Plasma vs LCD TV

A very common question that arises when you start looking for a new HDTV is which technology is better. This HDTV guide will help you understand the differences between plasma vs LCD TV and figure out which of the two is better for you. There are great models from both worlds if you have the money. However, if you’re having a more limited budget and are forced to buy a cheaper HDTV, you have to choose wisely, because the problems and limitations of each technology are more visible in such models. In this plasma vs LCD guide, we are going to look at the two types of displays from a very practical perspective. That means every difference that exists only at a practical level, and has no impact on how the HDTV performs in real life, will not be discussed. For a more complete understanding of plasma vs LCD TV differences, you should also read this plasma vs LCD TV guide.

What Matters Most is the Quality Not the Technology!

Both Plasma Display Panel (PDP) and Liquid Cristal Display (LCD) technologies are mature and the manufacturers have managed to address many of the problems that existed in the early life of these technologies. However, none of them is perfect across the board. The more expensive and high end models are generally better in many areas, compared to the cheaper low end models. If you want the best plasma or best LCD, you have to pay the price. Though for example many LCD TVs don’t have wide viewing angles, and many plasma TVs get glare and reflections in wel lit environments, there are plenty of models out there that make an exception from the rule. Ultimatelly, what matters is the overall quality, and that is strongly related to price.

Screen Size

LCD HDTVs are more flexible in this area, covering a wider range of sizes. You can find LCD TVs as small as 32 inches and even smaller. Plasma TVs start from 42 inch, very few models under this size existing. The largest sets are plasma TVs, measuring up to 65 inch. LCD models go as high as 55 inches. If you want small, LCD is the only solution, while for those who are looking for the largest TV, plasma will be the obvious choice. You can also find TVs larger than 65 inch, but those are of a different technology not covered here – Rear Projection TVs (DLP, LCoS, etc.). Most people that are shopping for a HDTV, are interested in a screen between 42 and 50 inches. If you are one of them, you have the flexibility to choose whichever technology you want. The following sections will help you narrow it down.

Lighting Conditions

Traditionally, LCD TV models outperform plasma TVs in this area. However, there are quite a few plasma TVs out there offering at least as good performance. To choose wisely, you have to read reviews and find out how specific models perform in well lit rooms and how they handle reflections and glare. Most TVs that have shiny screens will reflect light, regardless of the technology. For example, a TV with poor anti-glare performance might reflect the light from the light bulbs of from the window so badly, that you could be distracted by these reflections.

A HDTV with higher brightness and contrast will also perform better in a very well lit room. If the brightness and contrast are high enough, they will compensate to a certain extent for the glare (if the anti-glare performances of the screen are poor). A display with high brightness will also look better if you don’t get glare but the room has a lot of light. For example, in a showroom where the light is 10 times brighter than in the average home, LCDs will look better. LCD TVs have higher brightness (at the expense of black levels) and in such conditions they will look better.

There are however very few homes with such extreme lighting. If the HDTV has a good anti-glare screen, both plasma and LCD will look good as there is no need to compensate through higher brightness and contrast settings. Keep in mind that if you choose an LCD because it has very high brightness, in lower light or darkness the picture will look more washed out than on other models.

Viewing Angle

This is probably the biggest problem with LCD TVs. All of the LCD models will have inferior performances compared to plasma TVs when it comes down to viewing angle. Not all LCDs are the same, some maintaining color accuracy and picture quality at wider angles than others. If you have a big family and you want everybody to see a nice picture, I highly recommend you to be careful at this aspect. The worst performing LCDs in this area, will present a serious drop in picture quality even if you move off-axis just a bit.

Plasma TVs have absolutely no issue with viewing angles. No matter how off-axis you get, a plasma display will maintain its color accuracy and picture quality intact. The easy solution would be to choose a plasma TV, however you must know that some LCD TVs manage to maintain comparable quality at wide angles as well. If you have a low budget though, you will probably find it impossible to find an LCD with good viewing angle characteristics. In this case, the safest bet is to go with plasma.

Response Time

Plasma TVs have very good response time. For a long time, LCDs have been inferior in this area, their image being less sharp in the case of fast moving images as present in action movies and sports. These days however, LCD displays with response time around 5 milliseconds (ms) are quite common. Such LCD TVs, though at a theoretical level don’t outperform plasma TVs, look just as good in real life. What you have to do is read the specifications of the LCD TV and find out what response time the display has. Ideally, you will want an LCD with a response time around 5ms and you should avoid anything above 15ms. Note that many manufacturers don’t specify the response time, especially if it is not a good one. In such case, your only solution is to read reviews of the model you are interested in, and find out from there.

120Hz LCD TV vs Plasma TV

LCD manufacturers are doing their best to deceive customers into thinking 120Hz technology produces sharper images. That is highly inaccurate, so don’t fall for it. The important thing is to get an LCD TV with a low response time. 120Hz will not make the image sharp by itself. For a better understanding of this subject, read 120Hz LCD TV guide and the related section in HDTV Buying Guide – Important Stuff.

Picture Quality

Black Levels

At the time I am writing this guide, there are only a couple of LCD TVs that manage to produce blacks as deep as those of the best plasma HDTV. These LCD models incorporate LED backlighting technology and are quite expensive. With time passing by, we can expect manufacturers to incorporate LED backlighting technology in more models and the prices to drop. For now however, plasma TVs can offer superior black levels at a lower price point.

In the high end class, plasma TVs will have better black levels than similarly priced LCD HDTV models. In the mid end and low end classes, plasmas outperform LCDs as well.

Brightness

LCDs are generally brighter. Unfortunately, in most cases this superior brightness comes at the expense of black levels. If you have a room with bright light however, you may prefer such an LCD vs plasma.

Colors

Both LCD and Plasma can produce accurate colors. Not all displays are equal, however. You fill find displays with both perfect color accuracy as well as displays with less accurate colors. It is not something that has to do with the technology behind the display, however.

Gaming on the HDTV

You can play games on both plasma and LCD TV. Hook up your Play Station, XBox or Computer and play your favorite games. However, if you are a hardcore gamer and you play games more than you watch TV or movies it is recommended to get an LCD TV versus a plasma TV. The reason is plasma HDTVs can develop burn-in. Though the newer plasma TV models are much more resistant to burn-in, if you don’t mix the content and you have static images displayed most of the time, you still get burn-in at some point. Examples of static images are the crosshair of your gun or the HUD in first person shooter (FPS) games, the status panels in strategy games and similar graphical user interface (GUI) elements.

As I said, you can play games on any HDTV, but on a plasma TV it is important that you do it for shorter periods of time and also watch TV and movies. On the better plasma HDTV models, if you play your favorite game for about 4 hours, you should also watch TV or movies for about 4 hours. In the case of plasma TV models with low resistance to burn-in, if you want to avoid serious permanent burn-in, you have to make the gaming sessions short and have much longer TV/movie viewing in between.

In conclusion, for those who play games a lot, an LCD HDTV is the recommended choice as there is no risk of burn-in. If you buy a plasma TV, it is highly recommended to perform break-in for first 100-200 hours of use and know how to limit the chances of getting burn-in. For more on this topic, read this guide on Plasma TV Burn In and Break In.

Using the HDTV as a Computer Monitor

As I said in the previous chapter, a plasma TV can be used to play games, but only if you balance the game playing with other types of content as movies and TV. When it comes to using the HDTV exclusively as a computer monitor, you should avoid at all costs to use a plasma TV in this way. No matter how good a plasma TV is at resisting burn-in, it will eventually be affected by it if you use it as a computer monitor. So you should definitely buy an LCD HDTV in such a situation.

You can safely use a plasma TV as a computer monitor, but only if you do this occasionally. There is no risk in hooking up the plasma TV to your PC for a couple of hours. If you intend to hook it up to your PC so that you watch movies stored on it, again there is no risk, because you’re actually displaying the movie not your operating system user interface (GUI).

Other Factors

Life Span

Both types of HDTV have a long life span. There is no difference in this area between plasma vs LCD TV. On average, a plasma or LCD flat panel HDTV has a lifespan over 60000 hours. Some models are rated as high as 100000 hours. That is a lot of time. You should know that lifespan of a TV is measured as the time it takes for the TV to reach half brightness and contrast. It is not the time it takes to completely break up.

Operation at High Altitude

Plasma TVs are known to produce a buzzing noise at high altitudes. This happens because the plasma cells have to work harder at higher altitudes because of the lower air pressure. It can also be a noise coming from the cooling fans (also because of lower air pressure).

• NEC: 9000+ feet
• Pioneer: 7500 feet
• Panasonic: 7800 feet
• For any other brand, 6500 feet is a safe bet.

Note that as far as I know, using a plasma TV at high altitude does not reduce it’s lifespan nor does it affect the picture quality. From my knowledge, the slightly louder buzzing noise is the only problem. If you live at high altitude and you are worried about this, find a store in your area or try to contact the manufacturer to find out their thoughts. LCD displays have no problem operating at high altitudes.

Power Consumption

For a while LCD was considered “greener” compared to plasma TV. That’s really not true anymore. The technology behind the flat-panel HDTV isn’t the factor influencing power consumption. If you want a HDTV with low power consumption you should focus on newer and high end models. Naturally, larger screens consume more than smaller screens.