1) I prioritized LCD over Plasma simply because the plasmas were real hot and the LCDs were cooler.
2) LCD screens, when the backlight go kaput in about 60K hours, all you'd have to do would be to change the backlight CCFL tubes, a much cheaper process than changing the entire screen as you'd have to do in plasmas
3) Plasmas were more susceptible to burn-ins of continuously shown logos etc.
As if that were not enough, now I realise that HD broadcasts cannot be shown in their full 1920x1080 glory using today's plasma technology. So here's consideration 4:
4) Plasmas of today, have limited resolutions relative to similar sized LCDs, and cannot show full sized 1080i HD broadcasts without downscaling the image to fit the limited pixel arrays which plasmas typically have.
In a fit of interest, I started to buy some UK magazines like WhatHIFI and Sound & Vision, and I was shocked to see Plasma displays as a viable alternative to LCD TV screens in the HD arena. And it's incredible that some of the weird panel pixel counts like 1024x1024 or 1024x1080 screens can actually get a HD-Ready logo.
I can't stand this. Not only is there misinformation, there is actually some such `poorly designed' websites like this: http://www.hitachiconsumer.com/sg/products/proddetails.aspx?pid=1731&cid=107&tid=71 It does not list the pixel specification, only here does it list: http://www.hitachiconsumer.com/sg/products/download.aspx?file=42PD8900TA.pdf Whether this is on purpose or as an oversight, is a matter of debate, but clearly, the buyer MUST do a whole lot of research before committing to their HDTV investment and see through these little bits of misinformation or malinformation!
Worst of all, many buyers now base their decisions on the display when looking at DVD content, and that's just plain wrong. What a 576P DVD output can be rendered on a plasma is totally not the same as rendering a 720p or 1080i video on the same screen. Where DVD is upscaled, HD content is downscaled. Most of the time, visually speaking, Downscaling is much more horrible than upscaling. Where plasmas worked great in the final stand of SD - namely DVD - they suck in HD. Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. As before, let me voice some clear messages across:
1) If you're buying a HDTV today, in today's HD-centric world, just KNOW that you can't just compare your screens using the Standard Definition DVD feeds which most of the shops give you. Go download some HD content from the Microsoft WMV-HD site, put it into your notebook and pump the WMVHD full screen into the VGA port of the HDTV you're evaluating. Bring your VGA cable along when you're shopping. From the Display Settings in control panel, make sure your LCD is output in the correct pixel resolution, and check `extend desktop' like this:
2) With LCD TVs so much reduced in price, and quality, a 1366x768 LCD screen should perform much better than plasma display using your test. With the test above, you can also take a look on how your DESKTOP TEXT appears. Text gives away any shortcoming of the display in the most dramatic fashion.
3) In fact, now that Singapore's HD broadcasters have more or less settled on 1080i as a broadcasting standard, with the World Cup broadcasting on 1080i full HD, go for a full LCD TV supporting full 1080i HD instead! Previously I mentioned that these screens are ungodly expensive, I was wrong. I bought one yesterday for under S$3000 and it was .... wow. If I was impressed with the LG L3200TF playing 1080i rescaled to 768 pixels, I was STUNNED by the Amoi 37" LC37AF1S playing the World Cup at 1920x1088 pixels. So it's now possible. Why even bother with the 1366x768 panels? This here is `for the taking!'
4) Don't be misled by the HD Ready label. I realised that if a plasma display can get this label, they must be dishing out those labels like slop in a soup kitchen. In the past I thought that the minimum requirement was that you needed at least to be 1280x720 to get that label, but if a 1024x1024 ALIS Plasma screen can get the label, it's even more irrelevant as I previously thought.
5) Most displays can `take in' 1920x1080 signals - so if any sales guy tell you that a certain TV can take those HD signals, it's almost meaningless. If a screen has a 1024x1024 pixel arrays, when it takes in the 1920x1080 signal, it's going to rescale the 1920x1080 to 1024x1024, which is a 50% horizontal downscale and a 6% vertical downscales. That's shocking. Too much rescale here to be any good. What you REALLY should ask, is ... what's the pixel array of a certain TV. Just to simplify matters, at this time, you should just look for 1368x768 or 1920x1080 pixel arrays - everything else compromises too much on the pixel count.
Looking through many of the `LCD vs Plasma' websites all over the world, I realised that they're outdated. They're looking at all the old considerations, but HD has dealt the finishing blow and put the final nail in the coffin of plasmas - unless of course they release 1920x1080 plasma displays at an affordable price. Until then, bye-bye, Plasmas.
Just an afterword - I'm not a subjective picture quality type of guy. There no method in my madness - I just cannot bear a 1920x1088 signal being shown on anything less than that. HOWEVER, you must note that sometimes, the maxim `what you don't know won't hurt you' might apply. OK, under certain circumstances, if the stream is not encoded well, a high-resolution video with artifacts such as motion smearing, incorrect white balance or color points, and grayscale rendering problems may not look as realistic as a lower-resolution image without any of these problems. Take THAT into consideration, and I apologise in advance for adding such headaches to your already-difficult decision. Read this, it's not wasting time. Sorta it debunks whatever I've written here: http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages/x1080.htm and he's a HDTV expert, while I'm just a bum.
Let's face it - this is a tough choice. But in view of a sub S$3000 1920x1080 display, it may `relatively speaking' be termed as `disposable' nowadays. It's much of a no-brainer.
Tomorrow I'll post some high resolution camera shots of the World Cup matches.
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18 comments:
A gd write up. However, I wonder how many shops in SG actually allows us to connect our pc to do that display test?
i think you need to do it yourself for the display test...
Hi Mike,
Perhaps ypu can dedicate a blogpost or two on the current HD display models that can output 1920x1080 in native resolution (1:1 mapping). By the way are there any 1080p capable displays?
Also, do you think that the ALiS technology - used in Hitachi and Fujitsu displays, will actually produce true HD output?
Love you blog.
HDMI, I can't survey everything and it'll go out of date real quick, but I'll try and consider. ALIS technology or whatever, just see the quality for yourself and the resolution. I recommend 1920x1080 resolution whatever marketing says.
1920x1080 displays usually support 1080P but I suggest that you read the literature first.
I have always have reservation buying those unknown brands like Amoi and Benq. What is your take?
JC
mick, i disagree. put a dvd movie fee in a plasma 42" and it will outshine the lcd equivalent in resolution, colours, contrast and dynamics. don't forget many consumers have dvd collections and hence, buying a plasma is better than getting an lcd (which is more expensive for those over 40"). although it loses out in a hd feed to a native 1081i/p
lcd, it's still great and money well spent.
solonavi - it not so expensive, under S$3000. It's a risk justified.
francis - dvds look great on plasma because of the limited dvd resolution. HD looks not so good when you scale it down. The age of DVD is grinding to a halt, just like those laserdisc collectors. the new world of HD via transmission or bluray or HD DVD is beginning in August. And the jump from VHS to DVD, is not even close to the jump from SD to HD. It's like black&white to color now. That's the extent of the leap.
mike, as i have said, many consumers are happy with their dvd collections and when these are upscaled to 1080i on a
plasma, it looks great. only video freaks like us will yearn for the best. the best will only come when starhub and mda decides to go commercial with hd broadcast. until then, still think getting a plasma beats the hell of getting an lcd. btw, i am viewing hd movies (hvd from our chinese brothers in china) on my 50" plasma at 1080i and it looks gorgeous.
LOL. `mainstream' content, right? Yes, plasma vs lcd battle is still raging. But some discipline must be instilled in the advertising, otherwise, it is unfair to consumers. If plasma has lower resolution, I hope that the manufacturers do not advertise the `opposite'. Plasma has redeeming qualities, they should emphasize on that instead, in spite of their lower resolutions.
Hi Mike,
Can I ask for a 1366x768 LCD, it suppose to be able to display up to 720p and 1080i w/o upscaling or downscaling?
Is 1080i equivalent to 540p?
Only when the source is a 1080p then would it be down scaling to display on a 1366x768 LCD and thus a 1920x1080 LCD would do the job w/o down scaling?
A 1377x768 will have to upscale a 720P to 768 (minor degradation) or downscale from 1080i to 768 (moderate degradation). 1080i is not equivalent to 540p strictly, but 540i should be the equivalent, since some people like to mention the number fields, which is 540.
Yes, a 1920x1080 would be able to do the job without downscaling.
for all this field stuff, i think the wiki can do a better job for you.
What's the life span for plasma and LCD? plasma seems to have a shorter life span, no? so is resolution a great matter?
Hi Mick, I'm still abit ocnfused on how we determine how to convert the various resolution matrix. Any help on that? All I know is 1920x1080 will give ur 1080i.
anonymous - to me, resolution is a big matter, and ability to handle 1080p is also a big matter.
solonavi - i don't understand your question. 720p - 1280x720, 1080i/p - 1920x1080... what else?
Resolution is not everything. After all, how many LCD tv out there having the resolution 1,920 x 1,080 pixels? For any other lower resolution tv, a scale down is inevitable for 1080i/1080p input signal.
Furthermore, even if TCS starts the HD broadcast next year, I believe it will only be for selected TV programme as the cost of HD tv production is high. Yes, LCD is good at HD but it sucks at the standard definition (SD) tv programme and HD won't replace all SD sources overnight.
Look at the review of this 1920 x 1080 BenQ lcd tv DV 3750 by PC mag. It received such a poor rating. I think Sony is releasing a new LCD (X series) with 1920 * 1080 pixels and 8 ms response time soon. But be prepared to pay at least S$7K to S$8k for the 40inch LCD TV.
Kang, today, only a handful of displays offer 1920x1080. But the upcoming models of most brands include 1920x1080. It's the new buzzword. Why buy older technology today?
Resolution isn't everything, but it sure helps picture quality.
Much of new foreign content today is mastered in 1080p/24 today. An LCD with good deinterlacer will be pretty good at SD, not exactly suck. Please check out the latest LCDs playing SD TV content. They're not bad! Yes, HD won't replace SD overnight, but a lot of valuable content will be in HD, and it's glorious.
In the same page as the Benq review, there's a link to the westinghouse product http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1885043,00.asp and it was good. Most of the objections centered around color issues (which can be calibrated) and component (which honestly, is superflous in the age of impending ICT activation). And it possibly has a bad scaler. Doesn't matter much if you plug in your starhub box into the Benq using HDMI, displaying 1080i after calibrating the color, right?
Anyway, all products have their strengths and weaknesses. i'm not going after any particular product, but merely I need to counter all the misadvertising done by the plasma people like Hitachi, boasting of 1080p resolution where their horizontal resolution (number of is vertical lines) merely 1024. Beat that.
My poinion is LCD Is best..
Review about LCD or PLASMA
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