TV Buying Question LED or LCD?

[Avanarius]

Looking at buying a new tv as I just sold my 32" and I'm looking for something larger.

Basically my price range is about $1000+tax (ca) and I've found a 40" Sharp Aquos (LED LC40LE700UN)for $999 before tax.

What I'm wondering is if LED is worth going over a 46" LCD tv around the same price?

Visually speaking, I haven't had a lot of time to compare them and I was wondering if anyone had any personal experience between the two.

Thanks!

[Omniyoji]

LCDs & LEDs are essentially the same thing. The only difference is the back lightning. LEDs use LEDs and LCDs use CCFLs or equivalent. The lightning on LEDs are much better but it's still LCD.

As much as I like LCDs, I advise to look into plasma technology when going for larger sized TVs. Also take into account room size and lightning in TV room to pick out the better technology.

I'm sure there have been some previous threads on TVs you can take a look while someone else replies here.

[Reality]

<3 plasma

[hopefulki]

My recommendation is http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+...-LCD&cp=1&lp=1

It's the TV I am currently using and it is really amazing in terms of picture quality. I use it as primary monitor for PC, for TV, PS3 etc and it does wonderfully on all fronts.

My only gripe about plasma is the blacks fading and having to replace the plasma in a few years, but if that is a non-issue to you/you will replace the TV before then, plasma is great too.

imo for 40-50" LEDs are very nice, especially Samsung - they are really rocking it atm.

[Cyn]

I prefer LCD over plasma too, but as the above poster stated, as you go up in size, plasma becomes a better option than LCD.

[Reality]

My only gripe about plasma is the blacks fading and having to replace the plasma in a few years

what the fuck are you talking about? LOL

also, fading blacks are a symptom of the Panasonic Viera Plasmas, I don't think the Samsung's do it (mine hasn't)

[zoobernut]

LCDs & LEDs are essentially the same thing. The only difference is the back lightning. LEDs use LEDs and LCDs use CCFLs or equivalent. The lightning on LEDs are much better but it's still LCD.

As much as I like LCDs, I advise to look into plasma technology when going for larger sized TVs. Also take into account room size and lightning in TV room to pick out the better technology.

I'm sure there have been some previous threads on TVs you can take a look while someone else replies here.

I came in here to say the exact same thing. It is a pet peeve of mine that LED TVs are LCD tvs they just changed the backlight. Oh well.

I personally really like the LED tv's and I think it is worth getting a slightly smaller tv to get the LED version. The black levels and crispness of colors is so much better on the LED's than the standard LCD tv's as well as the vastly improved viewing angles.


Edit: Lol needing to replace the "Plasma" in a Plasma TV is the biggest most common misconception about plasma tv's. The inert gas (usually xenon or argon) glass pockets in a plasma tv do not need to be replaced. Also the gas only turns into plasma when the tv is on.

[Reality]

I came in here to say the exact same thing. It is a pet peeve of mine that LED TVs are LCD tvs they just changed the backlight. Oh well.

I personally really like the LED tv's and I think it is worth getting a slightly smaller tv to get the LED version. The black levels and crispness of colors is so much better on the LED's than the standard LCD tv's as well as the vastly improved viewing angles.


Edit: Lol needing to replace the "Plasma" in a Plasma TV is the biggest most common misconception about plasma tv's. The inert gas (usually xenon or argon) glass pockets in a plasma tv do not need to be replaced. Also the gas only turns into plasma when the tv is on.

Maybe he's confusing Plasma's with DLP? And maybe he means the lamp in DLP's needing replaced every few years, which is true.. though it's more like 4-5 years unless you use your TV all the damn time

[Amele]

are we confusing LED and OLED technology? absolutely agree about using LCD over LED (back lighting change only)

OLED probably isn't worth it as a tv display type yet, although in high ambient light, low power consumption required, wide viewing angle applications (so like, bright large rooms / outdoors at a party etc.) it has some advantages. even less ghosting than the minimally ghosted high-end lcdtv, but susceptible to burn in and varying color intensity as they age.

they make for really thin displays though...

[zoobernut]

Maybe he's confusing Plasma's with DLP? And maybe he means the lamp in DLP's needing replaced every few years, which is true.. though it's more like 4-5 years unless you use your TV all the damn time

Yeah that might be the point of confusion. DLP and rear projection CRT televisions have light bulbs that need to be replaced. Their like any light bulb and can have a long life in the hundreds of hours of use or randomly burn out and need to be replaced. But plasmas don't have that.

Also I don't think anyone was referring to OLED tv's which are not in large production in large sizes yet. They are amazing though.

[Atreides]

LCD/LED-LCD still have big problems with refresh rates and contrast. If you ever plan on either:

A) Playing a video game ever
B) Watching a horror movie ever
or C) watching a movie/tv show where something happens at night... ever

...Then buy a plasma. Anything bad that you've heard about plasmas are either urban legends or creative marketing by LCD manufacturers. Plasmas beat out all LCD technology in just about every aspect, including price.

[hopefulki]

I have never owned a plasma so I may have fallen into the misconception while reading up on it previously. Basically, what I had read on a few places (which I now assume is wrong ) is that the blacks and general contrast fade over time and you have to replace the plasma in the screen, people saying it cost ~$500. I don't know if this was people mixing things up and posting incorrect info, but any clarification would be great

[Atreides]

it's not true. some common misconceptions about plasmas:

1) They're heavy - They're heavier, but not so heavy they can't be wall mounted unless you live in a straw house. My 58" plasma (one of the largest non-projection TVs available) weighs only 75 lbs, a 55" lcd weighs around 50)

2) They burn out like light bulbs or need to be "recharged" - This is just an outright lie, lol.

3) They're expensive - Also untrue. Most are comprable in price to LCDs, or even cheaper because of aggressive marketing. You should shop around for whatever TV you end up with, but there's a good chance a plasma will be cheaper than a comparably sized LCD.

4) They're hot/use lots of power - They're not that hot unless you're in a tiny tiny room and sitting next to the screen mid-summer. A lot of plasmas are energy star certified and kill-o-watt monitors show they don't use much more energy than LCDs.

5) Burn-in - Burn-in hasn't been a problem for plasmas for almost 5-10 years now. Most of them have pixel shifting technology to prevent burn-in as well. If for whatever reason they do burn in, you can easily wash them out. It is perfectly safe to play lots of video games on a plasma.

The advantages to plasma are vastly higher contrast ranges and nearly no problems with refresh rates/motion blurring, 2 problems that have still yet to be solved for LCD. My TV didn't even list a contrast ratio (not that the number actual matters anyway) on the sticker, lol. AND, supposedly once you take the backlight out of the equation, LED/LCDs supposedly have contrast ranges even narrower than standard LCDs. There are also no issues with viewing angle- you can view a plasma from any angle with no problem.

Maybe LED-LCDs might excel at displaying images in extremely bright rooms, but for the most part the only reason why people buy LCDs/LEDs is because of huge amounts of money spent by manufacturers touting their supposed benefits over plasma. The only upside to LCD in my book is that Plasmas aren't available in sizes smaller than 40".

[Vade]

Wish plasma didn't suck up a ton of electricity. One of the reasons I went LCD. <3 my sammy

[Atreides]

Wish plasma didn't suck up a ton of electricity. One of the reasons I went LCD. <3 my sammy

Also a misconception, or at least something that's been vastly blown out of proportion. There was a study done showing a plasma only uses about 30 dollars more per YEAR.

edit: here, from cnet
http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/tv-power-efficiency/

o discussion of TV power use would be complete without a bit of perspective. For households that pay somewhere near the average retail cost for energy--11.55 cents per kilowatt per hour in 2009--and that watch near the average amount per TV--about 5.2 hours per day--the cost to watch a 50-inch 1080p plasma TV is about $64 per year in the calibrated light output mode (see How We Test). The average 52- to 55-inch LCD TV costs about $29 per year for the same light output, and, of course, smaller TVs use less energy. Sure, both electricity costs and average daily TV use are increasing steadily every year; however, those amounts still don't take a major chunk out of most household budgets. According to the Department of Energy, for example, the average refrigerator uses nearly $90 worth of energy per year.

If that's the reason why you bought an LCD then the manufacturer's marketing worked exactly as it was intended.

[hopefulki]

Very interesting, thanks. #5 especially was interesting to me as I had read burn-in was a big problem. It seems plasma has been tainted by misinformation online and outright lies lol. If I had bought a > 40" TV, I would be pretty upset not knowing this beforehand.

When I do consider purchasing a larger TV, I will do some more research on plasma - correct research <_<

[kareface]

My only gripe about plasma is the blacks fading and having to replace the plasma in a few years, but if that is a non-issue to you/you will replace the TV before then, plasma is great too.

Whaaa, I don't even...

Fading is a manufacturing defect with a couple models of one brand, I don't know why you'd relate that to all plasmas. Why on earth do you think you'd have to replace the plasma in a few years? I love all the silly misconceptions when it comes to plasmas.

[hopefulki]

As I said, it was something I read which was clearly wrong but I am glad I brought it up, learned it was incorrect. I assume what people saw on those models spread and people thought it was on all plasmas and thus it spread, haha.

[Grey Jorildyn]

Seems most bases were covered here and lotsa good information. The one question I didn't see thrown around was to ask yourself what you are going to use the TV for primarily.

I owned an LCD for two years and the parents have a few in their home now too. Recently I stepped up to a 50" plasma from a 40" LCD and the difference is like night and day. Aside from the tech being far more recent than my previous set, I was blown away by the pricing and everything else that came with owning a plasma TV. It's a done deal for me now, but I do wish the room it was in had better lighting control and ventilation as it does get a bit hot. There are also some little quirks to owning a plasma, like paranoia about image retention and making sure the glass stays clean so you get the best viewing. However there's plenty of information on the net to help a new plasma owner out so no worries.

I personally recommend plasmas now for all the reasons stated in this thread. However I do respect LCDs as well because sometimes you just need a cute little TV somewhere.

[Boyiee]

Did I read that plasmas are better for computer monitors and gaming? Was going to pick up a 40inch+ new tv and this will save me a ton of money as well as get me better quality.