It's also cheaper than LCD in
terms of size comparison. But it has the burn in issues. This makes plasma a
bad choice if you like xbox, playstation, etc. Another thing, watch about
the white bars on plasma 4:3 mode, many burn in's there. It also has about
half the "life" of LCD, but that still puts it up to around 10-15 yrs or so
depending on how much you watch.

LCD's last about 60K hours, giving them about 20-25 years depending on how
much you watch. They aren't usually as crisp as plasma and they're more
expensive but they don't have any burn issues. In comparison to plasma,
you'll get a 37" LCD for the price of a 42" plasma, roughly.

DLP isn't a flat-panel as the majority of them are too big to hang (minus a
few RCAs). They don't have burn issues and are the cheapest because you can
get a 61" for less the price of a 42" plasma. To me, they lack the
brightness of LCD/Plasma and like any RPTV you have the viewing angle thing.
Some report rainbows and headaches....or so I've heard.

Again, it all comes down to what you're willing to live with.




"Sixeye" <1@1.com> wrote in message news:3Po5e.6845$Xs.2757@fed1read03...
>I don't mean to stir up a bee's nest, but I am sincerely interested in
>current opinions of current technology of LCD vs. DLP vs. Plasma.
>
> This interest hits home because I am about to make my first purchase of an
> HDTV set.
>
> To add more fuel to the fire, I would be interested in opinions about
> brands. I am a long time Sony TV and monitor fan and have been highly
> impressed with their HDTV's as seen in local stores. Still, I am
> interested in hearing what others have to say about various brands.
>
> I will be looking for something in the 50 inch screen size. HD, not ED.
> I will be on cable with an HD DVR. I'll probably have a low profile
> antenna as well that will see a small number of local off-airs from a
> nearby mountaintop. This will be for back up mostly since I will use the
> cable feed 99% of the time.
>
> My cable operator has all the local stations in HD plus the usual array of
> satellite HD channels. My viewing habits have me on local stations mostly
> with some limited satellite channel viewing (IE HGTV, which of course is
> not available in HD yet). Never-the-less, I am interested in comments
> about SD viewing on an HDTV type set. Some brands I know are not good at
> producing a quality SD picture. Also, I'm not a huge DVD viewer but do
> watch a movie from that source a few times a year.
>
> Let the comments begin. Thanks in advance... (please, no flaming among
> commenters.)
>
>
>

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

"Dave Gower" <davegow.removethis@magma.ca> wrote in message
news:SqKdnf1Sw7tccMrfRVn-jQ@magma.ca...
>
> "SlimJim" <someone@somewhere.org> wrote
>
>> you'll get a 37" LCD for the price of a 42" plasma, roughly.
>
> I'm pretty sure the original poster was referring to LCD rear projection,
> not direct view. There are no RPTVs under 42 inches that I've heard of.
> The cost of LCD RPTVs is roughly equivalent to DLPs of the same screen
> size. For example, both the 56 inch Samsung and the 55 inch Sony sell for
> around $3k in the U.S.

Thanks SlimJim and Dave. As one just now getting a little serious about
buying into HDTV, I appreciate your replies. The other folks that jumped on
me weren't of much help. I had Googled earlier as one suggested and found
mostly 3-4 year old information. I was hoping for more current info on the
newsgroup. Again thanks for your responses. It's helpful.

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

>
> My cable operator has all the local stations in HD plus the usual array of
> satellite HD channels. My viewing habits have me on local stations mostly
> with some limited satellite channel viewing (IE HGTV, which of course is
not
> available in HD yet). Never-the-less, I am interested in comments about
SD
> viewing on an HDTV type set. Some brands I know are not good at producing
a
> quality SD picture. Also, I'm not a huge DVD viewer but do watch a movie
> from that source a few times a year.
>
> Let the comments begin. Thanks in advance... (please, no flaming among
> commenters.)

I went thru this debate myself. TV buying and viewing has become complex
lately, and you have to decide what you want to do. I feel sorry for the
technolocially impaired. Here's what worked for me:

DLP 50" (mine is Samsung)
Hope you don't see rainbows - some may see them but no one I know has. Take
the gamble.
Don't pay too much attention to poor SD content picture IMHO (these sets are
optimized for HD and this will give you major heartburn) Pray for more HD
content. When your wife is watching SD tv and says the picture looks worse
that your last tv that's 15 years old, just tell her it's sunspots or solar
radiation - it's not worth a longer explanation.

I like my tv. Light, good viewing angles, breathtaking HD picture. One
needs good protection plan that covers bulb IMHO

Watching TV on my home theater is a technological feat (many remotes,
options, dvd menus etc) I could buy one of those $1000 do it all remotes -
but I guess that would spoil the fun (plus the expense!). Good luck!

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

Fred Bloggs wrote:
>>Watching TV on my home theater is a technological feat (many remotes,
>>options, dvd menus etc) I could buy one of those $1000 do it all
>>remotes -
>>but I guess that would spoil the fun (plus the expense!). Good luck!
>>
>
> Check out Harmony remotes, for under $200 you will solve your problems.
> Since I got the Harmony last summer, I have put all of the individual
> remotes in a big Ziploc and they are in the back of the drawer and stay
> there for 99% of the time.

The same is true of my One For All remote, and it only cost $35.

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

Fred Bloggs wrote:
> "Jim Gilliland" <usemylastname@cheerful.com> wrote in message
> news:425abb08$0$28761$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
>
>>Fred Bloggs wrote:
>>
>>>Check out Harmony remotes, for under $200 you will solve your problems.
>>>Since I got the Harmony last summer, I have put all of the individual
>>>remotes in a big Ziploc and they are in the back of the drawer and stay
>>>there for 99% of the time.
>>
>>The same is true of my One For All remote, and it only cost $35.
>
> This is sort of true, but the Harmony is a lot more than the One For All. It
> is a bit like trying to explain why TiVo is better than VCR, buy one and
> there is no going back!

I'm sure that's true. If nothing else, the mechanisms for programming
the One For All are quite a bit more arcane than for the Harmony. Still,
it's amazing how flexible these devices are once start sending code sets
to them from your computer.

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

Jeff Rife wrote:
> Jim Gilliland (usemylastname@cheerful.com) wrote in alt.tv.tech.hdtv:
>
>>>This is sort of true, but the Harmony is a lot more than the One For All. It
>>>is a bit like trying to explain why TiVo is better than VCR, buy one and
>>>there is no going back!
>>
>>I'm sure that's true. If nothing else, the mechanisms for programming
>>the One For All are quite a bit more arcane than for the Harmony. Still,
>>it's amazing how flexible these devices are once start sending code sets
>>to them from your computer.
>
>
> The Harmony has the concept of "press this button and you are ready to
> watch a DVD", even if that has to switch the TV to a different input,
> change your external video switcher to a different input, switch your
> A/V receiver, and power up the DVD player.

I programmed my Sony RM-2000(?) to do three major functions:

1) go from all powered off to watching DirecTV via S-video input, with
the audio coming from my receiver. The same button reverses the
proceedure and shuts everything off.

B) switch from state 1 to power on the DVD, switch the TV to component
input and switch the audio ta a input on my receiver.

III) go from state B to state 1.

That covers far more than 95% of our viewing.

> It's tough to do this with remotes when they don't have the right buttons
> available...you end up with either a mis-labeled button or no ability
> to do it in one press.
>

I did the above by taking over one memory and programming codes for
various devices onto the available buttons. Then I used the available
macro keys to hold long sequences of button presses of this new "device".

--
Matthew

I'm a contractor. If you want an opinion, I'll sell you one.
Which one do you want?