logiclee

Hers's a pic of my 50" Bravia.


Had a panasonic plasma and my dads had a pioneer and both suffered from screen burn on Sky logo's.

We are now both havppy with our Sony LCD's.

Cheers
Lee

NorthDave

Plasma all the way for me. LCD pictures seem to look flat and lifeless compared to plasma. I've even done comparisons side by side at trade shows (i.e. top sources driving them) and the plasmas win hands down.

I was quite chuffed at the last show as I was looking at a stand on the other side of the hall thinking what wonderfull pictures when I realised it was Panasonic demo'ing a bigger version of my plamsa!

I've yet to be blown away by an LCD but they are the future. All my customers want one until they see my plasma demo.

davegtt

LCD are only starting to sell more than plasmas because you can get a decent one fairly cheaply now, thats the only reason, the cheap plasma's are sh!te but a decent plasma will easily walk over an LCD for me. Like I said though, neither will phase the other out because new technology will kill them both.

speedking

Should be able to get one for about £500, see Richer Sounds. I've got the Sony KLVL23M1S. Two drawbacks, no brightness control, so if you like your colours a bit more muted then there is no way to adjust them , would be very happy for someone to prove me wrong on this one. There is a contrast control but only has three settings. The other thing is that the VESA mounting is at the bottom of the back of the screen, so when you mount it on a wall bracket it always falls forward to maximum tilt because all the weight is acting to rotate the set. I would make sure the mount is in the centre of the set to avoid this problem.

The Panasonic with Freeview should be OK for £500 as well, didn't see any bad reviews when I was researching at Christmas. Get yourself over to AVForums for their advice.

corradoboy

For those who mentioned it, the new technology which may ultimately displace plasma as the top-end screen choice is SED which I covered in a thread HERE. The technology works, and by all reports (and I mean ALL) it is astounding when compared to PDP & LCD but Toshiba are having problems getting the manufacturing costs down to a level where they can challenge the market. When they do, expect to pay maybe 10-20% more for a significantly better technology. These pics show just one of the limitations of PDP and LCD...





...the top pic shows all three screens displaying a clear black image. As you can see, LCD is hopeless at it, and plasma is not that much better. The bottom 2 pics clearly show the effect this has on a proper image.

With C/R of 100,000/1 and CRT refresh rates, along with true blacks and true 1080p HD they will set the benchmark when released. Getting back to plasma, Pioneer will soon launch the 1st true hi-def PDP HERE. All others up to now have been 768 pixels and have downscaled the image. If SED isn't gonna be here until late 2008 at the earliest, then this is the next best thing.

Sorry, nothing to add on the LCD front. I don't like them.

GC8

Lee; at 50" surely thats a three LCD rear projection television, rather than an LCD television?


Simon

Neil W

Another vote for Sony Bravia. I have the 40" V series LCD and the picture is awesome and will improve again when I get HD signal through it.

Other thing I noticed with it is there is no glare at all where my old CRT use to get reflections on it on bright days.

I would say the only downside is the audio but if you have separate surround its no problem.

logiclee

Yep that's correct mate, should have mentioned that.


LCD is never going to look as good as a decent plasma in store under all the intensive lighting. Most Plasma's are able to display a far more vibrant picture on display.
In a home environment I find a good LCD to be more cinematic and natural though.
Plasma is already on the way out with a number of main manufacturers, including Sony,Toshiba etc, pulling the plug on further development. I've viewed Sony's new SXRD (LCD based) sets and they are awesome with perfect black level.

Cheers
Lee

davegtt

As I said before, Plasma is not on the way out just because manufacturers like Toshiba and Sony have pulled out, theyve pulled out because they cant compete with the market leaders, they joined the Plasma making skills to late in the time line to even consider catching the market leaders.

logiclee

Dave,

There is no point in manufacturers developing Plasma futher than the existing plasma manufactures face lifting their current ranges.
The next generation technology blows plasma away, the SED and SXRD technologies will be cheaper to produce have far greater quality than plasma and none of plasma's draw backs.

Cheers
Lee

davegtt

Nooo, no point in developing current technology when loads of people are buying them for fun is there? Maybe when SED and SXRD are available on the market at reasonable costs them Plasmas might cease production but until that happens its always going to carry on being brought forward and sold....

Apart from the cost of plasmas and LCDs your point is saying CRT tv should have been phased out years ago.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Interesting. But I'd like to contest that picture. The above picture appears to exaggerate the example by having contrast and brightness setting set far far too high. As the first thing I do with any TV is set the contrast and brightness to the lowest acceptable level so that there is no grey washout on pure black signals.

Obviously how this effects the overall picture is still open to debate in terms of contrast ratio and luminousity. Which would make LCDs and Plasmas (as well as some CRTs) poorer in bright rooms if contrast and birghtness is set too low.

But that is where the old adaptive control come in: A simple LDR light sensor to automatically adjust the settings depeding on the room light levels. A technology that's been round for years as CRTs suffered the same problems

JackClark

<cough>Marketing Bull****<cough> I've never seen an LCD screen look that bad, not saying the new stuff's not better, I'm sure it is.

logiclee

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying Plasma and LCD will not be around and sold for years to come, especially in the UK where we get left behind. SXRD and SED blow you away at 1080P but we are only just getting 720P and 1080i in the UK.
We will have to wait and see how fast HD-DVD and Blu-Ray take off but as most of the UK thinks a picture from a £20 Asda DVD player is great then I'm not holding my breath.

Cheers
Lee

davegtt

we're getting 1080i in the UK? how'd you work that out? the US are only just getting that, we're still waiting for 720p to be released, albeit next month but we're still waiting.

logiclee

Yep and exactly whay you should never buy a TV from how it looks in-store.
Get a proper demo in naturaly lit room.

Cheers
Lee

logiclee

SkyHD is broadcast in 720P or 1080i.

The US is starting to get 1080P which is a again a massive step up.

Cheers
Lee

corradoboy

IIRC, those pics were taken by an independent reviewer at a show. In his estimation the PDP and LCD were well set up. It was taken with a 1s exposure set at 400ASA. What the pics can't show is the detail and refresh rates. He said that the grooves on the spinning record pic were easily visible on the SED, whereas the PDP and LCD blurred them massively.
As for Sony pulling out of plasma, they were never in it. Their panels are sourced elsewhere and badged Sony. As for Toshiba, they are the major player in the development of SED, making it easy to understand where their future flat panel development lies.

645

That's just complete rubbish I'm afraid Ben and the sort of thing you'd expect from some spotty teenage shop assistant in Comet! I suggest you substantiate your claims of "10x better". I have seen HD feeds on Plasma and LCD and I can assure you the decision is much harder than you suggest. I chose an HD plasma because fast movement is reproduced more accurately and without as much blurring/ghosting than on an LCD, although LCD's are miles better than they were a couple of years ago. I also found the LCD colour reproduction to "real/vivid" for my taste, preferring the more cinematic reproduction on a my plasma. All down to personal taste - you need to see before buying.

GC8

I was due one of those to replace my Sony LCD RP television; bit someone at the insurance company's supplier decided that what I actually needed was a £3,400 40" Bravia LCD instead! I did try to tell them, but they wouldnt have it!


Simon

InvisibleMan

where did you get those signs from & what are the film strips of, is it star wars? and dont you like looking through your window?

GC8

Neil; Ive got the KDLW40, so if you were wondering whether paying another £800 for better sound was worth it, then i can set your mind at rest, it wasnt! I havent really experimented with it because I use a seperate A/V amplifier for DVDs; but whilst its definately better it isnt fantastic...


Simon

InvisibleMan

and what are your thoughts on using your lounge or a dedicated A/V room. in reality do you go in there lots just to watch films / away from family?

We are looking at a house thats got a room great as a cinema, though in reality the missus will be having it as a dining room...

logiclee

Signs were bought from the Dolby and DTS web site. DTS sign worked out very expensive with postage and tax from the US.
The room has a window at each end so we can look out of the other one
Film strips are StarWars, one has a cell from each of the six films and the other is a Revenge of the Sith 3 cell picture.

My wife has spinal problems so going out to pubs and sitting in Cinema seats is a problem. My wife is into her films as much as me so we both enjoy the system.
It also becomes a social tool as well, at the weekends we often have friends round for a drink/meal/movie/popcorn etc.

It does get expensive and addictive though, I've spent over £20k on Home Cinema Hardware equipment over the last ten years or so. I daren't add up how much I've spent on Laser Discs and DVD's.

A dedicated room is secondary to having no neighbours IMO.

Cheers
Lee

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Okay..... Just thought someone on here maybe able to recommend one from personal experience..

kbsub

Well I have just taken delivery of the new Toshiba 32WLT66 , no DVD player yet (its on back order ) but the PQ through Sky + box is stunning ... far better than the 28 CRT Sony it replaced and 32inch is just a nice size for an average sized living room , glad I didnt get the 37 inch anyway.
But the best bit is the price , shop around and it can be had for £850.00 inc P&P , now thats a bargain

*forgot to add its gets 5 stars in What HiFi mag *

corradoboy

Anyone who places enough adverts with What HiFi! gets 5 stars

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Just as well I didn't take GC8's advice to go down to the local Newsagents to look it up then...

Thanks. That was the sort of advice I was looking for.

kbsub

What HiFi magazine May 2006 contains one full page advert for Toshiba



And my eyes gave the TV 5 stars , which is all that counts

GC8

My Sony wasnt advertised in What HiFi at all but it received 5stars. Some of the comments in this thread are unbelievably stupid.