Buying Guide:
The Plasma vs LCD Debate
As the debate moves forward between Plasma vs LCD television displays, our struggle as home theater enthusiasts to settle on a video source for our HT environment intensifies. While competition is certainly perceived as a great thing from the consumer's vantage point, it's not helping us in this arena as the parity between the two draw closer and closer. While it's our opinion that you're getting a nice television unit either way you go, it's important for you to understand what the differences are between the two and make the choice for what is right for you.
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If you're looking to understand all of the science behind Plasma vs LCD TV displays, then you've come to the wrong place. We're not going to waste your time with that. What we are going to do is provide you with a breakdown of the major characteristics important to your buying decision as well as supplemental information about which type might perform better under certain circumstances. One thing is known -- you'll come across many dissenting views and claims among enthusiasts around just about any aspect of this issue. We will let you know when there seems to be a general consensus among our community. But in the end, who's to say who's right and who's wrong? We suggest taking the information for what it is worth coupled with your own perceptions you form as you shop to fuel your purchase decision.
Screen Size
Not too long ago, you could only find LCDs in the smaller sizes and Plasmas in the larger sizes. While that doesn't really hold true any longer, we've seen LCD displays make greater progress in screen size selection than that of it's counterpart. Plasma TVs typically range from 40"-70", but recently Samsung has unveiled a 102" model. On the other hand, LCDs typically range from 15"-52", with the largest being around 65". In the medium market, there's plenty of models on both sides. In the small market, your choice is LCD and in the large (or should I say huge) market, Plasma holds the edge.Picture Quality
Again, this is another characteristic where the distinction is difficult to draw between Plasma vs LCD. Those in our community still continue to give Plasmas a slight advantage, mainly because of slightly better refresh rates and the innate ability of Plasmas to deliver deeper black levels, which results in greater picture clarity and better contrast when you're watching movies.On the contrary, LCDs offer higher resolutions than their Plasma counterparts. While they both are capable of producing 1080p, LCDs are still able to squeeze in a larger number of pixels per square inch.
Overall, you'd have to still give a slight edge to Plasmas.
Performance Subject to Lighting Conditions
Chalk this one up to LCDs. In brightly lit rooms or rooms subjected to a high degree of ambient light, LCDs offer a significant advantage over Plasma televisions. They simply don't produce much glare, if at all. Plasmas certainly have the slight advantage in rooms with dim lighting or no ambient lighting, but do not fare as well in brightly lit rooms due to glare from the screen. Manufacturers are working hard to roll out anti-glare technology features in their newest models, but they still have some gaps to close compared to LCDs.Contrast/Black Levels
In case you're wondering, these terms are fairly interchangeable. When enthusiasts talk about "black levels", what they're really referring to are contrast ratios. Contrast ratios are a measure of how blacks and whites compare to one another. The higher the ratio, the better.Again, a slight edge goes to Plasmas, especially when viewing the television from an angle. LCDs are vastly improving here though and the gap is becoming more narrow with each new generation of LCD televisions.
Size to Cost Ratio
While it's relatively close on both ends of the spectrum, LCD seemingly wins out at the smaller screen sizes and Plasma wins out at the larger screen sizes. However, with all of the stiff competition and advertising promotions that occur within this technology space, it's becoming more and more difficult to make generalizations.Refresh Rates
If you're in the market for a new television and sports or fast-paced action movies are something you spend a lot of time watching, then this characteristic is important to note.Historically, this has been a big knock against LCDs -- but they continue to improve on this as time progresses. While we're now seeing LCDs with refresh rates of up to 120 hz (a noticeable improvement over the 60 hz models of the not-so-distant-past), the consensus is still that Plasma has a slight edge in this category.
Shopping Tip: Some LCD manufacturers will publish a refresh rate in their product specifications. Typically stated in terms of milliseconds (ms), the lower the number, the better the picture quality you'll get during the fast-paced sequences you experience when watching a sporting event or action movie.
Viewing Angles
If you look at the product specifications across both models, you'll see that there isn't much difference between the viewing angles. But most in the HT community give this edge to Plasma (at roughly 160 degrees), claiming that Plasma gets 15-30 degrees more than LCD. We're not fully convinced based on what we've seen, so we suggest using your own personal judgment when making a purchase.However, we do agree with the sentiment that Plasma displays present better black levels when viewing at larger viewing angles.
Burn-in Phenomena
So called "burn-in", dubbed because of the effect a stable image has leaving a permanent impression on the picture screen, is an affliction seen only in Plasma TVs. Like other features we've discussed, great strides have been made over the past couple of years to reduce this effect in Plasmas through the introduction of anti-burn technology. This is probably more of an issue with those who have a home theater where gaming is a significant part of the mix of activities. Often, games have various on-screen items that remain on the screen throughout the duration of the game. Supposedly, this burn-in effect can be offset by displaying a static gray image on the screen.Weight/Depth
LCDs are still considerably lighter than Plasma TVs. They are also thinner.Power usage
Plasmas use significantly more power than LCDs. The cost of operating either type is neglible compared to the purchase price, but over the course of the life of the television could contribute to a small chunk of change. If you're buying a TV of this caliber and price, this is hardly an issue. If you're an environmentalist, then you probably want to choose LCD.Performance at High Altitudes
Since the technology behind Plasma revolves around natural gases, at high altitudes air pressure can contribute to static noise emissions from the unit. This isn't an issue with LCD televisions.Product Lifespan
This used to be much more in favor of LCD, but the gap has narrowed. LCDs generally claim to have roughly 60,000 hours of life. Not too long ago, Plasmas were around the 30,000 range but have since doubled their claim. Regardless, you'd have to watch a heck of a lot of TV each day to wear out either type in 10-15 years.However, one other important thing to keep in mind is the fading effect of the Plasma units because of the degradation of the gases used to create the picture. There's not much scientific information available about this phenomena, but it's certainly something to be cognizant of as you're making your purchase decision.
Ease of Installation
The weight and depth characteristics of Plasmas don't pose any significant installation challenges over LCDs, but they will require a higher quality mounting bracket to provide the additional support that is needed.Conclusions and Recommendations
Honestly, we won't recommend one type over the other. The reality is that both of these models produce some pretty awesome images and are fascinating to watch. Throwing performance aside, the risk averse person might lean toward LCD as the TV of choice. What we do recommend is that you do your homework before you buy. Consider the things we've presented to you for comparing Plasma vs LCD and read as many product reviews as you can. Buy from a brand that you trust and we're sure you'll get years of enjoyment either way that you go. Just like anything else, you often get what you pay for.Plasma vs LCD Debate → Buying Guide.
