LCD and Plasma Televisions

With the rising popularity of LCD (Liquid Crystal Diode) and Plasma TV's we thought you may wish to know what the key differences are in order to make a better buying decision.

Screen size

Plasma TV's are often mistakenly considered to be much larger than LCD TV's. This is predominantly because Plasma TV's such as the Panasonic Plasma TV's available at Go-Electrical start at 37inch whereas our LCD TV's range from screen sizes of 13 inch to 45 inch (currently our largest screen in any TV technology).

Production Costs and Price

Though it is difficult to produce both technologies in large panels, plasma has in the past proven the easier of the two thus Plasma TV's held the lower production cost and higher production capacity. Prices for both technologies have now dropped significantly and both Plasma TV's and LCD TV's of the same size are competitively priced. Sharp have embraced LCD Technology and having set new standards in LCD TV's Sharp now choose to produce all their TV's with LCD screens.

Screen "Burn In"

When originally introduced, Plasma TVs could suffer from "burn in" produced by static images. This is where after extended periods, stationary images left a "ghost" image on the screen. Though "burn in" could generally be corrected it was a significant hindrance to Plasma TVs. LCD TVs have almost no "burn in" issues to consider.

Panasonic Plasma TVs available from Go-Electrical have addressed "burn in" and reduced the issues of older Plasma TVs. We would however recommend that for applications where static information or images are to be displayed on a continual basis an LCD TV would be more appropriate.

Colour Saturation

LCD displays reproduce colours by manipulating light waves and subtracting colours from white light. When compared to Plasma TVs; the colour information reproduced by LCD TVs benefits from their displays' higher ratio of pixels per square inch.

Sharp have addressed the competitive advantage which Plasma technology had over LCD technology and produced a range of LCD TVs which have been optimised for PAL broadcasts and remain preferable for displaying crisp static images.

Contrast

Picture contrast is the measurement of difference in light intensity between the brightest white and the darkest black. Thus the higher the contrast ratio, the sharper the picture will be.

Panasonic Plasma TVs can now boast a 3000:1 contrast ratio. Our LCD TV contrast ratios measure up to 800:1. It is however difficult to compare them like for like as the ratio is calculated slightly different between the two technologies.

Plasma TVs will normally outperform LCD TVs for scenes with a lot of dark and light images shown simultaneously however Sharp LCD TVs and Panasonic LCD TV's sold at Go-Electrical display sufficiently dark shades and black to please even the most discerning eyes.

Screen Refresh Rates

The refresh rate of Plasma TVs and their ability to handle rapid movements in video compares to normal CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TVs. LCD TVs initially suffered from a very slight "trailer" effect. Sharp's HD-Ready GA-Series has innovative technology that moves LCD to a new dimension - bringing a more eye-friendly picture clarity with reduced "noise", even on fast moving images.

Viewing Angle

Plasma TVs have always boasted a minimum 160° viewing angle, which is pretty much as good as it gets. The newer generation of Sharp LCD TV's, Panasonic LCD TVs and Loewe LCD TV's have been improved to match the dynamic viewing range of Plasma TVs. Our highest end Sharp LCD TV even boasts a viewing angle of 170°.

Life Span

LCD TVs run about twice as long as Plasma TVs, approximately 50,000 - 75,000 hours. An LCD can last as long as the backlight and the bulbs can actually be changed. The rare gases used in Plasma technology actually have a lifespan, fade over time and cannot be replaced.

Power Consumption

Plasma TVs use a lot of electricity lighting each and every pixel you see on a screen. LCD TVs use florescent backlighting to produce images, and as such require substantially less power to operate. On average LCD TVs use half of the power used by Plasma TVs.

Conclusion

We hope we have explained the difference between Plasma and LCD TVs. Now that both technologies are well established; which is better is a matter or personal choice as both technologies process and display incoming video in entirely different ways.

It is quite clear that your choice depends on your evaluation of the different features. If you want a small screen size then your only option is an LCD TV. If you want a large screen size then prices between the two technologies have become very competitive and prices for Sharp LCD TVs are expected to continue falling whilst quality increases. At Go-Electrical we stock both LCDs and Plasma but find that LCD TVs are by far the most popular and cost effective as popular "home-use" sizes of 17-36 inch.

Whatever your decision; we guarantee you will be more than happy with any of the LCD TVs or Plasma TVs available for purchase at Go-Electrical.