Is Plasma better than LCD?

**Mac10Morph** · Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Posts: 245 Location: Binghamton, NY

So we're getting a new tv. We're thinking 42" HDTV. Well I'm aware that some LCD's have issues with lag on RockBand. I've actually played on a friends LCD and after calibrating numerous times it just seemed a bit off anyway. So I wanted to ask if plasma TVs tended to be better for the lag issues since I can get the same size plasma for roughly the same price. DLP is out of the question though because I absolutely have no room.
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**Kelsin** · Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:09 pm Post subject:

For gaming LCD is always better, but plasma cant be bad.
I played on 3 LCD TVs and I never got any lag issues
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**oopogfe** · Joined: 19 May 2008 Posts: 429 Location: Fresno, CA

OK here's the thing

I have and LCD and a Plasma.

The LCD is great for gaming, and even has a gaming mode, but there is a huge lag during drum fills, so it makes it unplayable for me.

However, the Plasma has absolutely no lag at all. Thats what I play rock band on and its perfect.

But........every TV is different and I know that a lot of Plasma's will have some lag. Your safest bet is to get a LCD that is NOT Samsung, I say that because my lcd is samsung, and my friend's DLP tv is Samsung, and we both have the same lag issue.
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**wder75** · Joined: 25 Feb 2007 Posts: 47 Location: Columbus, OH

It is not so much an issue with the type of TV or the company, it is about the respone time. Look for that in the specifications of the TV. You generally want something less than 5ms. For example, I've played on my 22" monitor that has a 5ms response time and it was perfect, no lag at all. But I played on our 42" Sony LCD TV, and it was hard to play because of lag, and its response time is 8ms.
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**DorkmasterFlek** · Joined: 14 Oct 2006 Posts: 1968 Location: Toronto, ON

Any new LDC TV will have some kind of "game mode" which reduces the latency noticeably. It's pretty much impossible to play a music game like RB or GH without it.
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**Nalk** · Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:15 am Post subject:

**stubbs99** · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 237 Location: Norwich, England

I have a Samsung LCD TV. I just pick the default 'LCD' setting in the calibrate menu and the timing feels perfect.

**zombie1942** · Joined: 09 Apr 2007 Posts: 241

**oopogfe** · Joined: 19 May 2008 Posts: 429 Location: Fresno, CA

**Chatboy91** · Joined: 07 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

I personally play on a 60' plasma screen TV. No lag at all, when I play Rock Band on my PS3. If I play GH3 on Wii however (I got GH3 when I still didn't have a PS3) it lags pretty badly. It depends on the source, and the TV. If you don't have a good HD source (e.g. Wii) then your TV will probably lag just trying to upconvert the signal. When I got RB though, I had absolutely no problems with lag when I told it I was using a plasma TV. Plasma TVs usually have better response times then LCDs (even new ones with the 120hz refresh rates don't match the speed of a plasma). But, which TV you get depends on what you need, and the room you'll be playing in. If the room has lots of natural lighting, get an LCD, but if you're really worried about lag get a plasma. Colors, blacks, and everything looks better on plasmas, and you have a larger viewing angle. Also, I have never had a burn-in problem, if anything does burn-in a bit, it disappears after watching something.

**FlorisJan** · Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:11 am Post subject:

**Kyahx** · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 52

I find the issue with lag has little to do with the TV itself, but the audio processor. We have two Samsung LCDs at home, both have a gaming mode and are perfect for playing Rock Band on. (In fact when your looking at TVs, I can't recommend Samsung high enough, by far my favorite LCD manufacturer.)

The thing you need to do is run the audio from the console straight into your audio receiver, and use the analog audio (red/white RCA plugs) if you can. This is how I've set up RB on both of my systems (VGA to the TV, Analog audio straight into the receiver) and both are less than 15ms off.

Plus all of this will be much less-an-issue when RB2 comes out, with the auto-calibrating guitar and improved manual calibration screen. So buy the TV that looks the best to you, I highly recommend an LCD for gaming and anything by Samsung in general.
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**FelixTheCat** · Joined: 17 Feb 2007 Posts: 75

Not that this makes me any smarter than the avid tech geek but I do work for one of the top 3 electronics manufacturers. No, not a store that sells electronics, I work for the actual manufacturer, doing tech support.

Let me respond to a couple things said here.

RESPONSE TIME: this truly is NO issue at all. Being that the fastest any information is going to be sent to your panel is 16ms, a TV with 5ms, 4ms etc is no different than a TV with an 8ms response time.

BETTER BLACK LEVEL/ VIEWING ANGLE? This is simple not true by any means. LCD is every bit as good as plasma for brightness, black level, contrast and viewing angle. The advantages that plasma held over LCD in these departments has been dead for 3 years.

GAME MODE: This is a VERY important feature. You want the TV to be doing as little processing as possible. As previously mentioned when viewing TV broadcast, the TV lags everything so it all matches up. Well, the TV is not so good at doing this on fast paced video games.

LAG: You can get lag on any brand, and on both plasma and LCD. This has NOTHING to do with LCD or plasma technology in itself.

120hz: Although when viewing a video game source 120hz panels are not going to be much different than a 60hz panel. HOWEVER, most TVs that have 120hz panels are going to have the other internal goods that you DO need to get a nice clear, smooth, lag free image.

VIDEO PROCESSOR: THIS should be number 1 on your MUST HAVE specifications. Do not settle for anything less than a 14bit video processor. If this spec is not listed for the model you are looking at, pass it up. I say this spec is a MUST VERIFY.

LCD vs Plasma: Personally I prefer LCD as I own 5 of them and they draw less power than plasma. Although plasma has come a long way in preventing burn in, it STILL HAPPENS. One person mentions earlier "it goes away". That's not burn in, that's image retention and happens on all plasmas under normal use.

I have my LCDs on at least 70% of the time as I work from home and have a PC connected to each one of them as well as cable, HD DVD, video games, etc. With LCD I do not have to worry about burn in at all. If I used a plasma the way I personally use my LCDs, I would toast it within the year.

However, if you don't watch a lot of anamorphic widescreen movies, have no need to connect a PC, don't leave it on all day, etc then don't fear the plasma. It is a great technology, it just doesn't fit my needs.

No matter what you buy, expect to do some calibrating. Go into the store and look at all the models that have a 14bit video processor and a game mode and work from there as you DO NOT want to buy a model without these. Don't get me wrong, you can still calibrate one without them but you will be much better off with these key features.

Last note. do NOT buy it online. You can get great deals, I know but these TVs are not designed for individual shipment and you stand a high risk of shipping damage and/ or damage that you may not see for some time. At any rate, these damages are NOT covered by your warranty.

Either way you go, you will be happy.
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**oopogfe** · Joined: 19 May 2008 Posts: 429 Location: Fresno, CA

**tatical** · Joined: 23 Aug 2008 Posts: 1

plasma comes out better the lcd imo i have both and play on the plasma a lot more
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