With the boxing day specials on this past weekend Kirk couldn’t help but take a trip to Best Buy to purchase a flatscreen television for the main floor.
The prices were good and also the NFL playoffs were starting so no time to waste!
Kirk found a 37 inch Samsung LCD television on for $1,199 including 12 months of an HD PVR box plus HD channels free from Rogers (a value of about $150). The 40 inch Samsung LCD was the same price but we just thought it was too big for the space (it had speakers on the side of the screen which made it even wider). After watching TV prices for about 6 months we found the price was right and went for it.
The LCD versus plasma question is always a difficult one to answer. At the end of the day the biggest contributing factors were two-fold: a. price and b. something Kirk found in his research i.e. that LCD is better when sunlight is a factor. Because the tv will be close to the french doors (and thus bright sunlight) we went with LCD which is supposed to be better when faced with sunlight on the screen.
Kirk also bought a mounting bracket to attach it to the wall. It was $109 plus tax. He opted not to go with one that tilted and moved to different angles because it would have stuck out too far from the wall.
Because our main floor is down to the studs we were able to have the electrician add a power outlet right at the level of the bracket thus hiding the power cord once the tv is mounted. All of the attachment cables will be hidden also.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Vaughan // Jan 19, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I would also go with LCD any time your purchasing a screen below 50″. Sofar ALL of the plasma screens that I have seen 50″ or smaller, has a resolution of 1024 x 768. This resolution does not work out to be a 16 : 9 (widescreen) ratio. In fact, 1024 x 768 is a resolution you will find in regular 4 : 3 screens… A true widescreen resolution would be 1366 x 768, or 1920 x 1080.
So how does that make any sense?? Well, on a plasma screen below 50″, the pixels are stretched to be rectangular, rather than square. This will only invite trouble with scaling artifacts, and other picture quality reductions on all the conversions that take place by the video processor. The goal of any home theatre is to present the movie the way it was intended to be seen.
Bottom Line: Look for an LCD screen with a true 16 : 9 resolution of 1366 x 768, or better yet 1920 x 1080. Best picture quality, no compliacted conversions, and pixels are square, the shape they are supposed to be!! Not retangular…
2 Anthony // Jan 19, 2008 at 10:40 pm
If your going to debate “Plasma vs Lcd” , why not look at some other factors, 1. Panel speed; love to watch sports Plasma WIns! 2. Colour accuracy , Plasma”s a winner , 3. ability to handle noise and non hdtv, Plasma a clearcut winner and finally 4. Value, why pay more for lcd? Plasma’s a winner again. Burn-in not really a factor with Plasma as most suggest. if Sunlight is a fatory look no further than Panasonic’s PX77 with matte screen finish built in, found only at your Local Future Shop. If picture quality is of upmost importance to you then Plasma is the way to go, if your looking for a computer screen then buy an lcd. Just my 2 cents.
3 Kirk // Jan 19, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Hey Anthony
Great summary. Thanks for adding to the debate.
When I buy a large tv for my media room I am definitely going to go with a plasma. I agree with your logic.
But for the money and for what we needed (a second tv for the main floor) I thought the Samsung LCD for $1199 was the best value.
Cheers. Kirk
4 T.S. // Jan 20, 2008 at 2:18 am
I noticed that Anthony mentioned all of the positive points of Plasma over LCD but not the negative. Other than “sunlight handling” LCD also has 2 major advantages over plasma.
Firstly, LCD does not have image burn in. This is important if you are a gamer or like watching CNN or other shows where there is a static portion to the image. If you will play games, stay away from Plasma.
Secondly, the gas contained within Plasma has a lifespan. The rating on Plasma tvs (such as 60,000 hours) represents the amount of hours of operation required to bring the gas to half life. Think about this: When the plasma tv is at half life, do you think it will be worth watching? Granted that 60,000 hours is a lot of tv watching, the plasma is deteriorating every hour it is used.
Also worth noting is that similarly sized LCD tvs are no longer much more expensive that Plasma tvs. Both are comparable in price.
T.S.
5 Harv // Jan 20, 2008 at 3:49 am
I have a Samsung 50″ plasma that is 2 1/2 years old now that is experencing red and blue flashing pixels!! Kinda takes away from the viewing quality. Forget about the 60,000 hrs of viewing, for 2 1/2 years that works out to only 21,900 hrs if it was on all the time.
This tv is on its way to recycling so I for one will be replacing it with a LCD.
6 Vaughan // Jan 20, 2008 at 5:31 am
With regards to Anthony’s concern on Plasmas panel speed, broadcast television, DVD’s, anything that will be displayed on your screen will be at 60 frames per second. 1 second divided by 60 frames equals 16.67 ms per frame. Even the most entry level of LCD or Plasma screens are well below that response time. A typical current LCD screen has a response time of 8 ms, and that is on economical models. A more expensive model may be as low as 5 ms.
When you are watching your sports games that tell you they are recorded with high speed cameras at 1000 frames per second, the only purpose for that level of sophistication is for slow motion instant replays. Those higher speed cameras give you a slo-mo replay that is smooth, rather than jerky.
With regards to colour accuracy and ability to handle noise, well I’m not really sure what you’re getting at. Would you please elaborate on that subject??
Plasma has 1 advantage over LCD, and that is contrast ratio. Blacker blacks, and whiter whites… LCD technology is getting better, closing the gap between it and Plasma. Choosing a screen below 50″, that small sacrifice in contrast ratio in exchange for a screen with proper pixel shape will prove far more beneficial for displaying a cleaner picture without introducing scaling artifacts that are inherent in Plasma screens.
In closing, for screens below 50″, there is no debate. LCD is your only viable option. For the larger screens, well, more things come into play. Product reliability, room lighting, personal preference, budget, can bring up another very lengthy discussion.
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