LCD vs Plasma vs Data-projection

mattwalker · Oct 30, 2007 10:08 am

Helen

Ah Grasshopper (DDQ) you have finally learnt the basics of this forum. Your position is to put questions to the great masters and accept their all knowing answers with respect. Learn at their knees Grasshopper and you too may one day have the skill of silently disposing of your enemies.

LOL

I thought to myself after this thread was split:

"I miss Helen"

then I thought:

"No I don't"

:twisted:

mattwalker · Oct 30, 2007 10:09 am

cynarion

We got our plasma just over a year ago. When we were looking around, the LCD TVs couldn't possibly compare to a plasma in terms of sharp definition, and in my (admittedly very cursory) wanders around JB Hi Fi they don't seem to have closed the gap by much in the time since, either.

We are putting a home theatre room in our new house and at the moment the dream is to have a 65" plasma mounted on the wall; the room is 6m long and we want two rows of seating, so we don't want a screen that's too big (e.g. 100" projector screen) or we'll have people in the front row with ******* necks. I haven't yet done all the calculations to figure out viewing distances and angles and so forth, but I'll get to it.

--Mike

Mike,

100" at 4 .5meters is a great view...

Try before you buy!

A 65" at 5.5m (rear seats) would look like a 68cm tv! :shock:

cynarion · Oct 30, 2007 1:09 pm

mattwalker

100" at 4 .5meters is a great view...

Try before you buy!

A 65" at 5.5m (rear seats) would look like a 68cm tv! :shock:

We will, absolutely.

I've yet to see a situation where a projector outperforms a plasma in terms of visual clarity, which is the most important thing in my book. They look either washed out or blurry in a similar way to LCDs. Plus our home theatre room will be on the north side of our house, and will see more use in the afternoons on the weekend than evenings during the week, so a projector screen may end up with too much ambient light floating around.

But I'm more than willing to be corrected.

Still, we're a long time from even starting construction, so we have some time to figure everything out. At present our most likely plan is to place the rear row of seats around 1½ metres from the rear wall, place bookcases on the rear wall to house our DVDs, and then have a couple of LoveSacs as our front row. Which would mean we'd place our TV on an entertainment unit rather than on the wall--it would be too high up to view comfortably from beanbags on the floor.

--Mike

oznow · Apr 12, 2008 2:51 am

Sorry to revive this thread, as now i am starting to consider big screen TV (LCD or Plasma). I have done research on the differences between LCD and Plasma, and have understand most of it. I am persuaded to consider plasma after visiting GoodG todays (previously i was into Bravia W series). But before purchasing, could someone tell me The $$$ difference if i purchase plasma. Let's say if i watch 6 hours a day, how much $$$ more to pay if i choose Plasma? *****

Also, I am considering the following models, any suggestions.
Panasonic Viera TH-42PX70A 42"
LG 42PB4D 42 HDTV Plasma TV (i like it has Harddisk and USB)
Samsung PS42Q91HDX 42" (106cm) HD Plasma
Samsung PS42C91HDX 42" HD Tuner Plasma

Thanks.

Rodda · Apr 12, 2008 11:54 am

Hi oz.

Just get the Samsung PS42C91HDX (no need to pay the extra couple of hundred for the Samsung 'Q' model, the 'C' model looks brilliant anyway).

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking re the $$$ difference if you buy plasma... Plasma is still a little cheaper than LCD, although with all of them falling in price the gap is smaller now.

The plasmas these days have long, long half lives (ie before they've faded enough to be annoying) - 60,000 hours, so by the time you start to notice that it's not as bright as it used to be you'll likely be ready to replace it anyway (especially considering you'll likely be thinking about going to the next level of technology - whatever that happens to be).

And plasma is still better at fast motion stuff, of which there is plenty broadcast on TV...

PM'd....

oznow · Apr 12, 2008 6:52 pm

Hi Rod
I was wondering the power consumption between running the LCD and Plasma. People said it could be 1/3 or the LCD, but how much in term of $$$ ($100 difference, $200 difference ...?)

Thanks

Rodda · Apr 13, 2008 7:46 pm

Power consumtion figures is more like LCD is about 50-60% of the equivalent Plasma.

As far as price goes, I can only repeat what I said previously, that there is some difference - LCDs are more expensive than their plasma equivalents (even the idea of 'equivalents is not that straight forward, as there's no 42" LCD or 50" LCD - likewise there's no 40" plasma or 52" plasma....), but the difference is not that much these days because they have all come down so much, even over the last 12 months. So yes, there could be a $100 - $200 saving on a plasma over an LCD, but for that small a difference I'd rather pay for the TV I'd rather watch!

Djelibeybi · Apr 14, 2008 12:17 pm

Rodda

Power consumtion figures is more like LCD is about 50-60% of the equivalent Plasma.

Out of interest, how does the power consumption of LCD/Plasma compare to a projector? In the cost-benefit analysis of deciding what to use to watch TV on a day-to-basis, it would be useful to compare any potential power saving of a project against lamp life/cost.

Rodda · Apr 14, 2008 12:35 pm

Basically, you just don't use a projector for every-day TV watching, not day-after-day, anyway (obviously you're gunna watch some TV programs on it).

You can get a good (quality and size) plasma for <$3K these days, and a good projector for <$4K. Most HT projectors still have lamp-lives of 2000-3000 hours, and if you use it every day for TV then you'll be replacing the globe every 9 months or so (which, on top of the cost - anywhere from $300-$700 - is a hassle as well), which is just not worth the money or the inconvenience.

And, in my own honest opinion, power consumption just doesn't come into the decision of whether or not to get a projector.

Get a TV for TV, and a projector for the big movie experience - then you truly will have the best of both worlds...

Casa2 · Apr 14, 2008 2:12 pm

I'm opting for a projection system for both everyday TV and big screen movie watching. This is mainly beacuse my screen comes in front of a window with a view behind it and I'd like to put the screen up and open the curtains occsioonlly to turn it into a sitting room (with a view).

I figured even with a lamp life of 2500 hours, if I'm able to leave the system on for less than the 6.8 hours average per day I'd get one year out of the bulb. So once a year I spend $500, but there are some savings.

Firstly, I assume the power consumption would be less. But my calculations show that even if I save 200 W, that's only a $40 saving per year. The other saving is not havng to buy a second TV for everyday watching. For a $2200 TV, the saving on the mortage would be about $200 a year. So The $500 bulb cost is offset by about 50% in power and capital savings.

(Anyone know where I can get discount projector bulbs?)

The overall advantage I see is the the viewing experience will be so much nicer. The donwside is that the room will have to be kept quite dark to get a good picture quality.

Overall, sounds like a good approach.

Rodda · Apr 14, 2008 2:39 pm

We have access to projector lamps at trade pricing for most brands and models currently available.

Casa2 · Apr 14, 2008 8:48 pm

What would it come to for a BenQ 5000 lamp?

Rodda · Apr 14, 2008 10:37 pm

W5000 lamps are $590.