Chris Selph. Lifewire Technology Review Board Member. Article reviewed on Jun 05, Tweet Share Email. In This Article. The Same, but Different. How Plasma TVs Work. Advantages of Plasma. Disadvantages of Plasma. Advantages of LCD. Disadvantages of LCD. Extra: The 4K Factor. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know!
Email Address Sign up There was an error. In a Blu-ray movie, for example Batman Begins , the loss of detail in dark scenes will quickly become apparent. Most manufacturers increase the contrast capabilities of their screens by dynamically altering backlight brightness.
This allows extra detail to be shown in dark scenes and can be a life-saver for a panel with a low static contrast ratio. Some manufacturers have taken their estimations of this dynamic contrast ratio to excess, rating their screens at contrast ratios of 1,, — and even higher. While these figures demonstrate the advantages of dynamic contrast ratio alteration, they don't need to be a big factor in your buying decision.
It is generally accepted that plasma televisions have better contrast ratios than LCD panels, due to the fact that a plasma television can completely deactivate the light source for individual segments of the screen. This means sections of the screen can be completely dark while others are displaying bright colour, unlike a traditional LCD screen which has a single backlight array that can only alter brightness levels for the entire screen.
The latest LED backlight technology allows the television to individually control backlight segments. This technology allows for contrast ratios similar to those produced by plasma television panels. Depending on the resolution, plasma is still able to beat most equivalently priced LCD screens. At present, the mainstream plasma size is 50 inches, but sizes of 60 inches and above are becoming more common. At these sizes, plasmas tend to be two thirds or less than the price of the equivalent LCD, due to the high manufacturing cost of LCD panels.
LCDs, on the other hand, generally top out around the inch mark — though there have been some ludicrously expensive inch Sony LCDs available. Apart from becoming increasingly price-competitive, LCD has the edge over plasma in several other key areas. LCDs tend to have a higher native resolution than plasmas of similar size, which means more pixels on the screen. LCDs also tend to consume less power than plasma screens, with some of the newer "Eco" LCD panels able to use half of the power than equivalent plasmas, with the trade-off being lower brightness.
In terms of bulk, LCDs are also generally lighter than similar-sized plasmas, making it easier to move around or wall-mount. This is because LCDs use plastic in their screen make-up, whereas plasmas tend to use glass. While this may have been true of earlier plasma models — which dropped to half-brightness at 20, hours — many modern plasmas have the same 60,hour lifespan as LCDs.
This means that both types of TVs will last for almost seven years if left on 24 hours a day. Instead of lighting the screen with fluorescent tubes, as is traditional, it uses banks of LED lights. There are two types of LED lighting: direct and edge. Direct backlighting means that the lights are mounted behind the LCD panel, while edge-lighting uses a series of LEDs along the edge of the screen. Most thin LCDs on the market use this edge-lighting, though direct lighting is arguably better for picture quality.
You might have also heard that plasmas suffer from screen burn-in, an affliction not commonly associated with LCDs. Screen burn-in occurs when an image is left too long on a screen, resulting in a ghost of that image "burned in".
Newer plasmas are less susceptible to this, thanks to improved technology and features such as screensavers, but burn-in can still be a problem. But plasma isn't dead. The biggest of those being a tendency to blur with video, and a lack of contrast - problems plasma panels don't suffer from to any great degree. So loudly they shout that the plasma manufacturers now often include similar-sounding features in their own marketing just to tempt us brainwashed consumers.
Though that's not to say that LCD doesn't have a few advantages over plasma - it does, with competitive prices and an often much slimmer design. The truth is there is no 'winner' between LCD and plasma.
What suits you will depend not only on your needs, but also on your preferences. To help you navigate the tidal wave of hype here's a round-up of the major differences between plasma and LCD TVs.
0コメント