Which Is Better For Fast Moving Actions?

A common belief is that Plasma TVs are better than LCD TVs in this regard. This is even true indeed. When you watch an action on LCD TV, for example, a football player moving down the field, the edges of his body might look somewhat fuzzy. You might find some jagged and blocky lines instead of a clean one, which is not the case with a Plasma TV.

Burn-in Effect
One of the biggest potential negatives with Plasma TVs is the ‘Burn-in’ effect. This is where LCD HDTVs have a definite edge over the Plasma HDTV. LCD panels do not suffer from ‘Burn-in’ effect. ‘Burn-in’ happens when an image stays on the screen for an extended period and then image literally burns in the screen. It means that even when the image is not present, you can still see a faint trace of the image on the TV screen. Hence, for video gamers and sports lovers, LCD HDTV is definitely a better choice than the Plasma TV.

Life Span
In general, the life span of both LCD and Plasma HDTVs is good. With time and technology, it is getting better indeed. Still, LCD HDTVs have an edge over Plasma versions when it comes to life span because their light source can be replaced, but once a plasma TV gets faded image, you cannot replace it.

However, replacing bulbs on an LCD can cost you as much as a few thousand dollars. If we believe what manufacturers claim, then both LCD and Plasma TV last at least 30,000 hours before any noticeable depreciation in the image quality.

Hence, if you watch television 10 hours a day, you would not have any problem for the next eight years, and if you watch television just for 4 hours a day, you would get over 20 years of viewing before seeing any depreciation.

Overall Picture Quality
This is perhaps the most important area of consideration while choosing between Plasma and LCD HDTVs. Picture quality rather depends on your personal taste. Both of the TVs have their own qualities. Choice is yours.

Color
A common belief is that LCD TVs produce sharper pictures with more realistic colors. The truth is somewhat different. In Plasma HDTV you will find realistic and a wider range of colors. LCD TVs give you a vibrant, primary colors type of feel. Plasma TVs give subtler, warmer pastels, but perhaps more accurate. However, at the end of the day, it all depends on your personal taste.

Brightness
LCD TVs tend to be brighter and more colorful while plasma TVs tend to be warmer with more accurate color reproduction. However, most people believe that LCD HDTVs perform better in bright-light condition than the Plasma HDTVs.

Black Levels
Plasma TV has the ability to produce deep black colors. Dark color on LCD TV is a somewhat complicated process. Instead of deep black, LCD TVs produce dark gray. When you become used to the set’s color, this goes unnoticed. Still, technically, Plasma scores an edge in this regard.

Prices
Plasma TVs have established something of a better reputation than LCD TVs. Even when it comes to price, they are less expensive. LCD technology is new, and after a few years they may be available at lower prices and with better features than Plasma TVs. However, in the present scenario, Plasma HDTV has a definite edge over LCD TVs.

Technologies are changing rapidly, but for now, it is still true that for sizes of 40-inch and above, Plasma HDTVs offer a less expensive and a better resolution, while for screen sizes less than 40-inch LCD HDTV is better.