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
I'm Not sure in the US but in Australia its mainly due to a very strong LCD advertising push. When lined up next to each other i can not see why anyone would choose LCD but as Johnny highlights its not always a quality of picture choice. Its interesting to see some of the push back by a couple of companies here in australia Panasonic is running a very big "this is the advantages of Plasma Campaign" Pioneer with its new Panels are also pushing the advertising button more so the in the past. For me its the transition & the brighness LCD that just doesn't do it.
The only real advantage LCD has over plasma is the burn in problem and it is not as much an issue as it once was. Modern plasmas are about as susceptible to burn in as CRTs. Most people don't realize that an LCD screen can suffer from burn in also. Most newer plasma screens refresh themselves to get rid of burn in and the new Panasonic pro monitors will have non glare screens. I have both plasma and LCD monitors and the Panasonic pro plasma looks much better than any LCD I have seen.
I just dont get why people buy LCD, Shadorne is right, they do look like projectors and for about the same or a bit more if you can accept LCD you may as well just get a Projector if you can control light....atleast that way you get a huge picture for movies. I wish the rest of the world would catch on so LCD prices crash and are valued at what they are actually worth.
LCD's are rapidly catching plasmas, they have some issues with motion but the newer 120Hz technology is correcting that.

All of you are siting brightness, if both TV's were next to each other and they were calibrated correctly, the differences would be subtle.

That said, every TV seller has the contrast/brightness maxed out so they DO appear brighter in stores, this isn't how you should be watching them, but....
LCDs are a better choice for the average household where background lighting is not controlled. When properly calibrated plasmas are superior, but real world people don't calibrate.