TV

[canakar]

Do LCD's and Plasma TV's have different impact on your eyes.What are they? And generally what is the main difference? Which one will you think will be better in a living room

[AndrewEvans]

Most Plasma's are cheaper than there LCD counter part.  A plasma generaly has much more vivid colour and much brighter picture. It is very much like a very thin CRT.

A plasma is not recommend above certain land elevations. so check the manufacturer suggested land elevation.  ( only if you live in very high altitude areas )

All plasma's hace a glass screen so in area's with a lot of light directed at the screen,  there is a lot of reflection.

An LCD is usually more money! Has a much faster refresh rate which makes it good for use at a computer monitor or for video games. ( no burn in )  LCD's have very poor darks images,  they appear very grey not black and has a much softer picture.  LCD's have little to no reflection problems when it comes to heavily lit areas.

*** When it comes to refresh rates the human eye cannot depict more than 60Hz. So when you find a television with 120Hz refresh it is only to better suit the filming processes of the new bluray and HDDVD discs***

In my opinion I prefer plasma's due to the shear brightness of the picture and how vivid thye full spectrum of clours are.  including the darks!

I hope this helps

[scooby2878]

I also prefer plasma one reson is that they have a faster refresh rate than lcd. lcd have a refresh of 120 hz the panasonic plasma is 480 hz.

[suexec]

I was faced with that dilemna too.  I went with plasma for the richer colours, deeper blacks, and faster display.

[Snapshot]

Neither will have such an impact on your eyes, but what can have an impact is the level of brigtness, how close you sit to it and how big the TV is. I had a 19" TV before I bought my 34" widescreen HD CRT, the 19" constantly gave me headaches. Once I got my 34" I had no more headaches, it was bigger therefore I wasn't squinting which put a lot of strain on my eyes. I now a 46" plasma and I just love it, no eye strain! YIPPEE! as for brightness, keep it on cinema mode, not too bright nor too dark...I find its just right. Cycle through the different color settings to see which is most suitable for you.

[Fyrblade]

I have to disagree with a couple of AndrewEvans points.. LCD generally is noted for being a much brighter picture, but plasma is known for having a far better refresh rate than LCD. One additional note, some plasma's come with an anti-glare screen which is very much appreciated.  Obviously it doesn't eliminate it fully but by my eye I'd say it effectively reduces it by 40%.

Cheers

Message Edited by Fyrblade on 12-27-2008 07:49 AM

[Snapshot]

I can see reflection being an issue with eye strain, my plasma has a coating which helps to diffuse the reflections. Mind you LCDs will cut it down a lot more but its not too bad. Just turns the lights down or off, or position your set so its in less contact with lights.

With brightness, the brighter the color settings the faster the display can wear...I keep it on a medium setting like cinema so 1. its not so bright, 2. it will last longer, and 3.burn-inis less likely to occur (the brighter its is the more heat it produces in that area).  

[caperguy33]

Cinema mode is almost unwatchable on my panasonic plasma, It is way too dark and the colours are very washed out. Even in a room with no ambient light cinema mode is not acceptable. During the day standard mode can seem a little dim at times. I find sometimes I have to select vivid mode and turn the contrast down to half. I also own lcd and there is no comparrison is the brightness. Lcd wins hands down when it come to that. Happy New Year everyone!

[dobyblue]

Plasma's dont refresh faster than LCD's, but their response time is far better.
So many people have seen the "480Hz subfield" on the Panasonic plasma's and presumed that has something to do with the refresh rate...but it does NOT.

The -80 and -85 series refresh at 60Hz.

The -800 and -850 refresh at 48Hz or 60Hz depending on whether you want filmic reproduction of Blu-ray Discs which are encoded at 1080p24.

The Pioneer plasma's refresh at 60Hz or 72Hz depending on whether or not you have PureCinema set, but will automatically go to 72Hz when receiving a 1080p24 input.

Plasma doesn't need to refresh any faster than that. LCD goes to 120 and now 240Hz to make up for its poor response time.

[Snapshot]

I like the cinema mode on my Panasonic.