LCDs and Plasmas

[dobyblue]

Q4/07 was the highest units moved for plasma ever.
LCD's sell well because most consumers feel that "brighter is better" and LCD's look brighter in store. However to quote Gary Merson:

So why are consumers passing on better performing plasma TVs and spending more money (per inch screen size) for poorer performing large screen LCDs? Because they produce brighter pictures and consumers mistakenly believe “brighter is better.” However, unless one lives in a retail showroom or has set up an ultra-bright, high ambient light viewing environment that mimics a showroom, the HD Guru™ cannot understand why anyone would pay more to buy a top-rated LCD set when a less expensive top-rated plasma set will outperform it while still providing up to three times more light output than necessary in any typical home environment.

JTK - the -850 series aren't out yet, BT bought one from the -85 line which is an excellent set.

The 50" -800 is out, which supports 24fps reproduction at 2:2 pulldown, or 48Hz.

Plasma is still far ahead of LCD on motion resolution and black levels and is moving further ahead all the time. The average LCD set can resolve around 600/1080 lines of motion resolution. The current Panasonic plasma sets are all rated at OVER 900/1080 for motion.

Here are some good reads:

http://www.hometheatermag.com/lcds/208hdface/

These are the seven sets tested:

• Samsung HL-T6187S LED DLP RPTV
• Sharp LC-52D64U LCD HDTV
• JVC LT-47X898 LCD HDTV
• Mitsubishi WD-57833 DLP RPTV
• Sony KDS-60A3000 SXRD HDTV
• Panasonic TH-50PZ750 Plasma HDTV
• Pioneer PDP-5080HD Plasma HDTV

Now the Pioneer won this match-up, but it was both the Pioneer and Panasonic plasmas that were rated as being in a league of their own over the other sets. You can read all the opinions on the last page of the article. Here are some highlights:

But there was no doubt about it—plasma is king.
~David Birch-Jones

Deep blacks and a viewing angle that allows more than one viewer to watch are big sellers for me, which explains why I was drawn to both the Pioneer and the Panasonic. Go with either, and you'll be happy.
~John Higgins

I kept going back and forth between the two plasmas: Pioneer and Panasonic. I knew they both looked the most natural and pleasing to me, with excellent blacks as well. I couldn't decide which I preferred.
~Maureen Jensen

You can wait for the next generation of LCD's, but the -8 series from Panasonic will best them in just about all areas other than maximum brightness tested in lamberts. However, see again Gary Merson's comments.