Plasma HDTV Monitor vs. HDTV? or DLP?

[JES]

Hi All,

1. If I'm going to be subscribing to cable or satellite anyway, is there a good reason to pay $600-$800 extra for a plasma HDTV instead of buying a plasma HDTV monitor (without a tuner)? And if not, what are the best HDTV monitors in terms of image quality and durability?

2. My wife and I like the look of DLP/SXRD (or whatever Sony calls it) but we watch in a bright room during the day (specifically, on Sundays during football season). Is Plasma our best bet or will DLP/SXRD be okay? We've heard from a couple unreliable sources that Plasma is better if there's a good deal of light in the room.

Thanks.

--JES

[elapsed]

Best Plasma's on the market are from Fujitsu, Hitachi, Panasonic and Pioneer.. :)

The SXRD is not a DLP, its a newer technology called LCoS. Sony and JVC both make excellent LCoS sets. Many find LCoS to be superior to plasma (myself included), but my best advice is to trust your eyes, and know what to look for when comparing sets.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/lcos.htm

[edtyct]

The LCos, DLP, and LCD sets generally stand up to ambient light better than plasmas because they are brighter, and even if a particular plasma is capable of attaining the brightness levels of the other fixed-pixel displays, it wouldn't be healthy for it. I agree with elapsed's plasma recommendations.

[JES]

Thanks to both for your suggestions and for the correction. I'm definitely asking about lcos (and not DLP) because it's the Sony that my wife really liked. But then we saw a plasmavision we really liked, so it got a bit confusing.

More comments from anyone who uses their HDTV in a relatively well-lit room would be appreciated.

[AVMASTER]

if your placement requires wall mounting, a LCD HDTV with a fast respone time; if placement is tabletop/stand then best possible choice is LCOS (preferable with 1080p). While a plasma monitor may eliminate the added cost of a tuner you still must factor in the: wall mount or stand, speakers ( even if you already have a sound system, do you always want to have to turn it on just to catch the news?), plug-in boards to connect other devices, etc.. I agree with Elapsed on best brands

[Fergymunster]

Thanks to both for your suggestions and for the correction. I'm definitely asking about lcos (and not DLP) because it's the Sony that my wife really liked. But then we saw a plasmavision we really liked, so it got a bit confusing.

More comments from anyone who uses their HDTV in a relatively well-lit room would be appreciated.
If your going plasma I would recommend an enhanced definition TV.I have a Panosonic one which I got around 3 years ago and it's still kicking.The beauty of enhanced definition is that when watching non HD channels the picture quality is still very good when compared to a HDTV.Also this light concern your talking about is going to be true with whatever TV you choose.My 2 cents

[hermanv]

A couple of brief comments/observations.

Sony's quality and reliability are not what they used to be, repeair frequencies are up and worse many online reports of Sony ducking responsibility for their problems. People say Sony will blame a power line surge or some undefined mis-use of set. Cases where the same problem happens more than once and Sony claiming the warranty only covers the first instance etc.

On any micro display set verify that the warranty coverage for dead pixels is reasonable. I'm thinking of an HP DLP set. They warranty no more than 0.01% dead pixels, sounds good until you multiply 1080 x 1920 x .01% = 207 dead pixels. The good news is that the failure rate for pixels in a DLP set is near zero. This is not true for Plasma, LCD or presumably LCOS. If the dead pixels are anywhere near the viewing center they become very noticable and irritating. CRT sets never had this problem so many people are unaware of it.

One last comment, Plasma sets dim over time. That nice bright picture may be down as much as 50% in 5 years. The other sets use a light bulb, they burn out, but once replaced all the brighness is back.

[edtyct]

I've owned some higher-end Sony equipment without any problems. However, my ES DVD player recently suffered a lightening strike that took out its HDMI output. I gave it to a local tech, hoping that the problem was relatively minor and inexpensive. Unfortunately, close inspection revealed that the entire board was shot. I received a call directly from Sony, telling me that the board replacement would take until November; instead, Sony would be sending me a brand-new player, gratis. This replacement was above and beyond the call of duty; the damage was the result of an act of god, not poor quality control. Granted, the player is an ES model, which carries a 5-year warranty, but the problem was not Sony's fault. Some of the rumors about particular companies start to snowball, started for any number of reasons, good and bad. Customer service with any of these manufacturers can be dicey; from what I've seen in Consumer Reports, Sony products do not seem to be especially prone to failure. Flat-panel LCDs will lose brightness over time (not necessarily a bad thing), often as a sign of impending failure. Unfortunately, many are not easily replaceable, Sharps's being an exception. RP LCDs will need new lamps periodically. Plasma owners may be at an advantage in that respect, since the LCD lamps aren't cheap, and failure doesn't always wait the expected time.

Another couple of brief comments/observations. Stuck pixels are no longer the cause for concern that they used to be. Plasmas lose brightness over time, but consumers can extend the life of their sets (usually well beyond the time that they keep them) by not overdriving brightness and contrast. Keep the lights relatively dim, and you won't have the impulse to crank up the controls beyond the point of damage.

[hermanv]

The Sony warranty problem reports might well be store dependent. Without knowing for sure, I'd venture a guess that edtyct is a very good customer.

I do know one person personally who experienced some of these problems (2 motherboard failures in one year, Sony wouldn't pay) I realize one person does not a trend make. Sony must sell hundreds of thousands of TVs.

[hermanv]

While looking for a new set, I noticed that the Plasmas were being pushed hard, very hard by every store I went to. I don't like the very orangy reds (except in the truly high priced plasma models). I don't like the screen door effect, again it's much better in the high end plasmas. I guess everyone is just plain enamored of the thinness. It's kind of cool, but it doesn't make the picture better.

The newer DLP sets have 4,5 and 7 color color wheels I am not aware of any other technlogy that can do that. Dollar for dollar I just like the DLP picture beter, now that the LED based sets are out the lamp problem may be gone and color purity should be better than any other technology, since the LED primaries should be quite pure on the whole and definitely a single color each. The LED based sets won't have a color wheel of course.

None of that matters, to me at least, I personaly just like the picture better, it seems more film like to me.

[darth2222]

Thats what this thread has turned into. Which is good for me since im going today to buy one or the other here my options due to budget. I can go with a 42 Plasma or a 50 DLP. For all you DLP owners out there how often have you had to change your lamps. I need pros and cons for both i have read alot on each but i just dont know which one to go with need help fast leaving later this afternoon to make final decision. Thanks again for whoever replies. Nevermind thanks eydict i have read some of your other post and have made my decision based on that.