Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Plasma vs. LCD TVs

Not a week goes by where someone doesn’t ask me whether a Plasma or LCD TV is better. I’m actually getting that question more frequently than I used to.

Now, you’ll hear a lot of talk about Plasma vs. LCD TVs, and a lot of that talk is pretty outdated.

That’s why I’m going to give you my “2-3 years ago” answer, and then follow it up with my “today” answer.

And just to keep things fun, (and not to mention easy to read) I’m going to try to keep this very short and sweet. Imagine you asked me this question on an elevator, and we only have a few minutes to talk about it.

So, here’s my “2-3 years ago” answer:

At the time, I would have said that Plasmas are great because they come in larger sizes like 42” and above, and they handle motion smoothly with great black levels. This means dark scenes in movies don’t look washed out, they actually look detailed.

But plasmas were big and heavy, so mounts were generally expensive. They also sucked up power like crazy, and they didn’t typically come in higher resolutions. When you did come across a high resolution, they were pretty darn expensive.

LCD TVs were nice because they tended to have higher resolutions. So it was easier to find, say, a 1080p LCD than it would be to find a 1080p plasma. They were also lighter, came in smaller sizes and took up less power than plasmas. Some people said that because of that, they lasted a bit longer than plasma TVs.

On the other hand, they tended to have poor black levels, meaning dark images tend to look bright and washed out – think more grey than black. Many LCD’s also had a tendency to blur images during fast motion.

All in all, if you were looking for a “home theater” type of TV, to go with a dimly lit room, comfy chairs and surround sound, I’d have said pick plasma.

If you were looking for a bedroom or kitchen TV, secondary TV, or something to display your computer on, pick an LCD.

Now for the “Today” answer:

Take your pick. I mean, really, as long as you stick with good brands, and don’t opt for the cheapest TV out there, chances are very good that you’ll be happy with either plasma or LCD.

Some of the things I still mention:

- Plasmas still don’t come in smaller sizes, so if you want a kitchen countertop TV, it’s going to be an LCD.

- Although plasmas have gotten better, LCDs still take less power. In today’s environmentally-conscious world, that’s a real factor.

- Plasmas are still HEAVY!

- LCD’s have gotten way, way better with black levels. But I have to mention that the LCD’s that handle black levels great are generally more expensive than a comparable plasma, which has been doing it great for years.

- LCD’s have gotten much, much better at motion, especially with the introduction of 120 Hz TVs. If you haven’t seen one, give me a call. I will arrange to meet you at our showroom so you can see one in person. Seriously, my number is at the bottom.

Now if you really want to sit down and get bored to tears over the details, I’ll be more than happy to talk with you, but typically, the preceding is all I really say about plasma vs. LCD anymore.

I will say this again though; don’t be fooled by the tempting, cheap TVs out there. All my current generalizations about plasma vs. LCD pretty much go out the window when you’re talking about extremely low budget TVs… because they’re pretty much living in the past.

Ah one more thing… you know those articles where the author sits nicely on the fence and provides a nice balanced argument for both sides and doesn’t push his or her opinion on the reader?

This isn’t exactly one of those articles.

I’m actually going to go out on a limb here and proclaim my love for LCD TVs. I’ve installed plasmas and LCDs all over town, and while I have nothing bad to say about plasmas, I still personally choose LCD to grace my walls.

If you’re really curious as to why, give me a call at 847.471.4420 or email me at keith@inspired-electronics.com and we’ll chat.

If you'd like to learn more about what we do here at Inspired Electronics, Inc., visit our website at www.inspired-electronics.com.

Take care, everyone!

-Keith

1 comment:

Sam Smith said...

I am really looking to buy the Best TV out there, thanks for the tips.