guide to new HDTV

[cat843]

This is a pretty informative article.

http://www.howtogeek.com/99493/the-how-to-geek-guide-to-buying-an-hdtv/

Of interest is that movie buffs sometimes prefer plasma over LCD.

 

[SLCraig]

I've always been a plasma supporter, always will be.
Have never had a lick of trouble with either plasma I've owned, either.

 

[mmack66]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
I've always been a plasma supporter, always will be.
Have never had a lick of trouble with either plasma I've owned, either.


Yep. Plasma is good.

 

[WishIhadatruck]

I have a Panasonic plasma and we love it.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: cat843
This is a pretty informative article.

http://www.howtogeek.com/99493/the-how-to-geek-guide-to-buying-an-hdtv/

Of interest is that movie buffs sometimes prefer plasma over LCD.


that article is somewhat deceiving unless I missed it.

they also dont go into 720p vs 1080p highly compressed. etc.

I can also tell you even on a 32" tv at 10ft I can tell the difference between 720p and 480p.

Their cute chart is all fine and dandy but where do you find materials to play in 1440p etc.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: cat843
This is a pretty informative article.

http://www.howtogeek.com/99493/the-how-to-geek-guide-to-buying-an-hdtv/

Of interest is that movie buffs sometimes prefer plasma over LCD.


that article is somewhat deceiving unless I missed it.

they also dont go into 720p vs 1080p highly compressed. etc.

I can also tell you even on a 32" tv at 10ft I can tell the difference between 720p and 480p.

Their cute chart is all fine and dandy but where do you find materials to play in 1440p etc.


I just read the article and I think it provides some interesting information. No one source will give you everything. Consumer Reports is another good source.

I was in a theater last night and noticed on the movie something like "Sony Digital 4K", so at least movies are being shot in resolution that high. Give it a few years and we will have digital 4K on our cell phones.

One question I still have is whether 60 hz or 120 hz is valid for plasma?

 

[volk06]

For a dark basement, nothing beats a plasma tv!

 

[mmack66]

Originally Posted By: Donald

One question I still have is whether 60 hz or 120 hz is valid for plasma?


No. My LG plasma is marketed as 600 Hz refresh rate, and it is 3 years old.

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted By: mmack66
... My LG plasma is marketed as 600 Hz refresh rate, and it is 3 years old.

There is much confusion (again, deliberately fostered by TV manufacturers) about refresh rates. The 600 Hz advertised for plasma TVs is "subfields". A single frame on a modern plasma TV is made up of 10 individual pulses of varying lengths and intensities. Those 10 pulses together take a total of 1/60th of a second. 10 subfields/frame x 60 frames/second = 600 "Hz". There are still only 60 discrete frames being shown. There is no LCD equivalent to plasma subframes, as they work in a very different manner. The 600 Hz terminology was introduced to plasma marketing specifically to provide a counterpoint of sorts to the increasing Hz of LCDs.

When talking LCD, the 60, 120, 240, and I think even 480 in some cases are talking about the rate of the screen refresh, ie how many different frames are shown per second. Confusing it further, some manufacturers include the effect of a rapidly flashing backlight (so fast you can't see it but done to combat blur perception) in that Hz value. LCD TVs do this because 1) it's possible, 2) it allows for blur reduction techniques which are not necessary with plasmas due to their inherently low-blur characteristics, 3) it enables the motion smoothing "soap opera effect" which some people like.

The mid to high end plasmas do offer a proper 96 Hz mode, which is used to allow the display of 24 fps film content at the proper cadence (4 x 24 =96). LCDs do this at 120 hz (5 x 24 = 100).

jeff