How to Chose Between LCD & Plasma TVs
When shopping for a flat panel TV, the customer is presented with two options: plasma or LCD. Even though they may look similar in a store, the technology behind them is completely different: Plasma uses electrically-charged gas to fire individual pixels, while LCDs fluorescent or LED backlighting to illuminate a liquid-crystal screen. If that sounds confusing, you're not alone. Fortunately, choosing the right television technology for your needs is not as difficult as it sounds.
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Instructions
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Evaluate your needs
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Examine your room. If it is brightly lit, keep in mind that LCD fares better in bright light while plasmas tend to wash out because of their reflective screens. If you'll be doing most of your watching during the day with the shades open, choose LCD. However, a plasma's picture quality often exceeds that of an LCD, but only in a dark or dimly lit room.
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Determine your viewing angle. LCDs look best when viewed straight-on and tend to degrade as you move off-axis. Plasmas look the same from any angle. If many people will be watching the TV at once, consider plasma technology for its superior off-axis viewing.
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Take into account viewing habits. If you play games with static menus or are planning on using your new TV as a computer monitor, consider the problem of image retention with plasmas. LCDs do not have this issue. If you watch a lot of movies and DVDs, consider plasmas for their superior reproduction of film content.
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Think about price range. Plasmas tend to be cheaper for large-sized sets (50" and up), so if you want the best bang for your buck, choose plasma. LCD televisions can be prohibitively expensive for the larger models.
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Tips & Warnings
Image retention on plasmas usually isn't a big problem, but it exists. Temporary image retention goes away after a few hours, but if uneven viewing habits (games, letterbox movies, static logos) persist over the lifetime of a plasma, the screen may age unevenly resulting in permanent burn-in. Most viewers who regularly vary their TV viewing are not at risk for this problem.
LCDs offer a sharper picture when viewing detailed, static images like a computer desktop. Plasmas are superior at black level and motion resolution, so they are preferred by many video enthusiasts for watching movie content.
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