Markphd, I think your assessment of the present and a possible future is very well thought out. I'm not disagreeing with some of your comments just less experienced.
I own a Pioneer Elite 9G plasma and a Sony XBR6 120Hz LCD, both have been calibrated. Reading your description of the screen door over the whites effect, I would be just as bothered by it as you but I simply don't see it on my plasma.
Without a good plasma in the house I could easily live with the picture quality that my Sony provides after its calibration. I purchased the LCD first and I did notice some motion artifacts but nothing that was distracting me while viewing. Watching a live football game on the plasma then watching the same game on the LCD the motion artifacts become simply glaring and they do distract me.
It's clear to me, or I should say IMO, the basic LCD architecture is flawed in regard to motion blur. Simply increasing the speed is a bandaid masking this flaw. Still it's no reason not to buy one, I did (only because of a placement and size issue). The consumer couldn't see the difference between VHS an Beta they defiantly won't bother with forty maxed brightness LCD's vs ten fairly close to calibration plasma's at a big box stores display.
Plasma's have had a long and expensive development period leading up to what Panasonic is producing today, an affordable plasma. The Pioneer 9G is a magnitude better than all other plasma's (not my words). Prior to Pioneer's announcement of their discontinuing manufacture of plasma displays they showed their next generation 10G display which was said to be another magnitude better (not my words) than their previous 9G. Clearly the high end videophile market is simply not enough to support the full production of a display that costs more than twice as much as a consumer LCD. Consider the only LCD sony manufactures in house is a 25" (I think) studio monitor that sells for $23,000.
The hope is that Panasonic will be able to manufacture the 10G technology but who knows. Since the plasma's screen is glass I'm amazed that the LCD's lighter weight hasn't yet been another reason not to by a plasma.
Some other plasma attributes are that a modern plasma has a longer service life than of an LCD. Double that if the LCD is running at the out of the box 8000 Kelvin. Speaking of brightness, my Pioneer is in a very bright sunlight room which has little effect on picture quality. Currently the best black's come from the Pioneer plasma's and with that come the best shadow detail which is very important when viewing those darker films. Lastly, this is a good time to find a good deal on a high end Elite.
So, yes, I'm a plasma fan. I've also enjoyed vacuum tubes, Betamax, LP's, and class D amplifiers. LCD's are getting better but they're going to have to get a lot better. With both, an LCD and a plasma in the house it's beyond a no brainer.
I own a Pioneer Elite 9G plasma and a Sony XBR6 120Hz LCD, both have been calibrated. Reading your description of the screen door over the whites effect, I would be just as bothered by it as you but I simply don't see it on my plasma.
Without a good plasma in the house I could easily live with the picture quality that my Sony provides after its calibration. I purchased the LCD first and I did notice some motion artifacts but nothing that was distracting me while viewing. Watching a live football game on the plasma then watching the same game on the LCD the motion artifacts become simply glaring and they do distract me.
It's clear to me, or I should say IMO, the basic LCD architecture is flawed in regard to motion blur. Simply increasing the speed is a bandaid masking this flaw. Still it's no reason not to buy one, I did (only because of a placement and size issue). The consumer couldn't see the difference between VHS an Beta they defiantly won't bother with forty maxed brightness LCD's vs ten fairly close to calibration plasma's at a big box stores display.
Plasma's have had a long and expensive development period leading up to what Panasonic is producing today, an affordable plasma. The Pioneer 9G is a magnitude better than all other plasma's (not my words). Prior to Pioneer's announcement of their discontinuing manufacture of plasma displays they showed their next generation 10G display which was said to be another magnitude better (not my words) than their previous 9G. Clearly the high end videophile market is simply not enough to support the full production of a display that costs more than twice as much as a consumer LCD. Consider the only LCD sony manufactures in house is a 25" (I think) studio monitor that sells for $23,000.
The hope is that Panasonic will be able to manufacture the 10G technology but who knows. Since the plasma's screen is glass I'm amazed that the LCD's lighter weight hasn't yet been another reason not to by a plasma.
Some other plasma attributes are that a modern plasma has a longer service life than of an LCD. Double that if the LCD is running at the out of the box 8000 Kelvin. Speaking of brightness, my Pioneer is in a very bright sunlight room which has little effect on picture quality. Currently the best black's come from the Pioneer plasma's and with that come the best shadow detail which is very important when viewing those darker films. Lastly, this is a good time to find a good deal on a high end Elite.
So, yes, I'm a plasma fan. I've also enjoyed vacuum tubes, Betamax, LP's, and class D amplifiers. LCD's are getting better but they're going to have to get a lot better. With both, an LCD and a plasma in the house it's beyond a no brainer.