Plasma HDTV Set Pros and Cons

Product-boy has done some homework and compiled a list of pros and cons associated with plasma HDTV displays.

Plasma HDTV sets offer a great viewing experience and are more superior than LCD and LED sets in various capacities but also fall short in other ways when compared to LCD and LED sets.

Pros: A plasma HDTV set has many distinct advantages. Plasma sets have excellent viewing angles, excellent picture contrast, excellent video motion, and excellent color gamut. Plasmas can display accurate black levels and offer great contrast between white and black. This means that true blacks appear as true black on your screen. Plasma displays also show very accurate colors and crisp clean lines and have virtually no image blurring or motion issues characteristic of most LCD sets. A plasma display is perfect for watching sports, action movies, and anything else with fast complex motion on the screen. The ability to capture motion accurately and without blur, and the display of true and accurate black levels make plasma HDTV sets a leader in picture quality alone.

Cons: Plasma HDTV sets consume about twice as much power as LCD and LED sets. They aren’t very power-efficient. Also, plasma sets aren’t as thin as LCD or LED sets and weight considerably more since they typically have a glass display. Furthermore, a plasma set lacks the capabilities of displaying brightness similar to an LCD or LED set. Direct sunlight is not good for these sets and will impair your ability to see what is displayed. Plasma sets are also susceptible to “burn in” if an image is left on the screen for too long. “Burn in” is a misfortunate phenomena in which an image is permanently displayed, or burned, into the display. This typically occurs when the TV is left idle on one image for a long period of time or when viewing programs that display an image on a portion of the screen for prolonged periods of time. Once this occurs, it is not reversible. However, most new plasma HDTV sets have improved technology that prevent this from occurring. Finally, the most inconvenient con we encountered was that plasma sets can get damaged if the TV is placed flat. The set must always be in a vertical position.

In Conclusion: Most plasma HDTV sets are priced relatively lower than their LCD or LED counterparts. Plasma sets typically range in size from 42″-65″. So if you have a dark room with no direct sunlight interfering and will predominantly use this HDTV set for viewing high motion movies and sporting events, then plasma is a good choice. However, know that you cannot place the plasma set flat, so transportation can be a bit of a problem.  The picture quality of a plasma HDTV is superior compared to LCD and LED HDTV displays. If you are seeking rich warm colors, deep black levels and will be sitting off-axis when viewing, and prefer the smoothest, most natural motions with fast on-screen action such as sports, action movies, and video games, than you won’t be disappointed with a plasma set.

Click here to find out how a Plasma HDTV displays work.

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3 comments on “Plasma HDTV Set Pros and Cons”

  1. dick Jones says:

    Great article, but I think playing video games on a plasma is a bad idea, due to the “image burn in” problem faced with all plasma tvs, as stated above.

  2. Product-Boy says:

    @dick jones- your right, but newer models of plasma HDTV’s have pixel shifting technology which theoretically prevents burn in from occurring.

    1. Product-Boy says:

      Pretty much anything manufactured after 2010 should have the anti-burn-in technology. Check the features of your television set for “anti-burn-in” or “motion adaptive technology”.

      Motion adaptive technology continuously moves the image while it’s being displayed in such a way that it’s not visible to the naked eye. This means that your picture is constantly moving while you are watching it instead of being stuck in the same place. It moves the picture by continuously forcing color changes in each pixel display.

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