How the Best Plasma HDTV And LCD HDTVs Differ

The buying of large-screen TVs has absolutely skyrocketed of late. It seems that everyone wants one – and with good reason. The large-screen TV has come a long way from those faded-out behemoths of old that took up half your living room and never really produced a picture of decent quality. Now, however, especially in combination with HDTV, you can get not only a nice, large picture, but a crisp, clean one too.

Once you decide that you’re ready for a large-screen TV, you quickly discover that you only really have two main options – a plasma HDTV or an LCD HDTV. Plasma HDTVs were first on the scene, but the recent mass production of LCD HDTVs by major manufactures has put the best LCD HDTVs pretty much on equal footing with the best plasma HDTV. That said, you will still have to make a choice.

If you’re like most people, you not only have no idea how the two differ, you don’t even know the areas you should be considering in order to determine how they differ. But they do indeed differ, and knowing the difference is extremely important if you’re going to get the HDTV that’s right for you.

You can essentially boil the differences between plasma HDTV and LCD into twelve basic points. In some areas, plasma HDTV will win out. In other areas, LCDs will win out. In yet other areas, it will depend on your own personal taste in order to decide who wins out.

The twelve ways plasma HDTV and LCD differ are the following:

1. The first is a technical issue, and may seem a little boring, but it really does affect other areas. A Plasmas HDTV is made of chemical compounds called phosphors. LCD TVs use millions of liquid crystals.

2. The next area is related to how big the HDTVs are and the availability of larger sizes. You have a wider selection of larger-size TVs with plasma HDTV (though LCDs are catching up).

3. The next section is “small size,” which is also important. Plasma HDTV doesn’t come in smaller sizes, which you will need for places like the kitchen.

4. Next is viewing angle. Plasma HDTV’s tend to have a wider viewing angle (though, again, LCDs are getting better).

5. Although the manufacturers may not like to admit it, each “can” suffer from certain problems. Plasmas can suffer from burn-in effect; LCDs don’t.

6. Another problem area, for LCDs, is “delay.” LCDs can produce a jagged figure when in motion. Plasma tends to do significantly better.

7. The next area is life span. You can replace the light source with an LCD, thereby bringing your original picture back. With plasmas you can’t, although the life span of a plasma TV is typically lonf enough to make this problem not truly an issue.

8. In the next few sections, the theme of “picture quality” is considered. First, color: LCDs produce sharp, lively colors. Plasmas produce warmer and more accurate colors.

9. Next is brightness levels and the TVs ability to handle different lighting. LCDs tend to do better in bright-light conditions.

10. Also related to picture quality is “black levels.” Even “low end” Plasmas typically produce blacker blacks.

11. Another area to consider is contrast range. Plasmas, produce a higher contrast range.

12. Last, and certainly not least, is price. At the moment, plasmas tend to run a little cheaper, but this is changing rapidly as LCDs flood into the market. By the time you read this, in fact, there may be no difference at all. Although, this price convergence seems to once again beginning to diverge in Plasma’s favor as a result of supply and demand factors worldwide for LCD based screens which are used for many other applications in addition to HDTV screens.

Essentially, which one is right for you will all comes down to taste: What potential negatives will you not really notice? What positives do you want more of? What do you really want the TV for – movies, sports, news, regular TV shows? Both plasma HDTV and LCD have strong advocates in their corners. Both have deliriously happy customers. But those happy customers are only happy because they knew what they wanted before they made their purchase. If you want to make the right choice, you’ll have to decide what it is you want and which of the two TVs can best give you that.