Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Samsung 650 lseries lcd vs plasma

Dec 12, 2008 6:36AM PST

Hello,
I have done some due diligence in trying to decide between lcd vs plasma. Almost all sites list the Pros and Cons of both but end it by "saying that recent improvements in technology have made this less of a problem.... blah .. blah" which leaves me totally confused that the "con" they described all along, is it a con or not???

Since, I am decided to go basically either a ln52a650 or pn50a650, I need to decide between the 2. So, I am interested in knowing between those 2 particular SAMSUNG tvs which offers better viewing for movies.(action movies and hi-def "planet earth" kind of programmes etc.).

Thanks for any help in this matter.

Regards,
prad/.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Some insight
Dec 13, 2008 4:39AM PST

hdtvfanboy,

Thanks for considering Samsung products.

The real-world limitations you want to consider is what you'll be using the panel for.

What sticks out in my mind most is if you'll be using it for games (Playstation, Xbox, etc.) where you'll spend a lot of time with static (non-moving, constant) images on the screen. If you or your family are big gamers, you probably want to lean towards LCD to be on the safe side.

I won't get into the whole image retention and burn-in issues on plasma, except to say that, yes they have improved, and Samsung does offer additional technologies built into our panels that slow or reduce that issue, such as Scrolling wipes and Pixel-shift technology that helps avoid burn-in in the first place. If you're interested in hearing about these, I'll be happy to go into detail.

For fast action movement, Plasma will generally offer the ability to keep up with fast motion the best. LCD has a fantastic picture as well, and we offer some of the best panels available on the market today.

The real test, and I mean this sincerely, is if you're really torn between the two, go look at them and see which one appeals to you. Traditionally, most people have looked at glass tubes all their lives, and associate the glass panel on the plasma as being "more authentic" than a matte finish on an LCD. Some find the picture quality to be better on an LCD.

It really comes down to personal preference, and for that, I'll leave the final recommendation up to you. Both are great panels and should meet your needs.

--HDTech

- Collapse -
Samsung 650 lseries lcd vs plasma
Dec 13, 2008 5:27PM PST

Thank you HDTv.

I dont know the exact meaning of the "dynamic contrast ratio" but I believe that the higher the better. For the ln52a650 it is 50,000 while for the plasma it is a million. In theory the plasma should be 20 times better in contrast quality. Is this actually percievable in real life or another spec. no which is true but not very obvious to the human eye?

Also, I read somewhere that there has been some problem when using with a PS3. Is the issue for real and still existent? It was reported for the LCD. If true does this problem exist for the Plasma too?
If so any idea if this will be fixed?

Thanks in advance for your help.

- Collapse -
Samsung650 lseries
Dec 14, 2008 6:42AM PST

hdtvfanboy,

Maybe it's better to give you an example of Contrast Ratio rather than quoting a textboox definition. A contrast ratio of 5:1 (A horrible CR measurement, but for an example) would be Black, dark grey, grey, light grey, and white. When you add your red, blue and green combinations to those grey levels, you get a very limited color spectrum. As you expand that, you are able to reach brighter whites, darker blacks as well as color combinations.

CR comparisons between LCD are for LCD, and are somewhat apples and oranges for comparisons between, say plasma vs. plasma. This is because they are measured differently, because they are completely different technologies.

Also, contrast ratio has not specific Industry Standard measurement specifications. Each company has the freedom to define how they measure their numbers; that said, our method of doing it goes back to our LCD days over a decade ago when we had 300:1 contrast ratio on our early computer monitors. Samsung products are measured consistently with other Samsung products, and have been over the years. We don't change our test method.

There were some HDMI issues with the handshake with the PS3. From what I understand, updating the PS3 and the television with the latest firmware update - if it happens - should fix it.

Of course, if that's not the case, I hope someone posts here and lets me know.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

--HDTech

- Collapse -
samsung lcd vs samsun plasma
Dec 15, 2008 1:41PM PST

Thanks again for your clear explanations HDTech ! Really appreciate your feedback.

You did mean that comparing "lcd to plasma" is like "apples to oranges" correct? If so, then are you saying that a CR of a million does not necessarily mean 20X the CR of 50,000 for lcd ? I can understand the rationale behind that but is that really the case?

thanks again for your valuable insights.

- Collapse -
That is correct...
Dec 16, 2008 5:39AM PST

hdtvfanboy,

Comparing LCD to Plasma - two different technologies - means that the measurements of output power, color and overall picture will be measured differently, thus producing different results.

The real test is to look at the panels and see which one looks best to you. At the end of the day, what matters most is how the picture looks to you, which one has the best colors and which one is a solution for your needs. They're technical measurements, and those do have their merits, but certainly shouldn't be replaced by your preference measurements in terms of picture quality and what you like to look at.

--HDTech