The Technology of LCD and Plasma Systems Part 3

The Advantages of Plasma

We have covered the advantage of better contrast control with Plasma's ability to produce blacks that are deeper and more true. Another advantage of gas over crystal is that it reacts to electrical stimuli faster.

In ordinary terms this means that it can turn on and off faster. This speed advantage reduces the blurring effect that some flat screens produce when displaying fast moving images.

As with the backlight technology issue, advances in LCD technology has reduced the millisecond response gap between Plasma and LCD cells to such a minimal level so as to be almost indistinguishable. Of course our purist friends will continue to argue the toss and will be more than happy to produce millisecond response charts to prove their point. For us mere mortals the difference would be hard to find with the naked eye.

Plasma enthusiasts are quick to point out that their preferred system has a better image fidelity at wider viewing angles. We've all seen the effect on flat screen pictures as we move farther to the side of the panel. The brightness and contrast begin to significantly deteriorate and eventually we experience what some describe as a 'solarising effect' where the darker end of the image spectrum inverts and all sorts of weird effects are produced. Historically this was always more problematic in LCD systems with plasma being able to produce a far more true image at far greater angles.