How To Compare LCD and Plasma TVs

One of the most frequent questions asked when buying a new HDTV set is: how to compare lcd and plamsa tvs? If you have been considering buying a flat panel screen television for any of the reasons that everyone wants them; like save space and for the beauty and technology advantage they offer, then you must have been very confused upon reaching the store to find that you really don’t know the difference between one from the other.

LCD rear projection television should not be confused with LCD flat panel televisions. Rear projection LCD uses a powerful light source through a transparent LCD chip made up of individual pixels (which displays the moving video image) and projecting that image through a magnifying lens, to a mirror, which then reflects that image, onto a screen. Because the chip is so small the panel of a rear projection television can be made very thin and light unlike in televisions that use the CRT (cathode ray tube) technology.

Although they are still far from being hanged up on the wall like plasma or LCD flat panel televisions they can save quite a lot of floor space. They are also cheaper than plasma and LCD flat panel and come with wider screens. LCD rear projection technology is also brighter and offers more contrast. LCD screens are less likely to suffer burn in so they can be used as computer monitors at the same time unlike plasma screens that are likely to burn in fast because a computer would be on for longer.

Plasma television is almost always a flat panel; this is because it uses technology that allows it to be housed in a smaller panel. Similar to the technology of the fluorescent lamp, the display of a plasma unit contains xenon gas between two glass panels. The gas is injected in the form of plasma; when the gas is charged electrically it lights up red, blue and green phosphors and so an image is created. Red, blue and green phosphors make up a pixel.

Meanwhile traditional CRT models use a large vacuum tube, where and electric beam scans the surface of the tube to light up the phosphors and is the reason they have to be housed in larger units.

Plasma televisions are considered to provide better quality picture than LCDs especially in the larger sizes. They display high definition content and colors better than LCD but LCDs perform better in smaller sizes especially for computer screens and small televisions sets for the kitchen and bedroom. However, most people consider bigger plasma screen of 40 inches and more for the living room for movies.

Plasma televisions offer a better price to size ratio than LCDs but LCDs are offers more models in the smaller sizes than plasma which has mostly larger screens. Smaller LCDs screen are better for computer and games usage and for sets in the bedroom and kitchen. Source: http://www.flatscreenhdtvguide.com