HDTV: Plasma or LCD ??

As the technologies get better I think we will see an even finer line in the differences between the two technologies. For the reasons mentioned in the previous posts; mainly heavier weight, more moving parts (mainly fans cooling off the unit), predisposition to damage while moving or banging a plasma tv, etc., I am an LCD fan. This is also why laptops use LCD screens vs plasma.

1080P for screens 40" + :rockon:
 
Our goal is to get the price down to $1.00 per khw. The cost now is about $7 to $8 per khw. Over the past 3 years we have been in the process of purchasing companies in, mainly Europe, that have the best technology and we are in the early stages of combining them, easier said than done. We have also been taking them from Mom and Pop shops and assimalating them into the Borg. Very eye opening for them to see how a $10 billion a year company operates, blows their minds.

07 and 08 have been very good Solar years for us, our orders are 10 times what we expected, 09 looks great too. The problem is solar is a small part of our business at this point. Semiconductors is our lion share.

Here's the Company line, look in the Energy and Environment section. Semiconductor Nanomanufacturing Photovoltaic FPD Thin Films Fab Solutions
 
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nimzotech said:
As the technologies get better I think we will see an even finer line in the differences between the two technologies. For the reasons mentioned in the previous posts; mainly heavier weight, more moving parts (mainly fans cooling off the unit), predisposition to damage while moving or banging a plasma tv, etc., I am an LCD fan. This is also why laptops use LCD screens vs plasma.

1080P for screens 40\" + :rockon:
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I agree. I saw an 80 inch Sharp at BB today that was STUNNING! It was, well, Sharp. :rolleyes: The amazing part was is was only $4,999.00. I paid $3,200 for my 32 inch four years ago and Sharp is now on their third or fourth generation of Aquos.

I've heard that some LCDs are up to 108 inches now. Our equipment to make them is mind boggling. The chambers that grow the crystals are about 14 to 18 feet in height!
 
My friend just sent me this link yesterday. You guys should take a look if you're in the market, or thinking about it. A 73" Mitsubishi 1080P DLP with 1920x1080 resolution for $2000. 65" is only $1400 and has free shipping. Both include a 1 year IN HOME warrantee and the deal end TODAY. I would do it in a second if I wasn't saving for something else right now.

TigerDirect.com
 
Ozfazer6 said:
Hellgate, what does grow crystals mean ?
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Hey Oz, Let me see what I can find for you. Remember LCD is Liquid Crystal Display, so you have to grow the crystals in order to create the display. Here's a link with a video, kinda sucks, but the video shows how when electricity passes through the crystal light is emitted and in turn becomes what you see on the display. Read the links on the left of the page to see the various equipment that panels are built on, pretty cool stuff.

Applied Materials Inc. - Product
 
Cuba said:
My friend just sent me this link yesterday. You guys should take a look if you're in the market, or thinking about it. A 73\" Mitsubishi 1080P DLP with 1920x1080 resolution for $2000. 65\" is only $1400 and has free shipping. Both include a 1 year IN HOME warrantee and the deal end TODAY. I would do it in a second if I wasn't saving for something else right now.

TigerDirect.com
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Mitsubishi has different levels of the same product. I dont remember but they are like black diamond or something. You can only buy the lowest end models in the normal stores but if you go to a dealer you can get the higher end. The TVs will look identical when turned off but the picture quality will vary.


All that being said it looks like a decent deal NOW. But with the way the economy is going and the trechnology is going prices may face another drop in order to move the 'luxury tv purchase'.
 
My neighbor has bought from Tigerdirect and says they're great.

Well, I'm still shopping. Probably the only thing I decided for sure is that I want the 1080 resolution. MY wife works for Philips and could get a "great" deal on a 50 inch LCD set that has been refurbished. It only comes with a 90 day guarantee though. We bought Philips stuff about 9 years ago and everything broke so I decided to pass on the deal and keep shopping. They wanted $1020 which included shipping. That was sooooo tempting but..........
 
Steve F said:
My neighbor has bought from Tigerdirect and says they're great.

Well, I'm still shopping. Probably the only thing I decided for sure is that I want the 1080 resolution. MY wife works for Philips and could get a \"great\" deal on a 50 inch LCD set that has been refurbished. It only comes with a 90 day guarantee though. We bought Philips stuff about 9 years ago and everything broke so I decided to pass on the deal and keep shopping. They wanted $1020 which included shipping. That was sooooo tempting but..........
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You can spend like $150 more and get a brand new one at wal*mart. Unless it's a different one. I was looking at a 50" Phillips LCD at wal*mart.
 
VEGASRIDER said:
One thing, you have to get is a HDMI cable which will run about a $100 in order to receive High Def. The longer the cable, the more expensive it is. It's used to run the cable from the HD box to your HD set. You will also need one if you decide to hook up a High Def Blue Ray DVD Player.
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I don't know if anyone else has responded to this yet or not, but anyone that pays $100 for an HDMI cable is a fool.

My Cable Mart and others have better products than Monster that cost about 1/8th the price.

I've got a Samsung 42" plasma and like it very much. No issues with burn in, heat, electric bills or the like. Larger plasmas are usually cheaper and have better pictures (for now) than the LCD's.
 
Wow Lots of opinions here on what to buy.I figure I might as well throw in my
2 cents worth as I work on tv's.I prefer the lcd for several reasons.
Lcd does not have the glare/refection you get from plasma if you have a window
nearby.Lcd does not get screen burn(yes plasma does I'm quoting a price on the
screen now for a customer which burned a 4x3 picture in.).Screen burn is not covered
by warrenty as per panasonic manual.(set is 2 years old).Panasonic calls this screen
retention.An lcd is likely to last longer due to ageing of plasma tubes.
On the plasma side it does have a truer colour & darker blacks.It also generaly cost
less than same size LCD.
 
Technologically go for LCD but make sure the contrast is very high. Say over 25,000 to 1. If you want the best the Phillips Aurea. If you see it your jaw will drop. There is absolutely no comparison to others. Go down an electronics store and check it out. But if you want to wait a few of months OLED tv's will be available.

Here's a pic of the Phillips Aurea
 
Aggietaco said:
I don't know if anyone else has responded to this yet or not, but anyone that pays $100 for an HDMI cable is a fool.

My Cable Mart and others have better products than Monster that cost about 1/8th the price.

I've got a Samsung 42\" plasma and like it very much. No issues with burn in, heat, electric bills or the like. Larger plasmas are usually cheaper and have better pictures (for now) than the LCD's.
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Well, I don't really call myself a fool........but a freaking IDIOT! Well, I didn't know any better. That's what makes this forum so great, you can ask honest questions and get honest answers. Better yet, get great advice and save some money. At the time I didn't know any better.

On the bright side, I didn't pay a penny for my 46" Sony Bravia LCD, as I cashed in my Marriott Reward Points (750,000 pts ) and received the set for free, including delivery. I compared the exact same set by model # at Best Buy and they were going for $3000.
 
VEGASRIDER said:
On the bright side, I didn't pay a penny for my 46\" Sony Bravia LCD, as I cashed in my Marriott Reward Points (750,000 pts ) and received the set for free, including delivery. I compared the exact same set by model # at Best Buy and they were going for $3000.
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Kenny! Come on... what did those 750,000 points cost you? I paid $19,400 for 245,000 points! ;) :D

Cables... Monster is a scam! There's a test out there with so-called video experts. They (the testers) hooked up HD using Walmart cables, the cheapest they had, Monster cables and then used straightened COAT HANGERS with RCA ends on them (x5) for component connections.

7 out of 10 "experts" thought the coat hangers was the best sound and picture. Only one picked Monster.

I buy nothing but coat hangers now. ;)
 
I had the same dilema when I was looking for an HD tv and I finally got an LCD. Even though is not 1080P I'm pretty happy with it. I have a 32 inches Olevia which has an excelent picture at an affordable price.
 
I posted this before but higher end cables will only make a difference on long runs or an area with lots of electrical interference. On a six foot run you won't have that much signal loss... a 30 foot run is much different especially if you have to cross electrical wires.

Also...

If you find a great deal on a tv with too few hdmi ports you can get a hdmi switch or a receiver in order to increase the inputs (make sure the receiver will not downgrade the signal). Most people will eventually need 2 or 3... cable/sat, dvd, game.


Also... Also...
Many receivers are now moving to a 7.2 sound format which is still ahead of the majority of broadcasts and dvds. You can use the extra two channels you are not using to setup speakers in a different area of the house. I used mine for a pair of weatherproof speakers on my deck.
 
+1 for panasonic plasma. I've got a 42", which was as large as I could realistically go in my little apartment without making some sort of major rearrangement of the whole place...

From what little research I did, I decided to go with plasma because, as has been mentioned, lcd's have a hard time producing true black. I've been a hack photographer for many years and have an appreciation for true, deep black tones. There's no way that I could allow myself to "settle" for something that wasn't going to deliver the goods in that regard. And I'm a football (the real kind, played with the feet) fan so it mattered to me that action panning didn't produce trails or other artifacts.

A friend purchased a dlp unit at the same time I got my unit. His rationale for the choice was being able to replace the bulb if/when it burned out. Fair enough. He seems very happy with his purchase/choice. I understand that when my gives up the ghost it'll be an expensive, heavy piece of glass and circuit board. But in the two years I've had it, I couldn't be happier.

And definitely shop around for hdmi cables. I absolutely agree that you shouldn't pay through the nose for them. Monster, shmonster. I just googled for them and found a place here in the good ol' u.s. of a. that makes and sells them cheap.

And the plasma's really stunning with the xbox, too. Call of Duty 4 is freakin' awesome on it.

In the end I'd say that you'll probably be happy no matter which technology you choose. The old crt technology just doesn't really compare to any of the choices that've been discussed in this thread.
 
FZ6inNH said:
Kenny! Come on... what did those 750,000 points cost you? I paid $19,400 for 245,000 points! ;) :D
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Absolutley nothing. All my hotel bills and plane tickets were reimbursed or paid by the band, so it's not like I was paying my travel expenses out of my own pocket. I could accumulate hotel and airline points. At one point, I had over a million hotel points. I still have a enough for a buddy of mine and myself to go down to Rio De Janeiro for a week, stay at a 5 star with two rooms, and two roundtrip plane tickets in November.
 
I took the plunge. Contrary to my earlier post I bought a 720 res set. It's a Panasonic 50 inch PLasma. I got it for $999. at Costco. It's really great. I haven't viewed anything on it at 720 res yet but I will as soon as I order the HD satellite receiver. My old DVD player gives a great picture on it. Hard to imagine it much better but I'll be shopping for a Blue Ray or up-converting DVD player soon.

Thanks to everyone. This thread has been quite an education.
 
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