Whats better? Plasma TV, LCD TV, or LED TV?

OLED

They are all good tv's, it's your own personal usage that will dictate what's better. Go to a retail store and demo the product and spend at less 15 minutes each on each one and write the pro's and con's. Here's a few facts, Pioneer Elite plasma is the best TV in the market, but the price for a 50" is in the $5,000 range. LCD and LED suffers from motion blurnes on fast action sports, 120 HZ and 240 HZ does minimize the problem but also comes at a higher price. LED price is higher than the LCD. LCD and LED does consume less energy but not noticeable if you don't watch tv more than 5 hours a day. TV's displayed at retail store are adjusted to the max for better picture due to the amount of light in the store. Go online to Home Theater Magazine and read reviews on Plasma, LCD and soon LED. I personnal have 2 Plasma TV's in my home and no complain at all. High definition or full high def. 720P or 1080P, you won't be able to tell the difference on tv screen small than 46" and the 1080P is at extra cost. Blue Ray disc movies are the only source of 1080P in the market now. If you watch alot of movies (dvd or Blue ray) and watch sports the Plasma tv is better, LCD is better if you use it to play games from your computer or games console. Your own eyes are the best judge.

Well, each one is good at doing its own thing.

Plasma is good at displaying black, and has excellent color fidelity and response time, translating to a better overall picture. Viewing angle is also excellent. However, they consume quite a bit of electricity, produce more heat, are not available in smaller sizes, and are more difficult to make in 1080p (meaning 1080p models are expensive)

LCD tends to be expensive, but is can easily be designed to display very high resolutions and offers good brightness. They're also lightweight and thin. But they have limited contrast and black levels, and color fidelity isn't always great. Response time is limited, so many manufacturers have introduced models with 120 Hz refresh rates in order to HELP alleviate this problem (though it by no means eliminates it).

LED is just an LCD that uses a LED backlight instead of a fluorescent one. This means they can be built even thinner, but are even more expensive. They're pretty much the same as LCD's in performance except they offer much better color fidelity.

My first choice: The CRT. Seriously. My second choice: Plasma.

It all depends on your tastes.

Plasmas have near instantaneous response times; ideal for fast action, offer deeper blacks (which also increases color reproduction accuracy), higher viewing angle, and vibrant colors. Plasmas are the cheapest displays at 42" and above when compared to LCDs. Evidentally, companies don't makes plasmas less than 42". Issues are that they are heavier than LCDs, and brightness will go down with time; generally after 60, 000 hours. Not a big deal). Issues that are near-obsolete are phosphor burn-in, power consumption, and glare on the screen. Get if you want a home theatre, play a lot of video games, watch a lot of movies, if you like watching TV in a dark room or if your TV is going to be in a dark room, or if you use the TV with lots of people.

There are two types of LCDs: CCFL-based (older technology) and LED-based (newer technology). In general though, LCDs are VERY thin and light. LCDs reflect little to no light and are not susceptible to glare; ideal for viewing in (well-)lit areas. They also have slightly lower power usage over plasmas, and are cheaper than plasmas at under 42". Drawbacks are that LCDs have inaccurate Black level reproduction; blacks tend to look dark gray (varies with different displays); lower color accuracy because of this, lower response time; images show motion blur or ghost trails in fast moving footage. Issues that are near-obsolete are poor viewing angles. While still inferior to CRTs and plasmas, they are improving. Get if you like watching TV alone or with fewer people, if you like watching in a lit room or if your TV is going to be in a lit room, if you want a TV less than 42", or if you would likely use the TV as a monitor frequently.

CCFL based LCDs are in every way inferior to LED based LCDs. Except that they are cheaper.

LED-based LCDs brings LCDs incredibly close to plasma level quality. They offer [almost] everything a plasma does, without the drawbacks of both technologies, and have a thin screen (~6mm!) to boot. Also very stylish. Expect price to go down after technology gets adopted. Major drawbacks are in pricing because it's a fairly recent technology and the fragility of the TV (might be beneficial to keep away from children and similar). It costs more than both CCFL-based LCDs and plasmas for the same size. Get if you just like LCDs, the thin screen, or if it's cheaper than alternatives. If you can get a good LED TV, you can get a great plasma for cheaper.

Brands:

I would say for PDPs, Panasonic and Pioneer (if you can find it).

For LCDs, LG, Samsung, Sharp, Sony.

For LEDs, Samsung all the way, or Sony.

lcd in my opinion is best. plasmas consume a lot of power, get very hot, and sometime have image blur in even though they say "new" technology prevents that. LED is virtually the same as lcd but uses slightly less power and are a tad and i mean a tad thinner. I have a samsung 52 inch lcd 850 series tv and it rocks. the same version from samsung in the LED model was about 1200 more. Price wise and picture qua

LCD is absolutly the best even know the don't have as good picture it's still usually really good. Plasma's also have like a "life" on them meaning that after a while they start to de-grade and they start to get like lines on them and stuff.

LED will be the best once the prices comes down. It will have all of the benefits of LCD and none of the drawbacks. Black levels will be awesome. There won't be any motion blur that you can experience with LCD's either.

at this time LCD tv's are better but, im sure if you wait at least 2-3 years the TV technology will be so much better, and it will be worth the wait!

The best is LCD TV. As it consume less power than Plasma TV.

As for LED TV, its consider new.

All of the above answers are completely biased. To be honest, there is no definite answer to the issue. It really just depends on what qualities you want in a TV. It is true that in previous years there were distinct differences between Plasma and LCD televisions, but manufacturers have nearly closed the gap between the two.

Plasma TVs are generally cheaper for larger models. Modern plasma and LCD TVs have nearly identical picture capabilities, but company and model does make a difference, as well as pixel capability, of course.

Recently made plasmas don't suffer from image burn like they used to either. They can go for days with the same image (such as video game hud's) without burning into the screen, and often the simple changing of the channel will clear out any signs of burn. Just to be sure though, you shouldn't leave the same image for more than 6 hours without changing the channel or turning the TV off.

Because the screens on plasma TVs are softer that LCD screens, manufacturers often put glass over the screen, which causes glare. LCDs barely have any glare.

Plasmas are typically heavier than LCDs, but not by but a few pounds.

The refresh rate of a TV is a very important issue. Most LCD TVs have a 60hz (hertz) refresh rate. This means that the screen has the ability to refresh itself at a rate of 60 times a second. As quick as this may sound, fast moving images, such as on video games or action movies may look blurry or like they're juttering. Different medias are filmed at different frames per second. I won't go into it now, but this affects something called the 3:2 pulldown ratio. Simply put, when watching or playing certain things... for every 3 refreshes the screen makes, it shows one of them twice. This causes a clearly visible blur or jutter.

More recent LCDs have 120hz refresh rates, while even newer ones have 240hz. For the same screen size, we're talking about an extra thousand dollars for the difference between 60hz and 240hz. I HIGHLY recommend anything higher than 60hz. 120hz are coming down in price and trust me, it's worth it. 120hz gives a more fluid display.

Most good plasmas have a refresh rate of 600hz or more, so refresh rate shouldn't be an issue. Make sure that you don't get a 60hz plasma from walmart though. It will look bad.

Years ago, there was a big difference between the colors of LCD and Plasmas. Plasmas always had darker, inkier blacks, and the darker colors looked more real. Again, LCD and plasma manufacturers have all but closed the gap between picture quality between the two. AGAIN I want to stress that the company and model DO make a difference. You can't just compare any plasma and any LCD side by side to make your decision.

LCD's typically use less power than plasmas.

Many older plasma TVs had a short lifespan compared to older LCD TVs. It used to be around 30,000 hours compared to about 50-60,000 for LCD. Like I said, manufacturers have done their jobs, and both types of TVs are about 60,000 hours. Some plasmas last longer than that now. Lifespan isn't defined as how many hours until the screen gives out. It's how many hours until the screen is half as bright as when the TV was new. After 60,000 hours, the TV is still watchable and will still look good. You may have to adjust the picture to be brighter to make up for the dimness, assuming you haven't moved on to a new TV by then.

There are more features to consider when buying a TV, but these are really the main ones. I've done a lot of research on many types of TVs since they first became popular, so this isn't just some copied and pasted note, or someone's opinion.

I know I sound like a broken record, but compare all brands and all models. It makes a big difference. Make sure not to rely on specs only, as many manufacturers like to distort the figures to make the TV seem better than it really is. You should ask around, and look at the TV for yourself if possible. Don't rely on what the picture looks like in the store either. Many of them were just taken out of the box and turned on for display, not set up properly.

I hate to say it, but I don't know too much about LED TVs. According to Wikipedia, "LED TVs are different from LCD TVs in 3 critical areas important to the consumer: 1- they have a crisper and brighter picture and produce deeper blacks. 2- they are extremely slim and lightweight and can be hung like a picture. 3- they use less electricity and do not use toxic mercury in their manufacture." That's about all the help I can give you on that. I do know that they're a fair bit more expensive too.

I hope this helps you. I know that this is a huge investment for you, and I wouldn't want you to suffer from buyers remorse. Take a lot of time to research the TV you want, and when you finally find one you think you want... research it some more. Constantly compare the specs of that TV to other TVs of the same type, evaluating value and picture quality. Look at that TV for yourself before you buy it. Again, do not get a TV that has anything less than a 120hz refresh rate. You will regret it. (If it doesn't say, it's probably 60).

Good luck!

Plasma looks the best, is generally cheaper, and does not have motion blur. I might be biased though because I have a plasma and it looks great.