Your decision should be fairly easy from here; you’ve one of two ways to go: LCD or plasma.  Let’s take a look at their histories to better understand these technologies.

Plasma televisions came to market prior to LCD, thus “plasma” became the word to define a thin, wall-mountable television.  Although all plasmas are flat-panels, not all flat-panel TVs are plasmas.  LCD is the other type of flat-panel display and has since caught up to plasma and maintained a strong hold on market share.

LCD televisions are lighter, cheaper, use less power, and do not suffer from “burn in,” where a static image displayed too long on the screen would “burn” into the glass of the TV leaving a noticeable “watermark” on the viewing surface.

When LCD televisions were introduced, they did not suffer the same “burn-in” effects, and became favored in the eyes of the public and upset plasma owners.  LCDs are not without their flaws, however.  Initially, LCDs could not produce the life-like colors like those of plasma because the backlight would seep through to wash-out colors, reducing its capability to produce rich blacks.  They were also more expensive with slower response times for fast-moving images found in video games and sports.  The viewing angles were also very limited, forcing viewers to sit directly in front of the TV at eye level to see its image.

Since the early flat-panel days, both LCD and plasma have corrected their mistakes.  Unfortunately for plasma however, their reputation of being susceptible to “burn-in” never really faded, allowing LCD to reap the rewards.  As more and more manufacturers adopted LCD as their flat-panel preference, they became cheaper to produce and are now comparable, if not cheaper, than plasmas of equal size.

So today, there are large varieties of LCDs ranging in size from 9 to 108-inches, while only a few plasmas remain in the 37 to 50-inch range.  Both technologies now have negligible differences in contrast ratios, longevity, viewing angles, and “screen door effect”, or pixilation, at close range.

The major differences that remain between LCD and plasma today are:

•    LCDs are lighter than their plasma equivalents
•    LCD provides much more variety in both manufacturer and size options
•    LCDs use less power
•    LCDs do not generate as much heat during use

Take these items into consideration when deciding upon your next flat-panel purchase; and remember - there will always be new advances to make LCD and plasma flat-panel TVs better, and perhaps new technologies altogether.  Be sure to check back often for updates.

The following pages contain our LCD and plasma television reviews, other expert reviews and user reviews.  Each product is ranked on an overall best value score and displayed in the easy to use side-by-side comparison chart.  At TopTenREVIEWS— We do the research so you don’t have to.