We work a lot with both plasma and LCD. I can summarize the differences as follows:
1) Typically plasma screens have very poor black levels, and poorer black level retention. This generally results in a poor sense of depth and detail, and also gives the picture a less film-like quality and a more washed out "digital" look.
2) Generally speaking plasma screens exaggerate noise and artifacting and look more "digital" and pixelated. This is particularly noticeable with inferior source material such as VHS, broadcast, etc. It is also noticeable on a budget DVD player which does not have high video bandwidth or particularly good video processing.
3) Plasma displays are not subject to the viewing angle problems that LCD displays are, particularly with respect to vertical viewing angle. If you stand up and then sit down while looking at an LCD display the picture will change radically. This is not so with a plasma display.
4) For reasons attributed to resolution discrepancies, watching cable and broadcast material on a plasma TV is not recommended. The quality is usually poor and of course these sets virtually never include tuners. LCD sets often include tuners and they usually look much better than plasma when watching broadcast or cable TV.
5) LCD's tend to have better brightness and contrast in the sense that they can light up a dark room better.
6) LCD's usually have totally messed up colors - which is to say that they bear no relation to NTSC or SMPTE standards. Generally the color temperature is way off and the colors are not correct as compared to a good CRT. Plasma sets are also guilty of this but less so.
7) Many plasma sets have fans which can be loud. Be sure to check and see if the model you are interested does or not.
8) Viewing distance from an LCD need not be anywhere near as great as from a plasma set, even of the same size.
Now to plug some of my own product lines... I believe the ReVox LCD and plasma TV's we sell are the finest I have ever seen. They both have very accurate colors, and by far the best black levels and black level retention on the market, period end. There is no competing set I have yet seen which comes anywhere close. ReVox has released a 32" widescreen plasma set which retails for $9000 and is superb and in every way superior to the LCD competitors. ReVox also makes a 15" LCD (4:3) panel which is better than any other LCD panel I have seen. They are coming out with a widescreen LCD panel of larger size soon which our customers are anticipating eagerly.
For less money I believe the best looking plasma set on the market is the Zenith. They do not yet make a 32" widescreen plasma display but we sell their 42" which retails for $6000 along with their 50" and 60". It is the best looking plasma for under $10k I have seen and I have checked all of them out. Nowhere near as good as the ReVox but in every way superior to the other plasma's I have seen in the under $10k for 42" category. The ReVox 42" is $12,500, and the 50" is $16,000. The 60" is forthcoming and will likely retail for approximately $30,000.
The Sharp LCD panels are good but vary in quality and as they get larger their black levels and color accuracy begin to degrade.
Freel free to email evan@symphonysound.com with questions or comments.
