Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) televisions now range from small desktop models 15-inch designs right up to 70-inch widescreen mammoths complete with embedded speaker units and TV tuners. For LCD screens which are smaller than 32 inch from corner to opposite corner a High Definition LCD TV are still sold throughout the market place at a high premium cost.

A 28-inch HDTV LCD can be found on the market place for as low as £250.00. For larger display sizes of 52 inches and bigger and LCD will be priced competitively in comparison to a plasma screen. With some LCD television prices falling by as much as 25 percent over the course of a year.

In terms of picture quality LCD screens are continuing to improve however they don't feature the same level of quality as plasma screens which use a range of gases to form the image. The contrast ratio is often poorer in LCD screens. This is generally because they struggle to form jet black and darker grays than plasma televisions. The response time is also much slower and reduced in comparison to plasma screens. This slow reaction which can be counted in milliseconds forms a ghosting of high speed images such as sport or video games. However, this blurring has improved along with the development of faster and more powerful processors.

LCDs are often much thicker than plasma screens and have a less defined viewing angle. However, LCD screens are safe from burn in and easier to view in bright room. LCDs are also operate at a cooler temperature than plasma screens which reducing the requirement for a fan to be used to control the heat of the television.

Another recent improvement in the development of LCD screens is the refresh rate which is based on the amount of times the visual output of the television is refreshed. A common standard is 50 to 70 refreshes a second or 50-70 hertz. The best performing LCD televisions can reach as high as 120 times a second. This rate helps to eliminate the ghosting rate which causes blurring of fast moving images.

In summary, LCD screens have developed massively over the last five years and now become a mainstay of the home technology products.