Difference Between LCD and Plasma

December 27, 2004, 2:37 PM CST by bfun

What’s the difference between LCD and Plasma TVs? I know the LCDs stop at about 30’’ and the Plasmas start at about 42’’. Is there a quality difference?

December 27, 2004, 2:41 PM CST by DAISHI to bfun

LCD's go up to at least 42" from what I've seen. Plasmas look better, but you pay for it :p Also many LCD's may not have a high enough refresh rate to play games on without noticing some "ghosting". DLP would be a better choice then LCD if you can't afford a plasma.

December 27, 2004, 3:10 PM CST by Gman to bfun

Im curious to this question also. What is the difference between the too except price and size?

December 27, 2004, 3:19 PM CST by bfun to Gman

I’ve read LCD might be better for gaming because it can’t get screen burn-in. It can however have individual pixels that fail where as the plasma does not.

December 27, 2004, 3:21 PM CST by Gman to bfun

How the hell do pixels fail, I dont understand that? Does that happen when people physically touch their LCD screens or punch them?

December 27, 2004, 3:23 PM CST by bfun

Here is what one site had to say.

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. This can vary according to other environmental and use factors.

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.

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).

3. Not as available in large screen sizes above 37-inches

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 much more expensive than equivalent-sized Plasma televisions.

December 27, 2004, 3:36 PM CST by Encryptedmind

When I worked at Circuit City, we had a 42" Hitachi plasma beside a Sony 32" LCD, and the plasma looked WAY better.. But I wouldn't buy either.. I will stick with tube, and projection tv's.. Tube still has the best quality out of all the tv's, but can only go up to 40"..

December 27, 2004, 4:04 PM CST by bfun to Encryptedmind

I didn’t think the tube could have as high a resolution as LCD or Plasma.

December 27, 2004, 4:21 PM CST by one_grim_reaper to bfun

Its depends, i have a pixel plus 2 widescreen tube TV. Phillips also use pixel plus 2 in their LCD and Plasma sets.

The most important features of Pixel Plus 2 are the advanced sharpness & resolution enhancements. These are accomplished through Philips’ unique sub-pixel based Horizontal & Vertical Luminance Transient Improvement. First the incoming signal—from any source—is scaled up to a maximum resolution of 2,560,000 pixels. Then each individual pixel is altered to better match the surrounding pixels. The end result is an enormously sharper, crisper picture with much more depth impression.

Im no tech buff when it comes to TV but the guy in the shop said when we purchsed it somethign about a resolution similar to 1600 X 1200. Maybe he was lying to sell it, maybe he wasnt,but i can say when you turn it off it looks crap compared. Everything becomes blured and you really notice the difference, with it turned on it almost looks real and the depth perseption is brilliant.

http://www.flattv.philips.com/index.cfm?event=main&cat_id=1&subcat_id=2&page=pg2

December 27, 2004, 5:18 PM CST by Encryptedmind to bfun

I didn’t think the tube could have as high a resolution as LCD or Plasma.

Alot of tubes can support 720p/1080i, isn't that the same as plasma and lcd?

December 27, 2004, 5:30 PM CST by DAISHI to Encryptedmind

I agree tube's are the best, but big tube's and projections are SO heavy. I'd really love a 42" Plasma myself.....or a DLP if I have to "settle".

December 27, 2004, 5:45 PM CST by David_South to Encryptedmind

I still don't comprehend Direct CRT HDTVs.

Most of them have about 800 x 1200 lines or pixel groups.
No matter what resolution they say they support or do.

720 x 1280 almost fits.
1080i(540) x 1920 doesn't even seem reasonably scalable.

Direct CRT also has a problem with limited viewable area.
Up to 20% of a sent signal or image is lost outside the viewable borders.
Over scan or whatever excuse.
Fixed pixel solutions like CRT, LCD and Plasma shine for showing it all.

Cathode ray tube projection technically is superior for the anolog nature of its signal. Seamless transition, higher number of pixels for the dollar, the number of pixels is limited only by yoke speed and refresh rate. But even then multiple guns/tubes can be combined for larger images.

I like DLP (Samsung and LG) the most but its price has lowered slower than the others. LCD (rear projection- Sony and Toshiba; direct- Samsung, Syntax, Sanyo) is very good and getting cheaper all the time. Plasma (Pioneer) is also getting cheaper, looks good and fits on any wall.

December 27, 2004, 10:15 PM CST by Pichu

Basically, Plasma is self-illuminating (i.e. plasma reactions) and LCD requires to be luminated (i.e. backlit to some phase changing liquid crystals).

December 27, 2004, 10:23 PM CST by David_South to Pichu

Really clean great explanation!

What about LCOS??

December 29, 2004, 5:25 PM CST by earthling10

Some of the latest X-Brite screens look as good as plasma screens to me. If a company (such as Sony) were develop 42" screens for home market Im sure they'd do extremely well.

Overall I think Plasmas have better picture quality but LCDs are better developed technology and likely to come out on top in the future especialy considering all the new developments.

January 8, 2005, 12:21 PM CST by alterego to bfun

A key point to remember about Plasma TV's: every time you turn it on and use it, the screen brightness will diminish incrementally...and they actually refer to this as the 'half-life' of the TV (the amount of time it will take for the screen to be 50% as bright as it was when first used). So, not only do LCD TV's have a lifespan that is usually twice that of a Plasma (60,000 hours to 30,000 hours generally), but they will be consistently bright, while the Plasma will dim quite significantly over it's lifetime.

April 5, 2005, 4:25 AM CST by Rival

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

This is my main concern about Plasma TVs. I'm leaning toward LCD even though I prefer the picture and overall style of the Plasma sets.

Does anyone know how bad the burn-in problem on Plasma TVs really is? How long would it take for this to happen? I don't want to buy a Plasma TV if I can't play video games on it for fear of burn-in.

April 5, 2005, 4:30 AM CST by one_grim_reaper to Rival

We recently had some guys in who fit TV's and such and they said that sometimes they had found that plasma's could burn in after very little time. They said that they hired a load of plasma's to the BBC for wimbledon and when they got them back they were all ruined with the image of a ball stuck on the screen.

So they suggested we go with an LCD as they dont have this problem no where near as much and we are using SKY tv so every channel has a logo in the corner. Just last week we watched American Chopper all day on discovery channel, my guess is that if we had a plasma we would now have a discovery logo stuck in the top corner of the screen.

The picture quality on the LCD is great mind you, its one of them Philip's pixel plus 2 thingy wotsits like the Tube tv at my mum's house and it works great.

April 5, 2005, 5:09 AM CST by Rival to one_grim_reaper

Thanks for the info. Although I really like Plasmas I just can't take the chance of burn-in especially since I've been known to fall asleep in front of the TV while playing a game.

Looks like it's LCD for me.

April 5, 2005, 6:22 AM CST by ktun

We just got a Sony HD plasma. [ only because it was cheaper than the others :P ]

The half life is approximated at 60,000 hours which is twice the half life of the previous model [and most other plasmas for that matter].

As for burn in, most plasmas today already implement anti burn-in technology.

April 5, 2005, 6:45 AM CST by Rival to ktun

We just got a Sony HD plasma. [ only because it was cheaper than the others :P ]

WHAT! You mean a Sony product was actually cheaper? Judging from alot of the posts around here I thought all Sony products were more expensive than their competitors. WOW!

I will also have to look into that anti-burn in technology.

April 5, 2005, 8:02 AM CST by ktun to Rival

WHAT! You mean a Sony product was actually cheaper? Judging from alot of the posts around here I thought all Sony products were more expensive than their competitors. WOW!

Well actually, they had too many in stock [most probably because no one wanted to buy overpriced electronics] so they had to sell them all off for a little over the cost price.

April 5, 2005, 8:04 AM CST by ali_f to ktun

Has anybody heard of 'high definition TV'. Only Plasma and LCD can perform the quality. The BBC will be broadcasting HD in 2006

April 5, 2005, 8:15 AM CST by da_deadly_sniper to ali_f

The BBC will be broadcasting HD in 2006

Indeed, and they will make it a standard by 2010.

April 5, 2005, 9:14 AM CST by rekersting to bfun

I found this website to have all the (adequate) answers for me. Seems like LCD is, in most cases, the way to go. http://hometheater.about.com/od/lcdtvfaqs/f/lcdfaq2.htm

April 5, 2005, 5:36 PM CST by MustangSVT

Has anybody heard of 'high definition TV'. Only Plasma and LCD can perform the quality. The BBC will be broadcasting HD in 2006

I've been watching HDTV on my 36" tube for 6 months now. I watch in 1080i and many shows/movies come in Dolby 5.1 signal as well, and since I've got the receiver/decoder and the 5.1 setup, I get to listen to that as well.

The channels I get in HDTV so far are ABC, CBS, Movie Central, NBC, PBS and another channel with various stuff of 1080i. Ain't gonna be much longer till I get TSN HD too.

April 6, 2005, 4:34 AM CST by ktun to rekersting

IMHO, Plasmas have the advantages that matter. [considering burn-in is not an issue anymore]

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).

---

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.

April 6, 2005, 6:08 AM CST by jacks

Are there any normal TVs e.g Sony Vegas that display Hd pic? Also is a LCD TV Cap of displaying HD pic from consoles?

thanks

Jacks

April 6, 2005, 6:14 AM CST by VRXJudge

CRT Tube (non-DLP)>All

At least, according to COnsumers' Union.

April 6, 2005, 6:32 AM CST by jacks to VRXJudge

heh well I have never seen one, I dont mean Hd TV transmission I mean HD Output from a Console?

thanks

Jacks

April 6, 2005, 8:42 AM CST by alterego to jacks

Yes, an HDTV capable LCD display will also be able to handle HD output from a console.

April 6, 2005, 9:21 AM CST by jacks

Thats the thing when I have gone to buy a LCD or Plasma TV the bloody Shop assistamts have no idea if the Tv is HD enabled or comapat is there any sure way that I can find this out ?

thanks

Jacks

April 6, 2005, 9:46 AM CST by alterego to jacks

You could always jot down the model names/numbers at the store and then do some online research for the various brands/models...the manufacturer sites have all of the info you'd ever want to know about HD capability etc. Or, vice versa: do some online research to find the specific TV's with the features/price you want and then seek them out at the stores.

April 6, 2005, 9:49 AM CST by ktun to jacks

You can make a note of the model number and just google it up. This is the first site I saw when I googled the model number and "review".
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatvreviews/sony-pfm42x1-review.html

*edit* Ok I am a few minutes late in my reply.

April 6, 2005, 10:16 AM CST by jacks

Heh, the 42" Firstline Plasma that my mate has just picked up is not even on that site ? must be crap cant find any info on it at all.

Jacks

April 6, 2005, 1:06 PM CST by alterego to jacks

http://www.ciao.fr/Firstline_PDP_42__659508/TabId/4

If this is what he bought, it doesn't look to be HD capable.

April 10, 2005, 7:57 PM CST by saycheese to alterego

Currently, there are no consumer grade CRT based displays that can do 720p natively. Even though some manufacturers claim they support 720p, all they do is accept the 720p signal and convert it to a 1080i.

For more information, http://www.avsforum.com is THE most informative resource.

April 26, 2005, 9:45 AM CST by bfun

Walmart is selling a 42’’ Hyundai HD plasma for just $1,998. Seems like a really good deal to me. I should be able to get one by next year. By then it will probably be about $1500.

http://i.walmart.com/i/p/00/82/81/85/00/0082818500083_500X500.jpg

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3639068&cat=110650&type=19&dept=3944&path=0%3A3944%3A133276%3A3996%3A228570

April 26, 2005, 10:16 AM CST by julealgon to Encryptedmind

Completelly agree...

Tube TVs are way better than both of them -LCD and Plasma-.

One thing that I thought I knew was that the lcd display damages one's vision if extended use is made -of course the others too, but in this case in a larger amount.

As for the plasma, i saw that the screen can be permanentely -sp- damaged by static images, like the bbc logo and such...

EDIT: OMG... I thought there was only one page... but after posting I saw the other 3.... if there was interesting info here then OK, but if not, if its not related to the last posts then I'm sorry guys...
AND I saw in some place too that the plasma screen needs to have its gases replaced in every few years...

This is just things i heard . And sorry to use slashs over the parentesis, they are not working in my keyboard lol

May 11, 2005, 1:44 PM CST by paulc0000 to bfun

Sorry if this question is a little off the topic. I am trying to get an idea as to what the difference is between using an LCD vs. Plasma as a monitor for my PC. Is LCD a better resolution/display when it comes to computer graphics? Any known issues with either type of technology when used with a PC? Thanks.

May 11, 2005, 2:06 PM CST by bfun to paulc0000

I don't think they make plasma screens that will fit on a desktop. I think Plasma starts at about 30 inches and go up.

Anybody: What’s the difference between and LCD and a projection LCD. These projection LCDs seem to be cheaper than equivalent size plasmas.

May 11, 2005, 4:50 PM CST by SH64

3. Does not perform as well at higher altitudes.

Can someone explain to me whats that altitude issue ?

May 11, 2005, 9:24 PM CST by ktun to SH64

It means that people in the Himalayas are better off with LCD displays.

On a serious note, the phosphors in the plasma panel are sensitive to pressure changes. Since pressure decreases as altitude increases, it might cause the phosphors to react differently when "excited" by the electrons.