Flat TVs - All About LCD and Plasma TVs

Following my post on Why buy a Plasma TV? , here is the next series on Why buy an LCD TV?

A good reason to buy an LCD TV is when you have a very bright room. LCDs are generally brighter than plasma TVs, and their screens are less reflective. This makes them better for daytime or in rooms with bright lightings.

Some plasma TVs can look a bit dim in bright lighting when set to the normal or standard mode, which is generally recommend for home use. You can switch to the vivid mode or raise the brightness control to compensate, but the picture quality might suffer.

Another problem with most plasmas is that the glass screens are subject to reflections and glare. If you have the lights on while watching dark scenes, you might see your own reflections on a plasma set.

Another good reason for buying an LCDs is that they can be used for video games and a PC monitor. Although both types of flat panels can do the job, for an LCD, there is no problem of static images will burn in.

However with a plasma TV, burn-in is a concern especially when there are fixed images on screen for a long time. These includes station logos, news tickers, even the bars alongside standard-def pictures. Many plasma sets have screen-saver features to minimize risk, but burn-in is still possible. Burn in are an issue with early plasma sets but this issue is not a problem in the short term.

With either an LCD or plasma TV, consider a screen with 1080p resolution ( the p stands for progressive scan ) for use with a computer. The higher resolution will let you see more content on screen and with greater clarity and finer details. You will need to connect the set through an HDMI input to see all the finer details of the 1080p resolution.

For lower and savings on electric bills. LCDs tend to use less power than a similar sized plasma TVs. The difference is however may be minimal so this might not be a major factor in your decision. But on the other hand there is an environmental advantage using a less power-hungry TV. And combined with the millions of set world wide, the effect is definitely positive on the environment.

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The debate about why is plasma TV better is never ending. Given the fact that LCD Tv is fast catching up in terms of price, quality and popularity, it’s not surprising that this debate topic is even getting hotter. From what I can conclude between the two system, which is better depends on which attributes you are comparing with.

If side by sides comparing which type is better, overall LCD does has an edge over Plasma. However this does not mean plasma does not has it’s merits. Plasma has so far dominate the following over these areas.

1) Excellent contrast and black level displays. Thus far LCD TVs have not been able to address this area well. Hence plasma is best for watching movies and be part of your home theater experience.

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2) Plasma TVs provide a wide viewing angle which means if you are watching the TV at an angle, the pictures do not suffer any drop in quality. However it’s not the same with LCD TV. For LCD TV, the images look the best only when viewed directly in-front but when viewed at an angle, the quality drops.

3) Best bang for your buck for bigger screens. The prices of plasma TVs with bigger screen sizes, like 50 inch and above cost much less than an LCD equivalent. Hence when shopping for a wide and bigger screens that meet your needs and budget, a plasma TV can be just the right candidate.

Well the above are three reasons why is plasma better? There is however one more fact I forgot to add to the list and that is plasma has got no ghosting problems for fast moving pictures as do some LCD TVs. However LCD technologies have seemed to caught up on this part and high end LCDs have minimized this issue.

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