2. Colour and contrast
LCDs are known for their vibrant, lively colour reproduction while plasmas are generally associated with more accurate, true-to-life colours. While LCDs might provide immediate wow power, hang around for a while and the real-world warmth of plasma display might become your preference.
Plasmas produce a wider range of colours than LCDs. While general colour-palette comparisons come out at 16.2 million for LCDs versus 16.7 million for plasma, Hitachi's new range of plasmas produces up to 68.6 billion colours.
Verdict: No winners on this point, it's just a matter of personal preference
Contrast ratio and brightness
Contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest bright and the darkest dark. The greater that difference, the more depth and realism an image will have. That's why the ability of a TV to display black is so important – think of a nighttime scene: how much detail can you see in the scene or is it just a murk?
Brightness describes how vivid and intense the colours in an image appear.
Without doubt, LCD puts on a brighter show than plasma. If you do a lot of daytime watching this could be important. But that said, the subtler, more film-like 'truth' of plasma colour reproduction is enormously appealing.
Although LCD may be brighter, they have a lower contrast ratio than plasmas. This helps plasmas produce more detail (particularly in the dark areas) than LCDs. How obvious this difference is varies model by model.
Verdict: LCD wins on brightness but plasma is king of contrast.
Blacklevels
Even in the blackest part of an image there is often detail that adds to the overall richness of the picture. Neither LCD or plasma match the black level of conventional CRT but things are getting better all the time. LCDs have a backlit display and black tends to reproduce as a dark charcoal. Plasma technology comes closer to displaying a true black and is a clear winner here although the difference is narrowing all the time.
Verdict: Plasma wins on black levels.