plasma

Recently we took a poll where we asked "What's stopping you from getting a plasma?" A majority of voters rebuked my premise, picking "I love my plasma." The other responses were fairly evenly split among the choices.

However, there was a surprisingly common reason given in the comments that baffled me, and it's so bizarre it's clearly worth debunking, or at least shining the light on the facts.

So how much do TVs weigh?… Read more

Today's HDTVs are packed with Smart TV suites, fancy picture processing, and other extras that add functionality and/or affect picture quality. For a serious gamer, none of that matters compared to the responsiveness of the TV, and often the extras just get in the way.

The culprit is input lag. That's the term for the delay, in milliseconds, between a TV receiving a signal and the results of that signal appearing on the screen. Those milliseconds are irrelevant for TV shows and movies, and they don't even matter for most games -- the majority of gamers probably wouldn't even notice if their TV was laggy. But if you're an attentive, skilled gamer, especially one who plays "twitch" games like Call of Duty, Halo, or fighting games, especially in online multiplayer environments, input lag can mean the difference between virtual life and death.

CNET just started testing for input lag, and so far we've corralled a handful of 2013 TVs. Here are five of our favorites so far, in ascending order of lag in Game mode -- or the least laggy picture mode, if Game isn't an option. For reference, we grade under 40ms of lag as Good, 40 to 70 as Average, and more than 70 as Poor.

… Read more

If you look at CNET's lists of best TVs this year, or any recent year, chances are good there's a plasma TV made by Panasonic at the top. That's because they consistently offer excellent picture quality for the price.

Sure, Samsung's plasmas also do very well, and for that matter we've lauded a number of LED LCD TVs by Vizio, Sharp, Sony, and others. We've also given plenty of flat-out bad reviews to Panasonic's LCD TVs, and even to the cheapest Panasonic plasma last year (this year's version, the X60, just started shipping). But no combination of brand and technology has done as well in our reviews over the last few years as Panasonic's plasmas.

So if you're thin-slicing the hopelessly confusing and BS-riddled TV market in search of your next set, you could do worse than simply asking yourself the question in this article's headline. The breakdown below, arranged in ascending order of price (prices current as of press time), should help with the answer. … Read more

If you've done any research into TVs, Blu-ray players, or Blu-ray in general, you've likely seen the alphanumeric 1080p24 (or 1080p/24).

Understanding what it is, and keeping a lookout for products that can take advantage of it, can result in smoother, more natural-looking movie and TV show playback. I'm not talking about the artificially hypersmooth look of the Soap Opera Effect, but instead the correct cadence of motion at which the film or TV show was shot.

All the judder reducing -- and causing -- awesomeness after the jump.… Read more

In the event's most closely fought battle in years, the Samsung PNF8500 series plasma TV emerged as the winner of the annual Value Electronics Flat Panel Shootout. It narrowly defeated the Panasonic VT60 and ZT60 series plasmas in the final voting by the public in attendance.

The event, in its ninth year, included a field of three Panasonic TVs (ZT60, VT60, and WT60 LED), two Samsungs (the PNF8500 plasma and UNF8000 LED) and Sony's 4K/Ultra HD XBR-X900A.

The lineup also included a 50-inch Pioneer Kuro KRP-500M, which was used primarily to test Panasonic's claim that its … Read more

Recently, there was quite a hoopla when it was reported that Panasonic would no longer be developing plasma as a TV technology. According to Panasonic, this isn't true.

However, it does bring up some interesting questions. Because there will be a time when plasma television development (and production) does come to an end. LCD too, for that matter. The timing of both is rather crucial, but specifically, a lack of a suitable replacement for plasma could have dire effects on picture quality across the board.

So what does the future hold for flat-panel TVs?… Read more

Since 2011 the FTC has required that every TV display a yellow and black Energy Guide label estimating how much it costs to run for a year. The label assumes a price for electricity (11 cents/kWh) and a baseline usage (5 hours per day).

The cost is tiny. A typical label can read anywhere from $6 for 32-inch LEDs to $38 for 65-inch plasmas (PDF). Per year. That's from 50 cents to $3.18 per month. If that's the definition of chump change to you, you're probably not alone.

That's the primary reason I stopped … Read more

Despite countless reviews and articles proclaiming plasma TVs as having better picture quality, and costing less money, LCDs continue to dominate sales charts.

So the question is, why did you, or will you, choose LCD (or LED LCD) over plasma?… Read more