LcdVsPlasma
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LCD vs Plasma in 2010
No two ways about it, 2009 was a bad year for plasma. How else could you describe a year where the so called king of plasmas -- and to many, HDTVs -- exits the market? It was a hard enough hit when Kuro lovers learned that Panasonic would be manufacturing 'em instead of Pioneer, but when at the last minute Pioneer canceled the plan before the first Panasonic-branded-Kuro ever shipped, plasma lovers everywhere died a little inside. But all was not lost and Panasonic, Samsung and LG proudly continued on and didn't miss a beat when Vizio joined the quitters of 2008 -- Panasonic even opened the biggest plasma plant yet in 2009. Panasonic did step up, and by some accounts filled the void left by the Kuro by managing to win most of the best of awards of 2009; only to be tarnished by reports that the black levels were depreciated faster than expected. But the year wasn't all bad, as plasma prices dropped and in the second quarter of last year it actually did pretty well. Then at CES 2010 Panasonic's 3D plasma demo stole the 3D show, and early reports showed that the new line offered even better blacks and a better 3D effect than LCD TVs. So while there are no signs that plasma will ever be the king of flat screen TVs, it has proven for yet another year that although LCDs garner the lion's share of HDTV sales, plasma still owns a piece of the market and offers some advantages over the competition. So while the LCD vs plasma debate has never been as fun or as meaningful as a format war -- after all it isn't like choosing one excludes you from viewing content -- it is an interesting battle to follow. In the coming years we expect LCD to continue to push plasma up in size and plasma to push LCD blacker and faster. So the great news is that in the end it is the consumer that is getting better HD viewing options.
LCD vs Plasma in 2009
Engadget HD has an easily-digestible look at the current status of LCD and plasma displays in the industry, what with market share falling fast for the latter, sizes rising for the former, and many manufacturers dropping support for plasma altogether. The verdict? Well, you'll have to click on over to find out! Don't you just hate that?
Plasma vs LCD: Plasma is still better
While the format war gets the most attention these days, our old favorite, -- no, not 720p vs 1080i -- is still kicking: Plasma vs LCD. With each new generation a manufacturer improves its previous best model and with the latest Samsung LED powered LCD (LN-T5281F), Sound and Vision Magazine thought it was time for another technology shoot out. The wait was in LCDs court, as the last time both went head to head, it wasn't even close, and while LCD is still no match for Plasma, it was closer than ever. In fact, even though both sets sell for almost the same price, the Plasma (Pioneer DP-5010FD) bested the best LCD they ever tested in every category -- including glare -- except detail, which was a tie. The biggest discrepancy between the two was viewing angle, which is labeled Uniformity on the scorecard and requires one to sit directly in front of the set, or suffer an inferior experience. The real irony here is that although the three seasoned AV experts on the panel agree on which produces the best picture, the average consumer probably prefers the "LCD's dynamic pop" and unrealistic bright colors to the almost perfect realistic colors of the Plasma.
Recent survey suggests plasmas preferred over LCDs
As the continuing debate between LCD vs. plasma steams ahead, here we have yet another research study that purportedly suggests that nearly four out of five consumers would prefer PDPs over LCDs. The study -- which was conducted by global market research firm Synovate, posed the question to respondents in China, Japan, England, France, and Germany (no North America?) -- and found that an average of 80-percent of individuals preferred the images produced by plasmas when viewing a side-by-side comparison. What's interesting about the supposed results, however, is that recent sales have depicted quite the opposing story, and multiple plasma manufacturers have had to realign their strategies or shut down aspects of the business completely in order to remain afloat. Conversely, LCD sales have been impressive as of late, as consumers have responded positively to the tanking prices and widespread availability. Of course, this whole plasma vs. LCD war could rage on until SED TVs actually go mainstream and never find finality, but until PDPs can once again become price competitive with similar alternatives, we don't see its sales struggles ending anytime soon.
LCD Vs Plasma in 2007
As long as we can remember people have debated; what is the best HDTV technology? Sure every technology has it downsides, but when we are talking about picture quality above all else, which is the best? In the past people would debate LCD vs Plasma which really left us scratching our head because at the time the smallest Plasma was 37" and the largest LCD was 32". Well those times are over and many LCDs and Plasmas are the same size -- well almost the same size, while Plasmas are 37", 42", 50" and 60" LCDs are 32", 40", 42", 46", 52" and a host of other sizes. There is little doubt that LCD has more sizes available and arguably more detail, it also costs more, but we aren't talking about size here, we're talking about picture quality. Plasmas have been able to boast better blacks and better colors than LCD, but in recent years LCD technology has made leaps and bounds in this area as well as the new 120Hz models, which begs the question do Plasmas still have better blacks and colors than LCDs? Sure they are susceptible to burn in and many are only 720p vs 1080p, but most ISF engineers agree that accurate colors and black are more important than resolution. We thought that a quick trip to the big box stores would help clear things up, but we noticed something very odd, while they carry the top of the line LCDs, they only carry the very inexpensive Plasmas, so of course a $4000 52" LCD will look better than a $2000 Plasma, right? But would it look better than a $4000 Plasma and if so why do the big box stores push LCD so much? The one thing we do know is that this debate is far from over and that when shopping for a TV it is important not to get to so caught up in the technology that you forget to look at the picture.
