LCD or Plasma: What's the Difference?

A cheat sheet on the important differences between LCD and Plasma.

Right now, LCD and Plasma are, without question, the two dominant styles of high-definition, flat-panel television. On the surface, they appear quite similar: both are extremely thin, capable of showing HD video, and have a widescreen aspect ratio. The differences are subtle, but important, and before you make your final decision, it's important to have a firm grasp on these two types of TVs, so you can be sure that the one you choose is right for you. We've put together a handy cheat sheet you can use it as a quick reference.

LCDs Live Longer: LCDs will last you about 60,000 hours of viewing time. While plasmas are no longer way behind in this regard, they're still floating somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000 hours.

Plasma TVs Have Better Contrast: Plasma televisions typically have better contrast ratios than LCD TVs, which means they are capable of producing deeper and more accurate blacks, whereas an LCD might display the color black as a very deep gray. The better the contrast, the sharper and more realistic your picture will look.

Don't Worry About Burn-In: In the past, plasma TVs suffered from "image burn" or "burn-in," meaning if an image was left on screen for too long, it might permanently stay there. While this may occur today in extreme cases, it's not nearly as big a problem as it was in early models.

LCDs Can Do 1080p, Many Plasma TVs Cannot: If you really want the most HD resolution possible, you'll have to go with an LCD. This is mostly for people who want to use an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray Player, or a video game console with a 1080p output. We're don't think HD resolution should be a motivating factor, especially since any difference between 1080p and lower resolutions only becomes noticeable in larger 50+ inch TVs. Which brings us to our next point...

LCD TV over 42 Inches are Pretty Expensive: For a long time, a 42+" LCD wasn't even an option; plasma had the big screen market wrapped up. Now that you can actually find LCD TVs in the 50 and 60 inch range, we will generally suggest that you pass. Most of them are exorbitantly expensive right now, and the extra cost simply can't be justified when there are perfectly good plasmas in that size bracket for far less. Anything 42" and below, you pretty much have to buy an LCD anyway. Plasma TV offers the biggest size for the least money. We do have a few big-screen LCDs on the site, as our "Cutting Edge" choices, so they're there if you want it, but it's up to you whether the extra cost is worth it.

LCD TVs Use Less Power: Save some money on that electric bill, and help the environment with an LCD. They use considerably less energy than a plasma TV.