Difference between LCD and Plasma?

If you are exploring the market to buy a flat screen television, you may ask yourself: What is the difference between LCD and a Plasma TVs?.

These are two different technologies with similar looks and flat panel technology. Both technologies have their advantages and disadvantages. As a consumer you need to be informed  so that you can choos the correct TV for you.

Same look, different technologies

There is no reason to think that the Plasma and LCD TVs are the same because they both have slim profiles and flat screens. The difference lays in the technology behind each type.

Plasma TVs have a matrix containing tiny cells of plasma gas which are charged with small charges of electricity.  These charges create the picture on the display.

LCD TVs resembles sandwiches. They are made of two plates of glass with liquid crystals sandwiched in between. The electric charge is supplied to the liquid crystals and the causing the images to display on the screen.

So these technologies are two absolutely different which bear no similarities but produce similar images on flat panel screens.

Differences in contrast ratios?

First what is contrast ratio.  The contrast ratio is the difference in brightness between the brightest white and the darkest black. So the brighter the whites and the darker the blacks the better.  The contrast ratio is typically expressed as a two numbers with a colon inbetween, 2,000:1 or 30,000:1.  The bigger the first number the better.

Typical Plasma TV Contrast Ratios
Plasma Contrast Ratios can go as high as 50,000:1
A good Plasma TV contrast ratio should be about 25,000:1

Typical LCD TV Contrast Ratios
A great LCD TV contrast ratio is 10,000:1

Be aware different manufacturers calculate the number differently.  So a 5,000:1 in a Sony may not be the same image as a 5,000:1 in a Toshiba.

As a user you might not be interested in knowing the details of the mechanism as the performance of the screen matters to you at the end. Though both of the plasma and LCD screens provide excellent image quality, contrast ratio and brightness compared to the normal television screens but few users feel that plasma is better than the LCD when it comes to a home theater viewing experience. The reason is that the plasma TVs can show the darker scenes better than LCD. The enhanced contrast ratio is responsible for the difference. The LCD displays always experience slight leakage of light through the pixels which results is poor quality of darkness.

Compare the image quality

As the image quality depends greatly on the contrast ratio and other factors like viewing angles, plasma televisions win over the LCDs. It will not affect the image quality and there will be no haze even if you are sitting at the furthest corner of the room on any side of the plasma display. But in case of a LCD screen you might get blurred vision and color modification which is a deficiency indeed. The scenes that are moving very fast on the television screen often get obscure in the LCD displays wherein the sharpness and accuracy remain unaffected on the plasma display. Finally the most important factor that the plasma televisions are available in larger screen size at an affordable price range wherein the LCDs are costlier.

The manufacturers are investing a lot of research to improve the LCD TVs and the latest models are free from most of the common deficiencies and it is expected that’s soon they will take over the market monopoly from Plasma displays.