I was reading a thread about this subject and wanted to know if some had the opinion that if HDTV wasn't a real priority for now would buying a LCD type DLP be better since most of the programming I have is SD? I want the ability to upgrade to HDTV later when it becomes more prevelant in the shows being offered. I plan on buying with the HD built-in so I won't have a problem later. Everybody has a different opinion on what they like. Whenever I have walked into Costco my eyes always go to a Sony Wega LCD that has colors far better than any of the Plasmas. The thread posters indicated people would be very disappointed in the SD on a Plasma but the quality would be very good on SD. Is this true? I am planning on buying the TV in the spring but probably won't upgrade my Dish reciever until sometime late next year. I am not in a hurry for a new reciever, it seems everybody has problems with one reciever or another and I would rather wait for all the bugs to be worked out. My eyesite has gotten a little worse and watching on even a 32" CRT is a bit tuff. Just curious. Thanks
DLP vs Plasma
- Thread starter shodobe
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 9
- Views 4K
- Status
Sounds like your eyes are what you should follow and go with the sony lcd wich in my opinion is a great tv.
i would go lcd rptv or dlp, new dlps will start coming out in the next few months i like the samsung and mitsu dlps myself
We had a fellow come in the store asking about microdisplays. He came back later and mentioned a friend of his in Vail had a Mitsubishi and a Samsung DLP and a larger (70") JVC DILA (LCOS). He liked it much better than either DLP. Even though the JVC had a larger to much larger image, he liked both SD and HD better on the JVC.
Don't trust what you see in the store. By setting the color, brightness, and contrast different ways you can make any tv look better than another. I have a couple of people I know that have amitted to use this trick to sell certain tv's.
I always go in and check the settings on the tv and even make changes to what I think it should be on any tv I'm looking at. That way you can make a good choice on which truely looks better to you.
I always go in and check the settings on the tv and even make changes to what I think it should be on any tv I'm looking at. That way you can make a good choice on which truely looks better to you.
The other major difference between the plasmas and the LCDs/DLPs is the expected life span. The plamas are predicted to only have a 7 to 10 year lifespan due to burn-in...
LIFESPAN
DLP manufacturers list the backlight bulb hours at around 80,000 hours. What's more, this bulb can be replaced for as little as $200 in some cases. Certain DLP TV displays require a technician to change their bulbs, and this will cost you more than the lamp itself. In other cases, though, the DLP is configured in a way that makes it easy for a layperson to replace burned-out bulbs. It all depends on the make and model of your DLP.
And, since DLP is a mirror and light technology, once the bulb is replaced, the DLP should perform as well as it did when it was brand new.
Plasma, by contrast, uses a small electric pulse for each pixel to excite the rare natural gases argon, neon, and xenon (a k a "phosphors") to produce the color information and light. As electrons excite the phosphors, oxygen atoms dissipate. These rare gases actually have a life and fade over time. Manufacturers of plasma have estimated the life of these phosphors to be about 60,000 hours. The life of the plasma display itself is usually determined by half-life of the phosphors. So at 30,000 hours the phosphors will be at their half-life, and the viewer will be seeing an image that has half the brightness capability that it did when originally purchased. This should be a good point at which to consider its life over. The gases in plasma TVs cannot be replaced. There is no phenomenon of "pumping" new gases into a plasma display.
See these links for more reading:
http://www.plasma.com/classroom/LCD_tv%20_versus_plasma_tv.htm
http://www.dlptvreview.com/
LIFESPAN
DLP manufacturers list the backlight bulb hours at around 80,000 hours. What's more, this bulb can be replaced for as little as $200 in some cases. Certain DLP TV displays require a technician to change their bulbs, and this will cost you more than the lamp itself. In other cases, though, the DLP is configured in a way that makes it easy for a layperson to replace burned-out bulbs. It all depends on the make and model of your DLP.
And, since DLP is a mirror and light technology, once the bulb is replaced, the DLP should perform as well as it did when it was brand new.
Plasma, by contrast, uses a small electric pulse for each pixel to excite the rare natural gases argon, neon, and xenon (a k a "phosphors") to produce the color information and light. As electrons excite the phosphors, oxygen atoms dissipate. These rare gases actually have a life and fade over time. Manufacturers of plasma have estimated the life of these phosphors to be about 60,000 hours. The life of the plasma display itself is usually determined by half-life of the phosphors. So at 30,000 hours the phosphors will be at their half-life, and the viewer will be seeing an image that has half the brightness capability that it did when originally purchased. This should be a good point at which to consider its life over. The gases in plasma TVs cannot be replaced. There is no phenomenon of "pumping" new gases into a plasma display.
See these links for more reading:
http://www.plasma.com/classroom/LCD_tv%20_versus_plasma_tv.htm
http://www.dlptvreview.com/
You might also want to check out http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe/images/portal/cit_3424/273087528Pioneer%20DTV%20White%20Paper%20-%20FINAL.pdf
Yes, it was testing done at Pioneers request but it does address some of the points mentioned in the above post. Also, usually lifespans are measured in hours of viewing not years since it all depends on how much the set is actually turned on. Hell, what are you worried about with a 7 to 10 year life span, we're geeks here and will be replacing out sets with the latest wiz band model long before then.
Yes, it was testing done at Pioneers request but it does address some of the points mentioned in the above post. Also, usually lifespans are measured in hours of viewing not years since it all depends on how much the set is actually turned on. Hell, what are you worried about with a 7 to 10 year life span, we're geeks here and will be replacing out sets with the latest wiz band model long before then.
Before anyone poopoos plasma, you might want toread this white paper. It is listed at the bottom of this short article, is on Pioneer's web site, but was done by an independent firm (IDC) and lists the methodology with which the results were taken. One important note hear is that often tvs are tested by the tester requesting a set from the manufacturer for testing, which in itself can skew the tests. (my first choice isn't plasma, but not for any of the reasons i've seen and DLP would be my last choice)
http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/hd_tech/20050817/Plasma-burn-in-20050817/
http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/hd_tech/20050817/Plasma-burn-in-20050817/
I helped another tech install a dish system with a 942 dvr the other day, customer brought home a 60 inch dlp sony ( talk about a monster ) and when we hooked it up the sd quality was horrible but hd was great. This was a floor model and he was bothered by how sd pq looked, Im not sure why it was so bad but it was and it being a floor model didnt leave me confident in how it had been treated at the store.
Now lets take a sony lcd tv I saw, I believe it was a 38 - 42 inch or close to that, bestbuy had this on sale over labour day down from $1995. In the store the sd pq looked very good, hd looked great, looking at other tv's along the same sized and type some looked close and others looked like crap. Sure you can adjust the settings to improve on what you see, thats why there are settings and adjusting the settings isnt a sales gimmik, its presenting your product to the best of its potential and if thats wrong then we're all going to hell.
Shop and compare, hd tv's arent cheap for most of us.
Now lets take a sony lcd tv I saw, I believe it was a 38 - 42 inch or close to that, bestbuy had this on sale over labour day down from $1995. In the store the sd pq looked very good, hd looked great, looking at other tv's along the same sized and type some looked close and others looked like crap. Sure you can adjust the settings to improve on what you see, thats why there are settings and adjusting the settings isnt a sales gimmik, its presenting your product to the best of its potential and if thats wrong then we're all going to hell.
Shop and compare, hd tv's arent cheap for most of us.
- Status
