Best Flat Panel Tv, LCD or PLasma or HDTV?

I'm sorry for all the previous answers you received. Please let me try to clear up the mess and give you the pros and cons of both. I will then give you my personal preference. Please skip to the bottom if you only want to hear my choice in the matter.

First, Jeff L does not know either technology. I truly say this without the intention of being rude, but he is completely wrong about how the technology works. As far as the HDTV part, he is right. HDTV means High Defenition Televsion. Both LCD and Plasma televisions are High Defenition.

Deejayspop said he was a former Sony engineer. Perhaps Sony had problems developing the technology to last longer and this contributed to the fact that they no longer make Plasma televisions. The actual life expectancy is quite different than it was in the past. Life expectancy is measured by a Televisions half life. The half life is how long it takes a television to lose half it's brightness. The life of a LCD is around 10,000 hours while a Plasma is well over 100,000 hours of use. The 20 years part that the engineer described is assuming you would use the tv only 2 hours a day and does not take into account other factors as this is how an engineers brain works.

PROS AND CONS FOR PLASMA:

A plasma TV will provide you a more vivid picture with a better and more natural appearance of colors. It is heavier and uses a glass front which during the day will provide more glare than an LCD. The glass however provides a better protection of your screen from damage (like when a Nintendo Wii remote goes flying at your TV).

PROS AND CONS FOR LCD:

A LCD TV uses less electricity does not get as warm yet can still provide an excellent picture.

MY CHOICE:

To be honest, if I had the money I would go with a Plasma. The easiest way to determine is to ask someone who has both, but you will usually run into people who chose one over the other. I truly hope my answer helps you.

life4u2c did a very good job at answering your question... to break it down further I would say first off if you are dead set on a 47 inch tv then you must go LCD as there are no 47" plasmas. There is a 46 inch plasma by Panasonic that has an AMAZING picture. I sell televisions and I would recommend Panasonic if you go Plasma. If you go the route of an LCD I would recommend Samsung. I owned a Panasonic Plasma and sold it to a guy I work with to buy the Samsung LCD I currently have and I love both pictures but I wanted a 1080P set so thats why I sold the Panasonic.

I would also suggest not going the 47" route. The Top brans of TVs make 46" sets so I would go with them. My store only carries two 47" models one is an LG the other is a Toshiba. They are average sets but I always recommend getting the better brands and they are usually only a couple hundred more if that. Hope this helps good luck.

Oh by the way all Panasonic plasmas are energy star rated so they will cost about the same as an LCD does as far as electricity goes.

I know some people will say plasma is really good, but plasma screens can burn out after a while do to its technology and it will not be a good TV to use in a small room, but you have a different case, and plasma has a bright glare that if you have or had lots of windows in the room it would blind you to death, don't buy it I would recommend LCD or DLP, LCD, stands for Liquid Crystal Digital, yes a liquid crystallized product material that does not burn out but if you touch it in some ways in can have a permanent glare scare but don't worry you could get it fixed that works well, and DLP, is a type of TV with a computer chip or chips made by Texas Instruments who make really good scientific calculators by the way. I HOPE YOU HAVE GOOD LUCK ON THAT TV IN THE FUTURE.

I have answered this question at least a dozen times, as a former research and development engineer with the Sony Corp I can tell you that LCD is the way to go. Plasma TV's picture quality will diminish with time, best life expectancy is 5-7 years depending on how much you use it. LCD's will last 20 years or more without any significant reduction in picture quality.

The way tv's are built today, even the best tv on the market will not last 20 years, come on people!! A good 10 years maybe for lcd and plasma that's about it. You don't need research and develepment to tell you that.

well the basic diff. between the 2 is that the lcd uses tiny mirrors or (crystals) hence the "c" to produce the image over the screen. the plasma uses a liquid substance to do the same thing. the lcd design had some flaws years ago when first desighned, but have since been fixed. both deliver awesome pictures and from seeing many of both either is a good choice. as far as HD they all have it, its just a matter of paying for it from your local cable or sattelite provider, hope i helped.

My husband researched the LCD versus Plasma TV. We thought that since LCD was more expensive that it was probably the better television. After careful consideration he chose to get us a PLASMA. So we bought 2- 50" Plasmas. We love them.

... i was wrong lol but plasmas have a display life of 20000-30000 hours a god 20 years 4hrs a day but lcd is 40000-50000 about 40 years so yea... go with lcd no image burn in