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Plasma
Upside: Downside:
As little as 3 inches thick; very good home-theater image quality in best examples; wide viewing angle; superior motion resolution. Less energy-efficient than LCDs; slight potential for burn-in; sometimes lower native resolution than similarly sized LCDs. Prices have fallen, and pictures have improved dramatically, perpetuating plasma's place as king of the flat-panel home-theater hill.
Plasma reigns in very large screen sizes. Today's 50-inch plasmas--the plasma TV sweet spot--are still less expensive than similarly sized LCDs, and in even larger screen sizes the gap widens considerably.
Pioneer's PRO-111FD & PRO151FD are the best-performing flat-panel TV ever! Picture quality varies greatly between different makes and models of plasma TVs. The best plasmas produce top-notch image quality, with deep black levels, excellent color, wide viewing angles, and better motion resolution than similar LCDs, making them subject to less blurring during fast movement.
1080p native resolution is common among plasmas and LCDs.
One distinct advantage LCD has over plasma is in the arena of power consumption. Per square inch of screen, plasmas almost always use more power than LCDs to produce the same picture brightness.
Burn-in: You may have heard that plasma has a couple of drawbacks. One such downside is burn-in, which occurs when an image--such as a stock ticker, a network logo, or letterbox bars--gets etched permanently onto the screen because it sits in one place too long. In our experience, the danger of burn-in has been greatly exaggerated, and people with normal viewing habits have nothing to worry about. The potential for burn-in is greatest during the first 100 or so hours of use, during which time you should keep contrast low (less than 50 percent) and avoid showing static images or letterbox bars on the screen for hours at a time. After this initial phase, plasma should be as durable as any television technology. Many models also have burn-in-reduction features, such as screensavers and pixel orbiting, or settings to treat burn-in once it occurs, such as causing the screen to go all white.
Plasma life span: The life span of plasma TVs is another area that's improved dramatically with the last few generations of the technology. Partly in response to claims made by LCD TV makers, plasma manufacturers now claim their panels last an extremely long time. Most plasma makers today claim a life span of 60,000 hours before the panel fades to half brightness. That's more than 20 years if the TV is on for 8 hours per day.
LCD
Upside: Downside:
Available in a range of sizes; matte screens generally reflect less light; no danger of burn-in. Home-theater image quality generally not as good as on plasma models; relatively narrow viewing angle.
The picture quality of LCD TVs has historically suffered from poor black levels, but the latest versions are often much-improved. The best plasmas still surpass the best LCD in terms of delivering a deep black, however, and in general LCD still lags behind. That's because LCDs use a backlight to provide illumination, and there's almost always some light leaking through the pixels. Color saturation is also generally inferior to plasma's, again as a result of the inability to completely blacken (turn off) the pixels. New LCD technologies, including LED backlights, are helping even the playing field, but they're more expensive.
Viewing angle is another weakness of LCD compared with plasma. On every LCD we've reviewed, we witnessed some brightness and color shift visible when we watched from an angle that's more or less removed from the sweet spot right in front of the TV (to either side, and especially above or below). Plasmas look equally good from very wide angles. In addition, LCDs are much more likely to exhibit uniformity problems than plasmas, which can appear as lighter areas on dark screens, clouding, or even color banding on some models.
LCD specification sheets often talk about response time, but in our experience, almost all newer LCDs have adequate response time to deal with fast motion to the satisfaction of most viewers. A related issue is motion blur, which can occur in fast-moving images. LCD TVs with a 120Hz refresh rate can alleviate some of that blurring, but they're generally still not as blur-free as plasmas. It's also worth noting that many people don't notice motion blur at all. 120Hz LCDs often have dejudder processing too, which smoothes out judder in images but can also make some material look more-artificial.
LCDs also have a reputation for being brighter than plasmas, and while that's technically true, most plasmas are plenty bright for even the most demanding situations. One definite advantage of LCD TVs, however, is that their matte plastic screens reflect less ambient light than plasmas' glass, so they're usually better for very bright rooms with little light control. Note that some LCDs have glossy screens, as opposed to matte.
Plasma vs. LCD
Plasma LCD
General
Screen sizes Plasma 42 inches to 65+ inches ..LCD 5 inches to 65+ inches
Cabinet depth 3+ inches 3+ inches
Power consumption Slightly less efficient per square inch Slightly more efficient per square inch
Price Plasma Usually less expensive for screen sizes over 42 inches LCD Usually more expensive for screen sizes over 42-inches
Features
PC connectivity ...common
Motion blur caused by display Negligible Difficult to discern on most models, although subject to more blurring than plasma. 120Hz models subject to less motion blur
Black-level performance (depth of "black" displayed) Varies, although excellent on many models. Varies, although generally worse than plasma on many models
Color saturation Varies, although generally a bit better than on LCDs due to black-level and off-angle advantages on Plasma. Resolution Typically 1080p on high-end models. The benefits of 1080p are not obvious at screen sizes less than 42 inches to the majority of viewers. Plasma Off-angle viewing Excellent from most angles. Reflectivity of screen Glass screens can reflect lots of light, so may be an issue in very bright rooms. Some models have glare-reducing screens that are more or less effective. Matte-plastic screens usually reflect less light. Some models have screens that are actually more reflective than plasma TVs.
Durability
Burn-in (faint after-images left on the screen) Possible with still images left onscreen with very bright settings for hours, although new models are much less susceptible, and most burn-in is temporary and goes away after watching moving images. Occurs only in extreme circumstances
Life span (hours until brightness fades by half) Typically 60,000 hours, or about 20 years if used 8 hours per day Performance by program type
HDTV Excellent...Excellent for HDTV-compatible models
Standard-definition TV Dependent mostly on screen size. The smaller the screen, the better standard-definition sources usually look because the TV is bad and bad signals look better on a bad TV. Dependent mostly on screen size. The smaller the screen, the better standard-definition sources usually look.
DVD movies Excellent given a model with good black-level performance Very good, although models with worse black-level performance are less desirable
Games Excellent for most users, although burn-in might deter gamers who leave screens paused for hours or overnight Excellent, although motion blur might deter the most sensitive gamers
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