We here at OneCall have all been asked this question more times than any of us can count. “Which is better Plasma or LCD” Everyone seems to expect an answer to this question as either an LCD Television is better, or a Plasma Television is better. Unfortunately neither is the answer for everyone. With large television sets at an all time low, consumers are ready now to gear up for the long haul with digital television. So let’s take a trip through some of the basics for both Plasma and LCD.

Benefits of Plasma Televisions

Plasma televisions generate their image by electrically charging phosphorus gas to generate their image. Contrary to popular belief, this gas does not have to be and cannot be recharged. It’s a permanent part of the television unless the screen was to become cracked or damaged (No raucous parties or throwing things at the television). Here a few of the major benefits of plasma:

Greater contrast is a standard. Better definition between the whites and blacks.
Smoother motion handling for sports and action. It’s made of glass and metal so, they are of a heartier construction and a little easier to recycle.

Benefits of LCD Televisions

LCD televisions are well known for how bright they are. In well lit rooms, they can easily be seen. Most of the sets have very little glare issues, another perfect fit for a well lit room. LCD’s by their very nature I feel do exceptionally well with computer generated content. The rigid structure of each of the cells makes eaking out every last bit of detail quite easy.

Round 2: Drawbacks

Here is where both camps start flinging the venom.

Plasma TV Drawbacks

You can end up with this little thing called burn-in with very rare situations. Most manufacturers have a solution in place to help eliminate this possibility. Over the last few years we have just about seen this issue disappear. Another huge issue is one that cannot be overcome at least not as of yet. Altitude. If you live over 6500 feet above sea level you may want to stay away from plasma. The further up in altitude we go, the less atmospheric pressure exerts force to keep the plasma gas together. This means that the plasma now has to use more power to keep the gas excited and pulled tightly together to generate the light for the image. As you can imagine this causes an unusually excessive amount of noise or humming from the power supply. Does the TV still work? Yes, if you don’t mind the above annoyance.

LCD TV Drawbacks

Well they are getting faster all of the time, but they still quite haven’t caught up. Most people probably won’t notice at first, but you will occasionally see the set almost freeze in place. It does so rarely that you might think your eyes are playing tricks on you. Here is also where that additional sharpness comes to back to play havoc. Regular definition programming looks incredibly soft on an LCD display. Not so much a failing of the set, and hopefully not an issue that we are going to continue to have.

Round 3 – Connectivity

If this were a prize fight this round would really have to go to you the judges. Everyone now seems to offer just about every level of connectivity on their sets. 3-5 HDMI inputs is now just about the standard jack package. With integration of web widgets and internet connectivity also entering the picture, Ethernet and Wi-Fi options abound. Even if you don’t want that as an option, the manufactures have you covered. So at this time we will have to conclude that this portion is an even draw.

Conclusion — The Fall out.

There is no right or wrong decision when it comes to purchasing either one of these technologies. The best way to really tell is with your own two peepers. Perception of value of the technology that you purchase will make watching your new set the most satisfying experience and provide all out happiness when watching the latest hi-def TV show, or the latest blockbuster on Blu-Ray. We truly live in the best of times.

Lee R

Lee is one of our resident camera experts! Lee joined the retail division of Huppin’s Hi-Fi Photo & Video in 1999 and transferred to the OneCall mail order division in 2006. While Lee is well versed in all the products we carry, he favors cameras and home theater. He uses a Marantz receiver and a Canon SLR. Lee loves to talk to customers, so give him a call!

We have a couple of HD sources in our system. They include a Microsoft X-Box 360 Elite with the HD-DVD player, an up-converting Toshiba DVD player and a Comcast HD-DVR box. All three of these have an HDMI connection, so I got the AudioQuest HDMI-X cables to replace the basic HDMI cables that were either included with the components or were purchased initially. I also upgraded our speaker wire with 14 guage, 2 conductor AudioQuest wire and our subwoofer cable.

We worked for almost 6 hours straight moving furniture back and forth between 2 rooms. After the big move, we wanted to check if there was any difference in picture and audio quality using our new cables. We popped in an HD-DVD disc (Planet Earth, which is super cool) and turned on our Mitsubishi WD-65734. The picture was absolutely beautiful! I was so impressed with the color saturation and accuracy of the image. You could see every fine detail down to the individual hairs on a caterpillar. The sound was also excellent. It was crisp and clean. With our old speaker wire, we had some static, but now it is perfect.

I asked my husband after our Planet Earth chapter had ended if all of the hard work was worth it. He smiled at me and told me that it definitely was, but our home theater would have to stay where it is for a long time. I agreed since it seems to fit perfectly where it is now, but I have some ideas about moving the television in our bedroom. Maybe I will wait to bring that up to him for a little while.

Holley E

“Huh? What?”

Exactly.

To be certified HDMI 1.3-compatible, a cable/source/display needs to include only one of the following features:

• Deep Color: 10-bit, 12-bit or 16-bit (RGB or YCbCr) color depths, up from 8-bit over previous standards.
• x.v.Color(TM): Removes current color space limitations and enables the display of any color viewable by the human eye.
• New mini connector for small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras.
• Improved Audio/Video synchronization (Lip Sync).
• Support for new HD lossless audio formats: Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio(TM).
• Increased single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps).

This single-spec certification means Company X can make an HDMI 1.3-compatible receiver that includes support for HD lossless audio formats but doesn’t support Deep Color and A/V synchronization. This receiver will be great for a music lover, but might not meet the demands of a dedicated movie buff.

When deciding upon a new HD source (upscaling DVD player, Blu-ray Disc Player, A/V receiver, etc) or when looking at a new HDTV, base your buying decision on the features you want most and not solely on the HDMI version.

Learn more at OneCall’s HDMI FAQ.

Scot Drew

Copywriter. Gamer. TV/Movie Freak.

Website - More Posts