Plasma or LCD what is the difference

What are the differences between an LCD TV and a Plasma TV? Both LCD TVs and Plasma Screen TVs look somewhat similar on the outside. However, they both use very different technology on the inside on order to achieve similar results.

Plasma television technology is loosely based on the aspect of the fluorescent light bulb. The display consists of cells. In each cell, there are two glass panels. These glass panels are separated by a narrow gap. Neon gas is injected into this gap, and then it is preserved in plasma form while the manufacture of the product is complete. The neon-xenon gas is then electrically charged at very specific time intervals while the plasma set is being used. The charged gas gives colours of blue, green and red phosphors, and in this way it creates a television image. What we so often call a pixel, is made up of a single group of red, blue and green phosphors.

The technology used by plasma television removes the need for the bulky picture tube or the electron beam scanning of traditional television sets. However, plasma TVs still make use of the burning of coloured phosphors to deliver an image, and because of this, it still has some of the disadvantages of traditional television such as the generation of heat and the screen burn of still images.

LCD televisions use an entirely different technology. An LCD panel is made of two transparent layers that are polarized and then glued together. Then, one of these transparent layers is coated with a polymer intended to hold together the lone liquid crystals found within. An electric current is then sent through the individual crystals, and this allows the crystals to either pass or block light in order to create images. The crystals in an LCD panel do not produce light on their own, so an external source of light is provided in the form of a fluorescent light bulb. The image on the LCD screen, created by the crystals, then become visible to the viewer.

LCD panels are made of two layers of transparent material, which are polarized, and are “glued” together. One of the layers is coated with a special polymer that holds the individual liquid crystals. Current is then passed through individual crystals, which allow the crystals to pass or block light to create images. LCD crystals do not produce their own light, so an external light source, such as florescent bulb is needed for the image created by the LCD to become visible to the viewer.

However, unlike a plasma television, an LCD does not use phosphors, which means that less power is required for its operation. This means that an LCD television produces less heat compared to a Plasma TV or traditional television. The nature of this LCD technology is such that no radiation is emitted at all from the screen.

One may lean towards buying a Plasma TV because they have larger screens available as compared to LCD TVs. They also have a better contrast and are able to render deep, true black colours. The colour accuracy is sharper, as is the saturation. Plasma TVs are subject to very little lag when moving images are concerned. However, Plasma TVs are susceptible to burn-in when still images are being projected. They also generate more heat LCD TVs.

LCD TVs are worthwhile purchases because still images do not render a burn in, and they have a much cooler temperature than Plasma TVs while running. The image brightness is found to be better on LCD TVs, and they weight much less than Plasma counterparts. LCD TVs have lower contrast, and are not too good at rendering true blacks. They also tend to have trouble keeping track with fast motion, and there may be more lag than with Plasma TVs.

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