Direct backlighting means that the lights are mounted behind the LCD panel, while edge-lighting uses a series of LEDs along the edge of the screen. Most thin LCDs on the market use this edge-lighting, though direct lighting is arguably better for picture quality. You might have also heard that plasmas suffer from screen burn-in, an affliction not 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". Newer plasmas are less susceptible to this, thanks to improved technology and features such as screensavers, but burn-in can still be a problem.
However, after a few days most burnt-in images will fade — they are no longer permanent. If you're in the market for a big-screen television — and we're talking 50 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, plasma still has the edge in terms of picture quality.
At the smaller end of things to inch 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. There has also been a lot of debate surrounding use in bright environments versus dark, cinema-like conditions. The traditional wisdom is that LCD performs better during the day due to its backlighting system, and that plasma works best in a dark environment, as it uses a glass front.
Nonetheless, products like the non-reflective glass plasmas and LED-backlit LCD panels with their better blacks completely turn this logic on its head. While these exceptions do exist, plasmas do generally perform better in the dark, and models with an anti-reflective coating — such as the new Panasonic plasmas — are the best all-rounders. In the past couple of years, several new features have cropped up, but the most pertinent to this discussion is 3D. While it's possible to manufacture a 3D screen with both LCD technology and plasma, based on our extensive testing, a plasma screen is the best at producing 3D images and reducing the artefact known as crosstalk, or ghosted imaging.
Be aware that there is still very little content available in 3D, and that the technology is still evolving. Buy a set for its 2D abilities first, and then consider 3D. While most screens are now full high-definition p , resolution is a consideration when you're looking at budget screens.
Budget LCDs and plasmas feature either x or x p resolutions. If you're buying a screen that's 42 inches or larger, though, there's now no reason to get anything less than p. It isn't all about the resolution, however; it's not the pixels, it's what you do with them. Most modern TVs, and even budget ones, will accept a p input, and it depends on the quality of the scaler on-board as to how good a picture you'll get.
The big names — Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and LG — usually have very good image processors that can resize the source content — whether it's DVD, Blu-ray or Freeview — to the resolution of your screen without a problem. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic.
Before explaining the differences between each technology, it's important to understand how each TV displays an image. Plasma TVs contain tiny pockets of gas, and when a voltage is applied to them, they turn into a plasma state. The voltage then strikes the mercury within the plasma to emit ultraviolet UV rays, which pass through phosphor cells to produce an image.
Each pixel in the TV contains three phosphor cells: red, green, and blue, and these three colors combine to produce a color. Essentially, plasma TVs don't require a backlight, and each pixel is self-emissive as it produces its own light. These are long tubes that are placed horizontally across the screen behind the LCD panel.
When the light is turned on, it applies a voltage to the pixels, which makes them rotate a certain way to allow light through and produce an image. When it wants to display black, the pixels are rotated to create an opaque screen so that light doesn't get through.
This is what makes them different from plasma TVs because each pixel isn't self-emitting. It's also important to note LED is simply a marketing term used by manufacturers to describe their backlight.
Learn about differences between full-array and edge-lit local dimming. Plasma and LED TVs each present their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of picture quality, price, build, and availability. It's generally thought that plasma produces a better picture quality due to their superior contrast ratio, but LED TVs became more popular because of other factors, like a lower cost and greater availability. Below you can see the differences in picture quality between two older TVs from It's clear the plasma was better at the time, but LED TVs have also gotten better since then, so picture quality has greatly improved.
Contrast ratio was one of the main advantages and selling points of plasma TVs. Since each pixel emitted its own light, it simply turned itself off when it wanted to display a black image. This allowed the TV to display very deep blacks, but because there was always a bit of charge left in the plasma, it still wasn't a perfect black level.
However, technology has evolved to greatly improved the contrast of LED TVs, even to the point where it's also as good as what plasma once was. Still, you won't get a perfect black level, but most modern LED TVs produce such deep blacks that even in a dark environment it looks like perfect black levels. For reference, plasma TVs had a max contrast of about 4,, according to DisplayMate.
Learn more about contrast ratio. LED TVs are a clear winner here, and it's one of the reasons why they surpassed plasmas in terms of popularity. LED TVs get significantly brighter, so they can fight glare from light sources easier. Additionally, plasma TVs had to use glass on their front panel, which caused intense glare if you had any lamps or windows around the TV.
LED TVs can use a coating on their glass panel to help reflect and diffuse light, making it a better choice for well-lit rooms. Plasmas were designed for dark-room viewing, but since most people don't have dedicated home theater setups and often watch with a few light sources around, they weren't that useful. As you can see below, the plasma TV had pronounced reflections, to the point where it's even hard to see the image, and instead you're watching yourself watch TV.
Learn more about peak brightness and reflection handling. This means that the image remained accurate when viewing from the side, which was great for watching sports or a show with a few people. TV manufacturers have tried different technologies to improve viewing angles on VA panels.
Samsung has an 'Ultra Viewing Angle' layer, and Sony uses their 'X-Wide Angle' technology to increase the viewing angles, both at the cost of a lower contrast ratio. It's still not as good as plasma, but they're wide enough for watching TV in a fairly large seating area.
Below you can see the differences in viewing angles between a plasma and a VA panel. These TVs were tested on different test benches , so you shouldn't directly compare the videos, but we included them to give you an idea of how each technology affects the viewing angle.
Learn about viewing angle here. Plasma TVs were great for motion handling, like with sports and video games due to their quick response time.
Since each pixel had to retain a certain charge at any given moment, it was ready to display an image almost instantly. This meant fast-moving scenes looked crisp and smooth, with no motion blur behind them.
However, for LED TVs, it can be a toss-up; some lower-end models have a slow response time that causes motion blur, while other high-end TVs have a really fast response time. Some LED TVs also use Pulse Width Modulation to dim their backlight, and this causes the backlight to flicker, which may create image duplication in fast-moving scenes.
This can be particularly annoying, especially if you're watching sports with fast-moving content. However, the refresh rate depends on the content, and since most content doesn't go past frames per second, having a higher refresh rate TV isn't very useful. Learn more about motion handling. Screen uniformity is another area where plasma TVs win. Since they didn't have a backlight, they could evenly control each pixel.
LED TVs can suffer from uniformity issues, like darker edges or Dirty Screen Effect in the center, because the backlight output may not be even across the panel. Share this comparison:. If you read this far, you should follow us:. Diffen LLC, n.
There are some issues with Plasma displays that are not mentioned here. Plasma technology has a built-in catastrophic failure mechanism die to the high voltage needed to fire the plasma cells. Just like a neon lamp. Either the HV power supply or the driver Integrated Circuits will eventually fail. Also, the burn-in problem hasn't been eliminated, just lessened by shifting the picture around.
Persistent static displays, such as menus, will still burn in. Further, plasmas are prone to devfeloping "dead" pixels, appearing as black spots, or even worse, pixels stuck "on", appearing as bright spots. This does not happen with LCDs.
Plasmas often look grainier than LCDs when viewed close-up. LCDs can have pixels made up of smaller sub-pixels, improving the perceived detail. If you buy a plasma, you will be lucky to get 3 or 4 years out of it; as mentioned, the LCD has nothing to "burn out" except the CCFL backlight lamps, which can be replaced.
LED backlights are common now, which squashes that problem as well. LED backlighting, especially in the sub-pixel style, has rendered the contrast and Mercury issues moot. LCD TV vs. Plasma TV. Follow Share Cite Authors.
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