Toshiba plasma vs. Sony LCD

gwsolace

I am in the market for an flat panel. I've been to the stores, and they always set up their TVs too hot/saturated- hard to tell what I'm getting. Well, I like what I see with Toshiba 42HP66 (42" plasma) and the Sony KDL-40S2000 (40" LCD). The plasma colors and contrasts seem more vibrant but I've heard of plasma loosing their quality after half their expected life (told by salesman). Any suggestions or experience with Tosh plasma vs. Sony LCDs. Thanks

okiepolkie

Either one will provide you with a good picture for several years. There are a lot of myths about both technologies. At this point, MOST plasma televisions will last as long as a conventional televisonAre you open to one other

The Sony is a very nice televsion, but it also has a price to show it.
I'm not as familiar with that particular Toshiba, so I won't offer any unreliable advice.

If you are only looking at the Tohsiba and Sony, disregard the following information.

If you are open to a suggestion for a television in the same price range? If so, take a look at the Panasonic TH42PX60U.

Availability is somewhat of an issue, but most big box stores have them and they can be found at good prices on-line. Onecall has them for right at $2300 after shipping. Also, if you order it from Panasonic directly, and become a new member of their "club," you get 10% off + free shipping. I believe the total should be around $2250 or so.

I know all of this because I ordered one for a client on Tuesday. I couldn't get it from any of my distributors, so I had to buy it retail.

Fireman32

I would have to suggest an LCD TV. The picure quality is great and you will get a longer life out of it compared to a plasma. Plus the LCD is probably half the weight of the plasma and cheaper

faster100

I hear side viewing on Lcd's are as good as plasma.. and arent lcd's limited in size... I read a whole article on the plus and minus' of both... The plasma seemed best for most situations... IMO

Demiurge

LCD, hands down.

Kris Siegel

Plasmas can give you the best video quality out of any type of television (CRTs are just about on par with colors and quality of a Plasma). The salesman was refering to how long the Plasma will last. Plasmas usually range from 40,000 to 60,000 hours until half life (meaning the brightness and quality will be about half from the day you buy it). That's not too bad so they last a very long time.

Remember, you cannot refill plasma TVs. I used to work at Circuit City and heard Salesman, customers and even heard Best Buy salesmen say you can refill them. This is a myth and it's not something covered by their protection plans as well.

faster100 wrote:

I hear side viewing on Lcd's are as good as plasma.. and arent lcd's limited in size... I read a whole article on the plus and minus' of both... The plasma seemed best for most situations... IMO

I believe you can make an LCD at almost any size, it's just they arn't practical after 41" or so.

Also, Plasma can be seen at any angle where as LCD screens will "fade" as you look at them from the left or right.

As for which one you should get, that's tough to say. The LCD will last longer but the Plasma will give you better colors and a largeer viewing angle. Our last Sony LCD TV has been having quite a lot of problems so I've been trying to steer away from some Sony TVs but I could have happened to get a bad one so it's tough to say which one you should get.

Weight the positives and negatives of each and you should be able to figure out which one you want.

faster100

Right along the lines of what i was thinking/read.. only better put. If i can't watch it from all angles.. Its worthless to me.. I see LCD better suited for bedroom, kitchen or what not where you will be watching straight forward. with new TV's coming out, better and better im doing good if i get 5-6 years from a main tv anyways.. I would go plasma, BUt it depends on what matters more. and life span..

fireshoes

Life span is similar between the two. LCD viewing angles and black levels continue to improve, with a small advantage to plasma at this point. There tends to be less space between the pixels on LCD's, so they do sometimes look clearer. Plasmas can react to motion slightly faster. Plasmas have a little bit of glare because of the glass front. LCD's are lighter and more energy efficient. Plasma can have image retention. It is very close between the two. I used to be solidly in favor of plasma, but the new generation of LCD's are much better than previously. One of my faves right now is the Samsung 46" LCD. Sony has one too, but I haven't got a chance to see it yet since I've been gone from work for awhile.

gwsolace

I like plasma color rendition (more vibrant, IMHO), plus an 42" 720p plasma is considerably cheaper than an 40" 720p LCD. Aren't Sony and Samsung manufacturing LCDs together? In terms of plasmas. I am considering the Toshiba 42HP66 (good value and still very nice picture), Samsung HP-S4253 (love the glossy black finish and stand, the picture contrast is awesome), the Panasonic TH42PX60U (great reviews but in person, didn't seem that great, plus silver finish decreases contrasts). Any suggestions on quality/durability between these brands?

wodom1

Have you looked into DLP? My Dad bought a 50" Samsung DLP last year for $2100 or so and it looks phenominal.

gwsolace

I have looked at rear projection- LCD, DLP, and SXRD. I like Sony's SXRD the best and DLP an close second. I however like the viewing angles of flat panels- clear at nearly any angle as opposed to rear projection. I will consider rear pro- they are cheaper, alittle larger, and some are now 1080p. Any suggestions- it so hard to buy an TV now, I use to buy only Sony CRTs, now its endless possibilities.

okiepolkie

Sony SXRD, or Tube if you can live with a smaller picture:)

mantis

Stay away from the Toshiba Plasma. First off the pickture is horrible, it also has sticky button problems.
The Sony is rock solid and has a very good picture quality.
But the suggested Panasonic is the very best bang for the buck. I perfer them over all other plasma except the Pioneer Elites but they cost alot more.

Dan

Lsi9

For the best of both worlds and better PQ than both get a Sony SXRd like my 50" continually amazing picture

.Jon

go projector ecsefgvbdtfbn

bert26

I have a 60 inch Sony SXRD that I am very happy with.

The Mediocre:
Regular cable channels are just as bad as they ever were (source issue - not TV).
Flesh tones are a bit hot and need some tweaking.
There is no direct access to the various video sources - you have to cycle through potentially several to get to the one you need.
Speakers are not removable and add 10 - 12 inches to overall width
3 view modes (Full, Zoom, Wide Zoom). My old Tosh had 2 more options to fine tune 4:3 broadcasts

The Fantastic:
2 HDMI inputs
1 PC input
HD channels are more clear than the last 2 movies I went to (MI III and X-Men)
Upconverted DVDs look awesome as well.
No fan noise to speak of.
Decent menus to tweak just about everything.
High WAF.

Biggest drawback: $$$$$ :eek:

Would I do it again - in a heartbeat.

Chris

SKsolutions

+1 on the Panny, but go with the Pro line. Sweet black picture frame, bullet proof panel driver and the latest generation screen vs comsumer models. They are less money since there is no unecessary demodulator/tuner and you can ugrade them but loading a new interface (next gen connection) board into the empty slot in the **** of it. Sexy as hell too. PQ is even with the Pioneer for half the cash.

cheddar

Just a thought, but the latest sony and sharp lcds will do 1080p input. You might want to future proof yourself a little, especially if you're going to get an HD player at some point. The resolution you should get also depends on your room setup and viewing distance. For large screen viewing, I don't think anyone really sits close enough to the sets or off angle enough for viewing lcds at off angle to be a problem, but sitting too far back or too close will affect which resolution you should get.

Here's an article on viewing distance and resolution:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=5&article_id=1137&page_number=1

cheddar

Also, although there is a price difference between plasmas and lcds now, as more state of the art production facilities come online and economies of scale kick in, the lcds will close the gap. They are already selling 65" lcds. Look at this monster :eek::

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-S7t7nc85Vy9/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?search=65%22+lcd&i=28465D90U

LSIKING

Hey, I do sell these things, and bottom line, LCD sucks, you see it time and time again with pixalization (just watch the tiny squares follow a hand when it waves on an LCD tv)...as far as Plasma goes, the toshiba is a good buy for the money......the panasonic is a great tv for blacks, but when its reviewed its only reviewed compared to 4-5 other tvs, not the lot of them. If you make space for a none wall hanger, Sony SXRD, or better yet, wait for thier new model to come out in August. If a wall hanger is a must go Plasma. If you need one now go with LG's top line or a Pioneer. If you can wait a few more months, Pioneer is bringing out thier 1080p plasma which would be the best bet.

PhantomOG

I'm torn... I love the wide viewing angle of plasmas, but strongly prefer to watch SD programming in true 4:3 format, not stretched, and worry about burn-in with plasmas. With SXRD, burn-in is a non-issue right? I wonder if the viewing angle of the new SXRD's will be improved.

I'm not buying until the fall so maybe technologies will be closer by then.