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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
lloydc's avatar
lloydc
759 posts
 
Chadnliz, afaik, no one is saying LCD is best. LED is another matter. The color range of the best backlit LED's exceeds plasma and the colors look more naturalistic. It would be hard to argue against plasma for watching sports, though, where color is relatively unimportant and motion artifacts are very important. Relative value is a different argument.
unsound
7,336 posts
 
Chadnliz, that one article did seem to contradict most of your assertions with the very same criterion you used to support your assertions.
Lloydc, the one area where the Sharp Elite fell behind all the other competitors was in color rendition. Plasmas as a group did better than LCD/LED's in color rendition.
IMHO, the answer to the OP question is; Yes, LED has caught up to Plasma (at least to plasmas generally still currently available)....but, there are still some differences. Plasma is a better value. Plasma offers better viewing from wider viewing angles. LED is more energy efficient. LED's work better in brighter rooms. LED's come in thinner packages.
For me the value of plasma coupled with the typically more durable screens (Sony gorilla glass LCD's excepted) would be preferable. Other's circumstances might differ, and the alternate choices might be preferable for them.
lloydc's avatar
lloydc
759 posts
 
Unsound, overall, I agree with you. My fondness for LED is based on my Sony Qualia 005. I haven't yet seen anything better. The Elite KURO Signature Series PRO monitors may be the industry reference now, and they may exceed the Qualia in some ways.

"best" and "value" are largely unrelated concepts. Fortunately, for video monitors, the two are not as far apart as they are in audiophile gear. I don't even know anyone who would consider a $250,000 speaker; a $7000 video monitor may be a conceivable purchase.
unsound
7,336 posts
 
The Sony Qualia front projector was the first video source that gave me an idea of what video was capable of, but that was SXRD. Though not 3D, it provided a sense of depth that I had never seen before. There are ultra projectors that cost nearly as much as ultra speakers. I suppose one could argue that one could justify the cost of those projectors easier than those speakers?
unsound
7,336 posts
 
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sharp-elite-pro-60x5fd/4505-6482_7-35004013.html?autoplay=true&tag=cnetRiver
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