[UK-CONTEST] Plasma or LCD

[G8EWT at diacon.co.uk]

Until recently I used to be in the display business myself. I basically
endorse all that Dave has said but would add:

-	Generally speaking plasma occupies the space where LCD struggles. A
few years ago this meant that smaller screens were LCD and over about 32"
all sets were plasma. Today the crossover point is in the range 42" - 46".
Thus you are unlikely to find many if any plasmas in the size range that
you're looking for.

-	Plasma & LCD screens look far better when fed with signals from a
digital source (Freeview/Sky etc) compared to analogue. CRT's show a similar
improvement but the difference is far greater with plasma/LCD as the "focus"
improvement extends all the way into the corners. CRT corner focus is way
down on the centre. I consider a digital source to be almost a must have.

-	One consequence of the dramatically reduced depth of plasma/LCD over
CRT is that it's possible to make a very large increase in screen size
without the new TV appearing more overpowering in your home when switched
off. My recommendation is to go for the biggest screen size you can. CRT
screens were small because of technology limitations (bulk, weight,
manufacturing etc) and not because people want small screens. After all when
did you last hear someone complain about the large screen size in the
cinema? 

I hope that my tuppence halfpenny of wisdom helps.

Graham
G8EWT

-----Original Message-----
From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dave Sergeant
Sent: 30 March 2008 17:53
To: UK Contest Reflector
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] Plasma or LCD

On 30 Mar 2008 at 16:00, John Wayman wrote:

> Sounds Off Topic, I know, but the question is this:
> 
> Now that the time has come when neither my wife nor I can read the
> captions on the Television screen (the letters have definitely got
> smaller over the years), we have decided we need to procure a larger
> television! I have the luxury of living in a relatively RF quiet
> location and I don't want to mess it up. I have heard horror stories
> about flat screen televisions being very noisy on HF, and others about
> the reliability of one type or another being poor. In order to
> maintain my relatively low noise level, whilst being able to read the
> score on Match Of The Day, what sort of television (about 35-40 inch
> screen) should I buy? Plasma or LCD, make(s) to avoid, good
> experiences, bad experiences, all welcome. I can think of no reflector
> where I am likely to get a more appropriate response than from the
> contest fraternity.
> 

If QRM is your main criterion then avoid plasma like the plague. I 
guess there might be a few quiet ones, but by and large they are 
diabolical with most of the radiation directly from the display 
itself. GM3OFT had an interesting article on sorting out his 
neighbour's new plasma QRM in a recent edition of OT News (RAOTA).

LCD are much better in this respect, and any problems are likely due 
to wallwart power adaptors than the set itself. But you have to be 
very careful in choosing one if you are expecting better picture 
quality than your existing CRT set. Historically lcd's have served 
the small screen area and plasma for the large screen market, but 
that is changing. But it means the design of large screen lcd's are 
probably compromised. In general LCDs will suffer from various 
problems due to movement in the picture and digital artifacts. Some 
of the cheap budget sets are dreadful, the more reputable brands do 
tend to be rather better. But you really need to spend some time 
viewing the set with the sort of programmes you tend to watch, rather 
than the high contrast bright things most shops choose for their in-
shop demonstrations. If you can compare side by side with a CRT set 
it will give you an insight as well.

Don't be carried away with the 'HD ready' slogans. Unless you want to 
pay Mr Murdoch loads of money for Sky HD, or watch HD DVDs etc (on HD 
equipment to match) you won't get any high definition programs to 
display on it for many years.

And as an afterthought, you are most unlikely to get the 10-20 years 
plus life of your CRT set out of either LCD or plasma. Backlights and 
their inverters used in LCDs have been problematic, and if the 
display fails (not uncommon) it will cost more than the complete set. 
I am in the repair business myself, but repair very few LCDs and no 
plasma at all, it is just not economically viable.

Off topic, but as you say probably relevant.

73 Dave G3YMC

http://www.davesergeant.com

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