Another "What plasma / what LCD?" thread......

Another "What plasma / what LCD?" thread......

Author
Discussion

sidicks

Original Poster:

25,218 posts

227 months

Monday 22nd March 2010
quotequote all
A friend of mine is looking to buy a new TV and has a £500 budget to spend on a new Plasma / LCD TV.

He has seen this:

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/136...

I'm convinced that there are probably better options out there for the money - probably a Panasonic, but there are so many options, so hope someone on here can help....?!

Recommendations, please!
smile
Sidicks

PJ S

10,842 posts

233 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2010
quotequote all
Panasonic 37/42X20 - unless he's sat 4' from that Sony, 1080p is a wasted feature for him, assuming he even has/plans on Blu-Ray playback.

sidicks

Original Poster:

25,218 posts

227 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2010
quotequote all
The set will primarily be used for TV and for gaming (PS3).

Out of interest, why would you choose a Plasma over LCD for 37"?

There is a 37" Panasonic LCD with 1080p but only 50Hz - how does that compare for the above use?

Thanks

Sidicks

PJ S

10,842 posts

233 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2010
quotequote all
Plasma is still the best technology for TV's - some LCD's are getting very close to it, but you won't find them at the same price point.
Panasonic's LCD's are very good, but in all honesty, I'd look at JVC for that type of TV.
1080p is a marketing depts wet dream - nothing more, so don't get hung up about it. Most games are only (still) 720p natively rendered, as far as the gaming content goes, the cut scenes may be 1080p - which is all well and good if the output is set to 1080p, and you're sitting close enough to actually gain an advantage from it.
If not, then it's immaterial, and the 720p in-game rendering, will be interpolated by the software-based scaler, which may or may not be as good as what's on the chip inside the TV.
Bottom line, scaling 720 to 768 (42"+ HD Ready TV's) is less detrimental than 720 to 1080, and with the 37" Plasma from Panasonic, you get 1:1 vertical pixel mapping, but lose a slight bit of horizontal (1280x720 fitted to 1024x720 pixel matrix).
Still, hadn't stopped me from kicked the collective arse of the Horde in GoW, etc.