Previously television sets meant a huge box with a cathode ray tube at the back that took most of the space of your TV table. But now, with the advancement of technology, the LCD and PLASMA televisions have replaced the old idea of television and have provided us with an all new viewing experience. The cathode ray tubes have been replaced by much thinner LCD and Plasma screens which offer a much better picture quality and saves space. They are also quite portable as compared to the old television sets and can be easily moved from one place to another.
But before you opt for a Plasma or LCD television, it is important for you to know the basic differences between them. An LCD television stands for Liquid Crystal Display and they use a five layer technology to display the high definition motion pictures. The layers include a polarized glass, a backlight, liquid crystal solution, a second sheet of polarized glass and a colored pixel mask. Each pixel of the LCD screen bears a transistor that receives the signal from a cable or an antenna and then arranges the crystals accordingly through voltage variation. The arrangement of the crystals allows the backlight to flow through each of the pixels thus creating the picture on the screen.
On the other hand a plasma TV can be defined as a high definition alternative to the older television sets. The main technology behind the plasma televisions is that they use plasma to create the picture on the screen. Plasma is the technically known for gases like xenon and neon atoms. These collide with the electrically charged electrons on turning the power of the television and the collision increases the energy level of the xenon and neon particles which as a result emits light energy or photos of lights which creates the picture on the screen. There is a built in computer unit in the television set that receives the broadcasted signals and transmits it to each of the pixels to create the motion pictures.
Another difference between the two types of televisions lies in the field of power consumption. LCD TV’s consume much less power than the plasma sets and are hence preferred sometimes. Again the price of the LCD TV’s may be much higher than that of the plasma televisions sometimes. Another difference lies in the life time of the two types. An LCD television is estimated to work for approximately 60000 hours after which the backlight burns out. On the other hand the half life period of the plasma TV’s is estimated to be about 60000 hours after which it continues to run but with a decreased brightness.
Thus both the types have certain advantages and disadvantages associated with them and thus depends upon the user that which he would opt for.
