A while ago if you wanted to get a really big TV, say 40 inches or larger, you had to go with a plasma TV. As technology allowed LCD TV’s to get bigger, it has pushed plasma sales way down because they are perceived by many to be better quality. Plasma TV’s may be better suited for 3D TV however.
Plasma TV’s have two things in favor of HD viewing – contrast and speed. Contrast is the difference between what is considered black and what is white. On a plasma tv, black is achieved when there is no color projected on the screen, in other words, the pixel is off. Black is produced on an LCD screen by blocking the light. Inevitably some light still seeps through. This causes the black on a LCD screen to no be as dark as one on a plasma screen.
Speed is also of great importance when a screen is required to draw 120 images a second. Plasma screens are faster, in other words the images are able to be put on and taken off more quickly than LCD screens. The real question is whether your eyes and brain will actually notice any difference. Plasma retailers will tell you that there is a difference between .08 milliseconds and .06 milliseconds or whatever speed they are at and LCD retailers will tell you that you won’t notice a difference. Eventually LCD’s will likely catch up with plasmas on this issue but for now plasma tv’s are still faster and this makes them somewhat better for 3D TV if you are interested in making sure you are getting something that is top of the line.
