# What's Better for Gaming?



## Moony_Lupin (Apr 11, 2010)

What type of TV is better for gaming and the movement/action that comes with it, LCD or plasma? Please briefly explain your logic. Thanks for your help.


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## event horizon (Nov 12, 2009)

I'd have thought that a plasma should win hands down though it depends. The main reason for saying this is that the panels generally are a lot faster, IE they have a much faster response time. The average lcd TV has a response time of 5ms or so, where as a plasma can be 10 or more times faster.

I did say that this depends though, what it depends on is if the panel is loaded with stuff like some kind of pixel manipulation such as Philips "perfect pixel" & also stuff that increases the frame rate (100Hz, 200Hz or higher).

You'll often find that using all the bells & whistles will result in a worse picture when there is a lot of fast moving stuff on screen. My advice is get the fastest panel you can afford & keep the gimics shut off.

Here's an example of my own. I'm using a Philips LCD with the (apparently this is correct) fastest panel response in the world @ 1ms. If i switch on perfect pixel it smears & even has things jumping about on really fast pans. Turn off the stuff & you can't find a fault no matter what you throw at it.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

LCD is closing the gap on the response times and Plasma tends to not only run hot but also draw more power than LCD. As long as you have an LCD display thats a fairly current model and 1080p you should be fine.


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## Moony_Lupin (Apr 11, 2010)

Well I obviously will be using this TV for movies, etc. in addition to gaming. My biggest concern aside from screen blur is the viewing angles. I know LCD's darken from angles and plasmas more or less do not. How do current LCD's compare with plasmas?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Plasmas do well with viewing angle and are a better choice however if viewing angle is a real issue then a projector/screen is an even better option.


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## akan101 (Sep 14, 2009)

In my opinion, Projector screen can serve better than any thing else can do...


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

If your room can be made quite dark a projector and screen will give great results.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Screen Burn in/image retention is still a very real problem with plasmas, despite what you may read. I can tell you first hand that's it's something to be cautious of if you have a game that you play for hours that keeps a portion of the screen static.


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## polarbare (Feb 12, 2010)

If you play games with HUD's, I would be very wary of going plasma. Yes they do have pixel shifting, but not sure how much that going to help when the HUD covers numerous pixels with the same color. My gaming sessions tend to last at least 2 hours (and sometimes up to six). Currently, I'm using a DLP, but when the next upgrade comes, I'll be going with LCD. Just be sure to do some research on the web regarding different manufacturers and lag times, as some are definitely worse than others. BTW, lag on LCD's is influenced most by internal processing, not pixel refresh rates.


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

Seems this a popular question here at HTS. From what I've gathered, lcd's are a safer bet than plasma for gaming, by far, with projectors being the first choice if your room and pocket can afford it.


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## jliedeka (May 27, 2008)

I use a plasma for gaming. I don't really know if the response time is better than LCD since I never noticed any lag on my LCD.

Image retention does happen but it's a temporary phenomenon and most of the time you have to look for it. Burn-in is mostly a non-issue these days. I've played several 12 hour+ sessions of Mass Effect 2 and other games with HUDs with no issues.

Jim


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## Michael Osadciw (Apr 4, 2009)

to the OP: depends on the "look" you are after.

the new LCDs with the higher refresh rates make the image look very ultra-video and fast...which might be good for the fast action gaming when your eye needs to not miss a single thing... not recommended for video though.

someone here mentioned projectors...yup...affordable...$1200 for an entry level Epson put on a screen no more than 84", get it calibrated, and then you've got a sweet image for less than $2500 for both gaming and video!


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## Psykoboy2 (Aug 10, 2010)

What's the consensus on gaming with a DLP?

I've been using a 73 CRT for 8 years now and don't really want to drop lower in size, so I've been checking out some DLPs in that size range.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

DLPs are great for gaming, fast response and no burn-in. However, you do have to replace the bulbs in DLPs.


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## Psykoboy2 (Aug 10, 2010)

I don't mind the lamp changing. They don't seem that difficult to do nor that expensive.

That fast response you mentioned really makes me feel better about going with a DLP. Thanks!


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## soc5 (Aug 22, 2010)

Don't games on plasmas look a little more grainy?


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Gaming on plasma looks fine to me.


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

I've used everything from front and rear projection CRT, to LCD, plasma and dlp. My favorite was my CRT front projector for the smooth image but the brightness and focus weren't so great. Now I am using a mits 73" dlp and it's been fantastic. Any of the sets these days work well and my old roommate and I would go for hours on an older pioneer plasma and never noticed any long term problems with image retention. Of current product types I would suggest dlp for size and over all quality, LCD and plasma are pretty much neck and neck, though I would pick plasma over LCD if I were in the market.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

soc5 said:


> Don't games on plasmas look a little more grainy?


Not unless the display is defective or badly aligned.


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## Moonfly (Aug 1, 2008)

I use a plasma to play all my games and to date, I've yet to see another technology I think does the job better.


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## uriel (Jan 14, 2010)

I play on a 65" Panasonic plasma and the picture is awesome. There are some retention issues, but from what I can tell it's temporary. I _might_ play for a couple hours every other weekend, so I might not be the best one to answer here.


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## GranteedEV (Aug 8, 2010)

You really shouldn't be playing games for longer than an hour at a time, anyways. If you're running into image retention, you probably need to consider how long you yourself have been playing.

I remember when I got Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the health meter would be slightly visible against the dark background after turning the game off. That's when I realized I was playing that game for way too long periods LOL!


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## DaRoza (Oct 20, 2010)

I agree, plasma is great for games that dont use a HUD (alot of games use HUD's). I think that is the only real issue for plasma and gaming. I personaly use and old CRT projection tv(my fathers as i am repairing mine).


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## jliedeka (May 27, 2008)

I've occasionally played Mass Effect 2 for several hours at a time with no issues. I don't run my TV in torch mode and I shut off the screen if I need an extended break. I don't think burn-in is really an issue for plasma tvs anymore.

Jim


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## Moonfly (Aug 1, 2008)

My plasma is an 06' model, and theres no hint of burn in at all. It wasnt really an issue 5 years, and certainly isnt now. Its the LCD/LED boys keeping that one alive


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## merc (Oct 3, 2009)

in my experience...
- plasma nice if you got the bucks to replace in case of burn in
- lcd... sorry i hate em and even on the fastest ones I see blurring for games and tv sports
My recommendation is a DLP RP or a CRT RP. No blur, good blacks, no burn in the DLP ones and you can probably find one of these older hdtvs pretty cheap.


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## DaRoza (Oct 20, 2010)

I can agree to that Merc, I guess it all realy boils down to what you think looks best.


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## merc (Oct 3, 2009)

DaRoza said:


> I can agree to that Merc, I guess it all realy boils down to what you think looks best.


So true. I am old and old school and so I like my HDTV movies to look like well, film. Younger folks who grew up in the video game annimation decade probably like the vividness of LCD and may not even notice the lack of true black and the fast action blurring since they've seen nothing without it? I still haven't seen a better picture than our ISF calibrated 64" CRT RP HDTV... although the new 1080p LEDs and plasmas might be its' equal or better?

I originally bought a big ole LCD for my bedroom but just couldn't live with the fast action blurring. Now, we have 5 HDTVs in the house and 2 of them are 23" Samsung LCDs, but they are hanging on the walls in the kid's bedrooms. The other three are one 42" DLP RP in the bedroom and two RP CRTs(64 and 52 inch) in our family room/HT and our game room.

I bought our gaming room 52" HDTV at a Walmart Black Friday special for around $500 about 5 years ago. Had to sleep out in front of Walmart to get it, but figured that blowing $500 on a 52 inch for gaming was worth the risk at the time. It has paid off and that HDTV has probably gotten the most use during these years and has operated nicely and without a glitch for lots of Halo, Metal of Honor and other 1080i game play.

Of course, the other consideration is how much space you have for your display. If you need to hang your display on the wall or have under 18" in depth, your choices are limited to LCD and Plasma and LED.


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