LCD vs Plasma: Deciding Which To Get?

How LCD Works

LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. These crystals are not really liquid, but the way they behave is more similar to liquid than solid, and this is why they are called liquid crystals. They are kind of somewhere between a solid and liquid. Like a solid, they can remain in one place, but they can also change shape and move, just like a liquid can.

To create a picture, LCD screens make use of the polarizing technology used in sunglasses. At the back of the display there is a bright light. In front of the light is a horizontal polarizing filter blocking all light waves apart from horizontal ones, so that the only light getting through is the horizontal waves.

Lots of tiny liquid crystals make up the pixels of the screen. Behind each pixel is a transistor which controls the amount of electricity flowing through the liquid crystal. Every crystal is twisted, and in front of this is a vertical polarizing filter that only lets vertical light waves pass through. When electricity passes through the liquid crystal, it becomes straight, stopping all light, but when this electrical current is turned off, the crystal then twists and the light comes out vertically.

Benefits of LCD
- Ideal for showing static pictures.
- Brilliant colors.
- Doesn't suffer from burn-in or flicker.
- Comes in a broad range of sizes.
- Durability - L.c.d. screens can last as long as 100,000 hours!
- Exceptionally energy efficient.

LCD's Disadvantages
- Not as good as Plasma for fast scenes.
- As the backlight gets older, this can cause the white balance to go slightly wrong.

How Plasma Works

A plasma screen has many tiny glass chambers that contain "plasma", which is a mixture of neon and xenon. Every one of these tiny chambers has a set of colored phosphors behind it: one blue, one red, and one green. The plasma chambers, when energized, give off an invisible UV light which hits the various colored phosphors, causing them to emit visible light.

Plasma: the Good
- Great for truly digital image sources.
- Great for fast action.
- Superb contrast.
- Comes in bigger sizes than L.c.d..
- Better value for money, particularly with bigger HDTVs\TVs.

Plasma: the Bad
- Tends to suffer burn-in (not great for still images)
- Brightness of display slowly fades with time (although this happens very gradually, over several years).
- Uses more electricity than LCD.

Plasma or LCD: Which is the One for You?

Right, so which type of TV is the one for you?? Plasma or LCD? To decide, you should take a moment to think about about what you will want to use it for. If you want a TV that is very big and will display fast action scenes smoothly, then you should choose Plasma. This is definately the case if you like fast action films or if you’re really into game playing.

But if you're more concerned about vivid colors, longevity, and energy efficiency, and you don’t go in so much for the games and the fast action, then LCD is right for you. If you wanted to use your TV for displaying still images then this is definately true, for instance if you wanted to browse the photos you've got stored on your digital camera, or if you wanted to surf the internet on your TV (some LCD TVs have an internet TV mode).