Anyone that wants to purchase a new HDTV today would be put in front of a tough dilemma: what to choose? LCD or plasma? There may be enough advocates and supporters on each side, but they cannot simply replace your well thought decision. While you may encounter opinions and statements about the virtues of one model or another on home theater specialized forums and sites, it is really up to you to decide whether you need an LCD or a plasma. The two types of HDTV rely on particular technologies, that have been developed with the goal of winning the market in mind. Yet, no one is the absolute winner, and that is why choosing between LCD and plasma is not an easy task. Each of them presents strong advantages and there are plenty of areas where they are both competitive. Under these circumstances, you need to know first what you want from your newly acquired HDTV, and learn what LCD and plasma are able to deliver. We will guide you through the battle of LCD versus plasma, step by step, so you can take the best decision.
Which One Has the Best Picture Quality?
Needless to say, a very important aspect that should help you decide in favor of a new HDTV is picture quality. This is an area where most favorable opinions point towards plasma, as being able to render better picture quality than LCD. Such opinions usually belong to people in the field, and, for the regular customer, the differences may not be so noticeable. Why is plasma better than LCD when discussing about picture quality? We will try to explain it to you, without going too much into technical aspects.
Plasma is well known for incredible picture quality, basically, because of two aspects that it presents: accuracy, and deep blacks. What does this mean? First, better accuracy provides for great vivid colors, and watching a movie in full HDTV on a plasma TV will leave you breathless. But, keep in mind one thing: if you are the type that likes to watch TV with all the lights on, you will soon notice that plasma does not perform so great under such circumstances. On the other hand, LCD models have no problem with lights, which means that many folks would prefer it to the more expensive plasma. The reason why LCD’s perform better than plasma with the lights rests with the technology behind it that allows for adaptation to bright light.
Also, when playing video games on your LCD, you will not get a head ache, as less vivid colors are less tiring than ones with high contrast.
Do we have a winner? Well, if you want to watch movies and get a great experience, choose a plasma; but, if you are a game enthusiast, then consider an LCD.
LCD vs Plasma Life Span
Both LCD and plasma TV sets available on the market today have quite a long lifespan. It is not uncommon to find models with a lifespan of 100,000 hours. Even the older models last quite long – over 60,000 hours. Note that lifespan is measured as the time it takes the display to reach half the brightness and contrast ratio that it had when it was new. That means it is not a measure of how long an HDTV lasts until it completely breaks up or becomes unusable.
Both LCD and plasma HDTVs have similar lifespan. They will both last for many years, even if you watch a lot of TV daily.
Size Flexibility
When it comes to size, LCD and plasma TVs are complementary. You will see that LCD TV models are available in smaller sizes than plasma HDTVs, while the latter are available in larger sizes. In the middle of the range (40 – 50 inch), which is the size most buyers want, you will find both LCD and plasma TV models, which is a good thing since you have plenty of models to choose from. Price wise, if you want a large screen, a plasma TV will offer a better cost per inch of screen size.
LCD HDTV models are available in smaller sizes, while plasma TVs cover the large size range.
When Watching Sports
Sports have many fans, and that is why many television channels broadcast programs tailored on their pleasures. If you intend to acquire a new HDTV so you can get more out of your favorite football games, you will be interested in seeing how LCD versus plasma does in this area.
For making a wise decision in this field, you need to be familiar with the terms response time and refresh rate. The first stands for the time that passes when a pixel changes from one color to another, or from one state to another; the latter refers to the velocity with which the screen refreshes in order to display different content. These two terms are very important, as LCD’s have a higher response time, while plasmas exactly the other way around. That means a plasma TV will have absolutely no problems displaying crisp images even when the content is a high-speed sports scene.
Do not get too concerned, though, in case your heart goes with LCD rather than plasma. Because the battle of LCD versus plasma is still going strong, newer models of LCD can now handle better response rates, as their manufacturers want to narrow the gap between their product and plasma, and win over sports fans.
Plasma is the right choice for a football fan, but the newer LCD models can now handle better fast moving scenes without making the content blurry.
For Gaming
While plasma TVs can handle occasional gaming, if you are a hardcore gamer you should go with LCD. The reason is that plasma TVs can develop “burn-in” which is basically an image that remains on the screen as a shadow. This happens because of the static images inside a game (HUD, crosshair, map, etc). Latest plasma HDTV models are quite resistant to burn-in, however they can’t handle sustained gaming day after day. If you just want to occasionally play games on your HDTV, or you watch TV/movies more than you play games, a plasma can handle it. However, if most of the time you play games, get an LCD.
If you want to play games on your HDTV, an LCD is more recommended than a plasma TV.
The Price Tag Battle
HDTV’s are great gadgets and they can profoundly change the way you watch television. But such convenience and quality do not come cheap, and you should think twice before embarking in such an investment. You will find that LCD’s and plasmas come in all shape and sizes, and you may be able to find one that really suits your budget.
The larger the HDTV model, the bigger the price gap. For instance, if you are interested in a 42 inch plasma, then you will notice that, for the same money, you can buy a 37 inch LCD, and lose nothing in quality. On the other hand, a larger plasma tends to be cheaper than a larger LCD, and these are just a few things that you need to compare before making your decision.
It would have not been fair to leave aside the price in our talk on LCD versus plasma. Of course, you have picture quality, special purposes for your HDTV, and alike, to think about. But how much you can invest in a new TV is also an important matter. What you need to do is to search for an LCD, or a plasma, that best suits your preferences, and then start comparing prices, until you strike a great deal. You can always find an LCD model that costs under $1,000, but you can also end up spending even more than $3,500.
The price is more connected to the screen size, picture quality, features and novelty (new technologies) than to the underlying technology. In most cases however, if you want a large HDTV, a plasma TV will probably be cheaper than an LCD of same size.
Differences in price are only visible if you want a large HDTV. Otherwise, the price tags of bot plasma and LCD are comparable.
Bottom line
In the competition of LCD versus plasma, there is hardly appropriate to claim a winner. New technologies appear all the time, and it seems that these two are here to stay. Basically, they are both competitive and they deliver a great watching experience, so it is really up to you to decide which model suits your personal requirements.
The bottom line is this: tell me which is your pleasure, and I will tell you what to buy:
- Are you a movie lover? Then set up your own home cinema and take your friends breath away with a new plasma; its great rich colors will offer you a movie experience like never before.
- LCDs are the best choice for folks that enjoy a good console game. Hooking up with the video game device is easy, and playing for hours is all you have to do.
- A plasma model is also the right choice for a person that enjoys watching sports.
- Many people will enjoy the common characteristics of LCD and plasma alike: convenience, ease of accommodation in any room, flat screen technology and a new watching experience with great colors and picture quality.
The best recommendation I have for you is to simply compare HDTVs without caring much about what technology they are based on. Both types of technologies have equally great and not so great models and the only way to make the right choice is to read in-depth reviews of the specific products.