Compare LCD vs. Plasma

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LCD vs. Plasma

Plasma TV

Shopping for flat screen TVs, there are only two major options - LCD or Plasma. Each of these options excels at some uses. This Choozza helps you find which screen type will be best for your needs.

LCD TV

Set the importance of each feature

Viewing Angles

Sustainability

Small Screen

Low Cost

Picture Quality

Light and Gaming

Big Screen

What's the perfect choice for you?

Comparison Details

Last updated by Nimo, on 21/7/09

	Plasma TV Plasma televisions use a matrix of tiny gas plasma cells to display the pictures. The electrical voltage these cells are charged with creates the colors you see on the screen.	LCD TV LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions contain liquid crystal between two glass plates (this is sometimes referred to as the LCD sandwich). Pictures are created by a changing electrical charge that is applied to these crystals.
Viewing Angles: When the TV is in your living room, not everyone sits in front of it to watch. How well will the viewers in the side seats get to watch?	A plasma TV's picture remains fairly solid even when you sit quite at an angle to the screen (That is - sitting to the side of it). Plasmas also produce a brighter colour than LCDs, which is due to light leakage on an LCD affecting its colour saturation.	On most LCD TVs you see some brightness and colour changes when you sit at too much of an angle to the screen. The newer LCD screens are getting better and better, but they are not as good as plasmas yet.
Sustainability: How much power will the TV consume? How long will it last with you?	Plasmas consume considerably more power than LCDs - up to 30% more. This makes plasmas a seriously more wasteful technology. The life of a plasma screen used to be about 20000 hours. It is now usually between 30000 and 60000 hours. Plasma screens are in danger of suffering Screen burns. A screen burn is when an image is left too long on a screen, resulting in a shadow of the image burned permanently onto the screen. However, the newer generations of plasma screens do not get the image burnt permanently, and it will disappear after a few days of normal use. Last but not least - plasma screens are heavier and thicker than LCD screens - which makes them not as good to hang on your wall.	LCDs consume considerably less power than plasmas - up to 30%. This is a seriously greener technology. The life of an LCD screen is usually guaranteed to be 60000 hours. LCD screens also hardly ever have Screen burns. A screen burn happens when an image is left too long on a screen, resulting in a shadow of the image burned permanently onto the screen. Last but not least - LCD screens are lighter and thinner than plasma screens - which makes them better suited to hang on your wall.

Small Screen: How does the technology fair in the smaller sizes (up to 42 inch)	Plasmas are heavier and are just not a good fit with smaller screens.	LCDs are the way to go with smaller screens.
Low Cost: How costly are these TVs?	Plasmas usually cost less than LCDs for the same feature set and screen size.	LCDs usually cost more than plasmas for the same feature set and screen size.
Picture Quality: While most experts will tell you that the good old CRT TVs still produce the best picture, plasmas and LCDs are giving a good fight.	Plasma screens display the black colors accurately. For you as a viewer, this means that you get better contrast and details in the darker scenes. The reason for this has to do with the technology used in plasma TVs, which does not use backlight. Also, because of the front pane, the colors seem richer and warmer on plasmas than on LCDs. Plasmas do not usually blur the picture. Blurring occurs with fast moving scenes and especially in sports. This is because the pixel response time on the plasma is short. Plasma TVs have less screen pixels than LCDs of the same size. This means the picture you see is not as sharp.	LCD Screens can not display "true black" yet. This is because they use backlight that shines through the LCD layer, and there is "light leak" between the pixels. For you as a viewer this means that LCD screens do not have the best contrast, and darker scenes on the movies or series you watch will not look as good. This is changing, and every generation of LCDs is a bit better with blacks. Older generation LCDs used to blur the picture, especially for sports, because the response time (the time it takes a pixel to respond to being told to change its color) was long. Current models don't usually have this problem (look at response time for the specific TV when you check the LCD out). LCDs have more pixels on the screen than plasmas of the same size. This means that the picture you see is sharper.
Light and Gaming: How you use your TV can influence your decision - the light level in your TV room, or the time of day you usually watch TV can make the needle point LCD or Plasma. A different form of usage has to do with what you usually watch (or play) on your TV.	Plasmas offer better picture than LCD but this comes with a price. The viewing experience is not so good if your TV room has lots of light or you watch a lot of daytime TV with the shades open. Screen Burns (see Sustainability category) are an issue with Plasma TVs (although much less so with the newer models). This means you should consider other options if you plan to use your TV for playing lots of video games where parts of the screen constantly display the same image. Plasmas are usually the way to go when you have a controlled viewing room, where there is not a lot of ambient light.	LCDs use backlight - so the picture has more "presence". This makes them the better choice if your TV room has lots of ambient light or you watch a lot of daytime TV with the shades open. Screen Burns (see Sustainability category) are not an issue with LCD TVs. This makes them the better option if you plan to use your TV for playing lots of video games where parts of the screen constantly display the same image.
Big Screen: How does the tv fair in the really large size (42 inchand up?)	In the larger screens, Plasma is really the only way to go. The better picture quality ensures that the viewing experience remains good.	With few, expensive exceptions, LCDs are not a good match in the larger screen sizes. This is mainly because of the better picture quality that plasmas offer.

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