What's the difference?

Question

between a LCD tv and a plasma, and why is there price different. to me they both look the same, but why is the LCD cheeper and the plasma tv cost way more.

i ask, because im planning on buying a tv pretty soon, and im thinking about getting a plasma, or LCD, but first i need to know the difference, and which one is better.

ohh!! another question, do the lcd and the plasma tv work the same way, as the regular tv's, or do i have to buy some specail box to make it work, would i need cable or satalite for it to work.

Answer 1

Okay, this is easy

LCD is a physical technology while plasma contains a gas. Plasma will dimminish over time a lot faster than LCD.

There are several types of LCD, the most commonly sold these days are:

720p

1080i

1080p

1080p is really the best at the moment however, many are cheaply made resulting in a picture that is not as good as the pictures on quality 720p sets

I bought a 1080p LCD because it simply looked better and I had more faith in the technology than I did in Plasma

Answer 2

LCD have more limited viewing angles, but are cheaper

Plasma has better viewing angles, is more expensive, requires more upkeep, runs hotter, better picture quality in some cases...if you are consistently displaying the same image on a plasma screen, it can BURN into the screen, and you can see a faint image of it 24/7...if you were to leave it turned onto fox for months (it wouldnt happen from hours/days of use...it would need to be extremely long to burn in) you would probably be stuck with the fox logo permanently on that tv.

If they have a tv tuner, then they work the exact same way that any other television works. Many LCDs do not, however, have a tv tuner so look into that...if they do not, you are going to need a cable box or satellite box or a modulator to decode the signal for it.

Answer 3

I recently researched this when I helped my sister buy her tv.  First, my experience is that LCD is more expensive than plasma, if you are comparing equal size tv's.  Plasma's tend to be larger pictures, the smallest being about 42", and LCD's can be much smaller than that.  If you arel looking at large plasma's verses smaller LCD's, then of course the plasmas will be more expensive.  

The things to consider when buying a tv is the room it's being placed in.  If there is a lot of natural light coming in, you could end up with a lot of glare with a plasma, as they have a glass screen that can reflect the light.  LCD's have a black screen and do not show glare.  If you are putting in a dark room, the plasma is the way to go.  

They work the same, but if you want to get the best picture, you may want to consider cable or satelite.  If you want the full effects of HD, you should get HD service.  Also, you want to consider 720p vs 1080p.  The higher the number, the better quality picture.  Although nothing is broadcast in 1080, it will have more pixels, giving you a better picture overall.  

Another thing to consider is whether you will be getting a blue ray disk player.  If you want the full effects of HD with blue ray, you need to go to a 1080.  The 720's on the market are much cheaper because everything is going to 1080 eventually.

The concern about burn in is fading fast with newer technology.  If you kept a news channel on 24/7 with the logo and stripe at the bottom as in ESPN, you will get burn in, but with every day watching, you need not worry about it.  

LCD screens cannot take a beating.  If you have small children throwing things in the room, get a plasma.  My sister lost a $1500 tv to impact damage.  Cost to replace the screen, $1700.  And you can't see a mark on the screen.  Not till you turn it on and see the spray of pixels.  

After shopping with her, I would probably get a plasma, if I didn't have a lot of windows in the room.  And, if I wasn't planning on getting a blue ray player any time soon, I would get 720 and save some money.  If you have none of the concerns I mentioned and money is not an issue, go with the LCD, and get the 1080 and also 120Hz to improve the picture for fast movement, such as sports.  The 120Hz is only on LCD's, not needed for plasmas.

I hope this helps.