AV End User

We’ll start off with the one question I hear more than any other – the difference between Plasma and LCD.  Every version of this debate includes some “expert” touting one or the other as patently “better” than the other.  But the fact is, they are two competing technologies that both have their strong points and weak points.  This topic will take several entries to do it justice, but we’ll start off with the true best selling points of each model.

While both formats are bright, and they both have good pictures, there are some real differences in choosing the right technology for your room.  Start off with the size and shape of your room.  If you’ve got a wide shallow room with lots of potential for off-axis viewing (seating positions way off to the side) then there’s one big gold star in the Plasma column.  The individual pixels of an LCD (the little dots that make up the picture) shoot light out in one direction, like a flashlight.  But the individual plasma cells shoot their light in a wider array, so the picture can be seen from a wider viewing area.  In other words, as you move further away from the center seat in front of an LCD set, you start to lose some color and clarity.  Now, that’ll work out just fine if you can put the unit on the short end of a long room. But if the opposite is true at your house you’ll find that a plasma still looks good from way over in the corner of the room.

On the other hand if you’ve got a room with lots of big windows and sunlight streaming in, you’re probably going to want the LCD.  The fact is, it’s just plain brighter, and the color intensity will stand up better to the glare.  The plasma may be bright, but the LCD is just a little bit brighter.  More on that issue later.

There’s topic #1 in the great debate.  Tune in later for the straight poop on monitor LIFE SPAN.

The next big issue is the expected life span of your new TV, and I’ve heard loads of experts (usually salespeople) claim that their newest (and most expensive) LCD will last YEARS longer than the cheaper plasma.  Bull hockey.  The fact is that both types of modern monitors have huge life spans, but they both age in very different ways (and the plasma isn’t always cheaper).  An aging LCD might start to show its grey hair by losing pixels.  And the fact is, your new TV might already have a few dead soldiers.  Most manufacturers don’t consider a dead pixel or two to be a problem worth addressing – even new out of the box!  When the first few go black you might not even notice.  But it starts to be a problem when they’re dropping like flies, and even worse when you lose a few clustered close together.  It’s usually after the warrantee is over, and you might just have to live with the annoyance.

On the other hand, if a plasma comes with all its pixels firing – they tend to keep firing.  Plasma manufacturers quote life expectancy in a measurement called MTHI (Mean Time to Half Intensity).  What that means is that after a 60,000 hour life span you can expect the display to be 1/2 as bright as it is today.  But lets put that in perspective, . . . 1/2 intensity is still brighter than my old tube TV was new!.

So don’t worry so much about the life span.  All TV’s age, but both of these formats last a really, really long time.  60,000 hours is the same as watching your TV 8 hours a day every day for more than 20 years!  RELAX !!  Go watch a movie for Pete’s sake !

We’ve already discussed that the LCD might be slightly brighter than the Plasma, and is capable of slightly greater color intensity.  But if your salesman (sorry, . . . expert) tells you that this means its “better”, then he’s pulling your leg (and probably not the one you want to have pulled) .

Like we said before, if you need the slightly brighter picture and don’t care about the color accuracy out of the box, then get an LCD.  Your viewing area might have lots of windows, or (heaven forbid) is outside or on a patio, you might just need those bright cartoon colors.  Now don’t get me wrong, most manufacturers of both technologies do a really lousy job of calibrating their TV’s at the factory.  The fact is it’s just not in their best interest to make them accurate, when they know their competitor in the store is going to cheat.  TV’s are all designed to sit on the showroom floor next to the competitor’s model, and shine brighter and look better than the next guy.  Some companies push “blue” because it’s more “pleasing” to more people.  Come companies push “green” because football and baseball are played on green fields (and the human eye sees more green than the other colors, . . . but I digress).

The fact of the matter is, most monitors straight out of the box are in “Flamethrower Mode”, and a lot LCD’s are adjusted so bright that they’re likely to burn your retinas. Of course the color issues on most of these models can be fixed if you can afford somebody like me to come calibrate it for you, but for the average person it’s something you need to do for yourself.  Never fear, there are tools to help you do it right.  Stay tuned, and we’ll teach you how.