LCD vs Plasma television

Anyone who is currently thinking about buying a flat panel television at the moment will probably be thinking about whether to buy an LCD television or a plasma television. The LCD vs Plasma debate shows no sign of going away any time soon. This article aims to explain the main differences between the two technologies and clear up any confusion.

Visually, LCD and Plasma televisions look very much alike. Both are variants of the flat panel genre, both are slim and both take up very little space compared with their traditional CRT relatives. But that's as far as the similarities go. Under the bonnet the technology driving LCD tvs is very different from that driving Plasma tvs.

Plasma

A plasma display consists of two plates of glass, sandwiched between which are hundreds of thousands of tiny, gas filled cells. These cells are rather like tiny flourescent tubes as they are filled with neon gas and coated with phosphor.

Each plasma cell can be individually energised with an electric current. This causes the gas to release ultraviolet photons. These photons cause the phosphor coating of the cell to radiate visible light. If the cells are switched on and off in the correct sequence, the picture is formed. This switching happens 1000s of times a second.

These gas filled cells form the pixels of the display. In fact, each pixel consists of 3 cells, giving off red, green or blue light. By varying the relative intensities of red, green and blue, different colours are formed.

LCD

The pixels of an LCD TV dislay, unlike those of a Plasma display, do not give off any light themselves. A liquid crystal solution is trapped between two sheets of glass and the whole display is illuninated with a back light. The voltages applied to the various pixels is varied and this controls how much light from the back light reaches the screen. In turn, the pattern of light reaching the screen forms the picture.

Whis is better - LCD vs Plasma?

Traditionally, Plasma tvs have had the edge over LCD tvs, particularly at larger screen sizes. This difference is diminishing all the time, however, as LCD technology moves forwards. Prices are generally coming down and the price difference between the two is getting less. Performance-wise the difference is diminishing too. There is a slight issue regarding LCD tvs not displaying deep blacks as well as Plasma, but in general use this difference is becoming negligible.

Dave Cassidy is a staff writer at www.lcdtvpages.com. For more information on LCD and Plasma tvs, see LCD vs Plasma.

Why Choose A Plasma Television?

Why Choose A Plasma TV

Still watching your programs on a standard CRT television?

Heard a lot about Plasma Television recently, but not sure why you would benefit from having this latest technology sitting in your living room?

Well, lets start with the basics, without the jargon! What is a Plasma Television?

Plasma televisions are a new type of display that uses technology different from other televisions. Although, Plasma televisions are not a new invention, but it has only been up until recently that this new technology is able to be produced cheaply enough for the consumer.

Plasma televisions use gas such as Xenon or Neon between two glass panels. Between these two panels are over 1 million pixels capable of producing over 16 million colours.

The gas is excited by a charge from an electrode, one pixel of the display, turning it into plasma. The pixels are illuminated by the plasma gas, producing the three primary colours and all the colours in between, creating the display we see on screen. A processor in the Plasma television controls which pixels are illuminated to which colour, controlling the images displayed.

How would a Plasma Television Benefit Me?

Plasma Televisions now are available in a range of sizes, alike the CRT. But the first main difference is the weight and size between both.

Due to the large glass tubes in the CRT televisions, these make them extremely heavy and bulky. As Plasma televisions do not have the glass tube, they are light in comparison, and due to their slim design, can be wall mounted or freestanding.

As mentioned before, due to the amount of pixels on the screen, the viewer would benefit from improved picture quality, sharper images, more vibrant colours with better saturation. Due to the nature of the technology within the Plasma television, the image won?t get distorted from magnetism, even if you place you speaker above, below or to the side of the screen. Plasma televisions also benefit from high ambience light tolerance and better contrast, pure flat screen and a slim design.

Plasma televisions have better response times as opposed to LCD Televisions, and wider viewing angels at 160 degrees.

In addition to this, most Plasma Televisions have connections to connect to your Personal Computer system, which provide a large viewing area than the traditional computer screens.

So, with the better picture quality, slim and light weight design, compatibility, and latest technology, why not choose a plasma television?

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