LCD TV Buying Guide - LCD TV Reviews and Prices Plasma TV

Any shopper who is interested in a pure flat TV will no doubt face the question. The question will be more prominent when LCD TV s become cheaper in larger than 40" sizes. LCD TV s have been seen at 80" and above but they are not common or as affordable as large sized plasmas. At the 40" size is where the current LCD and Plasma TV contest is being played out.

So, is an LCD TV better than a Plasma TV?

The short answer is that it depends. Lets assume that we compare an LCD TV with an equally sized Plasma TV. First we can compare the main qualities a TV shopper seeks before a purchase:

Contrast
Brightness
Longevity
Quality of colours
Viewing angle
Animation quality
Burnin
Price & Production Size
Size and Weight, and
Power Consumption

Category 1: Contrast

Firstly, it is good to point out what we mean by contrast ratio. Contrast ratio is the measurement of the difference in light intensity between the brightest white and the darkest black. The higher the contrast ratio the better the colour information will appear against a darker background. For example 1000:1 contrast ratio gives a better colour representation against a darker background then say 500:1 contrast ratio.

Modern plasma TV s boast contrast ratios of 10000:1, Panasonic for example. Much technology goes into these plasma screens to block light from emitting from pixels which should be black. In comparison LCD displays must block the the white backlight to create blacks. In LCDs more energy is typically consumed to create black pixels. Any backlight passing through an LCD pixel causes black level degradation. This effects LCD contrast ratio. For example 5000:1+ has been seen in some LCD TV s, lower than most good plasma TV s.

Conclusion: Plasma

Category 2: Brightness

Within a Plasma TV, each red green and blue cell of each pixel is lit on its own allowing for great brightness levels. Within an LCD TV, brightness is related to the intensity of the backlight. LCDs of late are typically as bright as Plasma TV s, but unfortunately this compromises the contrast levels.LCDs of late hare typically as bright as Plasma TV s, but unfortunately this compromises the contrast levels.

Conclusion: Plasma and LCD TV on par

Category 3: Longevity

Typically plasma TV s, like CRT TV s, lose their brightness over time. An oldish Fujitsu white paper states that if you watch 6 hours of TV for 14 years you lose 50% of the brightness. For most people, this does not pose a problem. For an LCD TV the back-light is filtered by the liquid crystal substrate. This means there is nothing to burn out except the backlight. The backlight may be replaced! For a plasma, the light originates from the pixels which cannot be replaced when it begins to lose its brightness.

Plasma TV s may come with some faulty pixels out of the box. From then, additional pixel failure after installation is quite rare. For a plasma, no circuits, switches or gates are present with each individual pixel. The electronic operations take place outside of the panel itself on a video board. This means if there is failure these components may be replaced by a qualified service expert, but could be expensive. For LCDs dot electrodes situated on every sub-pixel red green and blue. These, by contrast, are prone to failure over the life span of the LCD TV. They cannot be individually replaced.

Lastly, burnin does not occur in LCD TV s, which you may consider as increasing the longevity of the TV. LCD manufacturers claim 55000 to 80000 hours for LCD monitors/TV s. Plasma manufacturers claim 30000 to 60000 hours of half life. This allows LCDs to be used quite readily in commercial environments.

Conclusion: LCD

Category 4: Colour Reproduction

Colour reproduction of a plasma TV is somewhat more accurate than that of an LCD display. Why? Colours (Red, Green and Blue) on a plasma TV are produced directly from the RGB sub pixels in an omnidirectional manner. This means you see the colours "from the source" with full brightness from anywhere in the room. LCD sub pixels create colour by filtering (or subtracting wavelengths from) a white backlight. Note: White light is a combination of all colours. Further to this, black levels are reduced, with colour and black level degradation at angles more than 25 degrees off axis. Blacks on a LCD TV are produced by blocking the white backlight. Any transmission of this light also reduces the 'blackness' of blacks, one reason for the lower contrast ratios seen in LCD TV s in comparison to Plasma TV s.

Conclusion: Plasma

Category 5: Viewing Angle

Plasma TV have typically a free viewing angle. This is primarily because light is emanated directly from the sub pixels whereby in an LCD TV light is eminated from the backlight. The backlight is then polarized by the sub pixels to produce colour, in effect causing degradation at angles more than 25 degrees off axis. However with new substrate materials and improving technology LCD TV s can only get better.

Conclusion: Plasma

Category 6: Animation Quality

Its very important for TV s to be able to display fast paced action movie scenes with no blury, smearing afterimages. For LCD TV s the switching speed within subpixels for for display content is quite slow, making blurring a common problem. The switches need time to cycle through the on-off sequence, typically 1/30th second. This is more time than it takes to display two video fields - so rapidly moving LCD images leave trails behind them, or the images seems like its blurred.

While LCD technology has come a long way, there is still room to improve in this department.

There are new LCD TV s released have a grey to grey response rate of 8ms and below, but they still seem to not offer a smooth animation as a plasma does.

Conclusion: Plasma, with LCD TV quickly catching up

Category 7: Burnin

LCD has no image burn-in problems to consider. The fluorescent backlight of LCD TV s send light through its sub pixels which polarize and filter the light. Plasma displays do have burn-in problems. An issue which is problematic for plasma display technology. Burn-in is not so much of a problem when watching TV or movies because the images being displayed change often. However playing video games, displaying static information in displays or use as a computer monitor will cause burn-in for a plasma TV. In such situations, LCD is clearly the superior choice. Burn-in can be washed out somewhat by using gray images or a series of full colour images over many hours.

Conclusion: LCD

Category 8: Price and Prodiction Size

LCD TV s are difficult to produce in larger sizes while minimising pixel defects. This is seen by the fact that there are no displays greater than 42" available at competitive prices. For now, the plasma TV is enjoying economies of scale and will remain cheaper for at least the next few years. However, expect LCD prices to near plasma TV prices and eventually become cheaper. Also expect larger LCD TV s to enter the market soon. It will not be too much longer before the 50" LCD TV s hit the market at prices that approach the 50" plasma. At the 42" size it is almost a level playing field.

Conclusion: Plasma

Category 9: Size and Weight

If you thought TV s could not get thinner, think again. LCD TV s are thinner than plasma TV s and they are lighter! LCD TV s can be hooked up on a wall less worry about structural wall sturdiness than a Plasma TV.

Conclusion: LCD

Category 9: Power Consumption

Plasma TV s require thousands of sub pixels to be lit while LCD TV s use a fluorescent backlighting technique. In summary LCD TV s typically use half the power (watts) of Plasma TV s. In some instances, plasma can use less power than an LCD. We get in much more detail in our LCD and Plasma TV Buying Guide.

Conclusion: LCD

Written by Jim P. BE Comp MBiomed, Last updated Jul 2006.

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