Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on February 11, 2004 at 19:23:47

In Reply to: Display Comparison:Differences between LCD, Plasma, DLP, LCOS, D-ILA, and CRT posted by PaulF on February 11, 2004 at 10:43:57:

What's right:
Newer models have up to 3000:1 contrast ratios (real world measurements less)
Excellent color reproduction
Excellent viewing angle
Older models have may have 1000:1 contrast ratio or less

What's wrong:
Excellent lamp life
Lower brightness levels
Cannot produce deep black levels
Relatively short life span

Plasmas do not have lamps.

Plasmas have equal to better brightness capability compared to the other display technologies when each display device is correctly calibrated.

The average plasma has equal to better black level capability compared to the other display technologies mentioned, except for CRT. The better plasma displays (those based on Panasonic glass), run a close second to CRT and are much better than the other technologies in producing black.

Life span? What they mean is half-brightness (the point at which brightness decreases by 1/2). For plasmas, that is about 30,000 hours. The newest plasma displays have increased this to 60,000 hours. Guess what the half-brightness of CRT is? 30,000 hours. To put the 30k number into perspective, that's about 4 hours per day for 20 years.

What needs clarification:
Although thin, plasma TVs are fairly heavy
Professional wall installation recommended
Very susceptible to screen burn-in
Fragile

What does weight or thinness have to do with picture quality?

If you are familiar with the Plasma and Flat Panel LCD Forum on www.avsforum.com, there are many non-professionals that have wall mounted plasma displays. It really is not that difficult. As a "bonus", you can also opt to use a stand instead of a wall mount.

Burn-in is a concern if you: play video games for extended periods of time (hours), use the display for computer use with the contrast cranked up or watch plenty of 4x3 material "unstretched" to the 16x9 aspect ratio of the display. Static images left on the screen for a long time are not good for plasma or CRT displays.

Since when "isn't" glass fragile?