LED or Plasma TV

I am perusing purchasing a 50 inch TV just in case I get less mobile in the future,but what I know about large TV,s you could put on the back of a postage stamp

Could you please advise me in your opinion what is the difference and the best buy for me Led or Plasma ,Thank you my friends,enjoy your day

 

Ah, my comfort zone! I spent just over 10 years in the trade Woo, and although I have been out of it a while, I retain my interest, and am of course more than happy to help you along.

First things first, lets get the manufacturers sorted out - nowadays, there are very few companies that actually make TV's all by themselves, many pay a third party company to make TV's for them (to a price and a spec), with the net result being that you are buying something with a brand name on the front, and there the relationship with that brand ends.

For that reason, very few TV brands are worth looking at in my opinion. Furthermore, prices are generally low for modern TV's (If I think back 24 or so years ago when I started in the trade, a 21" remote control TV with a stand was £399, or £449 if you wanted teletext!), and it is still an area where you definitely get what you are paying for.

For my money, the only brands currently worth a light are Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and LG (pretty much in that order too!)

A few questions before we get into the nitty-gritty:

- Where are you intending on having the TV (lounge, bedroom, conservatory), and where will it be sited/mounted (cabinet on a stand or wall)?

- Do you watch more movies or more sport/fast action?

- How would you describe your ideal TV picture (bright, vivid colour or slightly more natural for example)?

- What sources will you be using (are you wanting FreeView only, or will you be using Sky/Virgin and things like Blu-Ray)?

- Are you intending using the built-in audio, or will it be used with a home cinema (or similar) system?

- Any other wants/needs/wishes?

 

Hi F/Controller you are a diamond my friend and many thanks for your help,it is really appreciated

1.Lounge/ Wall

2.Documentaries/Sport

3.Slightly more natural

4.Virgin Cable

5.Built in audio

6.Thank you

 

A very sound set of questions.

I've just become a little more knowledgeable (doesn't mean that I know much) about modern TV's as I have just ordered one.

I did my research which included the Which? reports on TV's. They said that one particular TV was exceptionally good, for what I wanted, but that it was last year's model. Doing further research, and asking a cousin who is an expert on modern electronic gear, they all said it was very good. The difficulty was in finding one that was still around.

What I did find in my searching was that I needed to decide on my priorities.

What size did I really need and was it suitable for the room size?

How important was the sound quality? As you get older you usually need one with clearer/cleaner sound. If you have a slight hearing problem is it in the upper or lower tones? Different TV's have a difference in their ranges.
Modern TV's don't have the quality of sound they used to, because they are all slimline. So for some you may need sound bars.

As the screens are quite flat, there are some that are not so good if you wish to watch them from an angle. So if you have a wide room and one of you may be sitting to the side, you may need to be choosy about that.

Most of the good TV's have Wi-Fi connections and the one we've ordered has built in Freeview, Freesat, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and a load of others that I haven't the faintest what they are and probably wouldn't use them. It has 3D , built in Skype, lots of Apps (haven't the faintest, about them), PVR and, apparently you can even tell it (voice control) what programme you want etc.

I don't think I'll get to learn a quarter of its functions.

It's only a 40" but is sufficient for us.

It's LED and I decided against Plasma.

I'm sure FC will be able to help you a lot.

 

Sorry for the delay in responding, I had to do the 'Sainsbury's shuffle'

Right, down to the nuts and bolts. Given your answers, I would say that you are looking at an LED TV (with a possible caveat) - allow me to explain.

Plasma Pros:
- More 'natural' picture, that still give fantastic vibrancy whilst being smoother
- Blacks are black (or as near as is possible on a screen)
- Rendering of fast motion (think tennis, football, snooker etc) is superior to LED/LCD
- Audio tends to be superior as the TV's cabinet is slightly larger

Plasma Cons:
- TV's cabinet is slightly larger, therefore very difficult to get one with the 'picture on the wall' effect
- Plasma TV's are heavier, mainly because they contain sheets of glass
- Plasma TV's consume more electricity (approximately four times as much as an equivalent LED/LCD
- Plasma technology is becoming less common, simply because it costs a lot more than LED/LCD to manufacture, and that situation has only become worse as sales volume has declined


LED/LCD Pros:
- Lightweight construction makes them very easy to accomodate
- Possible to get LED TV's that have very little bezel around the screen which make them look literally like a picture hanging on a wall
- Give very bright, vibrant pictures
- Generally cost less
- Good energy efficiency

LED/LCD Cons:
- Picture can be a tad 'in your face' for some people, but most can be tamed with a bit of time spent setting them up correctly
- They don't handle fast motion just as well as a plasma (although they are considerably better than they used to be, and if you get a good one, I would be surprised if you can spot it)
- Blacks tend to be grey due to back lighting (this plagues the older fluorescent backlit LCD's much more than the more modern LED backlit ones - again, vast improvements in recent years)
- Viewing angles can be restrictive on some (rare nowadays, and generally confined to the el-cheapo stuff)
- Audio quality tends to be 'mediocre' to 'just fine', they are never going to impress

A plasma would always be the choice of an enthusiast, simply because they do give superior picture quality, and generally offer better sound too - they are more expensive for a reason. However, LED TV's have improved so significantly in recent years, for many of us the additional outlay required for a plasma doesn't make sense. Panasonic are still the daddy of plasma TV's, however they will be stopping production of them before too long. Samsung make them, but they are not as good as the Panasonic ones.

I have a nearly 7 year old Panasonic 46" (watching snooker on BBC 2 HD over the top of the laptop screen as I type) and it still rewards us daily with beautiful pictures. I will be hard pushed when it comes time to replace it.

Upstairs, we had a 37" LG LCD - I was given it by someone who was throwing out as it wasn't working, and around £60 later I had it running; the pictures on it were OK, but could never hold a light to the big Panny downstairs. Little C had a small Samsung 19" which was mediocre at best, and the sound was awful. We bought that for her room in the old house, and it was like a pea in a drum in her room when we moved here.

Just before Christmas, we decided to get her a new, slightly larger TV, but looking around the prices of the smaller ones were the same or even more than the larger ones, so as it wasn't actually anything to do with Christmas, we went for a Samsung 40" LED for our room (which gave us FreeView HD) and passed our LG on to Little C.

The Samsung is nothing short of stunning, especially given that I parted with just over £300 for it - its not a SMART TV (no WiFi) but that doesn't really bother me. Having seen a lot of their product, I have arrived at the conclusion that Samsung are about the best for LED (much as I love Panasonic!) - their picture quality is fantastic, the sound ain't bad, and they are well priced. My only criticism is that the remote control could be a wee bit clearer (Panasonic always did win hands down for easy to use remotes), but once you get the hang of it, its not an issue.

I will go and have a dig and come back with some specific examples - bear with me

 

Right - here is a Samsung that is around the size you are looking for (its available in 46 or 55" guises, but bear in mind that the bezel is nearly invisible, and that the 'feet' won't be there when it is wall mounted)

Or, the absolute daddy of their range - I have seen one of these in operation in a family members home, and the picture was remarkable - people on screen looked as though they were in the room with you. Hell of a lot of money, but by god does it pay you back in spades.

This looks like a bit of a bargain too - Sony were the masters of TV's back in the days of tubes, as no-one could hold a light to their Trinitron tubes - they are not as much to the fore of the market nowadays in my opinion, but still make great products.

However, having said all that - if it were my hard earned money, I would be buying this Panasonic - for the money, it is incredible value, and assuming you are not looking for 3D, it would be a fine companion

Also, just for the record - don't be conned into buying expensive HDMI leads. The likes of Curry's etc will try and sell you one for something stupid like £60! Nothing more than daylight robbery, and a fiver will get you one that will perform just as well.

 

Good morning F/controller and all my other friends, many thanks for all your valuable and most helpful input

FC the information that you have given me is just outstanding and thank you for taking the time to help me,it really is very much appreciated

 

Good morning @wise owl - it is my pleasure, and I will be happy to give any more help you need.

I am at work at the moment, but will be keeping a wee eye on mobile, so should be able to respond at some point.

@Zigs, and a good few others have my email address, and they can take this as express permission to pass it on to you if it helps, failing that I will PM you it later

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

Funnily enough, we had a 39" Toshiba LED delivered for my department at work this morning - definitely not as good as the equivalent from Samsung/Sony (flimsy feeling build quality, menus are not as intuitive as they could be); however, in fairness it still gives quite a good picture, and given that its only around £350, its quite a lot of TV for the money.

One other thing I would add @wiseowl, is to make sure you get one with FreeView HD even if you don't think you will use it -- its a good fallback in the event that your Virgin box decides to take the huff, at least that way you will have something to watch with decent picture quality until an engineer gets to you.