Most televisions, like plasmas and rear projection sets, work by creating light but Liquid crystal display (LCD) works by filtering it. This difference results in low voltage use, allowing LCD to use less electricity and generate less heat than other televisions. LCD TVs are not without their limitations, such as size limitations that cause them to be more expensive than plasma televisions with the same dimensions.

Flat screen televisions are so popular in part, because they are much lighter and thinner than direct view and rear projection TVs. An LCD television is the lightest of them all, weighing less than a plasma television of the same screen size. Using a TV for tailgating and other outdoor activities requires something easy to move, making an LCD TV the perfect choice. Like plasma TVs, you can mount an LCD television on nearly any surface, giving you a great deal of flexibility.

LCD televisions give you unrivaled screen brightness and brilliant color definition. However, because an LCD television filters light rather than create it the black level is not as deep as plasma or even CRT displays.

Some light will always pass through causing the best blacks to be very dark grays. Moreover, due to the manner in which light passes through the LCD cell, comparable plasma TVs usually have a wider viewing angle.

Plasma and other style TVs can be affected by room lighter easier than LCD televisions, which generally include a non-reflective face. A drawback of LCD is its current inability to process motion as well as plasma televisions do. In addition, 50Hz LCD televisions are susceptible to ghosting, which is when the motion leaves a blur trail. A 100Hz LCD television displays images twice and face so does not suffer from this drawback but are far more expensive than the 50Hz models.

Poor picture quality while displaying analog and standard digital signals is a problem for all HDTVs. LCD televisions generally struggle with lower definition signals than plasmas do. High quality up-scaling chips are improving the situation by processing the low-resolution signal and converting it into the LCD TV's native resolution. The process smoothes motion, preserves detail, and prevents artifacts. This up-scaled picture on newer LCD TVs looks great but still not as good as on a plasma TV.

Plasma televisions, unlike LCD TVs, are susceptible to burn-in, which could be a point of consideration for those using the TV to display a PC or console. Static images can create burn-in, leaving a permanent impression or shadow on the screen. The industry has made advancements and televisions are not as susceptible to burn-in as they once were.

Over time phosphor, wear will cause the light output of a plasma TV to fade while a great benefit of LCD is that its light output will be constant for the sets lifespan. Much ado has been made about LCD TV light source life spans but the truth is that you will get ten years of use in the worst-case scenario. In closing, the strengths of LCD technology give it long-term viability and the industry is quickly closing in on an LCD TV without the limitations described above.