At the moment I would be mainly watching DVD's, conecting my harddrive to it to watch movies and series, and normal TV.
Plasma.
Later in the year I plan on getting HD DSTV
Plasma.
as well as a Blu-Ray player
Full HD plasma/full HD LCD (provided the content
is full HD - most content is still HD/720p, not to mention knowing the negligible difference between HD and FHD from viewing distance).
If the quality was good I would also like to hook up my Laptop to it and use it as a huge monitor.
LCD.
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HD 720p vs. full HD 1080p
Do you
need full HD? Most of what you described above is SD and up to HD, therefore you would not necessarily
need full HD. The only sources that would be full HD would be
some PS3 games (<1%) and
some Blu-rays (to my understanding, most are HD/720p). PC would be full HD.
Difference between HD and FHD at viewing distance
It's a fact that most people (even TV gurus on these forums) cannot tell the difference between HD and FHD at 2.5m+ viewing distance.
Plasma & PC
Plasma does not like being connected to a PC that is displaying static images for long periods of time, such as would be the case if "working" on the PC/in Windows. Something like the static Start bar
will lead to severe image retention if it is permanently displayed for several hours days on end, which will eventually lead to image burn-in where the screen is permanently (albeit possibly vaguely/not noticeable under normal viewing) damaged and displaying the static image.
Connecting a PC to a plasma for watching movies/series/gaming/etc. would obviously not cause image retention/burn-in, since there aren't going to be static images displayed for long periods of time.
What you need to do
Weigh up whether or not you
need full HD.
Decide whether you will be "working" on the PC, and displaying static images for long periods of time, or not.
Go to the store and compare TVs in your price range at the tasks you'll be throwing at it.
What I know you will find
You will find the picture quality of plasma TVs to be superior to the quality of similarly-priced LCDs.
Especially at displaying SD (standard definition) TV/movies/series. Plasmas are renowned for the fact that they display SD content better. They will produce better blacks & more natural colours than LCDs are a similar price point.
Models to consider (all prices are ±)
Plasma
All Samsung
R5800 PS42C430 42" HD
R8000 PS50C430 50" HD
R11,000 PS50C550 50" FHD
LCD
Samsung
R7000 LA40C530 40" FHD 60Hz (a no-no for SD TV and sport)
R11,000 LA40C630 40" FHD 100Hz (better for sport)
Sony
R7000 KDL40EX400 40" FHD
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At the end of the day,
you need to be the judge, and the only way is by testing out each set vs. one another.
Hope this helps!
