The good news is there are flat-panel displays available to fit almost every budget. If you’ve looked at plasma and LCD side-by-side and prefer the look of plasma (and it sounds like hooking up a video game or computer are not a factor here), I’d focus on getting the best deal on a plasma display.

Can you give me an idea approximately how far from the screen you’ll be sitting? Also, roughly what your budget is?

Thanks,

Andy

What is your recomendation for someone who can’t spend top dollar but due to space wants to enter the flat-panel market. I am not a techy but have been doing my research and am still confused between LCD and plasma. We watch sports, movies and regular TV. Any advice would be helpful. I have my eyes on a Samsung plasma.

Warmly,
Chantel

Contrast ratio is certainly a factor, but what you’ll find when comparing most of the better brands is contrast ratio varies more by technology than by model, and doesn’t impact the visual quality as much as other factors. For example, the latest generation of Sharp AQUOS LCD displays sport a contrast ratio of 2000:1 whereas Sony’s FWD-50PX2 50″ plasma has a contrast ratio of 10000:1. However, that doesn’t mean the Sony Plasma would look 5x better than the Sharp if you sat them side-by-side.

The reason I didn’t get into contrast ratio in this guide (or brightness, for that matter) is that when you’re making a comparison between technologies, as I was here, those specs can be confusing.