drq2

I am about ready to get a new LCD for the front room. Thinking 47/55/60/65 (no room for 70 ) it will be a 3D TV. I have others for the rest of the house but never really gave much into the Hz being they are 22 to 37 inch.

Does it matter, help, seem the price for both are all over the place. Any help would be great..

Q

Obi-Wanma

You can't really notice the difference 120 and 240, and the motion smoothing that it is responsbile for is an annoying feature that you'll probably want to turn off anyway (it makes film look like video), so don't worry about. I certainly wouldn't pay extra for 240.

K&AJones

Having a LCD in the past...Sony 52" Z5100, I can highly recommend looking at or at least consider a Plasma. In short I had to buy a new set to replace the broken Sony and was set on a new LED from Sony or Samsung. I know what you see in B.B stores is not the best but after nearly 2Hrs there and almost a full hour with Magnolia Rep I was sold on Plasma. The technology has vastly improved even over the last couple of years and cost is generally 20-30% less than LED's. The PQ of mid level plasmas can compete with higher LED models. As with any type; be it LCD, LED and Plasma each has pros & cons.

drq2

Years ago I used to work with computers on the back end. The 1st RDC-i700 had a plasma screen on it. I was told and seen 1st hand the life/hours of these. Within a hour of so of the end of life the plasma died. This was back in 97/01. I think (THINK?) the life is now 10,000 hour has anyone had them burn out at the end of life?

TheBigDave

The current Panasonic models claim:

"Thanks to a newly designed phosphor process and new panel technology, our plasma panels last for up to 100,000 hours before the brightness decreases by half. That's more than 30 years of viewing 8 hours a day."

drq2

Hmmm I will look into that. 10x or 100,000 hours is great. I leave my TV (front room) on all day long as background. This would still give me 15 to 20 years of life. I and deal with that. The TV I have now I got in 2000 still good but want better.

JimRochester

Sounds like my parents. That freakin TV is on all day long and naturally it's turned up super loud because they can't hear. I call over there and have to tell mom to turn the TV down. I can hear it clearly over the phone. She calls it "background noise"

Obi-Wanma

I'm not in the market for a new TV, but this seems as good a place as any to ask this question, since we have people discussing plasma v. LCD. Is it bad to watch a lot of 4:3 content on a new plasma, displayed at the correct aspect ratio? Just asking, because my kids watch 4:3 content pretty much all day long, and so do my brother's kids. He has a plasma, I have an LCD. Anyway, when his TV was new, he was displaying the content in the proper aspect ratio, and he started to notice that the black boxes on the sides were getting burnt into his screen. Since that time he decided to stretch the picture, and for me personally, that is an option I cannot deal with. I can't stand watching a stretched picture. If I ever do make the switch over to plasma, is this something I should be concerned about?

drq2

It's not really all that loud. I started doing this many year ago when I had live TV. I had on Cnet all the time, if not that channel it would be NASCAR or hockey (I no longer watch live TV). I still have it on with a TV show in the background when I am cooking. Other then that its not on. Still a LCD 40inch runs me about 90 cents a month to run all day long. Where a tube cost me about 90 a hour to run. This is the main idea why all the TVs are now going from tube to lcd.

Spiky

2 thoughts come to mind.....

You won't like:
Geez. I'll GIVE you my old Mits 27" tube, let them watch crap SD on that. And save your nice TV for nice viewing. Better yet, I'll give you my old 5" monitor. Maybe they'll hate it and go outside to play.

You will like:
Honestly, I think modern plasmas are probably ok with that kind of abuse, they've improved the tech way beyond what it was 10 years ago. But that is if set up properly. Meaning the contrast and brightness at proper levels. And there may be a mode to put them in to protect against burn-in.

Numanoid

I told this story before, but I bought a Samsung plasma last July. One day when I came home from work I was shocked to find my TV on, displaying a Windows desktop (I use it as an HTPC). I had left the TV on all day... nine or ten hours... on a static screen with no screen saver! I closed my eyes and changed the image, expecting to see some kind of burn in. But there was nothing. Not even a little temporary image retention. I was amazed.

Now, I did do the 100 hours burn in (let colored slides run continuously for the first 100 hours or so) since I had to wait several days before I could hang it anyway. But this little accidental test tells me that, most likely, with modern plasmas you don't have to worry about burn in.

Sdallnct

1. Life of a Plasma (or any technology) is a non-issue. You will want to upgrade to get the newest gee whiz feature or cool blue light long before the TV set goes out (any set).

2. Plasma's are pretty much safe from what is thought of as burn in. Many who get a new one are careful during an initial break in period. But just as many think this is pointless. Besides, when I read the owners manual of my Samsung LCD when I got it, it warned me about watching something with a stationary logo, or playing games to much or it could "burn in".

3. Get the biggest size you have room for. The only tricky part comes from do you (or how much) do you drop in quality for size. It is a tough call and would depend on what your watching. I would stay away from the off brand stuff and just wait for a deal on the name brand one's.

4. Enjoy.

SubZeri

Not totally correct. You are confusing the 120/240Hz with motion smoothing technology such as Samsung's "Auto Motion Plus". They are totally independent "features". You are correct in that you can turn AMP off, but it has zero effect on the Hz that your TV is displaying. If you have a 120Hz TV, you will always be displaying 120Hz whether AMP is turned on or off, they aren't related.

The "soap opera effect" is in no way related to the Hz of your display. This is a too-common misconception.