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A Plasma HDTV or a LCD Television Is this your dilemma? This is a rather difficult and complicated comparison between two technologies that process the image in a totally different manner.

This article highlights the pros and cons of plasma versus LCD as applicable to a television display. It also presents a set of guidelines to help you determine where either of these two flat panel display technologies fit best.

Plasma or LCD Which type of display is right for you?

Though both LCD and plasma displays come in the form of slim flat panel displays, yet from a technology perspective, these two flat panel displays process the image in a totally different manner.

Plasma uses a matrix of tiny gas plasma cells that are charged by precise electrical voltages to emit light and hence to create the picture image. Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) panels - work by trapping a liquid crystal solution between two sheets of polarized glass. When an electric current is passed through the liquid crystals, they change the polarization of the light passing through them in response to the electric voltage as a result of which, more or less light is able to pass through the polarized glass on the face of the display.

It is not the scope of this article to go into the actual details of how these different display technologies process the image after all, what really matters is not what is going behind the screen but rather how these different display technologies perform as a television screen. At the same time, it is worth taking note that it is these same differences that gives each of these display technologies, its strengths and weaknesses, and that therefore renders one more suitable than the other in certain circumstances.

The list below highlights the most important differences between these two flat panel display technologies:

Size: For the time being, collision between plasma television and LCD TV occur in the 40 to 50 inch screen range. In reality, LCD TVs top out at around 45 meaning that for bigger screen sizes, a plasma display is your only real option if what you are after is a direct-view TV system. On the other hand, at the smaller end of spectrum, namely 15 to 36 TVs, LCD is the way to go if what you want is something stylish and slim (at under 4-inches in depth).

Picture Quality, Contrast and Color Saturation: Both plasma and the latest TFT-LCD flat panel displays are capable of producing excellent picture quality with bright, crisp clear images.

However, plasma flat panel displays are more suitable for basic home theater usage than LCD. The gas cell structure within a plasma display is such that there is no light leaking between adjacent cells (or pixels). This renders plasma displays capable of displaying deeper blacks hence better contrast and detail in television and movie scenes where lots of dark and light content is shown simultaneously.

In comparison, the nature of LCD technology where a backlight shines through the LCD layer means that it is hard for it to achieve true blacks (i.e. true absence of light) as there is always some light leakage from adjacent pixels.

This does not mean that LCD panel s are not suitable as TV screens; todays LCD TV sets make use of extreme high contrast panels that are capable of displaying deeper blacks, yet the latest plasma TV sets still have a slight edge over LCD when it comes to contrast levels.

The situation is somewhat similar when it comes to color saturation. Again, it is the different display structure between LCD and plasma that is the reason behind the difference between the two technologies in this respect, and though both are capable of handling color in an exceptional manner, yet plasma displays still lead in this respect - producing more accurate and vibrant colors.

Viewing-angle:Plasma Television sets like their CRT TV counterpart - typically have better viewing angles than LCD. The viewing angle represents how far one can sit on either side of the screen away from the center, without experiencing significant deterioration in picture quality mainly as a result of color shifts and reduced contrast.

Though recent developments in LCD technology means that this is less of an issue with some of the latest LCD TV sets boosting a viewing angle of 160 to 170 degrees vertically and horizontally, yet it is always best to check. The tendency especially with cheaper sets is that the deterioration in picture quality is more accentuated with LCD than with plasma displays.

Burn-In: As with all phosphor-based displays, plasma displays are prone to burn-in, or image retention. Screen burn-in occurs when an image is left for too long on the screen resulting in a ghost of the image burned on the screen. Surely, keeping the brightness and contrast levels down will help reduce the risk of burn-in.

While some brands of plasma displays are more prone than others to burn-in, yet in general, plasma screens are more prone to suffer permanent burn-in during their first 200 hours of use; the reason being that fresh phosphors burn more intensely as they are ignited.

Technically speaking, burn-in is the result of a damaged pixel, whose phosphors has been prematurely aged and therefore glows less intensely than those of surrounding pixels. The presence of a static image for more than half-an-hour is enough to cause temporary burn-in; temporary burn-in or image ghosting, should not be cause for alarm as normally this will wash out after several hours of use.

Worst still is the prolonged presentation of static displays, such as the use of black or gray bars to view a 4:3 picture in its original format on a wide screen display; this will result in a permanent burn-in. Once permanent burn-in occurs, the damaged phosphors cannot produce the same levels of light output as the other phosphors around them do.
In these circumstances, an LCD display may be a better choice.

Viewing distance: It seems that the pixel size and shape of an LCD panel renders a smoother picture than an equivalently sized plasma panel for the same pixel count.

This means that even if your viewing distance falls within the recommended distance of approximately twice the screen width, if this is less than at least nine feet, most probably you will be better off with an LCD TV.

Life-time: The rare gases used in plasma display panels have a life and will fade over use. Earlier plasma TV sets had a quoted half-lifetime of between 20,000hrs, following which the image brightness will fall to half its original value. However, the latest plasma displays can boost anything between 30,000 and 60,000 hours. On the other hand, LCD displays have a guaranteed lifetime of between 50,000hrs and 60,000 hours. This degradation in image brightness takes place gradually over time.

Now, the average household in the US replaces their TV set every 7 years. Taking a conservative figure of 30,000 hours for either technology, this corresponds to well over 6hrs usage a day - every day - for over a period of 14 years! In other words, both plasma and LCD displays are extremely stable and reliable devices. This means that life-time should not be an issue with either display technology.

At the same time, keep in mind that there is no way to re-generate the gases in a plasma display or to repair any dead pixels in an LCD display the only option in such circumstances will be to replace the display.

Response: Some LCD panels especially on older generation models - had a tendency to blur images particularly during fast moving scenes in movies and sports. However, recent advancement in LCD technology means that response times are such that there is no noticeable difference in performance between LCD and plasma TV sets in this regard.

Power requirements: The advantage here goes to LCD panels as these consume less electricity. Estimates show that the use of LCD panels can result in some 30% power savings for the same screen size than plasma display.

Price: Price is always a big issue when it comes to choosing your TV display. Although prices online vary considerably, yet LCD TV sets tend to be more expensive than Plasma Televisions. The main reason behind this price gap is that the production process for plasma technology still supports a better yield and thus carries a pricing advantage especially at the large screen end of the market.

This contrasts heavily with LCD display technology where an estimate 30 to 40 per cent of all manufactured panels will have to be discarded as a result of defects leading to what are known as ‘bad-pixels’.

Making the Choice:

There is a market for both plasma and LCD displays - Plasma gives you a bigger screen for your dollar, deeper blacks, but then LCD do not suffer from burn-in and at the smaller end of the market (less than 40-inch screen size), LCD is your only way forward if you want something slim and stylish.

It is all a question of knowing what are the advantages and limitations of each with respect to your specific needs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Plasma TV has become an important part of television technology. Over the past few years, there have been several major advances in the industry, including the plasma TV. As with any major technology advances, the plasma TV is quickly becoming more affordable - good news for the consumer.

There are several reasons the price of the plasma TV is becoming more affordable. The first is the same reason that most technologies come down in price - the fact that the technology becomes more widely understood and available. As more manufacturers go into business to make the product, the competition naturally gets more intense and prices go down.

Remember that the manufacturers of those first units are trying to recoup the cost of research and development. That makes the product - in this case the plasma TV - more expensive for the consumer. After the technology is slightly older, the companies who manufacture are no longer trying to recover those costs so they can sell the products cheaper. As long as a person holds a patent and other companies are not able to reproduce the technology, the price is more likely to remain high.

Another point that affects the cost of new technologies such as the plasma TV is simple supply and demand. As more consumers demand the product, more manufacturers will go to the expense of making the product available. At first, there won’t likely be sufficient supply to meet the consumer demand but that typically changes after an initial introduction period. When there are plenty of plasma TV sets available to meet current demand, prices will drop.

For the consumer, this means that great technology - the plasma TV, for example - becomes more affordable in a relatively short period of time. Finding a great deal on a plasma TV should be as near as your online or local retailers.

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Plasma televisions are one of the hottest products on the market today. But with so many retailers, how do you know where you can get the best plasma television? Here are some things you should know before you before you commit yourself to the purchase.

Firstly, deciding where to buy your best plasma television is not as easy as it may sound. You will need to think about where you will go- will it be a traditional store, located around the corner, or will you get a better deal at an outlet store for a major nationwide retailer? To complicate the choice further, you now have hundreds- if not thousands- of online shops to choose from.

If you decide to buy your best new television from a ‘brick and mortar’ shop, you should first shop around the neighbourhood, comparing prices, to get the best price. Don’t forget to check whether the retailer is an authorised dealer, as this may become important down the road, if you need to return the item, or have it repaired. There are generally two types of these shops: Those which are warehouse-type stores and smaller specialty shops.

The larger retailers may be the best place for you to purchase your plasma television, as they usually have the best prices. It’s important to remember, however, that the staff that are employed may not be that well-versed in the products that they are selling and the quality of service can sometimes be very poor. If you know exactly the brand and model of the plasma television that you are looking for, then a smaller specialty retailer might be best for you.

Searching for that perfect deal online can be somewhat more difficult. While the prices are usually lower, you don’t have the luxury of being able to see the product and sample its picture quality. And, more often than not, the great prices are usually offset by the costs of shipping and handling.

Buying the best plasma television should not be a stressful experience if you know where to shop.

About the author:
Tom Ace is the founder of Plasma tv Resources a website providing information on plasma televisions

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