Plasma vs LCD

If you’re looking for information on Plasma vs LCD TV’s then you’ve come to the right place. I was recently looking for a crystal clear flat screen myself to replace my small low quality 32 inch set and didn’t want to be disappointed.

I did a lot of research when I first started looking as I didn’t have much of a clue about the differences, plasma televisions, lcd televisions, home theaters, and loads more, thankfully a lot of which you really don’t need to worry about but I wanted the best quality television to suit my viewing habits and needs.

Below I’ve provided all the details you need to know about plasma vs lcd tv’s so you can choose the right one for you, if you want to take advantage of the lowest prices online, click here.

Plasma vs LCD Reviews

If you’re like me then the reason you’re looking for a plasma or LCD tv is for the great picture quality on a large flat screen so you too can have a great viewing experience of your favorite programs, films or even computer games. Typically plasma tv’s have been thought of the best all round viewing experience, while this was true in comparison to older generation lcd tv’s the competition has changed dramatically with newer models improving through advances like LED Backlight tv’s.

LCD screens are made of liquid crystals sandwiched in between two glass plates while the plasma screens use tiny glass plasma cells, both of which deliver outstanding picture quality, many are also 3D ready. In this article I will explain the benefits of all types of screen so that you can make an informed decision on which flat screen TV, plasma vs LCD, is right for you.
Screen Sizes

Up until a short while ago you could only get a big screen tv by buying a large bulky set but thankfully this changed with the introduction of thin, big screen plasma tv’s and because they are so thin it means you don’t need of lot of space to have one in your front room.

Also in the past, if you wanted an LCD screen then you would have been looking to buy a 42 inch screen or less but in the last couple of years they have also brought out thin, big screen sets to rival those of the plasma.

As the war rages on between plasma vs lcd price parity has started to occur meaning that the choice really does come down to which screen you consider the right one for you.

For similar size screens LCD’s are however much lighter than plasma’s due to the use of plastic in their screens as opposed to their counterparts glass, due to this an LCD is much easier to manoeuvre or mount on a wall.

Picture Quality

Both tv’s provide excellent picture quality and traditionally a plasma would have been an easy choice as they delivered outstanding contrast quality and previous LCD technology used meant a small bit of light leakage from the front of the set thus the plasma models were capable of showing blacker-blacks and whiter-whites. However with the introduction of LED backlighting, LCD has at last caught up almost to the regard that the difference is un-noticeable.

Plasma vs LCD Buying Guide

Plasma vs LCD – Still not sure?

If you’re looking for a smaller tv, up to 42inches then there’s really only one choice and that is LCD. Prices are always reducing, you can get some great bargains online and the tv’s are slim and sleek.

For larger tv’s the best all-rounders are models incorporating anti-reflective technology such as the Samsung PN50A550 Plasma HDTV as it performs consistently better in all light conditions.

In rooms with a lot of light or if most of your viewing is done during the day time LCD’s generally perform better and for cinema like viewing or home theaters plasma tv’s are considered the better.

Please return soon for more from plasma vs lcd.

LED vs LCD

What is difference? A very good and valid question.

On the surface there seems to be little difference between LED vs LCD, if you’ve had a look at these HD TV’s they do look similar however there are small differences which has been touched on in previous posts Plasma vs LCD and Plasma vs LCD vs LED.

This article however goes into more detail to provide you with a better idea of which flat screen would suit you better.

The Difference between LED vs LCD

In order to understand the difference you need to know that there are different types of backlighting, these are known as CCFL backlit LCD’s and LED backlit LCD’s. The latter is also known as LED-LCD or just LED for short.

The term LED, light emitting diodes, is basically marketing spin to create another product that challenges the hold Plasma screens have held in this market for years however there is still a small small difference between the two technologies, CCFL and LED LCD TV’s.

An LCD vs LED (or LCD/LED as technically they are on of the same) screen requires light to help it form an image on the screen, in older, traditional models the LCD used CCFL technology which stands for Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp. There aren’t too many TV’s actually using this technology now and so the LED was born.

LED Backlighting

There are two distinct types of LED backlighting, these are direct backlighting and edge backlighting. As the names kind of suggest direct backlighting comes from behind the screen while edge backlighting comes from the side of the screen.

Each type has its own merits, for example LED’s with edge lighting can be made incredibly thin so look sleek, are light and easy to wall mount. In contrast the lights in direct lit LED’s can be turned on or off to increase or decrease the contrast.

Making The Choice LED vs LCD

There are a number of factors that need to be considered such as screen size, thickness, weight, brightness, contrast and price to name just a few of them.

LED LCD’s certainly win in many of these categories although you do have to pay a premium price for a quality HD TV flat screen but they do offer some compensation in this area as they are the most energy efficient. However don’t expect to see massive savings in your monthly energy bill!

Traditionalists will still advocate that a Plamsa is the best HD TV money can buy although they are still much thicker, heavier, demand more power and some people would even go as far to say that this view is out of date.

The new breeds of TV, LED vs LCD, offer the same if not better picture quality while providing many more benefits than the traditional Plasma.

Plasma Burn In

Plasma burn-in is the appearing of an after-image on a screen that is phosphor based. It is also commonly referred to as image retention. This retention can either be permanent or a semi-permanent image that can’t be removed from the screen.

Plasma Television sets are not designed to display fixed images for long periods of time hence they sometimes retain residual images. When plasma pixels are energized to release light, they eventually get faint and dimmer. The more the plasma operates, the more it gets dimmer because the phosphors are also burning away slowly. Tentatively a still image then “burns” itself in to the plasma’s screen.

Here are a few things that lead to after-image retention.

A plasma TV being left on, in particular on a channel which has a logo or even a banner running across the screen for a long period of time or just leaving a plasma screen on with static images for long hours

When 4:3 videos that have black bars on both sides are watched on size 16:7 screen

Watching 2.35:1 movies on 16:9 screens resulting to permanent retention of image. In this case, black bars will show on top and at the bottom of the screen

Non transparent channel logs that show on the plasma TV will also result to image retention

Fixed components of the TV set, like climate display, computer and video games, menus and logs running at the bottom of the screen and also DVD that has been paused can also cause image retention

Since burn-in is normally not covered in the TV’s warranty it is best to note some preventive measures so as to avoid image retention.

Avoiding Plasma burn-in

Calibrating the display on your plasma’s screen - most Plasma TV sets are purchased with contrast and brightness on a high setting. This is normally done to give it the best and brightest screen’s display. Purchasing a Digital Video Essentials (DVE) DVD or even an AVIA will give you a moderate set on your Plasma’s screen in less than 15 minutes. This will eliminate unnecessary brightness and contrast.

Keeping off all 2:35:1 and 4:1 contents.

Plasma screens are more vulnerable to burn-in during their first 100 hours. Try to avoid watching movies in all 2:35:1 and 4:1 contents by all means.

Using grey bars instead of black ones

Not all Plasma screens have the option of choice on the bar color enabled. However if your Plasma TV allows you to make a choice in programming use color bars other than black. This will greatly help in reducing the effect of burn in.

Turning down the contrast on your new Plasma

Since a new Plasma is susceptible to taking in the effects of the damages caused by still images, reducing the overall contrast of the screen will greatly reduce the chances of the static images burning in. Turning down the contrast on your new Plasma controls the screen’s white levels.

The wobulation technique.

This is the aspect of enabling shifting of the Plasma’s pixels so as to reduce as much as possible, the effect of burn-in. Once this feature is enabled, it soothes the margins linking vivid and dark pieces together. This is simply done by having the shifting of pixels feature on your Plasma enabled. While this feature may reduce the effects of burn-in, it will not totally prevent burn-in since bigger dark and clear parts of the picture may still hang about their location hence an after-image with little distorted borders.

Running screen saver

If you notice any early signs of burn-in, running a screen saver will help your Plasma TV a great deal. This feature is however possible only in newer models of Plasma HD TV’s.

Burn in is a problem that was experienced when Plasma TVs first came into the market, but with the newer models hitting the market now it is no longer such of an issue. It is of paramount importance though to carefully read your Plasma’s manual so as to get its operation’s know-how. That will make it easy for you in the event of any plasma burn-in incident.

Plasma vs LCD vs LED

Technology has had a great advancement in TVs for the last 10 years, bringing in the greatest state of art in technology which has provided the optimum flat screen TVs and, prompting discussions about Plasma vs LCD vs LED.

In this advancement, the technology used has mainly focused on some aspects that customers prefer. This gives an insight of what most customers would look for when purchasing flat screen TV sets. Customers mainly focus on the TV size, its resolution, prices and how it is compatible.

There has been gradual change in TVs modifications in regard to customer’s expectations.

Having considered the main factors that customers look for in TVs, the manufactures are now bringing in some new features that are quite unique in flat screens. These kinds of features give the products quite a distinctive benefit when it comes to film effect presentation and the technology of sound output being very outstanding too.

With every manufacture trying to get the customer’s attention, these key factors have seen several developments of flat screens. In order for a customer to decide which TV set to buy, they must know a few things about each of the models so as to get the product that will give them their full benefit.

When you get analytical with plasma, you will realize that it has tiny millions of plasma cells. These are the cells that emit light, making it possible for the TV set to portray a complete image on the TV’s screen. The voltage applied to the TV set must be precise to avoid damage to the product. The available plasma TVs offer screens that are larger than LCDs.

In the market, plasma offers TVs in size 30, 42, 50 and 63 (inch models). This is rather bigger in sizes compared to LCD which offers 10 – 40 inches. It is also important to note that, LCD’s technology has more flexibility and can easily allow development of screen sizes in wide varieties.

Plasma’s highlights:

The viewing of plasma TVs can be from any angle, as long as the angle ranges between 160^o and 180^o. Apart from getting a perfect image from any angle, plasmas have the highest rate of refreshing and this enables capturing of every fast action scene.
They are obtainable in bigger display in terms of screen sizes.
Plasmas have the best black levels and they also are the best in contrast ratio.
More to plasma’s color factor, their screens can display quite a number of colors, actually billions which solidifies the aspect of plasma’s capacity to produce even gradation of shades.

However, plasmas have a few issues that keen customers opting for LCD and LED over plasma. These issues include;

Poor performance on mountainous areas.
Plasmas have been associated with issue of static images. They are susceptible to what is commonly known as burn-in.
Plasmas are heavier considering their thickness.
The issue of glare in places with bright lighting is commonly associated with plasma TVs though this problem has lately been corrected by progression in technology.

When we look at LCD’s overview, we see significant aspects that make LCD outstanding. On their screens, they have liquid crystals. This is a technology used in cell phones, computers monitors and at times, in camera screens. The LCD screen was initially created for computers but with the advancement of technology, TVs have adopted it, bringing in the advancement of playing games on TVs. LCD panels are able to work when their liquid crystals are squeezed in between the TV’s two polarized sides of glass.

LCD highlights:

LCD TVs have better long life which has been predicted to go for at least 30 years.
LCD’s power consumption is lower than plasma’s, though higher than Led’s
LCD’s screens are available in many sizes, starting with computer monitors to large TV screens of 60 inches.
On the other side of LCDs, there are a few noted points that people have outlined as not pleasing, like creation of blur due to meager contrast levels leading to lower response to fast movement of images.
Another negative aspect of the LCDs is their high prices.

A careful study of Led TVs shows that they have some electronic component that is able to emit light after voltage is applied to its terminals. This is where the term “LED” comes in to signify light producing diode hence the model’s name. The source of this led brightness is used as the TVs rear light but the screen is actually that of the LCD. Most TVs use cold cathode fluorescent lamps but the use of led makes this model quite outstanding in its efficiency in backlighting of TV systems.

Led’s highlights:

From the use of backlight technology, Led TVs have a very good vibrant contrast level than their counterpart LCD.
Their power consumption is relatively low.
They are quite elegant in their ultra slim thickness of almost an inch.
Among the flat screens currently in the market, it is proven that Led TVs are the most reliable.
They are high in their prices.

1080i vs 1080p

Two questions that get asked a lot of the time are:
What is the difference between 1080i vs 1080p?
Will the difference affect my choice of TV and viewing quality?

To answer these questions you first need to understand what the differences are between the two and what 1080i vs 1080p deliver in terms of viewing experience and high definition. Without going into too many technical specifications I will try to keep this simple, as simple as it can be anyway.

1080i vs 1080p

1080i and 1080p are both hd or high definition display formats for hdtvs. The signals for 1080i vs 1080p actually contain the same information and the formats both represent a 1920×1080 pixel resolution. 1920 pixels across the width of the screen by 1080 pixels from the top to the bottom of the screen. The difference between 1080i vs 1080p is the way in which the signal is broadcast on an hdtv.

The ‘i’ in 1080i stands for interlaced and refers to the method used to convey the images, interlaced images get placed onto the screen sequentially with the odd numbered lines of resolution appearing on screen first followed by the even numbered lines. This all happens extremely quickly so we as consumers or TV viewers don’t notice as the frames per second is too quick for the human eye, the process is completed in about 1/30 of a second.

1080p on the other hand, like the 480p, and 720p process all the images at once, progressive scan, which makes for a smooth picture especially when watching motion based pictures such as sports and fast action movies. 1080p resolution equates to 1920×1080 pixels and is the current must have technology due to their ability every pixel in high definition.

It is important to understand at this point that while you can buy a set with the ability to display pictures in 1080p not all programs will be conveyed at this resolution and many will actually be conveyed in 1080i. 1080p displays will actually convert 1080i sources.

1080i vs 1080p Viewing Experience

So hopefully you can see how this slight difference in signal technology will affect your viewing experience and in todays buyers market there really is no reason not to buy a flat screen hdtv, plasma or LCD, without the ability of viewing 1080p.

There are still differences within 1080p formats itself which relate to the enhanced video frame rate, standard live or recorded video frame rate and standard motion picture film frame rate. Personally I’m not sure I can really tell the difference without knowing that they do exist but if you want to know more check out 1080p/60, 1080p/30 and 1080p/24.

1080i vs 1080p blu-ray

With the above in mind you’ll want to keep in mind that blu-ray and hd dvd format is conveyed in 1080p/24 and not all tv’s can actually display the signal in this format. The signal will be processed on the internal video player and output in 1080i format and then de-interlaced to display the signal in 1080p format. However in short this is really nothing to be concerned about!

In summary 1080p obviously far out performs 1080i in the raging battle of 1080i vs 1080p and the way and the rate at which technology is advancing it must be marveled at what is coming next, holographic tv? however you can be assured of one thing and that is that we haven’t seen the best of HD yet, if anything what we are experiencing now is just the start!

plasma vs lcd