First, you need to know that LCD *Panel* technology is pretty much limited to 40" in size. Some makers have models as big as 60"+ but they are scarce and tend to be less interesting than plasma at that size.
Secondly, go look at a 40" LCD by a reputed company (Sony, Panasonic, LG) and compare to a similar 42" Plasma by, again, a well known company (Pioneer, Hitachi, LG).
Choose what your eyes like best.
My personal choice (I work at a High-Fi audio/video retailer) would be a LCD *retro-projection* TV.
Hitachi makes some of the best LCD RPTV's and the picture quality is stellar, you get 50-55" for around $2000. Only downside is size. You can't hang it to a wall and you need to have some free floor space, as it can't go on a shelf/table.
Best way to test a TV is to bring your own DVD movies, preferrably one you know well / that has a good picture quality, like an animated 3D movie such as Finding Nemo etc.
One thing to note about RPTV's is that you will need to change the bulb after around 6000-8000 hours of use, roughly every 5years of normal use (avg. 5 hours a day).
It costs around $300 for a bulb and it can be changed by yourself really easily. By changing the bulb, you regain the same picture quality your TV had when new.
Other types of TV's degrade with time, picture quality goes down with the years. A LCD RPTV degrades too, but when you change the bulb, it becomes like new.
These TV's are HD, HDMI equipped, 16:9 and offer an awesome picture quality.
go look at this :
Hitachi Rear-Projection LCD HDTV
Bottomline is:
- Plasma and LCD are not competing formats. They are complementing each other. LCD panels usually stop at 40" and Plasma takes over from 37" to 60"+ so they both fulfill different needs
- At comparable sizes, LCD offers a better picture quality (in my opinion)
- Again, in my opinion, LCD feels more solid in the long term (failure rates)
- If you don't mind loosing the floor space, a LCD RPTV has a really nice picture quality, much lower price, better lifetime (user serviceable lamp)
- Look at Hitachi TV's, they are really high quality and the service is fantastic (and no, I don't work for them, just had really good experiences with them). As a retailer, it's the company we like to do business with best.
The product is top notch and the service is fast and we never had any trouble with them since we started selling their products 50 years ago.
We are in business since 1959 and have always sold Hitachi.
- Lastly, I wouldn't think gaming on a Plasma on a frequent basis would be a wise idea. I hear that Plasma has a tendency to suffer from burn-in pretty easily.
