I’ve Always Wanted To Know:
What’s the difference between LCD, LED and Plasma TV’s?
Answer:
Buying a TV today can involve a myriad of confusing terms so what do you need to most know about the different technologies? At it’s core a flat screen TV’s display is driven by one of two different technologies: LCD (liquid crystal display, like most computer monitors) and Plasma (fluorescent gas such as xenon or neon). LED TV’s are LCD TV’s but instead of using a CFL type backlight they use LED’s either side or rear lit. So what’s the pro and con of each display type?
LCD TV:
- Pro: Lower power usage than plasma, matte finish (non-glossy) screens good for rooms with a lot of windows/reflections, cheaper priced then LED TV’s.
- Con: Dark areas not as dark as plasma/LED, brightness not uniform across screen. Less contrast then LED/plasma TV.
LED TV:
- Pro: Lowest power usage, very uniform lighting, very high contrast ratios. Lowest heat level of all flat panel TV’s.
- Con: Very expensive, picture quality difference between mid range LCD and LED not very big.
Plasma TV:
- Pro: Best contrast ratio and deepest blacks/dark area of picture. Best viewing angle.
- Con: Glossy display reflects a lot of light so bad for rooms with reflections/windows. Highest power usage of all flat panel TV types. Generates the a lot of heat.
So which should you buy of the TV types mentioned? If price is no consideration than LED TV’s produce the best combination of performance and power usage but if price is a consideration look for either a good LCD in a room with reflections or a Plasma in a room without.
-Tim
Tags: lcd tv, lcd vs plasma, lcd-led tv, led tv, led vs lcd, plasma tv, plasma vs lcd
Tim: Two months ago I purchased a 46 inch LED made by Samsung (UN46EH6000F). Before I bought this TV there was a lot of research. I did not need a SMART TV as this one had two HDMI and one USB plug ins. The TV does face a sliding patio door about six feet away. The set up went very well. I am still tweaking the picture. I have a DVD player and ROKU HD plugged in. The Samsung website has been a very good source to help. This being ny first HD TV I was very happy that I did my research. The cost was just about $1000, but Best Buy put the TV on sale $140 cheaper than when I bought it. Best Buy refunded the $140. That refund went directly to my BB account to reduce the balance. Oh yeah, the New York Yankees never looked better! Thanks, Joe
Our house at most times has 4 TV’s running. I went out and got 2 38″ led flat screens by Emerson 1 42″ led flat screen Samsung, 1 55″ led flat screen Philips. It all started by winning a 19″ Visio flat screen led as a raffle prize. With all of these verses older style TV’s our light bill went down $60 a month. they not only play better but they are actually earning their keep. :} Thanks Mike
Thank you so much for this very informative post. I really find it very useful because there are so many plasma tv nowadays and it seems very hard for people like me to find the best one. Sharing us this information can greatly help me as well as other people out there. Thanks
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very clearly written concise summary to educate the lay person. Thank you very much.