Any Bravia owners here?

[divine]

I do but I rarely remember who was writing them

Maybe if he uses it for his PS3 and never anything else. Like I said, retention is better than it was even as recently as 18 months back and for pretty much any usage now will beat an LCD for image quality and ease of use (for example HTPCs used to be a pain as plasma res was 1024x768 but with rectangular pixels so it was a pain display a PC output well). If he watches TV, thinks he might pick up the odd bluray etc. i'd definitely be wanting the plasma.

[leowyatt]

haha you goldfish

I can't fault out Plasma and bought it because we watch lots of films and a fair amount of TV so picture quality was paramount. I have to say being sensible with your plasma there is no real reason not to get one. I might sound like I'm contradicting myself here but I think for his usage which an LCD is a good idea especially as he won't have the 1024x768 res. I've got our HTPC connected to our plasma and everything looks great, watched a 720p copy of IronMan and it looked awesome.

[phykell]

Originally Posted by divine

On what basis?

If you look at Plasmas, Pioneer and Panasonic are the brands to go with, they're head and shoulders above anyone else at the moment.

Here is my somewhat stylised 'artists impression' of the difference between LCD and Plasma. Obviously, it has to be stylised as chances are most people will be looking at it through an LCD anyway

Surely if the difference was anything like that obvious, there wouldn't even be a market for LCD!

Incidentally, I'm looking at the Sony KDL46W4500 as being the best candidate so far. I've only seen one in a shop so far but as ever, it probably wasn't set up correctly. Even so, it was the best out of the range that they had (actually, the 40" version was the best).

[leowyatt]

It's all down to preference though as you'll have doubt seen from the avforums. Almost every thing is carefully monitored so it doesn't descend into a plasma vs lcd debate. Some say that for gaming nothing can touch LCD for quality and colours, others say nothing can touch Plasma for natural picture quality. At the end of the day it comes down to what you want and what you like. If you like the Sony LCDs then good luck to you

Once you get it have a look for the best settings in the owners thread. Infact try hdtvtest.org for a review and their settings tend to be the best.

[divine]

It's not quite that obvious but i've exaggerated the difference a little to make the point.

But it is an inherent flaw in the technology, being backlit.

If you like, think of LCD like a series of windows and Plasma as a series of lights.

To make a red pixel on LCD, you open the 'curtain' over the red glass, with a bright white light behind it, so you see red. On a plasma, you turn on the red light. To make a white pixel on LCD, you open all the curtains and they blend into white, with Plasma you turn on all the lights and they blend to white. To make a black pixel on LCD, you close all the curtains but the bright white light is still on, with Plasma, you just have all the lights off.

When you think of it like this, a black curtain with a bright white light behind it will never be as dark or black as something with no light at all.

What this amounts to is poor rendition of darker colours and blacks because past a certain point the panel physically cant make the display appear any darker because there is a huge bright backlight that can't be turned off.

I'm personally of the opinion that if you're likely to ever use it for watching TV or Films, then a Plasma is the only way to go. I think films can verge on unwatchable on LCD as the picture quality just isn't up to it.

[Mark]

Even that's not as clearcut as it suggests because, to continue the analogy, some LCD panels have better 'curtains' than others, and some Plasmas don't do so well at turning the lights off (mostly down to the electronics).

My Dell 2707WFP for example does pretty well and it's what I use for all my day-to-day activities, including TV. The plasma in the living room isn't usable at the moment for various reasons, but I'd actually argue the blacks on this LCD are better than that plasma (and it was the very top-of-the range 43in Pioneer when I got it, though that's about 5 years ago now). That also has an HTPC permanently connected and it works fine.

In the final outcome, it's subjective. Yes, the best Plasmas still have the edge on the best LCDs for PQ but LCDs have the edge on resolution, power, and image retention.

[Toby]

I used to be a big exponent of Plasma over LCD myself but I have to confess that LCD has made enormous strides lately, and especially in the last 12 months or so. The black levels are catching up with plasma fast and the difference shown in divine's pics is just no longer the case. Plasmas do still have strengths over LCDs but they also have some weaknesses and it's still very much down to personal preference.

I've now ordered the Sony KDL40V4000 with BDPS350 Bluray player from John Lewis for £698 delivered with 5-year warranty as frankly that deal was just too good to miss.

[Mark]

That's a damn good price. Comet are currently running TV ads with that combo for £599 but that's without the warranty.

[ElRazur]

Divine said most things I wanted to contribute tbh. In my experience, there is no way I will advice anyone to buy LCD. The black level details alone is enough reason not to buy one. I have a Panny Viera 42inch plasma tv and everything just look good on it.

Having said that. I am buying a 32inch lcd soon and am torn between the Sony 32v4000 or the Panasonic TX-32LXD70. I know I mentioned I wouldn't advice anyone to buy LCD, but in this case I am after a specific size and have a limited space and budget

[Toby]

Originally Posted by Mark

That's a damn good price. Comet are currently running TV ads with that combo for £599 but that's without the warranty.

John Lewis are doing the set alone for £599 but only Comet are doing the player for £99 extra. Got the local JL to price match them so I get their 5 year warranty too