I was very worried as well and I can tell you I've had no issues at all since buying the set. And that's with 4-5 hour gaming sessions with games that have static hud's on the screen. Sometimes I'll see a ghost for a minute or two but it never lasts.

I read a lot about plasmas before pulling the trigger and the technology has come a long way. There's also built in pixel shift modes which will help with retention too if you're concerned.

I've had both plasma and LCD. The main reason we switched to LCD is because of the reflection on the plasma screen - it would totally wash out during the daytime in our room. Room type should be a significant factor in the decision. If you have a dark roomer room with minimal window issues, plasma is great. My dad has one and it looks fantastic. For us though, LCD was the better choice. I've seen some LCDs since we got ours that have reflective screens, so I don't know how good they'd be in our room.

That's a good point. Plasmas use glossy screens and can get washed out if there's direct sunlight. I have to pull the blinds in the afternoon when the sun is shining directly in.

my plasma definitly beats the crap out of my lcds in picture quality
but my lcds never ghost, where my plasma and most plasmas that i have seen at friends house.. occassionally ghost.. and that annoys the crap out of me (doesnt seem to bother alot of people as much as it bugs me)

but i guess its a trade off

I'm not sure what the correlation is but the only time I've seen ghosting is when the set is switching into 3D mode. In the brief moment it switches and has a black screen, I'll sometimes see a logo of a game or show I was playing for a while recently. That goes away completely when the 3D kicks in.

I'm wondering how long my DLP LED-color engine-based HDTV set will last because while it's not as "awesome" as a plasma, I don't get any appreciable reflections from the DLP's screen, which bothered me when I had a 50" Panasonic plasma a few years ago. So, I'm sort of dreading when my current TV dies, and have to pick between LCD/LED and plasma again.

I already have two plasma sets and haven't had a problem. But I'm just quick to un-pause or turn off the set. I never did any of those break in things people recommend. Those, I've heard, are not needed any more.

I also have a Sony Grand Wega LCD rear projection TV which is currently collecting dust in a spare room. There really is no comparison to a modern TV as you have issues like overscan and pale blacks. New TVs do exact pixel mapping and the glare is only an issue if you don't own curtains. My family room is like a cave. The Sony also got dust in the LCD unit and has to be professionally cleaned. Screw that. It looks like fingerprints on the screen. I also replaced the light bulb before putting it on mothballs. It did have a pretty good picture though.

The new 65" TV I'm buying is going into a basement with zero outside light. The gigantic DLP displays available were enticing but it takes up too much space for my liking.

60"? 65"? I thought you wanted to go big.

IMO if you want big the ONLY option is a front projector. Especially if you have a basement where you can do so much.

Another bonus, so much less expensive than a large TV. Even considering a new bulb every two years.

I have a 94" screen that I LOVE! But if you have the space 110" is pretty common and provides an excellent image with todays modern digital displays.

I have DLP and love it. I think the black levels are outstanding. But if you have low ceilings down there, you might want to go LCD as many of them, even entry levels one's have lens shift.

No, a PJ is not plug and play. You would probably need a weekend to plan, measure, remeasure, install and set up both it and the screen. But that is a one time event and well worth the effort.

I'm so glad I did it and prefer the image over any other TV in the house (including two other LCD TV's).

I echo everything Sdallnct said. A basement room already wired for front projection? I don't see any reason not to get a front projector, particularly if screen size is a priority. You can get a very good 3LCD 1080p projector and 90- to 110-inch fixed screen for the price of a decent 60-inch+ plasma (and it's really not that hard to set up, particularly if you get a 3LCD projector).

The 32" LCD that my kid just destroyed was a so-called amazing/matte/screen/perfect/for/lighted/rooms set. Couldn't see a damn thing on it with the windows uncovered in daylight. I'm replacing with plasma.

Sun. Wins. Every. Time.

I really don't know why people talk about this, anymore. I've sat in other people's rooms and listened to them tell me how great it was to have a super-bright LCD, while looking at it and wondering if it was on or off because the damn sun blinded it!
I third the motion. Blacks won't be as inky unless you pay for a LCOS model (as low as $2500 street, wow!), but there's just something about having a screen 3-4x as large as the 60" that people think is "big" that makes up for a little less perfect black.

Yeah, I can't for the life of me understand why you'd want a mere 60" screen when you could have a 100" or more, and a setup that sounds like it's all ready to go. I rock a 125.5" front projection and use it constantly as both my PC monitor, as well as for movie and TV watching. And with bulb life being on average about 4000 hours these days, you can use it as you would a regular TV and not worry about replacing the bulb for years.

Seriously...why do we talk about this?

To get the best out of ANY display you cannot have light shinning on the screen. Period. End of discussion. The Sun is the sun is the sun. It makes any and all displays look bad.

That is almost the exact reason wife let idiot salesperson talk her into LCD when she knew I was looking at Plasma. "Oh you have lots of windows, you need LCD". After we got the TV, we had to put up curtains.

But....this is pointless. The single best choice in the OP's situation is to go front projector. Everything else is a distant 2nd. Nothing gets you "into" the movie/theater experience like a 100" screen. And really most new digital projectors can handle even bigger, if you have the room. And they produce and excellent image. And having the space to work in a basement there really is not a down side if you are willing to do a little work. Course if you want to mount and hide the wires on a big plasma, I'm not sure it really is that much if any more work.

i will say that while i agree that plasmas are bad in situations where there is a lot of light, i will throw out one exception to that rule in my own experience. my parents have a 60" pioneer elite plasma in their family room it's a room that has a ton of windows out to the backyard (they are up against a desert preserve). there is a lot of light coming in and i have yet to have a problem seeing the tv even during the day, from any angle. it looks phenomenal. i wish he would've dropped the coin to get it professionally calibrated, though.

Fixed

i won't agree with that. i have a sony 65" dlp in my family room where we get a ton of light. i've never encountered a situation where the light interfered with the screen.

So you have experience that Plasma doesn't have a problem with light and also experience that DLP doesn't have a problem with light. So your saying of the current formats, only LCD's have trouble with light? That would be counter to what most people say.

My point is not so much if light causes issues or not.

My point is to argue that one technology is better than another with light shinning on it pointless. They are all bad. To argue which is less bad is kind of pointless.

Or if you prefer, to get the best possible image out of any display (any technology), you can't have sunlight shinning on the screen. Sun will always win.

Good example. I have an older 720 DLP front projector in my media room. It is is no torch for sure (its the HD70). I have an entire wall of windows (2 large windows and a sliding glass door). I have heavy curtains, 4 of them. One of my favorite things to do is watch the Sunday news shows (or even some movie) on Sunday mornings while have coffee and reading the paper. I can leave the two curtains open that are by the seating area which makes the room more than bright enough to read the paper. But the image on my screen is good. Because the sun is not shinning on the screen.

However, if I just crack the curtain up front near the screen a touch that would allow light on the screen the image is gone. It sucks. It is bad. And that wouldn't make a difference it was Plasma, LCD, LED, or whatever.

There can be light in the room. But you better not have the sun shinning on your screen. And if you do, the technology doesn't matter. Unless you want to argue what is less sucky.

Hmm, in my LR the windows face south. No TV shines through the sun. Not CRT, not LCD. And it doesn't have to be direct sunlight, the winter glare through clouds is plenty bright. I shut the drapes when I want to see TV.

No offense, Deftones, but I find a lot of people don't really care about the light blocking part of the screen, and then claim it never happens. Are you one of those people? The slightest bit annoys me. One 60w equivalent CFL lamp in the wrong spot in our LR with our matte LCD screen would blur or wash out a portion and annoy me. Not like a reflection on a shiny screen, that's true, but it still blocks the TV pic.

There's a reason theaters are almost totally dark.

Get the 103" Panasonic plasma.
http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_el...ma/default.asp

Even if money wasn't an issue for the set, at 485 lbs, I doubt that good priced Monoprice mount could hold it!

i don't have an LCD, Sdallnct, so I can't comment. I'm just saying in one specific instance w/ a plasma in a room with a lot of light, there are no problems. I've seen other setups where it is a problem.

I think your getting more to my point. It is not the display technology...it is the sun. The sun doesn't know what type of display it is.

no, it's not really your point, though. everyone always complains that plasmas suck in areas where there is too much light or little light control. i've had the opposite experience. just throwing out anecdotal experience out there.

I have the 58" Panasonic. It's a couple years old. At the time I looked at the Samsung which was cheaper but I felt the picture quality was better on the Panny. I really wanted the Pioneer but at twice the price it became out of reach when i was laid off.

I'm pretty sure people will want to watch the screen with the lights on while doing other things. I'm not interested in front projection at the moment.