LCD vs LED vs Plasma TV guide

Abstract this article will give you a clear understanding about the differences between LCD, LED and Plasma tvs.  It will also outline the advantages and disadvantages of each one and which one is recommend for you.

Picking a tv can be a hard choice because of the huge range of sizes and brands available however it may seem harder than it with all the latest technical terms such as LED and Plasma.  The LCD vs LED vs Plasma tv debate has been going on since these "high definition" tvs came into existence however it is not as daunting as it may seem.  Each of them are different in their own way and offer things over one another but to be honest they are all great and all quite similar at the same time.

What is LCD?

Firstly LCD stands for liquid crystal display.  LCD displays are by far the most popular display used today and are used on nearly all displays i.e. computer monitors, tvs, alarm clocks etc.  In basic terms these liquid crystals are like shutters that block light or let it through and they are paired with colour filters.  The key here is understanding that the LCD does not produce the light itself.  The light is produced via different types of methods such as fluorescent tubes or LED lights.  LED back lighting by the way produces thinner tvs and more energy efficient tvs.

What is LED?

Now that you have an idea of what LCD is in our LCD vs LED vs Plasma tv debate you will hopefully have an understanding of what LED tvs are.  LED tvs are in actual fact LCD displays that use LED back lighting instead of the likes of fluorescent tubes.  There are two ways in which a tv uses LEDs the entire back of it will be lined with these leds which produces a better picture and contrast however it is a bit thicker.  The alternative is side lighting LED which produce thinner tvs and more energy efficient tvs however contrast wouldn't be as good.  So at the minute in our Lcd vs led battle you will want to take a LCD display with LED back lighting because of better picture, life, size and energy efficiency.  

What is plasma?

Plasma tvs is were this gets slightly complicated because these tvs are different than LCD.  Instead of using liquid crystals they use electronically charged ionized gases and these tvs aren't quite as popular as LCD.  Different phosphors produce different colours.  The plasma tv does generally have better contrast ratios than LCD and better viewing angles.  However the LCD displays are more energy efficient and the picture quality is generally better due to the bistable nature of colour and intensity methods in plasma.  The plasma tv though is still better value per inch and is more popular for the plus 50 inch range.  

In conclusion we think that it is best to pick an led tv if you want a cheaper thinner smaller tv however if you want a bigger tv and don't mind how big it is or energy go for the plasma tv.  

Hopefully our article has helped solve the debate between LCD vs LED vs Plasma tvs.