Has LED caught up to Plasma?


I know that the plasma tv's in the past were always considered to be better than the LED or LCD formats. I'm wondering if this is still the case. With improvements in technology, has the gap narrowed? I bought a 42" Panasonic Plasma over 8 years ago (and yes, it's still working...wished it would have died by now! lol) and am looking to upgrade to a new 55" tv. In all honestly, when I chose plasma back then, I thought the picture quality of both the plasmas and the LED/LCD models were both very good. Even though my plasmas has lasted all these past 8 years, my big concern is that they do heat up quite a bit....where LED's run much cooler. I'm thinking this might translate into a longer life with and LED tv instead of a plasma. What would you buy today if you were buying??? Plasma or LED?
calgarian5355
I think if the original poster indeed that that Plasma and LCD "both looked very good" years ago when the LCD shortcomings were painfully obvious that perhaps he is one of the lucky who dont have a critical eye for video anyway so if LCD seems a better bet to him just buy it. Its clear Plasma is still king but LCD is gaining on it.
Paulsax, I don't think we're "happy" about TV's lasting only 8 years, but I doubt many of us have the wherewithal to build our own longer lasting TV's.:-)
Marakantetz, that was true not that long ago, but not anymore. CRT's might have been more durable, but they can't perform as well as today's better sets.
Your wrong Unsound,
The CRT HD monitor at 1080i, 720p is still deeper, richer, smoother and more natural than any plasma or lcd/led. They are big and heavy but they are also still just plain better images. My 30in Sony XBR Wega Trinitron hd widescreen will smoke Pioneer Elites of old, current Panasonics, Samsungs, flatscreen Bravias, any of them and anyone is welcome to have me show them. 1080p at the 30in level is simply not a factor either.
Another advantage of plasma over LCD or LED is that it can be viewed from any angle - the picture does not look wrong even viewed from an extreme angle, as it does with LCD and LED. This is quite important at my house, where I am usually viewing at an angle.