Plasma or not Plasma

[scumbob_squarenuts]

Hello, I have a big request for you guys, I am looking for info on plasma and LCD tvs. If anyone has any experience of them I would be really greatful for your advice on the subject!

I'm thinking of binning my CRT monitor and getting a 30" - 42" flat screen TV in January, and using it as a monitor (and as a kick ass TV obviously). There are two big concerns I have about both flat screen formats. I would prefer a plasma screen (even though they are not as robust as LCDs) for picture quality but my two concerns are; burn in - major draw back, although some are starting to include pixel shift/orbiter many sites don't list this as a feature so I assume it is only a very reccent breakthrough or the manufaturers are not listing it properly, and how effective is this technology anyway? Another concern is the lifespan, they don't sound like they last all that long (plasma or LCD) so is it a good idea to use them as a monitor considering the amount of time I spend on my PC is roughly 2-3 hours a day and then maybe an hour for TV? Also do the lifespan guides refer to the bulb or the entire unit and how costly are they to repair, or replace the bulb? I have reservations about LCD also, I have heard the picture quality is pretty poor and they don't handle colours too well and then there is the 'screen door' effect. Does anyone know how good they perform in comparison to plasma screens?

I know an LCD would make a better monitor but considering the two technolgies are now available at roughly the same price I thought the plasma sounds better value in terms ofvisual performance, what do you guys think? Was looking at this one http://www.electricaldiscountuk.co.uk/itfx_product_details.php?pid=4245.

 

[muckshifter]

By the looks of it you have done some reading and research, hats off to you.

I have seen 42" Plasma screens at a computer show I frequent ... impressive, if you want to watch TV ... but I can't see myself sitting 5 feet away when I'm on the PC, and they only ever seem to be showing you a Movie.

A PC 'monitor' has always had a better "resolution" than ANY TV/monitor ... personally, If I need a new screen, then I would always buy a PC Monitor.

CRTs are still the de-facto (sic?) Monitor, but only just ... TFT/LCD are gaining ground very rapidly and the price is tumbling also. I have only just recently moved from CRT to TFT ... I have been converted.

Wait for one of our more knowledgeable members to drop by, I'm sure they'll have better knowledge than I.

 

[itsme]

I have one of these this is a write up on the model, and it does what it says on the tin, I would not change it for any other.
Toshiba 3787db awesome 37inch with Dolby 5:1 Television. See review below. complete with stand FOCUS Wonderful, colossal pictures matched for impact by classy Dolby Digital sound make the 3787DB one of the best home cinema TVs yet Picture ***** Sound ***** Features ***** Overall ***** Model : Toshiba 3787DB Features : 100Hz picture processing; picture NR; 16:9 mode; Dolby Digital, Pro-Logic, 3-Stereo, pseudo surround and Nicam sound modes, plus Hall, Theatre, Disco and Stadium DSPs; 2 x 10W to front left/right, 13W to subwoofer, 2 x 5W to centre, and 2 x 5W to rears; test tone; NTSC 3.58/ 4.43MHz playback; three Scarts; audio left/right phono out; two S-Video inputs; composite video/stereo audio input; coaxial and optical digital audio inputs; headphone socket; speaker connections for rears and optional external fronts; auto tuning; on/off timer; blue screen; horizontal shift; teletext with 500-page memory Dimensions : 1,006(w) x 784(h) x 647(d)mm Weight : 76.5kg Now it’s your turn to watch big brother Dolby Digital cinema sound meets 37 inches of extreme screen - could Toshiba’s £2,000 3787DB be the ultimate home theatre telly, asks John Archer? It’s the plaintive cry of movie groupies everywhere: ‘Size does matter, and mine’s not big enough!’ Yes, for the man who loves watching films in the comfort of his own home, 14, 21 and maybe even 25 inches just aren’t enough. A big screen is a must. Those scuttling bugs in Star ship Troopers don’t look half as scary when they’re only a few inches high, and the Death Star is nothing like as Imperial when it’s the size of a Malteser. Then there’s the sound. What’s going to do it for you more: hundreds of Imperial and Rebel fighters zooming all around your living room, from left to right, back to front, over your head and back again, or hundreds of Tie Fighters just zooming around the edges of your TV? With these factors in mind, Toshiba’s groundbreaking 3787DB would seem to be the TV with everything. Its 37in screen is as big as cathode ray tube technology gets these days, and the Dolby Digital multi-channel sound processing the set carries is pretty much where it’s at as far as cinema sound is concerned, beating the pants off ordinary Pro-Logic. So is this monster Tosh (an even bigger brother to the Dolby Digital 32MW7DB 32in widescreen set we looked at and loved oh so long ago) as dreamy in action as it is on paper? WORTH THE WEIGHT? FOCUS Wonderful, colossal pictures matched for impact by classy Dolby Digital sound make the 3787DB one of the best home cinema TVs yet Picture Sound Features Overall Model: Toshiba 3787DB Price: £2,000 Features: 100Hz picture processing; picture NR; 16:9 mode; Dolby Digital, Pro-Logic, 3-Stereo, pseudo surround and Nicam sound modes, plus Hall, Theatre, Disco and Stadium DSPs; 2 x 10W to front left/right, 13W to subwoofer, 2 x 5W to centre, and 2 x 5W to rears; test tone; NTSC 3.58/ 4.43MHz playback; three Scarts; audio left/right phono out; two S-Video inputs; composite video/stereo audio input; coaxial and optical digital audio inputs; headphone socket; speaker connections for rears and optional external fronts; auto tuning; on/off timer; blue screen; horizontal shift; teletext with 500-page memory Dimensions : 1,006(w) x 784(h) x 647(d)mm Weight : 76.5kg 01276 62222 ‘It’d blooming better be,’ were my first thoughts as I rounded up the entire population of Luxembourg to help me lift it from its box. It’s a genuine back-breaker. But as I massaged my spine into shape again and surveyed the ocean of screen now before me, it looked as if the effort had indeed been worthwhile. The 3787DB looks splendid. Bearing an unusual silvery façade, it sits like some indomitable AV god that, as they (probably) say in the Bible, has no intention of taking any stereo crap from anyone. Unlike many enormous sets, the 3787DB makes no attempt to hide its size by hanging the screen in a diminutive frame. The unashamed chunkiness reminded me of some of those funky big ghetto blasters ‘youngsters’ are wont to lug around these days. And, trendy chap that I am, I liked it. Extremely. Setting it up for full-on Dolby Digital action is a cinch. The front left/right, centre and subwoofer speakers are all built into the TV, so all that was left for me to do was attach the rear speakers to the sockets on the TV’s rear and position them to their best advantage at the back of the soundstage. Then it was just a case of sticking a DVD or NTSC laser disc player into one of the three Scarts on the rear, running a TOS-Link digital audio cable from the DVD/NTSC LD player to the correct socket on the TV, and telling the set which of the AV sockets the digital audio input is to be used in connection with. All this is well explained in the instruction manual, but you’ll scarcely need it. Sockets other than those mentioned are (to the rear) the RF in, a coaxial input in for alternative digital audio connection, spring-clip connections for external front left/right speakers should you choose to add some of your own, and (up front) composite video/stereo audio phono inputs, an S-Video input, and a headphone jack. Everything you might expect and more besides. Kicking auto tuning into action brought me up against Toshiba’s current exhaustive but cumbersome onscreen menu system. The tedious bit is that accessing the main control menu (necessary even for changing basic picture settings) means pulling down a flap and playing around with a fiddly roster of navigation and adjustment buttons. In light of how impressive the feature count is - 16:9 mode, child lock, on/off timer, teletext memories, and many sound modes - I definitely think there’s room for improvement in the user-friendliness department. Lessons might be learnt, perhaps, from Sony’s recent adventures in tracker-ball cursor control. At least the auto tuning did its job well - albeit slowly - and again the instruction book was well up to scratch, so I’ll try not to complain too much. A first impression of the set’s ability with tuner pictures was difficult to form because I was too busy shielding my eyes. The set is shipped with the contrast set to maximum, and it’s a frightening sight to behold. A few tweaks later, though, I found myself staring agog at a highly impressive example of whopper vision. The subtle shades of blue on Channel 4’s Fifteen To One looked superlative: bright, clearly defined, rich and, best of all for a tube as big as this, largely unaffected by grain or dot crawl. Presenter William G Stewart also looked terrifyingly realistic - not least because on the 3787DB he was practically life-size. A quick bit of investigation revealed that this excellent picture was under the influence of a noise reduction routine. Turning this off revealed definite grain and a little dot crawl, though it was still very impressive considering how far the source material was being forced to stretch. I reckon for most viewing you’ll probably want to leave the NR on (though only on the ‘low’ setting; ‘high’ softens the picture too much). Good old Jerry Maguire on DVD looked magical without the noise reduction on, however. As with so many Toshiba sets we’ve seen recently, there’s a wonderful movie-like snap to high-resolution pictures that few other manufacturers can currently match. The main reasons for this are a superb finesse with detail reproduction, a canny ability with the black level, and a wonderfully natural tone. Its pictures really are a delight to watch. Not surprisingly the 3787DB also delivered an exemplary performance on our test benches. A frequency response sweep showed clarity right through to an unbeatable 5.8MHz, with zero chromo noise interference indicating the presence of a top-class comb filter. Given the size of the screen, the geometry is exemplary too, and the colour performance is fine, with no dizziness to speak of.

 

[scumbob_squarenuts]

Thanks for your reply muck. I have not really researched LCD or Plasma Tvs performance as monitors, only as TVs. They both look great and i need a new TV and a new monitor so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. It is just the small issues with performance I want to clear up because 1-2 grand is a BIG investment.

I get what your saying about having a 42 inch monitor right in front of you 8), I think i would adjust it down to a smaller 4:3 screen size for the PC. I'm not a huge fan of TFT, and I feel if I am going to upgrade I might as well go for a major upgrade and get a new, high quality TV into the bargin. I am willing to accept that neither format is perfect as long as they perform well as monitors, thing is I don't have a scooby about what is the best in that sense 8(.

 

[muckshifter]

Thanks for your reply muck. I have not really researched LCD or Plasma Tvs performance as monitors, only as TVs. They both look great and i need a new TV and a new monitor so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. It is just the small issues with performance I want to clear up because 1-2 grand is a BIG investment.

I get what your saying about having a 42 inch monitor right in front of you 8), I think i would adjust it down to a smaller 4:3 screen size for the PC. I'm not a huge fan of TFT, and I feel if I am going to upgrade I might as well go for a major upgrade and get a new, high quality TV into the bargin. I am willing to accept that neither format is perfect as long as they perform well as monitors, thing is I don't have a scooby about what is the best in that sense 8(.

You will find that a TV/Monitor makes for a crap monitor, it just will not have the resolution ... keep them seperate, buy a TV AND a PC Monitor, trust me on that one.


itsme
Ever heard of 'paragraphs', 'cos I don't think anybody can read your post.

 

[V_R]

I am no expert on plasma or lcd t.v's, but i do know that in most cases its very much a case of 'you get what you pay for' As the cheap plasma's have a lower rez and poor colour. (Usually)


One thing i know for certain though is if you do get one, make sure it has a HDMI or DVI input. The HDMI input is preferred. (most of the cheap ones dont!) As you will need this for when HDTV (High Def TV) becomes mainstream.

I aint an expert but i do know that!
Hope that helps you out some

 

[itsme]

itsme
Ever heard of 'paragraphs', 'cos I don't think anybody can read your post. [/QUOTE]

Never wented tu skool soar I kant be as litarated as ew ar wot skool did ew went tu uh

Seriously though!

I just found it on the net copied it and pasted it just for you Mucks

 

[Raje]

Tvs just don't make good monitors... they just don't have the resolution... they are fine for gaming(though a waste of such a good grafix card) and movies. But just as a test... open your desktop on your tv and try to use Word. The letters are blury and almost illegible. At least thats What I'v always noticed. On my 32" tv(normal huge non flat) the letters look a bit blurry yet still can be read... just frustrated me. On my parents tv which is a Toshiba 56" TFT... the lack in resolution is very noticable. Though the .avi movies look amazing... the Windows media player controls are all blury. Though this was a bit of a budget big screen it was still just under $2,000.00 and in my opinion we got what we paid for. I'd agree with mucks and get one of each.. monitor and tv... but my preference would be a huge monitor and a tv card.

 

[floppybootstomp]

It all depends on the resolution of the monitor/TV.

If a monitor/TV can show a decent resolution, say 1280 x 1024, and has a VGA/DVI input, providing it's good quality it will display images from a computer as good as any dedicated TFT computer monitor.

These models usually come with a tuner option, turning your monitor into a fully functional TV.

The tuner will be a plug in module or external device.

This is worth bearing in mind as analogue tuners will be become extinct in 10 years or sooner, depending on where you live in the UK.

You need a digital tuner.

And Vanilla Radio raised a good point, HDTV is the way of the future as well as digital reception. This is why you'll see so many TV's of all flavours being sold off cheap now, they're already redundant.

And finally, itsme, I couldn't be bothered to read your post.

Whether you went to school or not, if you know how to place a cursor and use the 'Enter' key, you are capable of forming paragraphs.

If you want somebody to read about the product you are so enthusiastically recommending, make it readable, it helps

 

[Ian]

This is the review in a more readable manor :

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/rev...shiba3787DB.php?action=setwidth&NewSiteWidth=

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks Ian.

Looks grand, but it's seven years old now.

In terms of progress, that's a long time.

 

[scumbob_squarenuts]

The problem I have with getting a new monitor AND a new TV is that TFTs only seem to be available in 17 or 19" and 20.1 (???) in some places but they are still quite expensive, ideally I would like to get a bigger monitor than 19 inch and are there no widescreen displays? I would settle for a dedicated monitor around 20" if it was widescreen. LOL maybe I'm too fussy. I suppose I could get a better TV and hold on to my CRT and plug the PC into the TV for playing movies, videos and possibly games just seems a bit of a hassle.

Is there any difference between LCD and plasma displays and LCD and plasma TV/diplays in terms of performance, lifespan and resolution?

http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...Id=11109&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11109,40591
What do you think of this beast?

 

[itsme]

This is the review in a more readable manor :

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/rev...shiba3787DB.php?action=setwidth&NewSiteWidth=

Thanks Ian!

The link is great; now a few questions on the said Toshiba 37” DB.

Does anyone else on the forum have one?

If so what do you think of it as a Television?

Now I have had mine for 7 years and it is absolutely brilliant, the picture is stunning as long as you know how to read the instructions? Before you set it up.

The sound quality is unbelievably distinct, for example if you are watching a football match set it to [Stadium] and you would imagine you are actually in that stadium you can hardly hear the commentary, but the sound of the crowd is fantastic to say the least.

[bearing in mind I have very poor hearing] but it works for me.