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, most LCD TVs top out at around 50 inch; larger screen sizes are also available though choice is still very much limited. This means that for anything larger than 50-inch, 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).
Price: Here, the playing field is leveling at a fast rate. Up to very recent, plasma was the obvious choice for all screen sizes where collision between these two technologies occurs; this is no longer the case. In general, plasma still leads by a good margin only at the bigger screen sizes – 50-inch and upwards. At the smaller end (up to 44-inch), the price advantage when it comes to plasma vs LCD TV sets, starts to shift more towards LCD TVs.
Overall Picture Performance: 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 more suited to television and movie scenes where lots of dark and light content is shown simultaneously.
To find out more, please refer to the detailed guides appearing on the same site at http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com/plasma-vs-lcd-TV.html.
LCD TV
A Plasma HDTV or an LCD TV Set - Which is Better?
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 give each of these display technologies, its strengths and weaknesses, and that therefore render one more suitable than the other in certain circumstances.
Image Retention vs. Burn-In
Image Retention vs. Burn-In
Image retention is a common effect that you might have seen after turning off a CRT television at night: the last image to appear on the screen stays there for a while after the TV is off, then fades away slowly. This is caused by a charge build-up in the phosphors (the glowing picture elements in the screen), and will go away after the display has been powered off for a little while.
Burn-in, on the other hand, is permanent.
Since it is caused by uneven aging of the screen phosphors, the "burned" image will persist forever, like a tattoo. It can be caused by spending a lot of time watching stuff in a 4:3 (non-widescreen) aspect ratio, watching a news channel with a stationary "news ticker", or playing a game with stationary screen elements.
Just as a tattoo can be removed with a great deal of effort, there are ways to fix a burned-in screen. But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: follow a break-in procedure when the set is new.
Plasma HDTV Burn-In Susceptibility in Modern Plasma HDTVs
Burn-In Susceptibility in Modern Plasma HDTVs
The HDTV industry is very competitive these days, and plasma manufacturers are really starting to feel competition from the LCD industry. So, you can bet they're doing everything they can to eliminate burn-in. Screen technology has improved to the point where proper use of the TV (starting with a detailed break-in process) will not cause a problem, but careless use just might. And many of the new plasma HDTVs, like the Samsung HPT5064, have a "screen burn protection mode" built into the TV to repair mild damage.
LCD Vs Plasma HDTV
LCD vs plasma HDTV – which is best? If you’re looking for a flat-screen, slim and sexy display, to watch HDTV, you have a choice of two technologies, LCD and gas plasma.
Each has benefits and disadvantages and so each is more appropriate in specific circumstances.
Historically, the LCD vs plasma HDTV choice has been fairly simple. If you wanted a flat-screen that was about 40in or bigger, you had to choose plasma, otherwise you should choose LCD. However, as LCD technology improves, LCD HDTVs are getting bigger and most of the major manufacturers expect the number of LCDs they produce to grow steadily over the next few years while the number of plasmas will decrease. However, if you’re looking for a flatscreen TV today, plasma still has a lot to offer.
To understand the LCD vs plasma HDTV question, we need to look at the way the two technologies work.
LCD
LCD HDTVs work by shining a light behind an LCD panel made up of a fixed number of pixels. Each pixel is either red, blue or green and is switched on or off when a voltage is applied to it. When voltage is applied to a pixel, it is switched off, meaning that light can’t shine through it.
The main advantage of LCD vs plasma HDTV is that LCD panels don’t suffer from what's called burn-in. This is a feature of plasma TVs where they are used to watch TV stations with logos permanently displayed on-screen or where they are used for video gaming with games that have static images such as a cockpit on flight simulators. The image literally ‘burns-in’ the screen meaning that even when the image is not present you can still see a faint trace of it on screen. So for video gamers in particular, LCD is a better choice than plasma.
Plasma
Plasma HDTVs have over a million chambers which house one or a combination of gasses. When a voltage is applied to one of these chambers the gas ionizes and emits ultra-violet light. This light strikes red, green or plue phophors coated on the inside of the chamber and a pixel emits this color light.
Plasma HDTVs tend to have better contrast than LCDs because, even when a pixel on an LCD panel is switched off it doesn’t block all the light coming through and therefore the pixel isn’t completely black. Plasma HDTVs also tend to have a wider viewing angle than LCDs, as on LCD HDTVs the contrast and colour of the image can change when the screen is viewed from different angles.
LCD vs Plasma HDTV conclusion
Technology is changing rapidly, but for now (July 2004) it’s still true to say that at sizes of 40in and above, plasma offers a less-expensive and generally better solution. For screen-sizes less than 40in LCD is better. However, as LCD technology improves and prices fall, this will change.
Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tune - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.
4 Tips For Longer Plasma Life
The figure of 60,000 hours longevity will differ from brand to brand so keep in mind that some are superior to others. Here are some important tips in keeping your Plasma HDTV working in tip-top order for many years:
- keep it in a well ventilated area
- do not leave static images on the screen for longer than 8-10 minutes
- avoid watching in very brightly lit rooms; in other words, plasma TVs perform better in normal lit and dimly lit areas
- make sure the unit is turned off when you are not using it
Plasma HDTV - The Truth About Plasma TV Lifespan
If you're still living back in the days when Plasma TVs were only supposed to last a short time then you need to drag yourself back into current reality.
The truth is, a Plasma HDTV can last you up to half a lifetime - that's no exageration with several major companies including Panasonic, Samsung and Pioneer listing longevity of up to 60,000 hours.
Equivalent Longevity To LCD TVs
This now means plasma TVs are now equal to LCDs in longevity which is impressive considering LCDs were supposed to run them out of town when they first hit the market and many were shouting the "death of plasma."
Many are still clinging to the claims of nearly a decade ago that plasma TVs burnt out too quick and were not worth their purchase price in comparison to their shelf life.
That's true in a sense when one needed to shelve out nearly five figures for the pleasure of putting one over their neighbors in the "keeping up with the Jones'" race but things have turned around dramatically since then.
THe price of plasmas has dropped significantly - thanks to new technology, more units being sold and the competition from LCD units. Plasma burn may even be thing of the past although don't dare test it by leaving your screen on a still image for more than ten minutes.
Today's models are thinner, have superior anti-burn technology and consume much less power. From a viewing perspective, they have always been superior especially from TV viewing distance and viewing angle
Electronics : Panasonic TH-50PZ700U 50" 1080p Plasma HDTV
