A Guide to LCD and Plasma TV Technology

If you want to buy a new television, you can choose between a Plasma TV and LCD TV. These are the current technologies used for all types of flat panel televisions available in the market.

Getting better value from your new TV is probably one of your big concerns. So here is a brief guide on LCD and Plasma TV. This guide can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of LCD and Plasma televisions.

What is a Plasma TV?

The main component of Plasma TV screen is plasma gas. These are gaseous cells that can be charged electrically. Once electric voltage passes through them, the plasma gasses emit lights. This process is responsible for rendering screen images.

Plasma TV produces vivid colors and clearer images because its screen pixels carry their own light spectrum.

The Strengths & Weaknesses of Plasma Televisions:

High contrast is one of the strong points of Plasma TV. High color definition due to superior contrast is the best advantage of Plasma TV. It can also display black colors in high definition. There will be no grayish spots on your TV even if the scenes on the screen are totally dark. Because of this, you will be able to see other objects displayed on the screen.

If you love to watch fast paced action movies, racing, and other sports events, then Plasma TV should be your choice. That's because Plasma TV can perform well in tracking rapid movement sequences.

The biggest weakness of Plasma televisions is its susceptibility to screen burn-in. This problem can disfigure the images in your screen permanently. New Plasma models however use devices that can avoid burn-in problems. Older models of Plasma TVs still suffer from this problem.

What is LCD TV?

The utilization of liquid crystals is the primary mechanism of LCD TVs to generate images. These liquid crystals can receive lights from a backlight source. The crystals will polarize the lights thus rendering different color spectrum. These colors will be transformed into millions of pixels producing clear and highly defined images.

The Pros and Cons of LCD Televisions:

You will not encounter any burn-in problem with LCD TV. This is a highly efficient television because it generates less heat so energy consumption is minimal. There is also a built-in anti-glare function for every LCD screen. So if you like to watch TV in a brightly lit room, then LCD TV should be your best option.

However, LCD TVs have weaker color contrasting ratios compared to Plasma TVs. Its ability to display ultra high definition colors will be limited also. Rendering black colors is also not a strong point of LCD TVs.

The quality of high speed movements can also suffer if displayed on LCD TV screens. LCD TVs have less ability to track fast paced movements. New models however have found ways to solve this problem.

LCD color pixels are also prone to color aging. This is the equivalent of image burn-in on Plasma TV screens. So, when the color pixels of LCD degenerate, you might see some white or black spots on your screen.

You can certainly enjoy watching TV from LCD or Plasma screens. These are the latest TV innovations and they are made to provide you with quality viewing experience. But these TVs also have strengths and weaknesses just like any other device. You have to know what you need in order to choose the best high technology TV.