Home Theater/HDTV/et al...

tabana wrote::hehe:
They're good too. Just don't forget them under an halogen lamp. ;)

haha...

It appears that plasmas are losing in favor of LCDs... Anyone own a plasma or knows someone who owns a plasma?

bmwracer wrote:It appears that plasmas are losing in favor of LCDs... Anyone own a plasma or knows someone who owns a plasma?

please donate any such plasmas to me.

I'm also willing to adopt one. ;)


I know 2 or 3 person who had plasma. They all returned them within a month, because of burn in. They're great, if you're only watching movies on them. Gaming and cable TV sucks. You'll end up with permanent stuff like "CNN" or "NBC" on your tv. Not good if you watch the playboy channel or the women channel all the time. :P

Besides, you can have much better than plasma these days. The Samsung LNT4681 uses Local Dimming technology (LED backlight). With it you have 500,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

One of the local electronics stores here was offering a two-for-one deal: buy a Sharp Aquos 52" and get a 42" plasma free...

Two hitches: the plasma was an unnamed brand and the Aquos cost $4500. :sweat:

At that price, it seems you're paying for the plasma too.

Amazon:
LC52D64U 52": $2,438.88 (List Price: $3,199.99)
LC52D62U 52": $2,299.99 (List Price: $3,699.99)
FREE SHIPPING

tabana wrote:At that price, it seems you're paying for the plasma too.

Absolutely.

But as the saying goes, "There's a sucker born every minute."

:say_yes:
It's not 2 for the price of 1, but 2 TVs for 1 price (price #1 + price #2 + $200 = 1 price) :P

bmwracer wrote:It appears that plasmas are losing in favor of LCDs... Anyone own a plasma or knows someone who owns a plasma?

iv'e got about 6 pints.

krim wrote:iv'e got about 6 pints.

That would be 6p.

That falls way short of the HD spec. :P

bmwracer wrote:Some highlights from the dtv.com site:

- The switchover date to digital TV (DTV) is February 17, 2009.
- Each household will be able to get two $40 vouchers for DTV-SDTV conversion boxes (available January 1, 2008)

They've delayed this transition. Originally it was supposed to be in 2007 (I think). Most of the newer TVs should have some form of digital tuner. If it doesn't it's :shit:.

krim wrote:

iv'e got about 6 pints.

the problem is your 6 pints is beer not plasma. :beaten:

kanpai!

krim wrote:kanpai!

:drink:

Getting back on topic:

dochira wrote:They've delayed this transition. Originally it was supposed to be in 2007 (I think). Most of the newer TVs should have some form of digital tuner. If it doesn't it's :shit:.

Well, let's see if they put it off again... :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:Getting back on topic:
Well, let's see if they put it off again... :sweat:

I highly doubt it. The frequencies that the analog channel are using are being auctioned off by the FCC. Analog transmissions will end in 2009. *watch I jinx it*

dochira wrote:I highly doubt it. The frequencies that the analog channel are using are being auctioned off by the FCC. Analog transmissions will end in 2009. *watch I jinx it*

There's gonna be a lotta people dumping their SDTVs into the trash. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:It appears that plasmas are losing in favor of LCDs... Anyone own a plasma or knows someone who owns a plasma?

I have a 50" plasma. I've had it for about 1.5 years now. It's hooked up to Extended Basic cable and my PS2 via component cables. I am very pleased with it. I game quite a bit on it, and I've never had any burn in.

Madoka wrote:I have a 50" plasma. I've had it for about 1.5 years now. It's hooked up to Extended Basic cable and my PS2 via component cables. I am very pleased with it. I game quite a bit on it, and I've never had any burn it.

Any downsides?

Why did you consider it over an LCD?

bmwracer wrote:
Any downsides?

Why did you consider it over an LCD?

Downsides, it was recommended that I "break it in" for the first 200 hours. The plasma burns more intensely when it's new and is more susceptible to burn in then. Afterwards, the risk is much lower. So, I limited gaming and static images as instructed, and I have had no problems since. Plasmas have "image retention" where the cells that are active (usually for bright whites on for a long time) have an after image even when the TV is off. I read somewhere that the residual electric charge in the cell keeps the image on temporaily. However, it has never remained on my TV for more than a few minutes, after the static charge discharges. This is not the "burn in" that people are concerned about. This goes away for me immediately if I watch something else, as the cells are busy with the new colors it's supposed to display. I've put in over 100 hours on FFXII and VP: Silmeria with no game burn in. Those games do widescreen which look great on the large TVs. These are just my observations, and I am no expert in plasma or HDTVs.

I got it as, back then, plasmas were still said to have better blacks and no motion blur. It does have extremely nice color, and movies look great on it. I think that LCDs have made great strides in those areas since I got it.