Plasma Vs LCD TV - Glare, Response Time, and Screen Size

You want to buy a flat screen TV and you are not being able to decide whether to go for Plasma vs LCD TV. At the very first instance, you should know that the question of burn-in is not a problem as it was before with Plasma TVs. It could be said that it is not as bad as it was with the older Plasma TV models. In order that you may decide on which type of TV you are going to buy, there are three questions which you need to answer. Few guidelines are presented below.

Reflections and Glare from the Screen

The first question is if the room where you going to watch the TV is well lit or dark. This brings up the question of ambient light. The light in the room is one of the most important factors in choosing Plasma vs LCD TV or the other way around. The quality of images in a Plasma TV lowers as the amount of ambient light in the room increases. LCD TVs generally perform better in a well lit room when compared to plasma TVs.

Plasma and LCD TV offer different picture quality, and depends on the amount of ambient light present in the room. A Plasma TV offers a better quality of the images in a low ambient light environment. A much better picture quality is offered by Plasma TV in a dark room, having a better contrast ratio, and dark black levels in comparison to a LCD TV. If you watch a Plasma TV in a well lit room, the picture would look dimmer than what you will find in a LCD TV. This is mainly due to the glare and reflections from the ambient light.

But this slight problem in Plasma TVs has been somewhat taken care of. With anti-glare screen being used in some of the best Plasma TVs, the effect of ambient light on image quality has been greatly reduced. The screen in a Plasma TV is made of glass, and a special treatment to that glass panel makes the screen to resist glare and reflections from lights. The anti-glare treatment given to the glass screen lowers the reflectivity of the glass to a great extent. When watching the TV in a dimly lit room, you do not get the surrounding lights reflected from the screen of your Plasma TV on to your eyes. If you intend to watch TV with the room lights on, it is a good idea to buy a Plasma TV with anti-glare coating. The top Plasma TVs available in the market today use anti-glare screens for the purpose to reduce reflections from the ambient light in the room.

Plasma vs LCD TV Response Time

Generally speaking if you are watching content with high speed scenes a plasma TV will offer an advantage versus LCD TV. This is because its response time is lower. This puts the Plasma TV right on top for sports, and games. If you watch fast moving scenes as sports on a LCD TV, you will see a blur around the edges of the moving objects. Note however that if you use to play games a lot of time, a plasma TV is not such a great idea because of it's susceptibility to burn-in. There are LCD TVs on the market now with fast response time, and one could get a model with response time of 5ms or lower. You just have to keep in mind that if crisp picture is important for you, a low response time (high refresh rate) is a feature you should be looking for.

Screen Size

If you like a large flat panel, Plasma TV offers a slight price advantage over LCD TVs. Also, presently there are no Plasma TVs in the market below 42 inches, but it is likely that we will soon see Plasma TVs with 32 inch screen size. So basically if you want a small HDTV your only option is an LCD TV.

What is the Difference Between Plasma TV, LCD TV and LED TV?

Over the past decade home entertainment technology has really taken some huge leaps forward. Today, the task of buying a new TV is not just a matter of picking your favourite brand or buying the largest size you can afford. There seem to be more options than ever, and this has certainly led to a lot of confusion among consumers. With that in mind, what exactly are the main differences between the different types of TV, and which is the best?

Plasma TVs are one of the older types of flat screen. They are relatively cheap to produce meaning that prices are generally low for the screen size, which led to plasma becoming a popular choice with consumers who wanted to get the largest screen for their money. These TVs use a gas, which then turns into plasma when an electronic current is passed through it; the plasma then emits the light to create the pictures. This results in a high quality, realistic picture that doesn't suffer from motion blur. It also offers a particularly wide viewing angle.

However, plasma screens do tend to only have a lifespan of about 10-15 years and do use a relatively high amount of energy, which is now frowned upon as many consumers are trying to become more environmentally friendly. Plasma screens are also quite thick, and are very heavy for their size, so they can be awkward to move. The screen is also fairly susceptible to glare, especially in bright rooms.

LCD TVs can trace their roots back to computer monitors and were first introduced at around the same time as plasma TVs. These TVs use the same basic technology as your pocket calculator screen and are backlit with florescent light. They have a much longer lifespan than plasma screens, something in the region of 30+ years, and also use much less power. Traditionally LCD prices were higher than plasma, but as new manufacturing techniques have evolved the prices are now rapidly falling.

While LCD TVs are available in a wide range of sizes, they do offer the worst performance of all the flat screens though, not only do they have the lowest contrast level but they also have a slow refresh rate meaning that motion blur often occurs. The viewing angle is also much narrower than that of plasma TVs, which means that it can be difficult to find a location that offers a good view for everyone, especially in smaller rooms.

LED TVs are actually the next generation of LCD screens, as they are based on a similar technology but use LED backlighting instead of the florescent backlighting found in traditional LCD screens. The new backlighting technology means that they are able to deliver a much more dynamic picture quality, they also use significantly less power than even the most efficient LCD TVs. LED screens can be made to be extremely thin, so they offer consumers the ability to place the TV practically anywhere - indeed it is now commonplace to see TVs fastened to the wall in order to save floor space.

As this is still a relatively new development, LED screens do tend to be more expensive than their LCD counterparts. However as LED TVs become more widespread the cost of production is expected to drop significantly, which will be reflected through dramatically lower prices in-store. Having said that, LED technology is considered to be the most reliable of all the flat screen formats so many people don't mind paying a little bit more.

The world of home entertainment can certainly be a confusing place, especially as new advances in technology seem to come along on an almost monthly basis. Hopefully this article has shed some light on the current generation of flat screen TVs, so at least you can stand a fighting chance the next time you venture into the home entertainment section of the electronics store.