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I am thinking of getting a 46 or 50" TV.

What is the general opinion regarding Plasma, LCD or even LED? Is any one that much better than the other?

Is wall mounting the way to go?

I'm not sure, but you might want to investigate repair and maintenance costs. I know a few years ago getting a plasma repaired was prohibitively expensive. That said, the one needing fixing was in constant use and needed repairing about once a year.

this is because you have to top up the Plasma.
This may not be the case nowadays.

You might also consider a projector. They are really getting good these days.

bananafish wrote:I am thinking of getting a 46 or 50" TV.

What is the general opinion regarding Plasma, LCD or even LED? Is any one that much better than the other?

Is wall mounting the way to go?

Re: Plasma or LCD, it depends on what you are using it for, With a static image you can get Screen Burn on Plasma TV's so for example if you are playing a videogame with an ammo counter in the corner constantly then there is a chance that that image can be "burned" into the screen causing a ghost of the image to be visible even when you are watching something else (this can also happen with the Sky TV guide or programme bar for the non video-gamers).

Newer plasma's are combatting this but LCD's don't have this problem at all as far as I'm aware.

Personally i have a Samsung 32" LCD and my parents have a Sony Bravia 42" Plasma. Picture wise both are good with HD sources (Sky HD as well as the Newer Video consoles) but i feel that Plasma has the edge on picture quality.

So it's up to you, both have their advantages but both also have their disadvantages, what i would suggest is getting some hot contenders for both Plasma + LCD in mind and then view some reviews on both, that should hopefully help you make the best decision for your needs and also prevent dissapointment.

Hope this helps anyway.

Sony Bravia 42" Plasma

I have a Sony dvd recorder at home, which gives amazing picture quality, and it has a special setting that upgrades the ststem to hd, when you use a bravia.

If i find enought cash , this would probably be my choice of telly.

I heard the other day that LCD TVs are going to be replaced soon because they give off too much heat. I don't know if the first part of that sentence is true, but the last part certainly is.

Advice given when I bought mine was:

You're better off with Plasma if you have over 42" and view a lot of fast moving images suh as sport and/or action movies.

Smaller screens are better off as LCD's.

Plasma these days don't need a top up and screen burn technology prevents most cases of burn from cable channels being displayed n corners etc. I was told that you need to leave the picture static for period in excess of 10 to 12 hours for it to be a potential problem.

I've a 50" samsung plasma in the living room and hae had no problems whatsoever in the 2 years that I've had it and we have 36" LCD's in the bedrooms and it's difficult to tell between them which is the better picture.

All are arpound 40% cheaper now than when we bough them new. I'd go for the new 60" Samsung if I was buying now.

I would go for an LED tv if your funds will stretch. They are brighter than conventional flourescent backlit LCD screens and have a much better colour contrast. They are also much slimmer, give off less heat and consume less power.

there just about too change the way they advertise led tvs to clarify that its only the backlight thats led not the whole screen its a little point but important for the future, so if you can aford it go for led version.

for a while i was using a 37 inch lcd which was great for browsing in both hdmi and using the pc socket but be warned with widscreen versions you can get some problems with older games finding a resolution that works, bring on diablo 3 in hd.

cant wait for the oled ie organic self lighting diodes, then you'll be able to roll down your 50 inch screen just like a projector screen and have it touch screen too.

I was told by the sales person - LCD for soaps and Plasma for sports / fast moving stuff.

Beware - when judging the TV size in the store - it can give a "false impression" - my mother bought a 37" for her living room and found it was a little too large and had to downsize to a 32"!!

I forget the name of the comedian but they said something along the lines of;

"A good way to determine if you are a chav, if your television is too big for your lounge then you're a chav."

I recently had this quandary and went for plasma as I am a film nut. I get really off put by the lack of a "real" black on most LCD's, although they have improved greatly, also I hate the high speed motion blur.

If you have money to burn then Pioneer are the way to go, if you want to be a bit more sensible I would opt (like I did) for a Panasonic, the new range (PX range I think) are very good.

I think I'd agree with LED if you can afford it, less power, brighter, and mega quick to turn on

TargetZero wrote:I was told by the sales person - LCD for soaps and Plasma for sports / fast moving stuff.

Never, ever listen to sales people in shops.

Listen to tv experts, not idiots on commission.

I always look at what Robert Heron says about a telly. Revision3.com has a new show called HD nation where he reviews all things HD. And he knows what he is talking about.

I am no expert but went to Tescos and saw all 3 on display and the LED were by far the best..

Thanks for all the replies. It has been very helpful...