The old “LCD vs Plasma” debate has been around for a long time, but now might be a good time for us to take another look. With HDTV the new technology, and with all the new range of HDTVs now available, you may be wondering which to go for. Here I am going to take a look at both sides, so that we can get a balanced understanding of the benefits of both. I’m going to start by outlining how LCD works, and then take a look at LCD's benefits. Then we will examine how plasma teleivisions work, and highlight the benefits of plasma. We will then round off with a summary of the key points, helping you to decide which type of TV would be best for you.
How Do LCD Screens Work?
LCD is short for Liquid Crystal Display. These crystals are not really liquid, but their behavior is more like liquid than solid, and this is how they got their name. Think of them as being somewhere between a liquid and a solid. They can remain in one place like a solid, but they can also change shape and move, just like a liquid can.
To create a picture, Liquid crystal display screens utilize the same kind of polarizing technology as sunglasses. At the back of the display there is a bright light. A horizontal polarizing filter sits in front of this and blocks all non-horizontal light waves, so that only the horizontal light can get through.
The pixels of the screen are made up of lots of tiny liquid crystals. Sitting behind every one of these pixels is a transistor which controls the flow of electricity through the crystal. Every crystal is twisted, and in front of this is a vertical polarizing filter that only lets vertical light waves pass through. As electricity passes through each crystal, it becomes straight, blocking all light, but when the current is switched off, the crystal twists and lets the light out vertically.
LCD Benefits
- Ideal for showing static pictures.
- Great colors.
- Doesn't suffer from flicker or screen burn-in.
- Comes in a wide range of sizes.
- Longevity - LCD televisions can last as long as 100,000 hours!
- Very energy efficient.
LCD's Disadvantages
- Not as good as Plasma for fast scenes.
- When the backlight ages, the white balance of the LCD screen can become inaccurate.
How Plasma Works
A plasma screen contains thousands of low pressure, sealed glass chambers filled with “plasma”, which is made out of xenon and neon. Every one of these tiny chambers has a set of colored phosphors behind it: one blue, one red, and one green. When energized, the chambers of plasma generate invisible UV light which hits the various phosphors, causing them to generate visible light.
Benefits of Plasma
- Reacts well to a truly digital image source.
- Ideal for fast action.
- Superb contrast.
- Available in larger sizes than LCD.
- Less expensive, especially with bigger models.
Plasma: the Bad
- Prone to burn-in (not good for still pictures)
- Brightness of screen slowly fades with time (although this takes place extremely gradually, over a few years).
- Uses more power than LCD.
Plasma or LCD: Which Should You Get?
Right, so which type of TV is the one for you?? Plasma or LCD? The best way to decide is to consider what you will most likely be using the TV for. If you want a screen that is very big, and is great for displaying very smooth fast action scenes at extremely high contrast, then you should go for Plasma. This is especially the case if you like fast action movies or if you’re an avid .
But if you're more concerned about vivid colors, longevity, and energy efficiency, and you're not so much of a fan of the fast action films and games, then LCD is right for you. This is particularly true if you’re planning to use your TV for viewing any static images, for instance if you wanted to display photos from your camera, or if you wanted to also use your TV for browsing the internet (as certain models of LCD do have internet TV functions).
