Has LED caught up to Plasma?


I know that the plasma tv's in the past were always considered to be better than the LED or LCD formats. I'm wondering if this is still the case. With improvements in technology, has the gap narrowed? I bought a 42" Panasonic Plasma over 8 years ago (and yes, it's still working...wished it would have died by now! lol) and am looking to upgrade to a new 55" tv. In all honestly, when I chose plasma back then, I thought the picture quality of both the plasmas and the LED/LCD models were both very good. Even though my plasmas has lasted all these past 8 years, my big concern is that they do heat up quite a bit....where LED's run much cooler. I'm thinking this might translate into a longer life with and LED tv instead of a plasma. What would you buy today if you were buying??? Plasma or LED?
calgarian5355
I have a 100in projector, a 58in and 46in plasma, 2 22in lcd monitors in bar and the 30in crt. I also have old sd crt units around pool table, craft room office and guest bed. My point is its still the best pic (the hd Sony) even if its bedroom material these days, my master is 14x24 so its doable otherwise would likely be gone.
Room light levels are still an issue. The new LCDs hold up better in a very bright room. Plasmas can wash out in high light situations. My family room is loaded with windows and, as much as I wanted the Panasonic plasma, it just was not going to work in my light situation. I ended up getting a gorilla glass 60" Sony. The glass is reflective when the sun is directly on the TV, straight on to the TV, but ambient light and off angle light is just not an issue. The picture is bright enough to work fine. Just something to consider.
Chadnliz, unless your watching the Sony 30" from 4', I can't help but wonder if you'd feel the same way if the picture on the Sony 30" was blown up to the same size as your 100" projector screen.
http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
Hey, if that's your impression, who am I to say your wrong.
Recently picked up a 50" Plasma so I put my 34" Sony CRT into the bedroom. It amazes me that EVERY person I've asked sez the plasma's the better TV when it's SO clear to me that the Sony's got the better picture. I guess we truly are a "if it's bigger, it's better" society!
Chazro, the size thing usually has to do with distance from the screen. If your TV is in your bedroom, you are probably viewing from a closer distance than normal, so the smaller size may very well be better. For those of us that watch in the living room from a much further distance, you might be very surprised at the difference the bigger screen makes, especially on the eyes. You can look up guidelines for screen size vs. viewing distance from several different great sources on the web. For my viewing distance of 9 feet, my 50" plasma is barely big enough. I used to view a 32" from that distance, though, and was amazed at how much easier it is on the eyes to watch with the bigger screen.

Another big factor is whether or not your 50" plasma has been calibrated correctly. After you have had it on for at least 200 hours, you should have it professionally calibrated, and watch the guy do it so you can do it yourself in the future, as I did. This was some of the best money my wife ever spent, let me tell you - it was a huge difference! Those things are calibrated initially so they look good in a salesroom - they look quite a bit different in any home environment, and need to be calibrated accordingly. I think the same goes for the LEDs, etc., but I know it is true of the plasmas in particular.