Television to show clients photos

I am looking for a 50-60in television to show clients photos and slideshows on. I am having trouble with LEDs vs plasma vs LCD. I know LEDs are double the price than the other two, is it worth it? I have also heard that Plasma has deeper blacks and therefore better to show pics. I'm pretty confused on which to get. Also, what brands would you recommend and would you get a service plan? Thanks

Hi,
Here is what I have:
Samsung 52 inch 1080 LED and pictures look amazing on it. Full, rich colors and images are as sharp as my computer monitor.
Vizio 27 inch 1080 LCD, pictures look good, but washed out in comparison to the Samsung and don't seem as sharp.

Can't speak on Plasma, don't own any.

I love the Samsung monitors, so bright and sharp. I have the 27 inch LCD and it is an amazing monitor to work with. I'd say to get the best you can afford for now because there are good deals out there.

I have a personal preference for Plasma as I much prefer the cinematic quality of the display as it is the closest to the old CRT in its look.

You get this look because whilst LED and LCD work by blocking light emitting from the back of the screen Plama works like a CRT in that the pixel elements themselves glow and emit the light.

To my eyes LCD and LED look great with animated work but Plasma just seems to look more natural.

It goes without saying of course that you will need to get the display calibrated properly.

Much less important than calibrating the set is making sure it's set up under appropriate lighting. If the color temperature is high but you've got yellow incandescent bulbs nearby, it's going to look odd. Ditto if you have it set to a warm color temp but CFL lighting nearby.

I use a Planar PX2611w - it's been a good monitor. Not for selling photos but for everyday use; I wouldn't hesitate to use it to show off photos though.

Panasonic Plasma TV's are the best on the market for pretty much everything.

I'd rather display photos on a plasma than an LCD/LED any day. LCD/LED tends to look overly saturated to me. Plasma looks much more natural, especially skin tones.

Yes plasma for your purposes of displaying/showing photos.

Zolth wrote in post #13128028
Panasonic Plasma TV's are the best on the market for pretty much everything.

Didn't want to get into a brand argument but I have to say I agree 100% with this - I currently have 2 Panasonic plasmas, a 3.5 year old 42 incn and a 2 year old 50 inch.

As for ambient lighting - if I were showing clients images on a TV then I'd be looking to create a low ambient light situation probably with a low level backlighting effect to help contrast.

Yup. 2 Panny plasmas here. 50" bought in Dec 2006 and a 58" bought in December 2009. Maybe 2010. I forget.

If you want a TV, go to Tiger direct and search on the plasmas. They are cheap and many have various inputs including HDMI and DVI.

wakkoguy,
all the comments here are very helpful as i read this thread. I've been a Audio/videophile for about 20 years, and Display technology and presentation has been my biggest hobby. Its not as simpl as "buy a plasma or LCD" (LED is an LCD, its just lit differently, its not a different technology - dont be swayed by the fancy marketing).

There is no finer consumer display on the market than a Pioneer Elite Kuro - Signature Series PRO-141FD, 60-inch Plasma display. Of course, it would have to be calibrated by a trained ISF Technician...not a best buy geeksquad or magnolia theater installer. So, my suggestion, start your research with that Display, and work your way out of it.
Sadly, Pioneer could not continue its production (cost too high, demand too low).

Even today, there are still NO "Kuro Killers" on the market. The closest one might get is the LG Infinia THX Certified models (very few left) and Panasonic was kindof going to produce the panels for Pioneer in the end, but not sure they got hold of the receipe for success.

lastly, as important as the display panel, and the subsequent calibration (HD color points differnt than analog...keep that in mind), is the viewing environment... including the color of the walls, the backlight behind the display to match 6500Kelvins.

Heavens, thats a lot of work just to show pictures to a client... and a whole 'nother hobby altogether...

okay, skip it all and just buy a nice 19" CRT and your pictures will look astounding (if you at least have even that calibrated )

Wow, thanks for all the responses.
So here is what I am hearing:

Go plasma! However, no one has really mentioned why. Currently I have a 42" DLP (yes, I know it's old) and pictures looks great but flat on it. My macbook pro has an LED screen and the pictures look incredible on that.

How would Plasma differ from the POP! that an LED (LCD with LED) has? Besides twice the price ha!

Deeper blacks.
Better viewing angles (plasma is almost 180 degrees.
Better color reproduction <- the most important to me

Plasma looks more natural, especially skin tones. LCD looks more cartoonish, to me.

The LED/LCD may have more POP - that is what makes it look more "cartoonish" to me. I find that many LCD TV's are shown in-store playing animated footage as the do excel in this high colour / high contrast environment.

I would however say that the Plasma would give an image closer to what you would expect as a print than a LCD would.

Also, to make it more confusing, if you take some images on a SD card to play back on the TV's in a store do remember that they will generally be set to MAX EVERYTHING so that they catch your attention. A properly calibrated set will look terrible in a store environment but at home the store settings will burn your retinas within a 1/2 hour.

You cannot therefore gauge your purchase by what you see at the store. It's a **** isn't it.