Plasma or LCD ?

[FatBoy]

I'm planning on buying a large (40"-43") flat panel TV and I'm looking for some good unbiased advice.
I want a display with a separate tuner so that I can position my DVD, VHS, digital amp. etc away from the screen and only have one cable between them.
Obviously, my VHS has a tuner and I have Sky satellite, therefore, do I need another tuner? What is the best video interface, I assume composite video ??
Should I go for plasma or LCD, I can get a good one of either for about £3K. What resolution do I need/want?
Any experts out there able to shed some light?
Thanks
Paul

[TarmacTerrorist]

check the forsale and wanted board kcsun has just advertised a nice plasma screen over there!

[johneroberts]

Plasma is the way to go especially now as they are grtting much better and cheaper.
Pioneer
Fujitsu
Panasonic
are the main contenders.
Keep away from LG Sharp and Daewoo [img]images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]
Cheers
jr

[FatBoy]

Why is plasma better than LCD?
What about the Hitachi 42PD3000 plasma, it appears to be a decent spec. at a reasonable price?

Paul

[kcsun]

No LCD's much above 30" that are in realms of us mere mortals to afford

kc [img]images/graemlins/s4anogaro.gif[/img]

[FatBoy]

I'm in the IT business and I can get a 40" LCD panel for £3,000. In which case, would that then be a better buy than a 42" plasma ?

[JohnW]

I'm no expert on this, but believe the plasma displays give better performance for moving images.

You should also be aware that there are supposedly two grades of plasma (domestic and business - or something like that).

The business ones are less sharp but have longer backlight life as they are designed for display signs, not watching films etc on.
This is what I was told when I was looking last year anyway.

You will not need another tuner if you use SVHS leads for interconnects. These are just as good as seperate rgb imho (well I can't notice the difference anyway, as long as the signal leads are kept seperate from the mains ones)
We are currently using sky only to receive all programs, and tape off of this when required too.
I have a yamaha A/V amp that the video, dvd, etc all link to, and the output from this is fed to the tv using SVHS leads.

I expect JR can help for advice on leads. We are using a selection of different types, but the IXOS ones seem to be pretty good at a sensible price.

Following advice from a few companies I decided to buy a 36" conventional tv for the lounge, and then go for a projector for the big screen experience when our building work is sorted. I have ideas of a screen that drops down out of the ceiling, but we'll see [img]images/graemlins/spineyes.gif[/img] [img]images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Appologies for the long post. hope it helps though.

Cheers, [img]images/graemlins/beerchug.gif[/img]
John.

[FatBoy]

Many thanks for your input and advice. I think you are right about the different types of plasma display. I also understand that the commercial displays tend to have fans fitted because they are often used for long periods and the noise of fans wouldn't be accepted in a domestic unit.
Thanks again.
Paul

[Mog]

I have just bought a LCD Projector and have been blown away with the quality of the picture and size of the screen which gives a 80" picture. I had to buy a Yamaha AV unit to make the cabling easier, but what I did find was that using RGB/component leads as opposed to S Video made a hell of a difference giving a sharper, more natural colour and greater depth. When you play something like Formula 1 on the Playstation on a 80" screen with no distortion it is unbelievable, but be prepared to pay around £200 just for the component leads.

Mog [img]images/graemlins/s4anogaro.gif[/img]

[FatBoy]

Mog, which projector did you go for?
How well does it work in normal day-light conditions?

Paul

[Mog]

Paul..I went for the Epson TW10 which was £950 inc of a pull down screen, which is a fantastic price for the size of picture and image quality. Daytime veiwing is acceptable but it is as all projectors are meant to be viewed ideally in a darkened room for the cinema effect, I already have a "normal" TV for everyday stuff like JohnW was thinking of.

Mog [img]images/graemlins/s4anogaro.gif[/img]