Why does my LCD not look as good as my plasma, when all I hear is plasma is a fading technology?

Question

I have recently purchased a Plasma and LCD. Both are from the Samsung 550 line. The plasma is a 50" PN50A550 and the LCD is the 46" LN46A550.

I bought the plasma on a whim simply because the picture blew everything else in the store away. Brought it home with my PS3 and Blu-Ray and even regular DVDs look fantastic (through HDMI of course)....I couldn't be happier.

Few days later I bought the LCD so I could play my games on the PS3 without having to worry about burn-in. I got the Samsung because of the good experience I had with the plasma. From the get go I was very disappointed with the quality of the LCD. Some of the same movies I watched looked grainy especially in darker scenes. The games didn't look as good as they did on the plasma either.

I am this close to returning the LCD. I have tinkered with every setting possible with no resolve.

Why is it that some people stand by LCDs but I had such a sorry experience? Plasma is by far the way to go!!

Answer 1

It does depend on whether your room is well lit or not, LCD's perform better in well lit rooms while Plasma's do not.   However, from personal experience though all the marketing material does steer you towards LCD as the future I personally have yet to see a LCD that is superior to a good plasma.  At best they are too bright and sharp to the point they don't look realistic.  I bought a panasonic plasma that does 1080i and am quite happy with it.  Most new plasmas have features against burn in anyway.  

Answer 2

So you bought a crappy LCD. Not all LCDs are better than all plasmas, but the best LCD is better than the best plasma. The technology is better, but some of the merchandise isn't.  

Answer 3

I THINK LCD's last longer.

And Plasma's have the burn in issue.

So people go with LCD's.

Answer 4

Lets set the record straight; plasma is NOT a dying technology other than in the minds of the LCD bigots. Plasma is an evolving technology just as LCD is.

Here are the facts:

1) Plasma does NOT have more glare than an LCD TV. The new Panasonic's and Pioneer plasma TVs use an anti-reflective filter that reduces their glare by at least 50%. These TV have no more glare & reflectivity than the Samsung A550 or a SONY XBR. Look at the reflectivity of the A650 & A750 LCD TVs from Samsung versus the Panasonic & Pioneer plasma TV & tell me which has more glare!

2) The Samsung and Panasonic plasma TVs are brighter and have better blacks than most LCD TVs on the market. They do just find in high ambient light situation.

3) Plasma TVs last just as long as LCD TVs. The March issue of consumer reports stated this fact based upon the statistics provided by their subscribers, not LCD bigots.

4) Plasma TVs have better blacks.

5) Plasma TVs have more accurate color and can reproduce more colors than any LCD TV on the market. In fact, LCD TVs lose their color accuracy as they age. A plasma TV will never lose color accuracy as it ages.

6) Plasma TV have faster response time times. They are over 1,000 times faster than the BEST LCDs. This means NO motion blur and NO motion jitter.  They also do NOT need 120 Hz co-processors that create artifacts when they become overwhelmed with motion and panning shots.

7) All HDTVs lose effective vertical resolution with full motion, but a plasma TV drops only to around 900 vertical lines. The BEST LCD HDTV (120 Hz) drops to around 450 vertical lines of resolution and most LCDs are challenged to only produce 250 verical lines of resolution under the same full motion tests. Thats over a 75% drop in their resolution under full motion.