LCD TV Size vs. Plasma TV Size
LCD TV Size & Plasma TV Size -
Viewing Area and Viewing Angle
In the LCD vs. plasma TV debate, both types of TVs have
always been about as thin as you could expect or even hope
for, and so that isn't even really a question to consider
between the two. If you like to nitpick, you can discuss the
difference between three-inches and five-inches on different
models, but when you're talking about a giant TV, that's
almost ridiculous.
One area that needs to considered, however, is viewing area.
In terms of viewing area, plasmas have always been known for
their larger sizes. To a degree, you can say that remains
so. Or, at the very least, you will have a larger selection
of plasma TVs to pick from. It may take a little time before
the selection of big LCD models catches up to the amount of
options you have with plasma TVs. LCDs, however, are
improving in this area.
As for the size of your bank account, that matters as well,
of course. Currently, "in general," a large plasma TV would
probably be a little cheaper than a large LCD TV of the same
size. LCD TVs are improving in price as well, however, and
many predict the two will be comparable in the price
department before long. All else being equal, plasmas tends
to come out ahead on this one for now. But of course, all
else isn't equal. The battle continues.
LCD and Plasma TV Viewing Angle
"Viewing angle" is how far off to the side you can sit and
still see the picture completely and clearly. Viewing angle,
of course, is also talked about with computers, but with a
computer, this type of consideration isn’t usually so
important. Computer users usually sit directly in front of
their screens, and typically there's only one viewer at a
time. For TVs, however, viewing angle can be extremely
important. It would be very common to have viewers sitting
in numerous places all around the room.
Historically, the LCD vs. Plasma battle has been won by
plasma TVs in this category. LCD TVs have made tremendous
strides in this area of late. Many people will tell you,
however, that the 170° field of vision claimed by some LCD
manufacturers simply isn’t realistic. You may be able to see
what’s happening at that angle, but it isn’t the same as
sitting more directly head on. Reports from some owners of
newer, top-of-the-line LCD TVs, however, say that the 170°
is accurate.
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Potential Problems with Each
The Burn-In Effect
For plasma TVs, the one "potential" negative that most
people point to is “burn in.” Burn in is when an image
stays on the screen for an extended period of time and
then appears to get burned in to the screen. This could
occur when you watch a movie that puts black bars around
the edges so that it can maintain the look of the
original movie in the theater. To keep this from
happening, you could zoom in one level in order to fill
up the screen. Burn-in could also occur if you're a news
junkie and leave keep yourself constantly tuned to a
news channel that runs a news ticker across the bottom.
To combat this, many plasma have a feature called “white
flash” that allows for correction if burn-in occurs;
using the "white flash" function, however, can
abbreviate the TV's lifespan. For most viewers, however,
burn-in will not be such an issue. Unless you keep your
TV constantly tuned to a cable news channel, or watch an
inordinate amount of movies, you won’t have much to
worry about. For LCD TVs, burn-in isn’t a problem.
Watching Action
It’s normally thought that plasma TVs handle fast-moving
action a little better than LCDs. On an LCD TV, while
watching a football player going down field, for
example, it could seem as if the edges of his body are
somewhat jagged – a blocky line instead of nice, cleanly
defined one. This is the effect of a delay caused by the
television not keeping up with the motion. Though LCDs
can be susceptible to this, they are improving in this
area. The problem also decreases greatly if you have
high-definition TV. Of course, this is something that
sports fans are especially going to want to think about.
Many sports fans, however, with a large screen TV (or
who are considering one), will also have HDTV (or are
planning to get it).
Issues with Pixels
LCDs and plasmas both can have pixel problems – either a
pixel is always “on” (lit up when the screen is black),
or the pixel is always “off” (black when it should have
color or be white). A couple of dead pixels here will
not be noticeable, and manufacturers usually warn that a
few dead pixels are common and therefore “allowed.” So
though it's not usually a problem, you can still protect
yourself by buying from a trusted manufacturer. If
buying from a reputable company, you’re less like to
have a problem to begin with, and if for some reason you
do have a problem, a reputable manufacturer will take
care of it.
Life Span Both LCD TVs and Plasma TVs have a
good expected life span. On top of that, they are both still
improving their life span. That said, LCD TVs ultimately win
this part of the battle due to the fact that their light
source can be replaced. Once a plasma TV has lost its
luster, that’s pretty much all she wrote.
Plasma TVs are said to continue for up to at least 30,000
hours before noticeable fading occurs. Some manufacturers
say their plasma TVs are testing up to 60,000 hours before
any quality is lost. The questions a potential buyer should
ask, then, are obvious: How much TV do I watch? And when
will I be buying another TV? Even at the low-end mark of
30,000 hours, if you watched TV 10 hours a day, 365 days a
year, you would go a little over 8 years before seeing major
picture depreciation. If you lowered that number down to 4
hours a day of TV time, 365 days a year, you would get over
twenty years from your set before seeing depreciation. (Your
mileage may vary, as they say.)
As was said before, an LCD TV can theoretically last longer
than a plasma TV because the light source can be replaced.
Replacing the bulbs on an LCD, however, can be somewhat
expensive (a few hundred dollars). By the time most people
would be ready to replace the light source, they would
probably be ready for a new TV anyway. However, if not, an
investment of a few hundred dollars would get the look of
your old TV back.
Picture Quality Picture quality is certainly the
most subjective of all the areas. It's also probably the
most important too. A person's taste is going determine what
he or she considers to be a good picture. Picture quality,
or the the characteristics of the picture will probably
determine more than any other which type of TV you end up
with. Because so much of it is based on taste, it's really
about saying one is “better” than the other, but instead,
it’s about saying one has a certain type of quality and
characteristics and the other has different qualities and
characteristics.
The Characteristics of Color
In general, most people agree that LCD TVs produce “sharper”
pictures with colors that seem more vibrant. Of course that
automatically sounds like a winner, but not necessarily.
With plasma TVs, people generally agree that you get not
only more realistic colors, but a wider range of colors.
With an LCD TV, when you walk into a room it's very likely
to wow you. However after you've been in the room for some
time, you might prefer the depth and warmth of a plasma TVs
colors. LCD TVs, you could say, give you a sharp, primary
colors type of feel. Plasma TVs give you subtler, warmer
colors, but possibly more realistically accurate.
The Brightness of the Two TVs
As for brightness, most agree that the numbers and
statistics that manufacturers quote you are practically
worthless. The numbers, even if you could understand them,
aren’t achieved in real-life conditions with the various
types of ambient light that occur in a normal house at
different times of the day. Obviously your own particular
viewing area will factor into this greatly. That said, most
people report LCD TVs doing a little better in bright-light
conditions. Again, going with the general theme here – LCD
TVs tend to be brighter and more colorful; plasma TVs tend
to be warmer with more accurate color reproduction.
Black Levels of LCD TVs and Plasma TVs
The one area of this section that would seem to go against
the generalizations made above is the area of “black
levels.” You might think that LCD TVs, having the reputation
for being “sharper,” would produce deeper, darker blacks.
However most viewers agree this isn’t true. Achieving a
deep, dark black on an LCD TV is a complex process.
Therefore, instead of producing a dark black when required
to, a very dark gray is produced instead. For many, this
small distinction goes unnoticed, especially after becoming
used to the set’s colors.
LCD vs. Plasma Contrast Levels
As for contrast levels, you will see a number of ratios,
numbers like 3000:1. This ratio is a measure of the darkest
black compared to the whitest white. Because of plasma TVs’
ability to produce blacker blacks, they usually win in this
area. That said, most people see LCD TVs as being more
“vibrant,” which would seem to be at least partly related to
contrast. So, as was said in the beginning, really it's all
about personal taste and how you react to the picture you
see.
Price At last, price. At the moment, in general,
the price of a large LCD TV will probably run you a little
more than a plasma TV of the same size. However, like many
things with LCD TVs, this is also improving. Plasma TVs have
been out on the market for quite a while. They have their
reputation, and a good one at that. But LCD TVs are now hot
in the public’s mind. It could be because they're relatively
new, or maybe because of good reviews and effective
advertising. Whatever the reason, the fact they have grown
hot in the public's consciousness will help motivate
manufacturers to lower prices to make them more competitive
with plasma TVs. The LCD vs. Plasma battle is firmly on
already, but as prices come down even more for each, the
battle will really heat up. Hopefully, in the end, everyone
will win. Unlike certain computers wars where issues of
compatibility make it ugly for consumers with different
types to trade files with each other, with TVs two competing
technologies need not be at odds with each other at all.
Person A with simply have an LCD TV, and Person B will have
a plasma. The battle of LCD vs. Plasma is only important for
those in the buying stage. |
