LCD vs Plasma & LEDs
I will start with Plasma since the misconception is that they suck and aren't worth getting.
Plasma ~
I would say first off if you are going to buy a plasma only buy a Panasonic or Pioneer, everyone elses plasmas dont measure up.
Burn in = (The tv gets to hott and starts to burn the image into the pixels)
When it comes to burn in, most plasmas now have what is called pixel shifter or pixel orbiter, on the panasonics they allow for a force mode which actually works to keep burn ins from happening. I have done many of tests and this tech actually works, when its not on force (now called periodic) you can get the tv to burn in, when its on periodic the tv will not burn in. Most plasmas also have white wash modes under their anti retention menu as well, which allows for you to buffer out a burn in if the tv does happen to get it.
I've tested up to 10 hours straight on the same screen between Samsung, LG, and Panasonic, the Samsung takes about 45mins, the LG an hour and the panasonic never burned in.
Energy
Plasmas do run hotter than LCDs but not that hotter, go into a store and feel behind the tvs (efficient plasmas) wont get that hot. To normal human touch you will notice very little difference between most tvs, plasmas that get to hot will also have more issues with burning in.
Also when it comes to the amount of enegry it will use up (electricity bill wise) this depends from brand to brand, some LCDs are highly efficient but there are plasmas that can beat out some standard LCDs, since plasmas dont work off backlights they can dim the brightness of any part of the screen and that allows for the tv to decrease less energy, LCDs comsume energy at a consistant rate unlike plasmas. Also 2009 has marked the year of Eco friendly and all the top brands have some sort of Eco mode and power consumption mode.
Picture Quality
Plasmas have better blacks, better native contrast ratios (not the BS dynamic contrast ratios most companies publish) and better ability to keep up with motion. Since plasmas do burn gases they can increase and decrease the rate they read information a lot quicker because it isnt delayed by the motherboard process. The published number they are putting out in 2009 is 600hz which is a lot faster than either LCD speeds of 240hz 120hz or 60hz. This is where plasmas dominate the market because with a plasma you can even get a 720p tv and it will rival many low end 1080p LCDs (which cost more). As I said before since the range of colors is greater on a plasma and they dont use a backlight, there is no washout limiting the picture quality.
Glare
This is one of the big ones, plasmas screens are made out of glass so they do reflect light back at you, but the nice thing is most plasmas have anti glare coating. The panasonics anti glare coating is excellent, they actually break their screens up into diamonds which keeps the sunlight from bouncing directly back. Other plasmas anti glare coating is poor to say the least, the test of this is as easy as turning off the tvs while you are at the store and look for yourself, there is a vastly noticble difference between panasonic and the LG or Samsungs. Sun is a hiderance to any tv, but with plasmas the actual picture quality is not diminished by sunlight.
(Note: Tube tvs glare is worse than a plasmas.)
Reliability
Plasmas now quote the same lifespan as LCDs do of 100,000 hours. The big thing about this is, plasmas work on a half life system, which means the first 50,000 hours or so the tvs quality will be closer to when you first got it than the last 50,000 hours. Now plasmas do run out of gas so once the gas is empty its time for a new tv, but if you looking at the first 50,000 being 10yrs like its suppose to, I think it probably due time for a new one anyways. Its also possible to cause of a plasma to leak, but I haven't had anyone in the past 2 years have that issue, its mainly cause due to customer abuse, in which case its your fault.
Cost
Plasmas win the cost vs quality race, the technology has been around longer, its cheaper to make. So its less at retail.
LCDs
Dead Pixels = a pixel burns out or your backlight fails resulting in black spots or no picture.
While plasmas have the burn issue LCDs have the dead pixel issue, both are equally frustrating. Manufacturers admit that its likely for a tv to ship with a few dead pixels this is even stated in the limited manufactuer warranty. In most cases this is never an issue and its fairly uncommon for dead pixel to begin to cluster on an LCD screen.
Energy
LCDs do a good job on energy consumption, while its not a specific standard across brands most LCDs have a lot of new tech to help consume less energy. LIke I mentioned earlier since they use backlights they consumer a high rate of energy all the time, a lot of brands like Sharp and Sony have auto sensors which will increase and decrease the amount of lighting based on the room. Also like plasmas, LCDs have their Eco friendly modes as well, in which a lot of them allow you to turn off the backlight if you are planning on walking away from the tv to go upstairs or something. Its really handy.
Picture Quality
This is one of the big downfalls to LCDs, now overall picture quality compared to tubes or so its great, and compared to one another they are still really good but most LCDs dont measure up to plasmas, the nice thing is LCDs are brighter and an average joes naked eye will immediately attract to the tv that is the brightest, so if you are one of those people you will be captivated by that and since its your money, you should probably stick with it. Then there is the motion issue, standard LCD sets are 60hz, and then there is the now widely popular 120hz sets which do help out a lot in most cases. Sony and Samsung both have 240hz tvs coming out very soon with Sharp and Vizio following later in the year. Now like 90% of the population cannot see more than 30 frames per second or faster than 60hrz, which is why most people will never ever notice the difference, but at the same its always nice to have better tech but with LCDs its not a standard you have to pay for it.
Glare
The thing never said about LCDs and glare which everyone should know, is that LCDs absorb sunlight which makes the picture quality horrible. Just think back to anytime you were in school looking at an overhead project and the sunlight was beaming in, what did you have to do close the blinds because you simply couldn't see. While LCDs are a bit better than that because they are lit from behind, the screens still work very very similar and it runs the picture. Everyone says LCDs are made for rooms with a lot of light because they dont send the sunlight back at your face, but in cases of direct sunlight, they too have problems. Sunlight ruins a tv screen regardless of the type.
Reliabilty
The nice thing about LCDs is in most cases if something goes wrong it can be repaired, there arent any known issues that I know of that arent covered by the MPA. (except customer abuse of course), the problem with LCDs is that typically they do have more things that can go wrong. It is also expected to be 100,000 hrs as well. Now the negative things about LCDs is that they loose 90% of their brightness in the first 10,000 hours, which is a vast difference than the 75%/ 50,000hrs half life that plasmas work on.
Cost
range in all prices you pay for what you want.
LED
The first thing to note about LEDs is that they are infact LCDs, they do use liquid Crystal technology to get their picture. The difference is it uses LEDs as a light source rather a backlight. This allows for better blacks and for less power consumption.
Last year Samsungs A950 and Sonys XBR9 both had light dimming LEDs which is different than the currently promoted Samsung LEDs (Luxia 6000/7000 models)
Light dimming LEDs are not comprised up of a full panel of LEDs they are specifically placed in order to light the screen. As of right now Sonys LED tech is better than Samsungs. Samsung uses White LEDs while Sony uses Red, Blue, and Green. The difference is by using Red, Blue, and Green the consistancy of the black levels are better and so is the overall picture quality.
The Currently promoted Samsung Luxia 6000/7000 models are edge lit, which means the LEDs are only along the edges and the middle portion of the tv uses mirrors, this causes inconsistant black levels, and horrible 120hz quality leaving blur and judder on the screen, the tv does have a built in slider though which allows you to adjust it to your liking.
Cost
The current Samsungs that we are selling just aren't worth the money in my opinion, the bad bloom lighting, the inconsistant blacks, and 120hz issues just isnt worth $3600 for a 55" screen. As LEDs improve they will be the premier tvs on the market.
Ending Note
CNET voted the Pioneer Kuro Elite plasma the best overall HDTV of 2008
The Best overall LCD of 2008 was Sonys XBR9.
The really is no true winner between LCD or Plasma go with what you like, they are very closely matched. I say pick by brand rather than type.
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