LED TV vs Plasma TV

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LED TVs are slimmer and more easily available, but also more expensive. Plasma screen TVs, on the other hand, are believed to have better picture quality (mostly due to deeper blacks), but are less energy-efficient and usually available in larger sizes. While an LED screen uses light-emitting diodes as backlights for the screen, plasma screens light themselves using gas cells that emit ultraviolet light. LED-blacklit screens are an improvement over regular LCD screens.

Comparison chart

LED TV versus Plasma TV comparison chart
	LED TV	Plasma TV
	current rating is 3.89/5 1 2 3 4 5 (956 ratings)	current rating is 3.59/5 1 2 3 4 5 (574 ratings)
Thickness	LED edge backlit LCD TVs are thinner than CCFL LCD TVs. Often less than 1 inch.	Minimum 1.2 inches
Power consumption	LED-lit LCD TVs consume less power around 70% compared to plasma TVs.	Consumes slightly more power than an LCD TV. Modern plasma displays receive high Energy Star (US) ratings.
Screen size	Up to 90 inches	42 inches and above
Burn-in	Burn-in is very rare	Burn-in is rare on newer plasma TVs with anti-burn-in features, but was somewhat common on old plasma TVs.
Life span	Around 100,000 hours	Around 20, 000 – 60,000 hours
Cost	$100 (small size and very low end) - $25,000	Cheaper than LED-lit TVs
Viewing angle	The brightness and color on LCD TVs shift noticeably over the screen and depending on viewing angle	Plasma TVs look the same from almost any angle
Contrast Ratio (difference between the deepest black compared to the brightest white)	Worse than plasma TVs. All LCDs produce brighter whites, but brighter blacks as well. Locally-dimmable LED backlit LCD TVs can mitigate this to improve contrast ratios.	Better than LCD TVs. Plasma TVs produce darker blacks and somewhat dimmer whites, but most TVs are not set bright enough to hurt contrast ratios.
Weight	Lighter compared to plasma TV	Heavier compared to LED-lit LCD TV
Brightness and colour	Brighter than plasma or OLED	Not as bright as LED-lit LCD.
Screen Thickness	Thinner than LCD, plasma	Thicker
Energy Use	Less for dynamically backlit LCD TVs, about as much for statically backlit ones.	Generally more.
Screen Refresh Rate	60-240 Hz, but LCD response times create blur and ghosting which limits true refresh rates to 20-100 Hz.	Up to 600 hz. Plasma TVs handle rapid movements in video about as well as old CRT TVs.
Manufacturers	All TV manufacturing companies	Panasonic, LG, Samsung
Performance in extreme conditions	Low temperatures (below 50°f) can cause contrast to decrease	High altitudes (above 6500 ft) can affect the performance of plasma TV displays because the gas held inside each pixel is stressed, and has to work harder to perform.
Running Temperature	Dynamically lit LCD TVs dissipate less heat compared to plasma TVs, LED-lit LCD TVs dissipate less heat than even other LCD TVs.	Plasma TVs generally dissipate more heat than LCD TVs
Screen glare	Antireflectively coated (matte finished) LCD TVs have less glare than glossy LCD TVs.	Plasma TVs have more glare than LCD TVs in brightly lit environments due to their thick front glass's internal reflections
Backlight	Yes	No

Technology

LED HDTVs (properly known as LED-backlit LCD TVs) use light emitting diodes (LEDs) as a backlight for the LCD. Some of this light is blocked by vertical or horizontal liquid crystals, creating an image. These should not be confused with actual LED or OLED TVs.

Plasma HDTVs create images using phosphors, tiny plasma containers placed between two sheets of glass. These emit ultraviolet light at colored spots of phosphor on the screen, which then glow to create the picture.

Picture Quality

Plasma TVs tend to have deeper blacks, and stabler color over the screen's breadth from a variety of angles, leading to smoother, more natural images than seen on LED-lit LCD screens. Plasma screens also show crisp, fast motion without blur or ghosting.

Brightness

According to CNET, LED-lit LCD TVs are the brightest available. They are capable of 100 footlamberts, although this is bright enough to cause eye fatigue in a dark room. Plasmas are less bright, so they might be more difficult to see in a bright room, and will dim over time.

Sound Quality

As they are thinner (and so have smaller speakers), LED TVs tend to have poorer sound quality.

Size

LED-lit LCD screens are the slimmest type of TV available. The screen size can range from a couple of inches to 90 inches.

Plasma screens normally range from 42 inches to approximately 65 inches. Panasonic also offer some larger models, including a 152 inch TV. Plasma screens also weigh more than LED-lit LCD screens.

Energy Efficiency

Plasma TVs are less energy efficient than LED-lit LCD TVs. According to Which magazine, a 42 inch screen LED-lit LCD TV will use an average of 64 watts, while an average 42 inch Plasma TV uses 195 watts.

Reliability

HDTVs are generally highly reliable. LED-lit LCD TVs are considered to have a lifespan of 100,000 hours, although they have not been in use long enough to have extensive information on their long-term reliability.

According to PC World, users of Panasonic’s plasma TVs rate them highly reliable, with very few serious problems. In 2010, just 1 in 20 Panasonic users reported a major problem with their TVs. Older plasma TVs have a lifespan of 20,000 hours, although some newer TVs have up to 60,000 hours.

Prices

LED-lit LCD TVs are typically more expensive than Plasma TVs. For example, on Amazon.com a Panasonic LED-lit LCD 42 inch TV was listed for $900 while a Panasonic Plasma 42 inch TV costs $600.

Popularity

LCD screen TVs are the most popular, followed by LED-backlit screens (which are also LCD screens, by the way). Plasma screens are less popular and more commonly available in larger sizes.

A search for HDTV on Amazon.com as of January 2013 reveals:

1,274 LCD TVs
712 LED-lit LCD TVs
280 Plasma TVs

All major TV manufacturers sell LED-lit LCD TVs. Panasonic focuses its TV range on the Plasma TV, while other brands, such as LG and Samsung, only produce a few models, and some, such as Sony and Toshiba, no longer produce Plasma TVs at all.

References

About the Author

Nick Jasuja has over 15 years of technology industry experience, including at Amazon in Seattle. He is an expert at building websites, developing software programs in PHP and JavaScript, maintaining MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, and running Linux servers for serving high-traffic websites. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science & Engineering.