So a guy in the TV shop told me that plasma is better than LCD

frobisher

I asked him about the gas depleting and ghosting coming on the image after a short while. He said that that was on the older generation plasmas, that the new ones are far superior to comparable LCDs for moving images and that manufacturers are putting an approx of 100,000 hours use to be expected from plasmas. I haven't heard this before about the new v old plasmas and as I like to watch sports (fast movement) I'm interetsed to know more.

So is this fact or sales pitching to get the extra €00's for the plasma?

uncle_sam_ie

He's correct. The pre 2004 plasma's had issues with screen burn. It's not so much on the newer one's. But, that all depends on the brand you buy. Plasma's will last as long as LCD's and is the best option for fast moving action like sports. They do blacks and color's a lot better then LCD's. But, aren't that great in bright lit rooms or connecting to a PC. They also cost more to run.

shayser

The few times I've seen a plasma along side a LCD with the same signal, i.e., in a shop, the plasma has always looked much better. Don't know though how they would look when configured to a personal preference and in a home environment. I saw a Panasonic in a shop in August with a picture that amazed me but it had the word Philips (from a Philips HD demo DVD) burned into the top left hand corner, even though the word moved from top left to bottom right every minute or so. Perhaps because the screen was on for 9 hours a day but because of this burn I didn't get the plasma but a LCD. The picture was so good on the plasma my decision is still somewhat a regretful one.

mathias

They are better for blacks and movement but theres not much in it these days , both technologies are flying along , Between the panasonic LCD's and Plasma's for instance , you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference ,

You still have the run in period for burn in though with the plasma , and if you plan on hooking it up to a PC or a console you'd be better off in the long run with an LCD.

Beware the funny non 16:9 ( 1024 x 768 and so on ) native resolutions on some Plasmas as well , they can cause no end of hassle with some sources.
( e.g. Some nvidia cards do not support it over HDTV out and so on )

CivilServant

Plasmas still lead the way but LCDs are getting better with technologies to tweak more out of lcd, mainly LED backlit screen. They can shut down the light in dark areas to give more contrast.