General Plasma & LCD discussions

[Grimspoon]

I figured we need a general thread for this as I find myself and others are posting in irrelevant threads, such as the bargain thread.

This is for general discussions on various makes, models etc.

Please guys, no trolling, no fights. Lets keep this civil and informative.

Would be nice if this could be sticky'd.

[drnaphtali]

This is maby abit irrelevant, but I have a question about HDMI cables. I bought two different hdmi cables, one for R100, another for R200 (both 1.8m). But I saw these cables can go for R1.5k!!! WTF. Can these cables really make such a huge difference, or is that just a scam for the people who dont really know, but who wants the best.

[PostmanPot]

This is maby abit irrelevant, but I have a question about HDMI cables. I bought two different hdmi cables, one for R100, another for R200 (both 1.8m). But I saw these cables can go for R1.5k!!! WTF. Can these cables really make such a huge difference, or is that just a scam for the people who dont really know, but who wants the best.

No, digital cable is digital cable. That said, an expensive system deserves some nice cables...

I use nothing less than nylon-sleeved cable (an aesthetic thing). And my main HDMI cable from amp to TV is an Aavara 1.8 (could be 2m) gold-tipped nylon-sleeved, and they only go for R100ish online. Great quality cables.

[VJB 449]

Got myself the Mede8er MED300X and Samsung PS42C430 this weekend. Made my choices based on the multitude of threads on these topics on these sub forum! Just want to say thanks to all the posters.

[Fudzy]

If you had the choice between a > 47" full HD plasma or full HD LCD, which would you choose and why?

[PostmanPot]

If you had the choice between a > 47" full HD plasma or full HD plasma, which would you choose and why?

Lol. I would take the >47" FHD plasma over the FHD plasma!

[Fudzy]

Lol. I would take the >47" FHD plasma over the FHD plasma!

Bah! You know what I meant :P

Changed it to plasma vs. LCD.

I saw a Hirschs ad that has a 50" Full HD LG for sale for R9499. I've always preferred the picture and motion quality of Plasma over LCD but found it limited that the Full HD models were a lot more pricier. This ofcourse is a hypothetical purchase as my wife would beat the crap out of me for buying another large flat planel display

[Zenbaas]

Bah! You know what I meant :P

Changed it to plasma vs. LCD.

I saw a Hirschs ad that has a 50" Full HD LG for sale for R9499. I've always preferred the picture and motion quality of Plasma over LCD but found it limited that the Full HD models were a lot more pricier. This ofcourse is a hypothetical purchase as my wife would beat the crap out of me for buying another large flat planel display

Dionwired has the Samsung Full HD plasma going for R9999 at the moment

[Fudzy]

Dionwired has the Samsung Full HD plasma going for R9999 at the moment

Well which would you prefer then?

[PostmanPot]

Bah! You know what I meant :P

Changed it to plasma vs. LCD.

I saw a Hirschs ad that has a 50" Full HD LG for sale for R9499. I've always preferred the picture and motion quality of Plasma over LCD but found it limited that the Full HD models were a lot more pricier. This of course is a hypothetical purchase as my wife would beat the crap out of me for buying another large flat planel display

Totally depends on what you need it for. For connecting to a PC to do work (and not simply watching media/playing games), or heavy gaming, where there will be a lot of static images, LCD is a safer bet. Like the Windows Start bar/static game HUDs etc. will cause image retention which will lead to burn-in on plasma if you aren't careful and do a "screen sweeper/saver" every 2 hours or so.

For everything else, I'd definitely get FHD plasma. The value of plasma (size and quality) is outstanding. And plasma is especially better for sport and SD TV (99% of DSTV).

*edit*

For gaming, cut scenes and cinematics would give those plasma cells a break from displaying the same static images. They would act as a screen sweeper. There are quite a few forumites here who comment on plasma and gaming and non have said they've gotten burn-in - only retention which is gone in under 5 mins. Don't let it scare you away.

Also, retention/burn-in very much depends on your brightness/contrast settings.

[Zenbaas]

Well which would you prefer then?

I've seen some nice LG's but when I'll be buying mine later this year it will be the Samsung

[Dolby]

I'm usually a Samsung person - but I must admit I am quite impressed with some of the LG sets

[Ono'rach]

Spec for spec, the LG sets compare favourably with the Samsungs, but most people go for Samsung or Sony (myself included!)

I was considering the LG LD550 at one stage. It has pretty good specifications for the price. But on-paper specifications are only one side of the story, what really matters is real world performance, and I've never seen one of these models up and running before...

[Fudzy]

For gaming, cut scenes and cinematics would give those plasma cells a break from displaying the same static images. They would act as a screen sweeper. There are quite a few forumites here who comment on plasma and gaming and non have said they've gotten burn-in - only retention which is gone in under 5 mins. Don't let it scare you away.

Also, retention/burn-in very much depends on your brightness/contrast settings.

Yeah it seems the technology behind the plasma panels have improved substantially. I would still worry about falling asleep in front of my TV only to find that my HTPC's menu or the DSTV playlist have been burnt into the screen. How would one rectify that if it happened?

[PostmanPot]

Yeah it seems the technology behind the plasma panels have improved substantially. I would still worry about falling asleep in front of my TV only to find that my HTPC's menu or the DSTV playlist have been burnt into the screen. How would one rectify that if it happened?

Retention is rectifiable by changing channels or running the image sweeper. Burn-in isn't as it is physical damage.