Anyone play with a plasma TV?

[Steelcyclone]

Most plasma's are only 720p. If your planning to get a 720p anything as a computer monitor, it will look like complete crap unless your sitting a good distance away from it.

[Gerkargeo]

Most Plasma tvs are now 1080p; the 720p have been/are being phased out all together. I'm looking to get a 60" plasma.

[Seraphi]

To everyone commenting on image burn. Plasmas are notorious for it, but it's easily fixable by leaving it on a static channel (you know, the black and white distortion) for a few hours. Clears it right up.

That said, I have no idea why anyone would want to buy a plasma unless it's solely because of the price (they're significantly cheaper). They're inferior in almost every way, and are in the process of being phased out.

[Cubester]

To everyone commenting on image burn. Plasmas are notorious for it, but it's easily fixable by leaving it on a static channel (you know, the black and white distortion) for a few hours. Clears it right up.

That said, I have no idea why anyone would want to buy a plasma unless it's solely because of the price (they're significantly cheaper). They're inferior in almost every way, and are in the process of being phased out.

- Better color reproduction
- Better black values (which, combined with the previous point, make for vastly superior picture quality)
- Less input lag
- Better viewing angles
- Much better motion resolution
- No unnatural sharpening which is present on LCD
- Larger size at a lower price

So yeah, you should do some research before claiming plasma TVs are inferior. Every self respecting videophile (and serious gamer, due to input lag) will choose a plasma TV over an LCD.

And plasma TVs are not prone to burn in. That's a common misconception that exists because the old plasmas used to be plagued by it. With the new generation of plasma TVs, however, burn in is nonexistent.
So really, the only downside a plasma has when compared to an LCD is the image retention, which is the non-permanent version of burn in.

[Animation]

Ugh plasmas..

If you're a gamer avoid them, I have a LCD in my bedroom which is pretty much on 24/7, never once has an image burned into the screen, however the plasma in the lounge if it's on for 4 hours something burns on the screen, stupid FOX8 logo -.- Plasma is newer than the LCD. No matter what people say my LCD has a clearer image then the plasma.

[BakaChin]

I know you are only after info on plasmas but im loving how it looks on my Sony HX850

[tingko]

I had a fairly new plasma TV, last year's Panasonic ST50.
Picture quality is top notch. Input lag is a non-issue. Color reproduction, everything you name it.
But like everyone said already, image retention sucks. Playing 1 hour is enough to cause retention on the location of log and hp bar.
Yes, you can clear it running the built in white scrolling tool for 20-30 minutes. But doing that gets old really fast.
Gave the TV to my mom and got an LCD. Problem fixed.
But the LCD picture quality never even come close to the Plasma...

[Jwrigh7784]

Your best bet would be to get an LED LCD TV. They are reasonably priced and can compete with plasma TVs in color, contrast and blacks. The added bonus is that LED's have a VERY long lifespan. You don't have to worry about burn in. As far as pixel response rate, it is a non issue in plasmas because the response rate is instant, however most LCD and LED LCD TVs manufactured in the past several years have pixel response rates as low as 4 and 6 ms which the human eye won't even perceive.

[Cubester]

Your best bet would be to get an LED LCD TV. They are reasonably priced and can compete with plasma TVs in color, contrast and blacks. The added bonus is that LED's have a VERY long lifespan. You don't have to worry about burn in. As far as pixel response rate, it is a non issue in plasmas because the response rate is instant, however most LCD and LED LCD TVs manufactured in the past several years have pixel response rates as low as 4 and 6 ms which the human eye won't even perceive.

Color reproduction and especially black values on LED LCD are nowhere near Plasma values unless you go into the area of local dimming LED TVs (which are hard to get these days, and are a lot more expensive). Also, pixel response time has nothing to do with input lag. Pixel response time is the time it takes for pixels to change orientation, affecting ghosting and motion blur.

Input lag however, is much more important that pixel response time since input lag is a delay between what is sent to the monitor, and what you actually see. For most slow paced games, this is a non issue, but when fast action is required, the difference between 30ms input lag and 80ms input lag can mean the difference between life and death. (The only LCDs that are not plagued by high input lag are TN panels, but they have horrible black values and crappy color reproduction as a side effect)

As far as the concerns of the OP go, I'll ask you this: Are you willing to live with image retention so you can have the best experience possible on a TV with very low input lag? If so, go for a plasma. If not, go for an LCD. That's really all there is to it.

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Edit: More argumentation

There's another thing you need to take into account when purchasing a new TV which I forgot to mention. Are you going to be playing in a dark (or relatively dark) room or in a bright room? Plasma is made to be watched in dark rooms. They generally output at a lower brightness level than LCD and look like they have "washed out" blacks when viewed in bright environments. If you intend to play in a bright environment you'd probably be better off using an LCD.

[sQQuare]

I play on Panasonic 50" Plasma = awesome colours but you need to keep some distance

I play on Philips 46" LED = more or less same as plasma, very nice

I play on 30" LCD = less vibrant colors but the most crisp picture, but honestly very small difference.

If i would have to choose i would say Plasma because of the colors.

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edit: important info
Remember that when you use a "TV" you will be stuck with HDMI, this means a set limit of 60hz framerate, IF the TV has DVI this is what you should use
Also, when you test u must make sure things like "smart picture" and stuff is turned off because its very common in stores these are turned on because it will make still pictures or similar look good but make moving pictures skewed, classic example is soccer where the ball lookes like mouse tracing is turned on.