Thanks to you all.
I currently use a projector and would normally watch movies in the evenings...tv in the bedroom...two 22" samsung lcds for my office at home. So i kind of have an idea on video quality. Though I am not that picky...yet.
With the rise of blue rays, I decided to go HD now and well, try out blue ray tech.
I will place the "display" in the same room where I have my projector. It will be what i would use when i do watch movies during the daytime. This is the original plan anyway.
This room has windows with thick curtains. At night, its not a problem at all. It's during daytime, when the light escapes thru the sides of the curtains that will most likely reflect on the plasma screen. Same problem i have with the TV in the bedroom.
But you know what...I think you guys make a lot of sense. Maybe i should just stick to watching movies at night and go for the plasma. Hehe.
I will probably get a little irritated on a few ocassions when I do watch during the daytime but it will be compensated by better video quality...
You guys agree? Or is there still hope for me to consider LCD? Plasma seems to be the choice here by almost everyone.
Hi Alvinh,
I'm on the same predicament as you ... a few weeks back i was ready to jump on the plasma bandwagon (particularly the famous pana 42pv70) ... now, i'm back again to thinking of getting an LCD (particularly the toshiba 37 or 42-inch c3500 series) ... here are my thoughts, and i would welcome any opinion/comments/suggestions from the experts on this forum -
Reasons for considering LCD and/or Toshiba LCDC3500 -
1. I do not like the 100-hour burn-in process for plasma, I find it silly to buy a new toy and not to be able to fully play with it or maximize the potential... by the time na matapos yung burn-in wala na yung excitement na bago yung unit ko ... this happened to me recently, i purchased a set of Dali speakers to replace my old units - I followed the recommended burn-in process strictly, by the time na natapos yung burn-in parang wala na yung excitement ... normally kasi you get very excited with your new gadgets on the first few weeks, after that it becomes one of your regular items na
2. The unit will be installed in our living room, and we watch tv programs all the time especially during weekend. Due to brighter room lighting at day time, the reflectiveness of the plasma screen may be an issue at daytime. I've seen how refelective the screen of the 42pv70 when I recently visited S&S.
3. I'm planning to connect an HTPC primarily for viewing ripped movies, and possibly a little percentage of browsing and using Skype. The LCD is expected to better perform than the plasma for this requirement - based on paper due to resolution, although i haven't personally tested it yet
4. I auditioned the Toshiba C3500 side by side with hitachi LCD, samsung LCD, and the pana 42pv70 ... I find the PQ very satisfactory ... Personally I could not discern the difference on the picture quality between the different brands of LCD ... it's true that the Pana plasma produces better blacks, but I find the LCD's producing more details ... I would say that that I'm ok with either technology if PQ is the issue.
5. If price point is to be considered, I would say that the Toshiba 37c3500 hits the sweetspot ... price is considerably lower than LCD's of the same size, and much lower than the LCD's and plasma's with 42-inch size ...and price is close to most other brands 32-inch LCD's
Reasons for considering Pana 42pv70
1. Although I mentioned that I'm already more than satisfied with the PQ of the LCD's, the plasma obviously is still a notch higher when it comes to dvd or hidef movies
2. The hard glass panel of the plasma is an advantage for me, since it is similar to crt's. Frankly speaking I find it hard to clean LCD's because of the seemingly fragile texture .... both on my current laptops and desktop LCD monitor
3. They say that plasma is better for regular tv program viewing ... this would be a plus, since more than 50% of the time, we will be using it for regular tv viewing ... i've read a lot of negative feedback regarding tv viewing on LCD, but I have yet to see it ... i've been using a 22-inch Samsung LCD on my home PC with TV tuner - the quality is at par or sometimes even better when viewing tv on the 22-inch LCD compared to my 29-inch JVC flat crt (is it because the 22-inch Samsung LCD PC monitor has higher resolution compared to the big LCD tv's or it's just a myth that LCD tv's offers poor quality in tv viewing???)
4. The pana 42pv70 hits the pricepoint sweetspot in the 42-inch size ... same price or lower than similar technology and LCD's with the same size, and almost same price as most 37-inch LCD tv's
These are just my opinions and observation ... hope to get feedback from the experts to firm up my decision ... i'm targetting to buy my flat panel around june 15