2.
Is there a difference in picture quality between plasma and LCD screens and
normal CRT TVs?
It's not what's happening behind the screen that's important - it's how the
screen performs as a television that matters the most. In that regard, both
plasma and LCD sets produce excellent pictures, although many home entertainment
specialists and gamers still say CRTs produce the best overall images (although
plasmas and LCD sets are quickly catching up in terms of quality).
Those same home entertainment specialists will tell you that for basic home
theatre-like usage, plasma screens have a slight edge over LCDs. This is because
plasma screens can display blacks more accurately than LCDs can, which means
better contrast and detail in dark-coloured television or movie scenes. The
nature of LCD technology, where a backlight shines through the LCD layer,
means it's hard for it to achieve true blacks because there's always some
light leakage from between pixels. This is steadily improving with every new
generation of LCD, however.
3. What advantages does plasma have over LCD?
Apart from better contrast due to its ability to show deeper blacks, plasma
screens typically have better viewing angles than LCD. Viewing angles are
how far you can sit on either side of a screen before the picture's quality
is affected. You tend to see some brightness and colour shift when you're
on too far of an angle with LCDs, while a plasma's picture remains fairly
solid. This is steadily changing, however, with more and more LCDs entering
the market with viewing angles equal to or greater than some plasmas. Plasmas
can also produce a brighter colour, once again due to light leakage on an
LCD affecting its colour saturation.
Plasma pundits will also tell you that some LCD screens have a tendency to
blur images, particularly during fast moving scenes in movies or in sports.
While that was true for older generation LCD screens, newer models have improved
significantly - so much so that the differences in performance between LCDs
and plasmas in this regard is almost negligible (here's a tip -- if you're
shopping for LCDs, check the refresh rate. The lower it is, the better the
image quality in fast moving scenes).
Perhaps
the biggest advantage plasmas have now over their LCD cousins is price, particularly
in the large screen end of the market. Plasmas typically come in larger sizes
than LCDs at a cheaper price. Plasmas being sold in Australia generally run
between 42-inches and 63-inches wide, with the cheapest 42-inch selling for
approximately AU$3,000 (although you can expect to find sets cheaper than
AU$3,000 in real world prices). 60-inch and above plasmas can go for as much
as $20,000. LCDs, on the other hand, top out around the mid 40-inch mark,
and are more expensive than similar-sized plasmas. Sharp's high end 45-inch
LC45G1XSYS LCD, for example, retails for AU$8,999, while Pioneer's top of
the line 43-inch PDP-436HD plasma goes for AU$5,999.
4. What advantages does LCD have over plasma?
It's not all doom and gloom for LCD though, as it has the edge over plasma
in several key areas. LCDs tend to have higher native resolution than plasmas
of similar size, which means more pixels on a screen. If you're a true high-def
junkie who's keen to see every pixel of a high-res 1080i/p image reproduced
pixel-by-pixel (providing you have a source that high, of course), then LCDs
are the way to go.
LCDs also tend to consume less power than plasma screens, with some estimates
ranging that power saving at up to 30 per cent less than plasma. LCDs are
also generally lighter than similar sized plasmas, making it easier to move
around or wall mount.
LCD pundits also point to the fact that LCDs have a longer lifespan than plasma
screens. This was true of earlier plasma models, which would lose half of
their brightness after more than 20,000 hours of viewing. Later plasma generations
have bumped that up to anything between 30,000 and 60,000 hours. LCDs, on
the other hand, are guaranteed for 60,000 hours.
You might have also heard that plasmas suffer from screen burn in, an affliction
not as commonly associated with LCDs. Screen burn in occurs when an image
is left too long on a screen, resulting in a ghost of that image burned in
permanently. Newer plasmas are less susceptible to this thanks to improved
technology and other features such built-in screen savers, but we still hear
anecdotal reports here of burn-in with new plasmas.
Now:
Plasma or LCD?
If you're in the market for a big screen television -- and we're talking 42-inches
and above -- then we'd suggest plasma as a safe bet. Plasmas give you more
bang for your buck at the big end of town, and while LCDs can give you better
resolution, the price difference is currently too wide. However, if money's
not an issue and you want the sharpest image in town, then a large LCD is
for you. At the smaller end of things (15" to 36" TVs), LCD is the
only way to go if you want something slim and tasteful. And the best thing
is that LCDs are getting cheaper all the time.
Reference:
http://www.cnet.com
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