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[Dusty]

I need a new telly, mine is on the way out. But I get conflicting advice about which is best.  LCD or Plasma?

My friend has just bought a 40" Sonia Bravia 1080 LCD. The colours are extremely vibrant and the still image is exceptionally sharp, but when you are watching any movement, football, athletics etc, all the pixels seem to drag across the screen leaving a trail behind them.

I find this really annoying.

Would plasma be any better, or would they benefit from a HD source. I was thinking of Freesat from BBC and ITV and also wondered if anyone had this already?

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks Dusty  

[kris9128]

tell him to check his settings. i got a sony bravia lcd and watching sport is excellent. no pixel drag at all. lcd also better for for connecting to laptop and using as a  monitor.

[Proz]

I would say plasma ... i made my chose after seeing each of them side by side .... to me the plasma was sharper and clearer  

[Marks DTM Calib]

Easy decision in the last 18 months as LCD has overtaken plasma on all fronts.

The the blurr you mention is likely to be down to either

1) The source (i.e. freeview and standard sat is not great quality)

2) A poor quality digital enhancement technique that cn be turne off.

Reality is now that LCD response time is close to most plasma sets with equal or better contrast ratios and much lower power.

Do get true HD and dont do like my neighbour (hes an acountant and knows no better!) and get fobbed off with a HD ready TV rather than a true 1080P

[Dusty]

I'll keep a running total that's so far 2-1 in favour of LCD

[Marks DTM Calib]

I would say plasma ... i made my chose after seeing each of them side by side .... to me the plasma was sharper and clearer  

Lol, give me a set of remotes for multiple TV's sat side by side and I could make which ever you wanted look best!

Marketing in the big stores!  

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I have yet to see an LCD set without significant pixel drag, which drives me crazy. But as someone has said already maybe they have moved on. But as it stands I would go for plasma

[Marks DTM Calib]

I have yet to see an LCD set without significant pixel drag, which drives me crazy. But as someone has said already maybe they have moved on. But as it stands I would go for plasma

LCD hs not suffered pixel drag for years....now the response time is 12ms+ on most sets its long gone.

In fact, your now less likely to see it on an LCD than a plasma

[kris9128]

lcd will win.  also go into local tv shop at about 4.30 and put your hand flat on the screen of an lcd then go and put it on a plasma. i did this and nearly yelped. plasma tv's get damned hot.

[LaserLance]

http://www.gadgetdetective.com/      try this website i listen to him on talksport on friday night on radio hes quite unbiased in his reports on tech gear

[kris9128]

might be worth a read before you make any decisions.
http://www.which.co.uk/advice/lcd-vs-plasma-tvs/index.jsp

[Marks DTM Calib]

lcd will win.  also go into local tv shop at about 4.30 and put your hand flat on the screen of an lcd then go and put it on a plasma. i did this and nearly yelped. plasma tv's get darned hot.

Plasma is an interesting technology as it is little more thn millions of CRT's.

The trouble is the drive electronics are VERY complex. Each pixel has to be pre-charged, struck, held and then discharged in order to excite the phosphor dot. This is very pwoer hungry.

LCD is less complex to operate and although some current is required to excite the LCD's, its considerably less and even more so with the modern small pixel sizes (a key thing that has increased response time).

Plasma fell behind about 18months to 2 years ago.

[Bandit127]

If you intend to use your TV as a computer monitor you will get much better quality with LCD.

If you don't care about that but you are passionate about home cinema, plasma may be better because black is (pretty much) absolutely black on plasma. On LCD, black is relative (i.e. a fully black picture still shows some light).

The reliability argument has pretty much dissapeared with recent improvements in plasma.

LCD uses about 30% less electricity IIRC.


Hope this helps.

[edit]Blimey - about 4 good posts beat me to it. MTF...[/edit]
 

[Marks DTM Calib]

If you don't care about that but you are passionate about home cinema, plasma may be better because black is (pretty much) absolutely black on plasma. On LCD, black is relative (i.e. a fully black picture still shows some light).

Yet again, this is very much not true on the current LCD technology. People have been suckered into thinking this and forget that phosphors glow for some period after excitation (turn a CRT off in a dark room and look at it glow for upto a minute after).

[Dusty]

Thanks for your all your help.

I'm now more confused than I was earlier.

I was hoping you were all going to say LCD or Plasma, but it seems to be falling somewhere in the middle.