Page 1 of 2: FAQ: Plasma vs LCD: Which is right for you?

aujla · Credits: 102267543 My Scrapbook

Plasma vs LCD

The ADVANTAGES of Plasma over LCD are:

1. Larger screen size availability.

2. Better contrast ratio and ability to render deeper blacks.

3. Better color accuracy and saturation.

4. Better motion tracking (little or no motion lag in fast moving images).

The DISADVANTAGES of Plasma vs LCD include:

1. Plasma TVs are more susceptible to burn-in of static images.

2. Plasma TVs generate more heat than LCDs, due to the need to light of phosphors to create the images.

3. Does not perform as well at higher altitudes.

4. Shorter display life span (about 30,000 hours or 8 hrs of viewing a day for 9 years) than LCD. However, screen life span is improving to as high as 60,000 hours. due to technology improvements.

LCD television ADVANTAGES over Plasma include:

1. No burn-in of static images.

2. Cooler running temperature.

3. No high altitude use issues.

4. Increased image brightness over Plasma.

5. Longer display life (about 60,000 hours - at which time all you may need to do is replace the light source, not the entire set). This can vary according other environmental and use factors.

6. Lighter weight (when comparing same screen sizes) than Plasma counterparts.

DISADVANTAGES of LCD vs Plasma televisions include:

1. Lower contrast ratio, not as good rendering deep blacks.

2. Not as good at tracking motion (fast moving objects may exhibit lag artifacts) - However, this is improving.

3. Not as common in large screen sizes above 42-inches as Plasma. However, the number is growing fast, with some LCD sets having a screen size as large as 65-inches now available to the general public.

4. Although LCD televisions do not suffer from burn-in susceptibility, it is possible that individual pixels on an LCD televisions can burn out, causing small, visible, black or white dots to appear on the screen. Individual pixels cannot be repaired, the whole screen would need to be replaced at that point, if the individual pixel burnout becomes annoying to you.

5. LCD televisions are typically more expensive than equivalent-sized Plasma televisions (although this is changing), especially when comparing EDTV Plasmas to HDTV-LCD Televisions.

aujla · Credits: 102267543 My Scrapbook

in plasma tv---The xenon and neon gas in a plasma television is contained in hundreds of thousands of tiny cells positioned between two plates of glass. Long electrodes are also sandwiched between the glass plates, in front of and behind the cells. The address electrodes sit behind the cells, along the rear glass plate. The transparent display electrodes, which are surrounded by an insulating dielectric material and covered by a magnesium oxide protective layer, are mounted in front of the cell, along the front glass plate. Control circuitry charges the electrodes that cross paths at a cell, creating a voltage difference between front and back and causing the gas to ionize and form a plasma; as the gas ions rush to the electrodes and collide, photons are emitted.

In a monochrome plasma panel, the ionizing state can be maintained by applying a low-level voltage between all the horizontal and vertical electrodes - even after the ionizing voltage is removed. To erase a cell all voltage is removed from a pair of electrodes. This type of panel has inherent memory and does not use phosphors. A small amount of nitrogen is added to the neon to increase hysteresis.

In color panels, the back of each cell is coated with a phosphor. The ultraviolet photons emitted by the plasma excite these phosphors to give off colored light. The operation of each cell is thus comparable to that of a fluorescent lamp.

Every pixel is made up of three separate subpixel cells, each with different colored phosphors. One subpixel has a red light phosphor, one subpixel has a green light phosphor and one subpixel has a blue light phosphor. These colors blend together to create the overall color of the pixel, analogous to the "triad" of a shadow-mask CRT. By varying the pulses of current flowing through the different cells thousands of times per second, the control system can increase or decrease the intensity of each subpixel color to create billions of different combinations of red, green and blue. In this way, the control system can produce most of the visible colors. Plasma displays use the same phosphors as CRTs, which accounts for the extremely accurate color reproduction

aujla · Credits: 102267543 My Scrapbook

aujla · Credits: 102267543 My Scrapbook

LCD technology is based on the properties of polarized light. Two thin, polarized panels sandwich a thin liquid-crystal gel that is divided into individual pixels. An X/Y grid of wires allows each pixel in the array to be activated individually. When an LCD pixel darkens, it polarizes at 90 degrees to the polarizing screens.

This cross-polarizing blocks light from passing through the LCD screen where that pixel has darkened. The pixel darkens in proportion to the voltage applied to it: for a bright detail, a low voltage is applied to the pixel; for a dark shadow area, a higher voltage is applied. LCDs are not completely opaque to light, however; some light will always go through even the blackest LCD pixels.

kary · Credits: 9346 My Scrapbook My Reading List 8 Books

Features n quality tilt me towards plasma but price veers me away from it...

aujla · Credits: 102267543 My Scrapbook

thats true...plasma is expensive in india but it is getting cheap with time

vikingboy · Credits: 35286 My Scrapbook My Reading List 18 Books

thanks for the nice info aujla..
the higher prices of plasma and LCD panels are due to a large number of defective pieces during the manufacturing process that have to be discarded..
so the cost of manufacturing these defective panels also gets added to the nice 42" plasma that you and I see at the showroom..

but now with manufacturing process getting more refined and large quantities being produced.. the prices will definitely fall..

vikingboy · Credits: 35286 My Scrapbook My Reading List 18 Books

another interesting info is that plasma TV's get cheaper to produce (per square inch) as the display panel size increases... while LCD's get costlier to produce (per square inch) as the display panel size increases.

kary · Credits: 9346 My Scrapbook My Reading List 8 Books

Well lets wait for the prices of plasma TV to fall to a decent level then surely everyone will be gunning for it.

blue_mars · Credits: 32045 My Scrapbook My Reading List 3 Books

I have both plasma(42") and LCD TV(42") both are HDTV ready. but,i personally like plasma.
we have to remember that quality of the tv depends up on the price we pay and manufacturers.

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