What to look for in buying a flat screen television?

Question

What to look for in buying a flat screen television?

Answer 1

At present time, plasma screens ar more expensive and don't last as long as LCD's which are cheaper.

Answer 2

Hello,

there is a helpful Buying Guide which will answere you question;

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/ba/2/TV-buy...

There you can inform yourself about TVs in genaeral and there is a special linkt to flat screens.

Good luck by finding a new Flat Screen!

Answer 3

I'm just copying my answer from a previous question but I think it'll help

Pros of a plasma are

1. Better picture with no motion blur, higher contrast ratio (deeper blacks which produce depth to the picture).

Cons

The main plasma con is that they still suffer from burn-in (although they have gotten much better). I would not recommend them for gaming even though the manufacturers now say you can. They still won't warranty against burn-in (or after image as they like to say).

They are best viewed in a darkened room because they tend to have screen glare. Shades fix this problem and the newer sets have a anti-glare coatings.

Pros of LCD

1. No burn in problems

2. Lighter and use less electricity to run

Cons

Lcds are getting better but still don't have the contrast of plasmas and they still have motion blur (annoying with fast moving scenes, especially sports).

LCDs don't have as good off-axis viewing as plasmas. If you move far enough to the side of an LCD, you will notice the picture fades.

Neither shows standard def picture very well but plasma does a better job.

They have about the same life expectancy (most rated around 60,000 hrs)

Plasmas don't leak and they can't be re-charged either. Also, they're not a dying breed just yet. There's more money to be made by the manufacturers with LCDs so many have stopped making plasmas but only to bolster their profits, not because the plasmas are bad. Pioneer and Panasonic are 2 makers that continue to produce plasma sets and have no plans of stopping (Panasonic will be buying the panels from another maker but they will still be selling plasmas).

In general, I tell my friends to buy a plasma if they want the best picture and an LCD if they want to play video games on them.