TVs: Plasma vs. LCD... please advise.?
Answer:
The main reason I got a LCD tv was because there is hardly any glare at all on the screen, even in a well lit room by artificial or natural light (sunlight). You will still have a bad glare problem with a plasma.
Not many people live at high elevations like myself, and even though the problem has been fixed for the most part, plasmas have a tendency to have problems with high altitude operation (lower air pressure) because of the 'gas/plamsa' that is a component of displaying the picture.
And plasmas are known to have an image retention problem if a static image is displayed on the screen for long periods of time and the problem cannot be corrected. LCDs very rarely have an image retention problem, but even if they do, the problem can actually be corrected by watching something with lots of motion or setting the screen to a solid color for awhile.
The only downfall of a LCD is a 'screen door' effect with cheaper tvs (like mine). When watching a hockey game, when the camera moves from one end of the ice to the other, it almost appears like you are viewing an image through a screen door, but it is not bad at all, you have to be looking for it.
I say go with the LCD. Be sure you get a HD ready tv to prepare for the upcoming High Definition era we are about to enter.
Plasma - Good for large panel screens. Has very good black levels but the color depth is not as good as LCD and the resolution is not as high either. Plus they have a nasty habit to burn in if you watch a channels frequently.
LCD - Black levels aren't quite as deep but have superior color depth and resolution over plasma screens. Plus they have less much fatigue on your eyes than a plasma does. The only drawbacks are LCDs are slightly more expensive and if you don't get one with a quick responce time you can get "ghosting" or trails after moving images
My vote is for the LCD
Plasma vs LCD
The ADVANTAGES of Plasma over LCD are:
1. Larger screen size availability.
2. Better contrast ratio and ability to render deeper blacks.
3. Better color accuracy and saturation.
4. Better motion tracking (little or no motion lag in fast moving images).
The DISADVANTAGES of Plasma vs LCD include:
1. Plasma TVs are more susceptible to burn-in of static images.
2. Plasma TVs generate more heat than LCDs, due to the need to light of phosphors to create the images.
3. Does not perform as well at higher altitudes.
4. Shorter display life span (about 30,000 hours or 8 hrs of viewing a day for 9 years) than LCD. However, screen life span is improving to as high as 60,000 hours. due to technology improvements.
LCD television ADVANTAGES over Plasma include:
1. No burn-in of static images.
2. Cooler running temperature.
3. No high altitude use issues.
4. Increased image brightness over Plasma.
5. Longer display life (about 60,000 hours - at which time all you may need to do is replace the light source, not the entire set). This can vary according other environmental and use factors.
6. Lighter weight (when comparing same screen sizes) than Plasma counterparts.
DISADVANTAGES of LCD vs Plasma televisions include:
1. Lower contrast ratio, not as good rendering deep blacks.
2. Not as good at tracking motion (fast moving objects may exhibit lag artifacts) - However, this is improving.
3. Not as common in large screen sizes above 42-inches as Plasma. However, the number is growing fast, with some LCD sets having a screen size as large as 65-inches now available to the general public.
4. Although LCD televisions do not suffer from burn-in susceptibility, it is possible that individual pixels on an LCD televisions can burn out, causing small, visible, black or white dots to appear on the screen. Individual pixels cannot be repaired, the whole screen would need to be replaced at that point, if the individual pixel burnout becomes annoying to you.
5. LCD televisions are typically more expensive than equivalent-sized Plasma televisions (although this is changing), especially when comparing EDTV Plasmas to HDTV-LCD Televisions.
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