...would you have a preference depending on the room lighting? I like to dim the lights when I watch movies. But cable TV is anytime, anywhere. Not much we can do about it, our local cable TV isn't very good.
You are absolutely right. Cable TV/regular TV is anytime, anywhere and we have all been spoilt by the CRT for being such an all-lighting condition TV. A plasma buyer should simply accept beforehand that he should provide some kind of illumination control in the TV room to maximize the viewing quality whether it be daytime or nightime. It may be inconvenient to install additional curtains to dim the room or block sunlight or reduce reflections during the day, but it would be silly not to use an HDTV properly. (this is particularly important for the top of the line Panasonic which has full glass (glossy) face design - however judging from the other models, the panels per se have become less reflective compared to old gen ones), Right out of the box, the LCD should be the more convenient choice because you don’t have to change anything in the viewing room. In fact, you should maintain sufficient lighting while watching on an LCD in order to prevent excessive eyestrain as the image may be too bright.
I think I’ve posted this somewhere but in my opinion, the most important criteria is which “image quality” you and your family prefer under proper lighting conditions based on your intended usage and other video contents that you will have ready access to. I agree with you that the quality of cable and broadcast in the Philippines is quite appalling. So until HD broadcast begins in the Philippines, I’m positive that Plasma is more suitable to what is available (legally or otherwise) in our country. But again, you have to control your room illumination especially during the day. I'm not implying that LCD would be the better choice for HD broadcast, but under such conditions, the odds would even out and the choice becomes even harder and more "content-to-content dependent". Me thinks.
Based on the latest offerings of Panasonic, it’s pretty obvious that making the Plasma image look “brighter” is one of the improvements that their engineers are working on. Afterall, many people are now wanting to make their houses naturally bright during the day. I think Nemesis has already posted somewhere that the difference between the 8 series and the 7 series is “matapang ang kulay” (if I remember it correctly). In my observation, the 8 series plasmas are not only matingkad, but they seem to appear brighter than their predecessor under the same lighting condition; still not as bright as LCDs though.
On the other hand, you don’t have to look at the specs to be convinced that everytime a new iteration of LCD is released by renowned makes, it is obviously more colorful than previous models. Reds are becoming less magenta (especially for Sonys), blacks are moving closer to the dark side. Unfortunately, LCD engineers are not at all interested in improving the SD image out of an HDTV LCD. What’s the point in doing that anyway ne? In any case, the LCD color saturation may not still be as “true” as that of Plasma, but colors do not have to be highly accurate to perceive moving high def images as “beautiful.” Bring 10 kids to an electronic store and let them choose between the colorful but dim plasma against the unnatural but bright LCD both showing images in their high def glory. Which do you think they would choose?
Of course, what differentiates PinoyDVD members from kids is that we have the tendency to be more “childish” in scrutinizing every single aspect of an image beyond practicality.
All I know is that puede akong magluto, maglaba, magplantsa, magsulat, magbasa, kumain ng lunch while watching on an LCD, while I have to chill out in subdued light when watching on a plasma.
...and I'm trying to develop the habit to "really watch" while the Plasma is on because medyo mataas ang power rating ng full HD plasma. Taas kamay ng mahilig mag-on ng TV all day kahit hindi naman talaga pinapanood or pasilip silip lang or nakikinig lang sa news/sound.
