LCD TV or Plasma TV - Which is better?

Comparing the Benefits and Drawbacks of LCD and Plasma TVs


Both are similar in appearance and if all you want is something that looks nice in your living-room while turned off, then you may choose either one. Especially if the people you want to impress have no idea that there is a difference. You get a thin profile and something that looks expensive and impressive with both plasma and LCD.


Technological difference
Plasma TVs use plasma cells to display pictures while liquid crystal displays use liquid crystal sandwiched between sheets of glass. Each has its benefits and each has drawbacks. For people who do not watch a lot of TV the differences are negligible, but for the dedicated TV watcher or player of video-games, those small differences can grow more distracting over time.


So what's the difference as far as the picture-quality is concerned?
While both use very different methods to present the viewer with a picture, the quality of that picture may not be as different as you may think. It used to be that plasma TVs were the touchstone for quality, but LCD has improved and now there is not all that much difference between them. LCD has historically had a problem displaying darker shades properly, so that dark settings lost contrast, especially when viewed from angles other than head-on.


This is especially important for those viewers who like to watch TV in the dark. LCD also has in the past tended to blur rapid movement such as in sporting events or while playing video-games. Compare that to plasmas which have always handled contrast in dark pictures properly and shown pictures with a fair amount of accuracy regardless of the angle from which they are viewed. That said, the newer LCD screens have dramatically reduced the problems of their ancestors, so much so that there is little in the way of noticeable difference in picture-quality. This is not to say that there is no difference at all.


The biggest differences between plasma and LCD
The big difference between plasma and LCD comes in the form of the price. LCD panels are very expensive to make whereas plasmas are not. Another difference is size. Larger plasmas tend to be in the 50 inch range whereas 60 inch LCD screens are fairly common.


LCDs tend to use less electricity than plasmas, in fact, in some cases they may use half the power. This means that the TV with the higher initial price may eventually pay itself off. This is especially important given another fact, which is that LCD screens have tended to have a longer lifespan than plasma screens. This is changing with the newer generations, however. Both newer versions of both types of technology will last for roughly seven years if their owners were to leave them on all day every day.


Newer plasmas are less vulnerable to having images burned in which was a common complaint with earlier ones, but it can still happen. An image may remain visible for a while if it has been on the screen for too long, but it will go away after a few days as opposed to older models where it would have stayed on permanently.