Difference between plasma and LCD
Plasma vs LCD:
What if someone wants to throw away their old TV and purchase a new one? Yes, at present times, their first choice would be an HD TV. An HD TV means a High Definition Television which generally offers higher resolution than the current NTSC, PAL and SECAM broadcast standards. When purchasing a flat screen TV or an HDTV, the automatic subsequent question arises would be ‘Plasma or LCD’. Although a lot of people may still think that plasma and LCD are similar mainly because they look almost alike. Hence, it could be very confusing to differentiate between the two, but, it should be kept in mind that they are two distinctly different types of screens. Though plasma and LCD are generally used in HD TVs, it should be noted that LCD is also widely in computer monitors. However, this article intends to reach such confused minds to clarify the differences between plasma and LCD for them.
What is plasma?
First of all, let’s begin with plasma. Plasma TV, as the term is widely used in everyday context, is a type of flat screen television which utilizes a plasma display. A Plasma Display Panel (PDP) is a kind of flat panel display which is frequent to 30” or bigger screened TVs. Because of the technology they use, they are called ‘plasma’. The technology is of small cells containing ionized gases which are normally electrically charged. It consists of a group of tiny gas cells which are placed between two sheets of glass. Each cell releases an ultraviolet illumination of red, green and blue tiny dots on the screen. To produce a picture on the display, these dots glow at different potencies. Each cell is consisted of a tiny neon lam filled with neon, xenon and some other gases. The cells, when they are electrified via ‘electrodes’, illuminate. That is how a picture is lightened on the plasma display. Moreover, speaking of the characteristics of plasma displays, they are bright displays usually with 1000 lux or higher and have a wide colour gamut. When compared to the LCD screen, plasma displays have a very low-luminance “dark-room” black level. The display panel is usually 6 cm thick and the overall thickness of the plasma TVs is less than 10 cm. The power consumption of plasma displayed TVs generally range from 200 watts to 400 watts. To conclude, plasma screens are universally manufactured by a number of companies such as LG, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung.
What is LCD?
Then, what is meant by LCD? LCD is the acronymic term for Liquid Crystal Display. It is also a flat panel display which is additionally known as electronic visual display or video display. The LCD utilizes the light modulating properties of fluorescent liquid crystals. They do not release light directly and therefore LCD panels generate dark tones by blocking the backlight that is passing through the panel. Even though, the first LCD displays had low colour contrasts, today’s best LCDs displays utilize an LED (Light Emitting Diode) backlight for better colour contrast. So, it can be seen that LCD and LED are the same types of display only with different kind of technology. LCD displays are mainly utilizes by flat screen, large TVs and computer monitors. Moreover, speaking of LCD characteristics, LCDs are notorious for viewing angle problems when the viewer is not placed in front of the screen but at some angled position. Next, their resolution is high compared to plasmas. Their price and weight are lesser than other types of flat screens. And, there is no danger of burn- in when using LCD screens. To conclude, a vast number of electronic manufacturing companies such as Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, LG, Singer and Hitachi produce LCD screens.
What is the difference between LCD and plasma?
Now, let’s pay attention to the differences between the two types of flat screens. The major difference would be the technology they utilize. The technology they use is distinctly different. Plasma screens use plasma cells that release electrodes to generate picture on the screen. LCD on the other hand are consisted of fluorescent liquid crystals which are placed in between glass plates. The image is generated when the electric charges are set out to the liquid crystals and the backlight glows to bring life on the display. Next, both types of displays generate high quality pictures but, at the first stages of LCD, there was a problem in backlight resulted in low colour contrasts. Moreover, plasma screens have superior viewing angles when compared to LCDs. This means that if you sit t some angled position to the screen, you would see distorted pictures on the LCD screen due to its viewing angle problem, but, plasma would give you no problem of that sort at all. Furthermore, speaking of the price, LCD screens are the most inexpensive flat screen type. Finally, both screen types would consume relatively high power than LED.
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Tags: backlight, color, darkness, deep colors, display, electrodes, light, picture, picture quality, screen, technology, television
