Flat widescreen televisions

[Fillz]

What is the difference between plasma screens and LCD screens and which gives a better quality picture? I don't know which to buy :-(

[khana]

The major difference always used to be size. Its only recently that LCD tv's have gotten bigger then 32 inches at an affordable price.
Plasma tv's tend to be cheaper but they are often heavier, have a shorter screen life, can suffer with screen burn, have to be kept upright. LCD tv's in my opinion offer a much better picture and as they are now becoming more mass market the prices are dropping fast.
Not all Plasma tv's suffer with the problems I mentioned and the top end ones can give an excellent picture, just beware the cheaper ones.
On a side note, if you are looking to buy a new tv, then try and ensure its Hi-Def ready (will have the sticker on it), you may not need it right now, but for most people a tv is expensive enough so make it as future proof as possible.

[Mattk]

i would say that hi-def is a must-have.

bear in mind that at this point in time crt tv's still have a better picture and are cheaper.they are not as cool as plasma or lcd though of course !

[Jay70]

I personally don't rate the picture quality of LCD TV's and have nown lots of plasma screens to have had a very short life. My 25yr old Mitsubishi Black Diamond CRT would still put them to shame.

[jake-the-peg]

Have a look at this http://www.homecinemachoice.com

they have a lot of their reviews and articles free on line.

this article specifically compares plasma and LCD

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/showarticle.php?articleid=917

Personally I have LCD that seems to be the way things are going but I don't think plasma's dead by a long shot

[Dreddnaught]

Modern plasma's give you around a 50,000 hours lifespan, which if you ran them 24 hours a day would take 5 and a half years before the gas became unusable. And khana is right about keeping them upright, after you switch a plasma on for the first time, it must always be kept upright.

The main advantage plasmas have over LCD is screen size, but that will change in the next few years.

It's also worth noting what other uses you'll find for your telly, such as videogame consoles.

Plasma screen teevee's suffer from screen burn, so static images from videogame HUD's can, over time, burn into the screen. It would take a while, but it will happen.

LCD screens however do not suffer from screen burn, so are safe for videogame usage. Also, if you do plan on using games consoles with it, try and get a teevee with a refresh rate of no more than 9 milliseconds, as anything above that can result in a ghosting effect.

LCD screens apparently also have a better viewing angle and quality.

So I suppose really, the best kind of teevee to get is a Hi-Def ready LCD teevee, but if you don't want to pay through the nose, give it a year or 2.

[Fillz]

A big thanks to all you guys, I'll be giving some serious thought on an LCD TV after that. lol - Dreddnaught, I'll be saving my pennies and seeing whats going in the January sales.

[Eddiecurrent]

I used to design TVs and I for one wouldn't buy a Plasma or LCD TV CRTs have got far better clarity and they last a darn sight longer. Plasma is expensive and has a short life and LCD looks fussy and the colours can often go awry!