So i know there are several home entertainment guru's on here. Wich is better in the 50 inch or so size range as far as overall performance and energy usage? And wich do you guys think would last longer before screenburn or dead pixels become an issue?

 

plasma should cost less to operate, life expectancy is comperable. if you're mounting into wood, get whatever you think looks best and is on sale. if you're mounting into steel, get an lcd.

 

plasma is wayyy higher. Ill double check though

 

When my parents got their plasma (42" Panasonic for $900, yay for my sis being the Art Director at Best Buy corporate :gay they told us that after a month or so break-in, you should get the tv professionally calibrated. They adjust brightness, contrast etc for a better picture and it uses around half the power of an uncalibrated tv. Only a few Best Buys are offering this service at the moment, but I'm sure you can find someone else to do it.

 

I'd get an LCD. I picked up a Panasonic Viera and kind of regret it now. I'm into gaming and cant play for more than a couple hours, and even then I get some nice ghosting. Picture is freakin sweet tho

 

no. peak consumption is higher, but average consumption ("real world use") will be lower.

sam, don't drink the kool aid dude.

Ben
<-- ISF/sencore trained

 

But the Best Buy tv specialist was really sharp! I mean, he was like 18, but i think most of those years were spent in front of a tv. They probably wouldn't have hired him if he wasn't an expert on their products, right?

 

Life expectancy is a wash unless you're a gamer. Then you have no real choice. You should go with an LCD. I just bought the Samsung LN-T4661F which gets top scores on CNET.com and Consumer Reports. It's awesome and beats my Sony rear projection hands down.

 

I've got a Sharp Aquos LC46D92U. It makes my pants feel funny when I watch it. I've got no complaints about it at all, just wish there were more HD programming.

 

"For somewhat lower electric bills. LCDs tend to use less power than comparably sized plasma TVs. It doesn't appear that the differences would affect your electric bills by more than a few dollars a month in many cases, so that might not be a major factor in your decision. But there is obviously an environmental advantage to using a less power-hungry TV." - Consumer Reports

I haven't seen data either way, but so far its the only source I found.

 

if you want a killer TV.....
http://www.nuvision.com/tv/52LEDLP/

Nuvision is the ****

 

the backlit technologies (projection, LCD) all keep the backlight on all the time and will use more energy while the set is on. emissive displays like oled and plasma wont use as much when the screen is black.

however
the avg CRT is still more energy efficient than all of the above. the distinction you want to be aware of is how efficient per square inch of display area. That's where CRT's can't even compete.

 

You wont notice a difference. Trust me. As for life expectancy? Dont worry about that, you will get a new TV before that ever becomes an issue.

Get whatever looks good to you.

How much you wanna spend anyway?

 

Quoting consumer reports...I thought better of you.

 

Haha, considering I don't have any data, nor does anyone else. I quoted the most reputable source I could find.

 

Jay--can you get DirecTV where you live? They have a ****-ton of HD channels.


Yeah... this thread ain't exactly full of pearls of wisdom...

Loki--the data's out there. I'm just too lazy to dig it up. It was a hot topic a couple years ago. And anyone who really cares can always go to BestBuy with a Kill-A-Watt. But, anyone who's basing their purchasing decision on which display will cost $.50/month less to run probably shouldn't be in the market for a large hd display anyway. Like those guys who won't buy a new MB because they take premium fuel.

 

Unless he lives in a City with weather. Between the wind/rain dishes aren't that reliable.

PS. Im also too lazy to look it up.

 

DTV will have 100 HD channels by jan, they have about 60 now, but please, give me dish with their 10 or w/e they have

 

 

I've got a 20" dish and have no trouble at all. Very rarely if the weather is just right I'll get some breakup but it has to be raining very hard. I've had the dish full of snow and still get decent signal strength.