difference between plasma and lcd

Knownothing

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Nov 22, 2006
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Just looking at tv's at best buy. Plasma tv's are way cheaper. What is the difference. The plasma screens actually look more clear. A little help here.
 
Obviously you "knownothing" about LCDs and Plasma :jimlad: A couple of the major differences between LCD and Plasma is Plasma tvs show a glare if your tv is in a sunny room whereas LCD does not. Also, plasmas tend to overheat and not live as long as LCDs. Hope this helps!
 
Plasma TV's are backlit by a gas. LCD tv's are backlit by liquid crystal lights.

Personally, I like the LCD better. If you have ever seen a plasma tv in action before, they have a REALLY bad glare if you have a lamp or some other kind of light on in the room, LCD doesn't have that. If you have the money I would buy an LED LCD TV, because they are backlit by LED lights. Therefore they are more clear and have a sharper image.

Those are just some of the things I know from working at Radio Shack.
 
Marketing.

Everyone I know with a plasma loves them. Not that LCD sucks but dollar for dollar, Plasma outperforms. Better off-angle viewing and better for action/motion. If you have a bright room then LCD may be a better choice.

95% of people can't tell the difference so why spend more unless there's a feature you desire.
 
Plasma TV's are backlit by a gas. LCD tv's are backlit by liquid crystal lights.

Personally, I like the LCD better. If you have ever seen a plasma tv in action before, they have a REALLY bad glare if you have a lamp or some other kind of light on in the room, LCD doesn't have that. If you have the money I would buy an LED LCD TV, because they are backlit by LED lights. Therefore they are more clear and have a sharper image.

Those are just some of the things I know from working at Radio Shack.

For LCD it depends on the way its lit. Full array w\ local dimming is great, edge lit LED-LCDs often arent as good.
 
Obviously you "knownothing" about LCDs and Plasma :jimlad: A couple of the major differences between LCD and Plasma is Plasma tvs show a glare if your tv is in a sunny room whereas LCD does not. Also, plasmas tend to overheat and not live as long as LCDs. Hope this helps!

Urban legend...old plasma problem.
 
Marketing.

Everyone I know with a plasma loves them. Not that LCD sucks but dollar for dollar, Plasma outperforms. Better off-angle viewing and better for action/motion. If you have a bright room then LCD may be a better choice.

95% of people can't tell the difference so why spend more unless there's a feature you desire.

This is the correct answer. I own both as well as a projector.
 
I've got 4 LCDs and 1 plasma...the plasma is my favorite. It's in my family room with plenty of windows, I don't have a glare issue with it where it's at, but am limited in other positions.

You won't notice pixelations on the plasma like you do with LCD/led.
 
Thanks guys. I can get a 50 inch plasma for the same price or even cheaper than an lcd. Just seeing the price difference made me think something could be wrong
 
nothing anyone hasn't already mentioned, but I recently spent a long time with a sales rep discussing this issue. this is what I was told.

Plasma typically has more vibrant colors and won't blur on quick action like an LCD is prone to do, but they usually aren't as bright and are prone to having glare issues. Plasmas are usually better for sports and action movies, but you could have a problem in rooms with a lot of natural light. Plasmas also get much warmer and could possibly experience some image burn-in if you play a bunch of video games. ( with newer tech, this isn't as big of a concern as it used to be).

Plasmas also use about 4x the electricity as an LCD.

Both options can be great TV's, but depending on your usage, on may be better for you than the other.
 
I got the Panasonic 46" plasma from Best Buy for $400. This was pretty much the exact TV I was hoping to get. Excited to get it at such a great price. Goodbye to my 27" CRT.
 
Obviously you "knownothing" about LCDs and Plasma :jimlad: A couple of the major differences between LCD and Plasma is Plasma tvs show a glare if your tv is in a sunny room whereas LCD does not. Also, plasmas tend to overheat and not live as long as LCDs. Hope this helps!

The tradeoff is plasma has a better picture.
 
Plasma TV's are backlit by a gas. LCD tv's are backlit by liquid crystal lights.

Personally, I like the LCD better. If you have ever seen a plasma tv in action before, they have a REALLY bad glare if you have a lamp or some other kind of light on in the room, LCD doesn't have that. If you have the money I would buy an LED LCD TV, because they are backlit by LED lights. Therefore they are more clear and have a sharper image.

Those are just some of the things I know from working at Radio Shack.

If you told customers that, I feel sorry for anyone who bought from you. Most of that info is just wrong.

LCD's are backlit by florescent tubes. LED's are backlit (actually all but the uber top of the line are edge lit) by LED's of course. The diff between LED LCD and regular LCD is that LED versions can get a smidge thinner, and thus the WAF (wife acceptance factor) is higher. Plasmas are lit in totally different way with a charged wire that lights up colored gas filled chamber for produce the pixel of the correct color.
 
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Agree w/ Cydkar, it's all marketing. I have a 50 inch Sony LCD and a 42 inch Insignia Plasma. Bought the plasma last year because it was half the price of an LCD. If you like sports and movies, go w/ the plasma. I am watching the plasma right now w/ a lamp on in the room and there's no glare. As with everything technology changes so fast, save your money.
 
Plasma TV's are backlit by a gas. LCD tv's are backlit by liquid crystal lights.

Personally, I like the LCD better. If you have ever seen a plasma tv in action before, they have a REALLY bad glare if you have a lamp or some other kind of light on in the room, LCD doesn't have that. If you have the money I would buy an LED LCD TV, because they are backlit by LED lights. Therefore they are more clear and have a sharper image.

Those are just some of the things I know from working at Radio Shack.

almost everything said above is wrong, sorry man.

Plasma's are not back lit at all.
lcd and led both use a lcd screen so one cant be sharper or clearer then the other.
a lot of led's have a glossy screen just like a plasma and will have same glare problems. If glare is a issue for u look for a matte finish on ur screen. If u think a led is "clearer" or "sharper" probably because it has a glossy screen which will produce a "clear" or "sharp" picture
 
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Plasma will usually have better color reproduction and will definitely have better motion handling and black levels/contrast, although if you would compare a top of the line led to an entry level plasma it would be a lot more negligible. The problems plasma used to have (short lifespan, easily burn in, efficiency) have all but been eliminated. They will pull a little more power but its generally about an extra dollar a month with normal use. Still the unquestioned best ever TV is the 2008 9th generation Pioneer Kuro Elite but sadly Pioneer dropped their TV division (A lot of their engineers moved to Panasonic)

If you are planning on using it in a light controlled room I would definitely go with a plasma but if its going in a room with tons of light, as others have said, the lcd/led options might be better.

If you do get a plasma make sure to run it on about half brightness and avoid the tickers or network logos some stations put on for more than about an hour. Also if the channel you are watching puts black bars on either the top and bottom or the sides zoom the picture up. You only need to do this for about the first 100-200 hours, then you can turn the brightness up and watch like you normally would as the pixels will have aged and any early burn in chance will be over. In general, you probably don't need to do this with newer plasmas but it never hurts to be safe. I just bought the 50 inch Panasonic Plasma 1080p from Best Buy for my bedroom and I will be doing this break in procedure.
 

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