What's the real difference?

Question

I'm looking into buying a new flat screen television set and I don't really know the difference between Plasma and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). What I mean is, the picture quality. Which is better and is there a big difference?

Answer 1

The picture quality is almost identical between LCD and Plasma. Most people cannot tell the difference between the two.

Plasma does have some issues. Plasma screens are VERY reflective. If you have bright windows opposite the tv, you do not want plasma. Plasma screens run hot and use alot of electricity. Plasma screens can also BURN-IN if you leave an image on the screen for an extended amount of time. Plasma screens look very good with angle viewing.

LCD screens are NOT very reflective. They work well in bright rooms. LCD's use less electricity. LCD's do NOT get burn-in. However, LCD's lose their sharpness when you look at them at an angle. The bigger the angle, the worse the picture is. Some LCD's are better then others with angle viewing.

Plasma is usually cheaper then LCD when you get to large screens sizes. Both types of TV's are quite fragile. If doesn't take much force to cause damage to the screens.

Answer 2

LCD's also have 'motion blur' problems. Like Bill Paxton's sport coat on "Twister" or brick walls behind the second "Pirates" movie when the camera spins.

Some claim that the newer 120 hz LCD televisions fix this problem, but the December issue of Home Theater magazine says it was kind of a mixed bag.

Generally, Plasma is considered the 'best' picture because of high contrast ratio and better black levels. But they are usually more expensive to start, need a $200 bracket and sometimes professional installation.

Answer 3

Plasma will give you better contrast (darker blacks) but it uses a lot of power, about the same amount as a refrigerator. Newer LCD screens, however, are getting better contrast ratios all the time.

Aside from contrast ratios you won't notice a difference in picture quality. Different plasmas and different LCD panels will give you different color trueness and sharper pictures, that's something you'll want to look into (and I would recommend reading online reviews as well as seeing the TV working in a store somewhere).