LCD vs Plasma: The Eternal Debate

There was a time when choosing an HDTV was an easy debate:

You watch sports and movies. You buy a plasma tv.

You play video games or have natural daylight in your room. You buy an LCD (liquid crystal display) tv.

The key existing issues around both are still there, but they are less pronounced. (For the record, I have an LCD in my basement and I constantly question whether or not I should have gone Plasma.)

There are pros and cons to both, but these are much more minimized compared to older models. Here is my take on it:

Plasma

Faster Refresh - The picture is much smoother for movies or sports. All plasmas have a refresh rate of less than 1ms were as older LCDs were in the 20-30ms range. Newer LCDs with 120hz technology, motion smoothing, and < 10 ms response times have narrowed the gap. There is no reason that sports can’t look good on an LCD anymore

Higher Contrast Ratio - The contrast ratio with plasma exceeds that with LCD; however, the gap is closing with new “reflective screened” LCDs. Unfortunately the reflective screen feature also negates some of the other advantages to LCDs.

Black Levels - The black levels (how dark or inky the blacks can look) are superior on plasmas. The new Pioneer Kuro sets the bar in this test.

Image Viewing Angle - Plasma TVs, like convention CRTs (cathode ray tube televisions), do not suffer image degradation from off-center viewing. LCD image does get darker off center, although the point at which this happens is now about 178 degrees. No one would want to watch from that angle anyway.

Cost - While Plasmas were once more expensive, they seem to have dwindled into the cheaper territory, although it is so close that it really needs not be taken into account.

LCDs

Television Life - LCDs last about 50% longer than Plasmas. This factor shouldn’t really matter though because they both last longer than CRTs.

Reflection Performance - LCDs typically have matte screens, meaning that natural light in your TV room will not affect performance to the same level.

More Vibrant Colour - LCDs typically have more vibrant colour, particularly in brightly lit rooms. See above.

Less Burn-In Risk - LCD technology does not suffer from burn-in the same way that plasmas do. It should be noted that plasmas now have pixel orbiting technology that prevent burn in.

Easier to Install - LCDs are less fragile (no gas internals) and lighter. This makes them much easier to install, particularly if you are wall mounting your TV.

Better Compatibility With Computers - If you are a gamer then LCDs are the way to go. Where this factor gets fuzzy is with the incoming HTPCs. With movie downloads becoming more ubiquitous in coming years, LCD TVs may have a big advantage is this category.