Common question that arises when a buyer thinks of upgrading their old CRT television set to a new one. More often than not, depending on which stores you visit you get alternating views about which one is better based on the salesmen’s preference and understanding. In many cases one often hears the exact opposite view from store to store.
Result - one ends up being confused with what to buy and its true implications
Contrast
As seen from the table above, traditional Plasma TV scores better than LCD TV on black level or contrast. This measure is the ability to show black color where Plasma can display a much darker black color. However, recent technological improvements have enabled LCD TV's to produce contrast levels matching the Plasma TV's.
Viewing angle
It relates to the ability of seeing a truer picture when sitting at an angle from the TV screen (vertical viewing position - where the person sits right in front of the TV is the ideal viewing position) However, the substrate material on newer-generation LCD models has helped to expand those units' viewing angles.
Fast moving video playback
Plasma TV's have traditionally shown exceptional performance when displaying fast moving video sequences. LCD TV's have bridged the gap by offering better refresh rates to reduce the "trailer" effect while showing a rapid moving action sequence.
Power Consumption and Life of TV
LCD TV is the winner. They offer better life compared to Plasma TV's. At the same time LCD TV's consume about half the power required to run a typical Plasma TV.
Screen burn-in
This is the effect where a static image that is displayed for an extended period leaves an imprint when it is changed. This makes LCD ideal for computer use as they do not get impacted by the screen burn-in effect. For Plasma technologies have increased anti burn in tactics as well as computer and static signal handling. There are still issues with each depending very much on the model and manufacturer.
LED TV's
As seen from the table LED TV (with Local Dimming) show better performance than the LCD TV. LED TV belongs to the same family of LCD TV. They employ the same LCD panel to display the image. However LED's are used to light the background or backlight in place of Cold Cathode Fluorescent lamps that are commonly used in LCD TV.
The performance of LED TV varies significantly depending on the type. Just as there are different styles of fluorescent lights in traditional LCD's there are also different styles of LED backlighting. There are LED TV models that have a panel of LED lights behind the LCD panel. The LED's are tri-colour and can be controlled in banks for an effect called "local dimming".
This allows darker areas of the picture to have the backlighting dimmed behind them resulting in better contrast and black levels. In another popular line of LED TV, the LED lights are surrounding the edge of the panel and this arrangement allows for the very slim depth of those models. Thus without the ability to do "local dimming" the LED TV's are functionally similar to traditional LCD TV's, only offering a slimmer body or frame.
Aspect Ratio
Simply put this is the width to height ratio of a picture. All the traditional CRT TV's (the big bulky ones) had an aspect ratio of 4:3. This translates to a width of 4 units and height of 3 units. Before the advent of LCD & Plasma TV's we were all used to watching TV picture rendered to the 4:3 standard format. The other available option is in the 16:9 aspect ratio often termed as the wide screen format.
Almost all of the LCD or Plasma TV's available in the market today are compatible to this format. However, if one were to buy a 29" or 32" CRT TV, it would still come in the 4:3 aspect ratio or standard viewing. One important point to note is that the picture we see on the TV is dependent not only on the TV type, but also on the format of the TV signal in which it is broadcast. Most of the TV channels broadcast in India are still targeted for the 4:3 aspect ratio.
Thus if we were to watch any such channel or a TV serial on a widescreen format, the picture would appear compressed vertically (or stretched horizontally) To retain the original picture ratio, most of the LCD/Plasma TV's have a provision to add a black vertical bar on the two sides. We are all used to seeing this black band horizontally (at the top & bottom of the picture) on our traditional 4:3 CRT TV's while watching most of the movies.
Thus the benefit of LCD/Plasma TV's is realized only while watching movies or picture targeted for the wide screen viewing. With so many options available, each with its advantages and limitations it is hoped that this article would help the buyer in making a more conscious decision.