Plasma vs LCD
Why would you buy a Plasma TV?
Their key advantage: Plasma TV's offer the best picture. While
LCD's and Plasma's are both very close in this regard, plasma tv's have the
best contrast ratio. The other minor advantages of plasma TV's? Well most
people are concerned about cost, and inch for inch, plasma
TV's are cheaper than LCD TV's. Plasma TV's also offer a wider viewing
angle; LCD TV's tend to lose their picture when you watch them at a wider
angle. Why
would you buy an LCD TV?
The key advantage LCD TV's offer is the fact they do not run the risk of
image burn in. Plasma
TV's are prone to this. However if you spend many hours on your flat panel
TV playing video games, or use it as a computer monitor, then an LCD TV is the
safer option.
For those who live in high altitudes (above 6500 feet) LCD
TV's will perform better. Finally, LCD TV's come in sizes below 32 inches,
where as plasma TV's are only 32 inches and above.
Myth:
1. LCD TV's last longer than plasma TV's. Contrary to popular belief, LCD TV's no longer out live plasma TV's; not the latest generation anyway. It is true the first generation of plasma TV's died and lost their brightness very quickly, but now, both Plasma and LCD TV's have an expected half life of 60,000 hours.
2. Only LCD TV's get dead pixels. A dead pixel is where a dot on your flat screen TV is permanently visible because that "pixel" has stopped working. This can happen to both plasma and LCD TV's, however it is less common for plasma TV's. In short, when it comes to buying a flat screen TV, plasma TV's offer slightly better value than LCD TV's in terms of picture quality and cost.
