LCD TVs and Plasma TVs – An Indepth Comparison
The Picture’s Overall Performance: The newest TFT-LCD type flat panels and the plasma type screens both turn out high quality pictures with the images so clear, bright and crisp. The facts prove though that the plasma displays make better home theater TVs than the LCDs do. The actual gas cells are put together inside the plasma TV in a method, that prevents light from seeping into the other cells (pixels). This permits the plasma TV to display much deeper levels of blacks, therefore it is much better at capturing the scenes that are done in light and dark lighting effects in the movies and on TV shows.
To compare, LCD technology involves the use of backlighting going through to the LCD, this makes it difficult for achieving blacks that are true in nature, and the light leaks from between pixels.
Don’t think though that LCDs don’t still make good TVs, now the LCDs are made with panels that are high contrast that can display the better deeper black, but experts still say that the plasmas still have the advantage slightly.
Viewing Angle: Plasmas used to have quite an advantage in the viewing angle area but the newest of the LCDs are getting better, some other info on this below…
The angle of viewing can still affect your viewing though if you buy the wrong LCD. Cheap LCD flat screens will still suffer the picture deteriorating more than the plasmas when viewed off-axis. So pay a little more if you are buying a LCD and get a better quality one.
The Burn-in and the Image Retention: In these areas the LCDs take the lead. They not only don’t have the inclination to get burn-in but with the image sticking or image retention it can be reversed in these.
Realize though that while the plasmas can suffer burn-in and image sticking can happen in LCDs, and that both conditions can then cause image retention, that these are two different drawbacks.
Today the plasma’s burn-in is not as much of an issue as it was in past years, and more so with the people who watch TV at a normal rate. With LCDs the image sticking situation does not happen like it used to under of course normal viewing.
Viewing Distance: It appears that the shape and pixel size of a LCD screen produces a picture that is smoother than the same size of plasma screen for the same amount of pixel.
If you view your TV within the distances that are recommended, which is about double the width of the screen when it comes to HDTV, if the distance happens to be less than about 9′, it is most likely that you will need the LCD screen for the best viewing.
Requirements for Power: LCDs come out with the advantage here by consuming less electrical power. The figures show that LCD screens use about 30% less in power over the plasma screens of the same size.
Lifetime: Both the LCD and the plasma come out equal on this. They are both rated with having 60,000 hours as far as half life. Even if the amount was only 30,000 hours, this equals over 14 years for using it if the viewing time is an average of 6 hours daily. In the USA the average person buys a new TV at the rate of one every 7 years!
One will find that LCD and plasma TVs are both manufactured through very durable and reliable types of technologies. The quality of the make is more important for the lifetime of the TV than the different kinds of technologies.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.