![]() The traditional wisdom is that LCD performs better during the day due to its backlighting system, and that plasma works best in a dark environment, as it uses a glass front. There has also been a lot of debate surrounding use in bright environments versus dark, cinema-like conditions. And the best thing is that LCDs are getting cheaper all the time. Plasmas give you more bang for your buck at the big end of town, and while LCDs can give you better resolution, plasma still has the edge in terms of picture quality.Īt the smaller end of things (17- to 42-inch TVs), LCD is the only way to go if you want something slim and tasteful. If you're in the market for a big-screen television - and we're talking 50 inches and above - then we'd suggest plasma as a safe bet. Which is better value for me right now: plasma or LCD? Lastly, LED is not to be confused with OLED. ![]() Most thin LCDs on the market use this edge-lighting, though direct lighting is arguably better for picture quality. Direct backlighting means that the lights are mounted behind the LCD panel, while edge-lighting uses a series of LEDs along the edge of the screen. There are two types of LED lighting: direct and edge. Instead of lighting the screen with fluorescent tubes, as is traditional, it uses banks of LED lights. ![]() Recently, LCD arguably caught up to the quality of plasma with the introduction of LED backlighting. This means that both types of TVs will last for almost seven years if left on 24 hours a day. While this may have been true of earlier plasma models - which dropped to half-brightness at 20,000 hours - many modern plasmas have the same 60,000-hour lifespan as LCDs. LCD pundits point to the belief that LCDs have a longer lifespan than plasma screens. This is because LCDs use plastic in their screen make-up, whereas plasmas tend to use glass. In terms of bulk, LCDs are also generally lighter than similar-sized plasmas, making it easier to move around or wall-mount. LCDs also tend to consume less power than plasma screens, with some of the newer "Eco" LCD panels able to use half of the power than equivalent plasmas, with the trade-off being lower brightness. LCDs tend to have a higher native resolution than plasmas of similar size, which means more pixels on the screen. What advantages does LCD have over plasma?Īpart from becoming increasingly price-competitive, LCD has the edge over plasma in several other key areas. LCDs, on the other hand, generally top out around the 60-inch mark - though there have been some ludicrously expensive 70-inch Sony LCDs available. At these sizes, plasmas tend to be two thirds or less than the price of the equivalent LCD, due to the high manufacturing cost of LCD panels. Plasmas currently sold in Australia generally run between 42 and 65 inches wide, with the cheapest 1024x768 standard-definition 42-inch selling for under AU$1000.Īt present, the mainstream plasma size is 50 inches, but sizes of 60 inches and above are becoming more common. Depending on the resolution, plasma is still able to beat most equivalently priced LCD screens. Traditionally, the biggest advantage that plasmas have had over their LCD cousins is price, particularly in the large screen end of the market. Plasmas can also produce richer, more natural colours, due to both light leakage and to a limit on the hues that LCD can reproduce. You tend to see some brightness and colour shift when you're on too much of an angle with LCDs, while a plasma's picture remains fairly solid. Viewing angles are how far you can sit on either side of a screen before the picture's quality is affected. What advantages does plasma have over LCD?Īpart from better contrast due to its ability to show deeper blacks, plasma screens typically have better viewing angles than LCD. As LCD/LED technologies such as polarising filters and dynamic backlights improve, the quality gap between the technologies grows narrower. The nature of LCD technology, where a backlight shines through the LCD layer, means that it's hard for it to achieve true blacks because there's always some light leakage from between pixels. This is because plasma screens can still display blacks more accurately than LCDs can, which means better contrast and detail in dark scenes. For basic home cinema-like usage, plasma screens have a slight edge over LCDs.
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