Flat screen TVs are now commonplace in many homes. The most popular forms of these televisions are plasma and LCD. But as a consumer which can be considered the best choice? Hopefully the following article will highlight some of the fundamental differences between the two technologies and how this affects the buyer.
First and foremost it is important to understand the different processes involved in both plasma and LCD technology. While these types of TV may look the same, within there are completely different processes at work producing an image. Apart from both being thin and attractively styled, they have few similarities.
A Plasma TV utilises a system of miniscule plasma gas cells that are charged by electrical current to create changes in UV light. This light is then filtered through phosphorus gasses of each primary colour to make an image. LCD TV screens on the other hand resemble an electronic sandwich, with liquid crystals between two ’slices’ of glass. Once again varying electrical current is applied to the crystals in order to create an image.
One of the major benefits that LCD TVs have over plasma variants is native resolution. This industry term simply refers to the number of pixels on the screen and in this particular instance means that LCD TVs have a higher resolution in terms of pixels than plasmas of a similar size.
One of the most touted benefits of LCD TVs is that they consume far less power than plasma varieties. This has become an increasingly important point in recent months as EU directives on energy consumption have come to the fore in electronic companies’ thinking. It is estimated that some models of plasma TV used thirty percent more power than a LCD of a similar size; the result has been some commentators labelling plasma TVs as the four by fours of the home.