LCD TV Rating

How do Plasma and LCD televisions compare quality and longevity?

What is the best buy LCD or Plasma television for reliability and picture quality

Public Comments

1. lcd tellevisons last longer than plasmas. The picture clarity on plasma is better. most people agree the screen is a darker black. Also plasma has a wider viewing angle, so you all don't need to huddle in the middle of a room to see the screen.
2. This is a tricky one. Both types have only been in common use for only a few years. Therefore it's not possible to build up a statistically significant lifespan for either type. The figures quoted by manufacturers do not take into account domestic use where they're being switched on/off/standby at irregular intervals and in varying conditions of domestic humidity, temperature, bumps, atmospheric pollution etc. Theoretically the LCD screens last longer than Plasmas but plasma technology has advanced a lot in the last four years. A CRT will give superb preformance for at least 15 years of domestic use so I would be extremely disappointed if an expensive CRT/Plasma screen deteriorated in less time. As for picture quality, well - the definition (native resolution) of the screen is determined by the number of pixel cells. On HD screens this is fixed for all sizes - so a 57" screen will show the pixels if you look close but a 32" screen won't. Normally the bigger sizes are plasmas but that's more to do with relative manufacturing costs. Basically, it's the electronics that determine the quality of the picture. Well designed tv circuits will optimise the performance of either a LCD or Plasma screen. That's where some of the apparently cheap televsions save money. Compare 32" Sony or Panasonic with a 32" thing from Asda at half the price and you'll definatley see the difference. The cheaper ones may often use more electricity too (even on standby) so your lifecycle cost is higher. Incidentally, your computer screen uses TFT, which is yet another type of technology and would be very expensive to produce in tv set sizes.
3. One major difference that manufactures nor dealers are going to tell you is this: LCDs are very fragile; their screens are plastic matte and if broken theTV is not repairable. They are plastic so they can drive up their profits. My was broken by a 3 yr old hiitng it with an empty plastic drinking cup; the outside does not have a scratch. Buy Plasma; glass screen.