Plasma vs LCD: Fight!

 With advancements in TV technology, the plasma vs lcd debate continues to confuse consumers more than help them. Team Plasma underscores the tiny bit of advantage over other technology to entice prospective buyers, while Team LCD banks on its proven technology at a more competitive pricing. With this kind of strategy, consumers end up asking more questions rather than buying television sets. With that said, it is important to first know the basics and keep things as objective as possible.

Over the years, television has experienced constant upgrade in technology that it becomes difficult to differentiate one from the other. To the uninitiated, each TV looks the same and new features and enhancements do not matter that much as long as favorite shows are shown. Not everyone wants to know what’s going on inside a television, what really sweeps consumers off their feet is the display. More often than not, the screen performance is the deciding factor the moment the consumer walks in the store. Excellent TV display will always win the buyer over. In the plasma vs lcd standoff, which one has the advantage? To answer this seemingly simple question, an explanation of each technology is in order.  

Plasma vs LCD : Key differences

Plasma screens make use of tiny gas plasma cells that are charged by electric voltage to allow the display of pictures. LCD (liquid crystal display), on the other hand, are made up of layers of liquid crystal between two glass plates. Electrical charge applied to the crystals creates the images shown on the screen. This does not really mean much to consumers because in both cases, excellent pictures are displayed. The difference can only be seen with a sharp eye. In the display department, plasma has a bit of an advantage and it is not as pronounced as consumers want it to be. This advantage is in the form of accurate display of blacks. This means that a plasma TV gives out better detail even in dark scenes. Suffice to say, this is the only thing that makes plasma better than LCDs, or other technology for that matter. This slight edge is what plasma needed to entice buyers and to plasma fanatics, this is all it takes to win the plasma vs lcd debate.

Although better contrast is the main advantage of plasma vs LCD, there are other enhancements that may go unnoticed, one of which is the better viewing angles. This means that regardless of the position of the viewer, the quality of the picture remains the same and is unaffected. This means that there is little color and brightness shift in different viewing angles, which makes plasma display more solid images from different angles. Does this mean plasma is getting the upperhand? Yes and no. At this point, yes, plasma has a little more hardware power, but LCD is not taking it sitting down. In fact, the LCD technology has been creating TV sets that can compete head on with plasma with the creation of LED backlighting. With that said, LCD seems to have an answer to every reputed advantage plasma has over the competition.

LCD technology has gone full steam ahead with its constant upgrade, thereby churning out new iterations of TV that would entice the consumers. What it lacks in the contrast department is being compensated by little bells and whistles. In the native resolution department, LCD seems to have a clear advantage, in that it has more pixels on the screen. This means that with more pixels, the result displayed on the screen is more likely to resemble the original. This, of course, is generally a good thing especially with hawk-eyed consumers. In the eco-friendliness front, LCDs are more likely to consume less power than its plasma counterpart. To some consumers this is a big deal since they can save up on electricity costs. The downside is lower brightness, which is not entirely a dealbreaker. Another perceived edge of LCD vs plasma is the weight. An LCD TV is lighter than plasma. This is because LCD manufacturers use plastic in the screen make up whereas the plasma makers tend to use glass.

Lifespan-wise, both plasma vs LCD can clock in almost 60,000 hours, which means both can last seven years or so. In this case, it’s hard to decide based on lifespan alone.

Of course, to some consumers, the decision boils down to pricing. The cheaper TV almost always makes its way to living rooms. Between plasma vs LCD, the latter tends to command a higher price, but not by much, taking into consideration the screen sizes and other enhancements.

Some would put more value on the quality while others prefer to decide based on pricing and other enhancements. Little advantages of LCD over plasma may be enough for most buyers, but the slightly better image display of plasma may just win consumers over. There is no clear winner at this point but quality and durability after a few months (or even years) of use will help consumers decide on which TV to get on their next purchase.

The Plasma vs LCD debate will never be put to rest because consumers tend to have varying needs and requirements when they buy TV.