Have a question about multimedia or audio? Ask our Expert, Ken Boyce

Hi,

Plasma TV's are essentially charged gas cells (pixels) where the charged gas strikes Blue/Green/Red phosphors, similar to a regular CRT tube where charged electrons strike Blue/Green/Red phosphors on the CRT inner face.  The technology is different, but the principle is the same.  Since the Plasma TV does not involve scanning charged electrons over a relatively long distance to the screen, it can be made very thin relative to a CRT tube.  Plasma TV's have some problems similar to CRT TV's in that you can get phosphor burns and static images on the screen if the phosphors are exposed to one pattern over a long time.  Plasma TV's also consume more power and are hotter to the touch. They are also heavier.  On the positive side, they tend to have better color depth, contrast ratio, blacker blacks, and more rapid response time (less motion smearing).

In general, LCD TV's have almost opposite the characteristics of the Plasma TV.  Cooler, less power consumption, no burnin images, not as heavy, less contrast ratio, less color depth, longer response time, etc.  LCD TV's require a backlight, generally a cold cathode tube or flourescent light.  If it goes out, the entire picture is lost until it is replaced.   But individual pixels can also fail, leaving a very tiny "hole" in the picture which cannot be fixed.

LCD TV's have advanced by offering faster image refresh rates - from 60Hz to 120Hz, and now 240Hz.  The faster refresh rate helps reduce any motion smearing in the image.

Currently Plasma TV's cost less than LCD, and are available in larger screen sizes.

LED TV's currently are not Red/Green/Blue LED based pixels.  Rather, the backlight of the pixel is a white LED.  All the LED's are tightly controlled for the same color temperature and brightness, yielding a very uniform backlight which can also be intensity controlled.  This innovation provides better contrast ratio, color depth, and blacker blacks than non-LED backlit TV's.

In general, advances in LCD TV's have resulted in much smaller pixels (translates into more pixels on the screen and higher resolution of the picture).  Price differences have also been reduced.

So, if you can afford the price,  the choice should be based on how you watch TV...e.g. a lot, or not, High Definition or not, movies vs. regular TV, do you hook a computer to it, etc.

My personal choice is LCD.  Since I have an older one, it is 60Hz refresh and 37".  My next LCD will be minimum 120Hz refresh rate, LED backlit, and probably 55".  I personally do not see enough difference between the 240Hz and 120Hz refresh rate for how I watch TV.  If you watch a lot of high speed action sports, go for the 240Hz refresh rate.

Hope this helps,

Ken

Hi,

     Thank you Mr.Ken.I am very much pleased with your worthwhile information about LCD,LED and Plasma TVs.Once again thank you

Akhil

Hi,

     Thank you Mr.Ken.I am very much pleased with your worthwhile information about LCD,LED and Plasma TVs.Once again thank you

Akhil