I understand Plasma has evolved just like any other technology over the years. However, is" Burn-in" and "Reflection" no longer a concern with Plasma? As someone who has his share of windows around the TV, "reflection" is a HUGE concern. As for Gamers and people that watch a given channel for long periods of time (with logo in corner of screen), "Burn-in" can be a HUGE concern. If these two problems are still an issue with Plasma, then all of your points are moot. Since "Reflection" & "Burn-in" if they take place, are FAR bigger issues then Black-levels & Contrast Ratios. I believe these two concerns partly explain why LCDs have been the consumers choice, even if it has been more expensive then similar sized Plasmas.
Further to my point. For any idiot that would solve the "Reflection" problem by simply turning off the lights and closing the shades. I have no intention of ALWAYS being in the dark when I watch TV. May work for movies, but I am not about to watch Price is Right sitting in the dark. LOL :)
"Burn-in" is definitely no longer a concern with plasmas. I mean sure, from a purely technical stand-point, it is still POSSIBLE, but so too is uneven aging of a LCD panel, which would result in the same sort of "ghost" image always being stuck on screen. Bottom line - modern plasmas do NOT "burn in". That is an old, no-longer-true fear that REALLY needs to be put to rest!
As for reflections and glare off of the screen - that is purely a matter of the screen surface. Plasmas all use glass screens, so they are naturally prone to some reflections and glare, but the newest anti-reflective and anti-glare coatings are quite effective and mitigate the glare and reflection problem quite a bit. Once again, the Pioneer Kuro plasmas were the best in this regard (very little glare or reflection), but the Panasonic plasmas are fairly decent now. You can certainly have lights on in the room. But, of course, sunlight streaming in and directly hitting the screen is going to wash out the image and cause reflections - there's no way around that!
On the LCD side though - glossy, HIGHLY reflective screen surfaces are all the rage! I'm so disappointed with Samsung's newest lineup because almost all of their models have this incredibly glossy, ridiculously distracting, reflective screen surface! They claim that it makes the black levels better. Well big whoop when the only thing I can see is my own face staring back at me!
Sony's LCDs are basically a matte finish though and LG has a very matte surface on some of their LCDs.
If you're honestly very worried about glare and reflections though, you should definitely check out the screen surfaces in person though, because if you think a Samsung LCD is going to have fewer reflections than a Panasonic plasma, you are WAY off the mark!
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I understand Plasma has evolved just like any other technology over the years. However, is" Burn-in" and "Reflection" no longer a concern with Plasma? As someone who has his share of windows around the TV, "reflection" is a HUGE concern. As for Gamers and people that watch a given channel for long periods of time (with logo in corner of screen), "Burn-in" can be a HUGE concern. If these two problems are still an issue with Plasma, then all of your points are moot. Since "Reflection" & "Burn-in" if they take place, are FAR bigger issues then Black-levels & Contrast Ratios. I believe these two concerns partly explain why LCDs have been the consumers choice, even if it has been more expensive then similar sized Plasmas.
Further to my point. For any idiot that would solve the "Reflection" problem by simply turning off the lights and closing the shades. I have no intention of ALWAYS being in the dark when I watch TV. May work for movies, but I am not about to watch Price is Right sitting in the dark. LOL :)
"Burn-in" is definitely no longer a concern with plasmas. I mean sure, from a purely technical stand-point, it is still POSSIBLE, but so too is uneven aging of a LCD panel, which would result in the same sort of "ghost" image always being stuck on screen. Bottom line - modern plasmas do NOT "burn in". That is an old, no-longer-true fear that REALLY needs to be put to rest!
As for reflections and glare off of the screen - that is purely a matter of the screen surface. Plasmas all use glass screens, so they are naturally prone to some reflections and glare, but the newest anti-reflective and anti-glare coatings are quite effective and mitigate the glare and reflection problem quite a bit. Once again, the Pioneer Kuro plasmas were the best in this regard (very little glare or reflection), but the Panasonic plasmas are fairly decent now. You can certainly have lights on in the room. But, of course, sunlight streaming in and directly hitting the screen is going to wash out the image and cause reflections - there's no way around that!
On the LCD side though - glossy, HIGHLY reflective screen surfaces are all the rage! I'm so disappointed with Samsung's newest lineup because almost all of their models have this incredibly glossy, ridiculously distracting, reflective screen surface! They claim that it makes the black levels better. Well big whoop when the only thing I can see is my own face staring back at me!
Sony's LCDs are basically a matte finish though and LG has a very matte surface on some of their LCDs.
If you're honestly very worried about glare and reflections though, you should definitely check out the screen surfaces in person though, because if you think a Samsung LCD is going to have fewer reflections than a Panasonic plasma, you are WAY off the mark!