LCD, LCOS, Plasma, HDTV...?

Hi all. Me being somewhat of an A/V luddite...

Can anyone give me the 411 on the different technologies - pluses vs minuses/ risks vs benefits, whether it's worth being HDTV ready...?

My simple mind thinks the following (I have no idea whether this is fact or urban myth)

1. Plasma is still best bet for picture quality, but is b*ggered if bust and is fragile?

2. LCD has certain issues regards viewing angle and cost as screen size increases, more recent contrast ratio's make it almost if not the equal of Plasma?

3. LCOS heard of it, dont know much about it other than it is supposed to give LCD a boost in the big screen stakes and should be less proone to issues during manufacter (therefore cheaper)...?

4. HDTV sounds like a goer, but there are some screens claiming to meet the standard but actually dont.

Also what/where are the most compelling deals as spotted by you, my esteemed forumites?

Gratitude in advance...
Greg

 

Greg, I've never seen a plasma live up to the hype yet - perhaps the HDTV ones will - it's not an image quality thing so much as a 'source first' issue - i.e. plasmas tend to be quite a bit bigger than regular TVs so the picture is blown up proportionately more, and you can see all the flaws much more clearly.

Personally (and I trust my eyes more than my ears these days ;-) ) I think the current generation LCDs are better at a given res than the plasmas, though the plasmas seem to be available in bigger sizes.

We're thinking about the new Sony 32" HDTV LCD - I have seen it and it is, of those that I've seen, by far the best LCD or Plasma at that size. It's called (wait while I check) the KDLS32A12 - what a terrible name, typical soulless Sony, but a great screen...

John

 

Hi John. I must admit whenever (on the very few occasions) I've had a look at a few screens the Plasma's I've seen dont really appear very compelling. TBH I'm not that fussed about a larger size, 32" would do me fine. I'll try and check out the Sony. I always enjoy their catchy product naming paradigm.
Cheers G

 

The main problem I've found with LCDs (and to a slightly lesser extent plasmas) is excessive edge sharpening.
This gives everything the stark look of early video systems, rather than the more believable warmth of image given by film.
But they've definitely got better. However, I went into Comet t'other day to buy a telly, and rather than spend £799 on a reasonably good LCD, I bought an end of line 28" 4:3 Ferguson stereo CRT one for £100. It had a much more true image than the LCDs did - plasmas not being in the equation wot with being so huge, no point with one of those when you can get a projector bigger and better than any plasma for less money..

 

I have a 42" Panasonic plasma, which I think is fantastic.

Now going round a friends or family to watch a movie or something is horrible, it all seems so small !

 

Mine's bigger than yours...
My projector is currently set to produce a 88" image...
It's always such a disappointment going round to someone's house with a mere plasma screen
And it only cost £1k inc screen!

 

Is it noisey (fan etc), do you need a dark room?

They all have pro's and cons.

Id like an organic LCD at 90" please. (but either it doesnt exist yet and/or I doubt I'll ever be able to afford it)

 

I will add that CRT at 32" and below (maybe even 36"?) has the best image.

Ive seen demos of HDTV on plaz/lcd and I think my humble Sony Wega Widescreen 50Hz screen in standard def is more natural and almost as sharp/vivid.

I'll miss the degauss if I get a panel screen.

 

Mine is in a south and west facing room, and can easily be viewed in daylight, though it becomes more "cinema" with curtains closed and minimal lighting. I only use it for movies and very occasional TV.
And the fan is noticeable, until you put the sound through the hifi. It's less noisy than your average computer fan..

 

BTW, Big plasmas are great for the Xbox, SRS racing etc !

 

Ok here goes...

1. Plasma is still best bet for picture quality, but is b*ggered if bust and is fragile?
- The best TV picture I've seen is from a DLP rear projection sets running full HDTV. For projectors, this is equalled by a CRT projector which will destroy any equivalent technology (not talking about your local cinema here). Plasma screens are of different qualities, early sets suffer from phospor burns which go yellow as they are (chuck it away). There are also numbers of pixel resolutions e.g. 800x600 on plasma, cheapers ones won't do HDTV.

2. LCD has certain issues regards viewing angle and cost as screen size increases, more recent contrast ratio's make it almost if not the equal of Plasma?
LCD can have some problems with ghosting, black levels on the lowerer contrast ratios (I own one and it's grey!). Colours are often boosted unnaturally to give a "better picture". Viewing angle didn't seem to be a problem for me.

3. LCOS heard of it, dont know much about it other than it is supposed to give LCD a boost in the big screen stakes and should be less proone to issues during manufacter (therefore cheaper)...?
Not sure.

4. HDTV sounds like a goer, but there are some screens claiming to meet the standard but actually dont.
Two standards or 760p or 1080i. Xbox 360 will do 1080i, (this is two sets of 540 lines one after another, 760p is 760 lines all at the same time). P (progressive is considered superior e.g. 1080p versus 1080i. Anyway not sure what sky is going to produce next year (hopefully you'll get the choice).

The best picture out of my LCD was achieved through my DVD player into a scalar (Focus CS1) which gave it the XVGA picture it was capable of.

If all else fails go with the suggestion to get an LCD projector, by no means perfect but far more impressive than "big" screens. Look for a Panasonic PT300AE \ 500 or 900 if you can afford it.

Without my Scalar the Loewe CRT television is far better than the LCD screen.

Current kit for comparison: Loewe 28" CRT widescreen. Acer 26" LCD widescreen. NEC 6PG XTRA CRT projector, Focus CS1 scalar.

Cheers, Tim