Why are LCDs more popular than plasma?


I have a rough time seeing differences in picture quality between brands and models, but the difference between plasma and LCD are overt even to me. When I go to bestbuy, fry's, etc. and gaze at their displays of flatpannels, plasma televisions just look beautiful, despite the reflections, while LCDs just remind me of working on my laptop. Is there more merit to the quality of LCD than I observe or is there some other reason LCDs outnumber plasmas?
ohlala
These are broad statements, but the better LCDs tend to be brighter than plasma as the glass front tends to be a duller image in brighter light applications such as sunlight streaming through a window.
I have a Sony business plasma monitor that runs at 1080i. I think that it still way better than any 1080p LCD out there! Plasma is much easier on the eyes than LCD, especially if you stare at a computer monitor all day! I'm sure that it is much cheaper to make LCD's, so they push to sell those instead of plasma's.
I'd say there are a couple of things that would attract consumers: LCD displays are generally brighter than plasmas, so they'll look more immediately impressive. Secondly, they don't fade over time and don't suffer burn-in. Not all consumer choices are based on quality of performance regardless of other factors. The brighter display will trump subtlety of shades, tones, and gradations to the average buyer. Throw in the longer life and immunity to burn-in and it's an easy sale.
Plasma units are vastly superior but many have issue's with the glare, worry about burn-in and many only spec to 720P so folks go for the higher 1080I and 1080P specs LCD offers. Even at the higher specs they just dont look "right" to me, the flicker and shutter in fast transitions, black levels in all but the most expensive units are laughable and they do have that laptop moniotr look, all this and they are more expensive!...go figure.