LCD vs. Plasma vs. DLP: What's the difference?

Today's group of tech terms de jour? LCD, DLP and Plasma, the most popular technologies behind displaying pictures on your HDTV. Each one has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and rather than focus on a "winner," each technology has a specific reason for winning its own category. Join us as we break down the basics of TV display technology.

DLP

DLP stands for Digital Light Processing, and is a method for displaying video us 10-16 inches in depth, which isn't exactly Plasma or LCD thin (typically under six inches) but still won't take up a large footprint. Oddly enough, despite the larger footprint DLP screens tend to weigh much less than comparably sized LCD or Plasma screens, as most of the enclosure is simply empty space for the light to go from source to screen.

Since the screens aren't as fashionable, nor as costly to manufacture, DLPs have the market benefit of being significantly less expensive than comparable flat screen models. The priciest DLP screens run south of $2,000, and will still net you a 60-inch screen size with oodles of inputs and a 1080p picture.

DLP's biggest benefit, next to price, is extremely deep black levels. Since flat screen panels currently all need backlights to operate with any sort of brightness, no flat panel screen can display a "true" black, meaning one with no amount of gray. DLPs, like all rear projection TVs, only shine the light needed in any picture, and the DLP chip blocks out the rest, creating infinitely deep blacks and colors that pop more than their flat screen friends.

Our verdict? DLPs seem like the college student's best friend. If you're looking to fill a room with a large TV and want to hook up as many inputs for the best possible picture without spending an arm and a leg, DLP seems like a good option.

LCD

LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display, and like the name implies, a liquid controls each pixel and can change its state to different colors. LCDs are most common at smaller screen sizes, and actually evolved out of the technology that lets your digital watch display a black and white display. LCDs first appeared as extremely small displays, but over the last decade have come to be a viable purchase option for the living room.

While LCD as a technology initially wowed consumers as the first flat-panel computer displays, as with all technology LCD panels have dropped in price and increased in performance. LCDs still have a specific sweet spot of price vs size. Typically, smaller LCDs (ranging from 32 inches up to about 48 inches) will have a better price per inch than comparably sized Plasma screens. However, as LCD screens go above 48 inches, they typically balloon in price per inch well over that of Plasma screens.

Behind price and size considerations, think about what sort of room your TV is going to live in. If you're putting a TV in an open area that has its fair share of ambient light, an LCD might make good sense since LCD TVs tend to reflect more ambient light than their Plasma counterparts.

Our verdict? LCDs are great TVs in the living room, especially in smaller spaces, but we'd do some extra research before putting them in our ultra-dark theater room.

Plasma

As the granddaddy of flat-panel HDTVs, sometimes all flat-panel TVs are referred to as "plasma" screens. Misnomers aside, Plasma screens actually have more in common with old-school CRT TVs than they do with LCDs. The actual way Plasmas operate is like a streamlined version of the old Cathode Ray Tube tech. Little bits of plasma are excited, which then strike specific pixels at the front of the TV, causing the pixel to turn a specific color. Plasma screens don't need backlights, since the actual plasma varies the intensity of light to produce a full range of colors, and more importantly, typically deeper blacks than LCDs.

Previous generations of plasmas suffered from problems like burn-in, where high contrast pictures left ghosting artifacts permanently, but now most plasmas have greatly reduced if not eliminated the problem. When displaying persistant images, like black letterboxing or pillarboxing, plasma screen owners will still notice some temporary ghosting. To avoid the ghosting problem completely, either avoid showing static, high contrast images on the screen for a long period of time, or lower the contrast by changing letterbox colors to grey instead of black.

When purchasing a new screen, plasma TVs start at larger screen sizes than LCDs, and as the size increases, the price per inch stays relatively neutral, meaning larger plasmas are typically less expensive than their LCD counterparts. Plasmas also don't reflect as much ambient light as LCDs, making them better candidates for dark rooms rather than ambient lit areas.

Our verdict

Our verdict? Buyers looking to get the best bang for their buck at bigger screen sizes should definitely look at plasma TVs, especially since the black levels can be deeper than LCDs. The screen will definitely be more pricey than a DLP of comparable size, but sometimes flatness beats frugality.

Now that you know the difference between the three, you're armed and ready to hit the stores. Want to know the other basics of HDTV purchasing? Check out our Plasma vs. LCD guide for more, or check out our HDMI vs. Component Video guide for hooking your home theater together.

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