A Comparison of DLP vs LCD vs Plasma TV Technology

What are the advantages of DLP technology compared with plasma technology?

At larger screen sizes, TVs based on DLP technology are much more affordable, yet are slim, lightweight and visually attractive. DLP technology also offers superior picture quality; no phosphor "burn in" or fade; and a longer product lifetime.
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DLP televisions have a bulb that creates the light on the screen. This bulb is replaceable (around $250) which means that your DLP television set should provide a quality picture for a long period of time. Where both the Plasma and LCD televisions will degrade over time.

DLP provides the best size to dollar ratio. For the money, DLP provides the highest quality and largest television you can buy. If you are able to find a cheaper Plasma of the same size, it is very unlikely that the picture quality will not be comparable to the DLP of a similar price.

DLP produces a very good consistent picture. That is expected, why is that an advantage you ask? Reasoning is that although a Plasma may produce better color saturation (how color looks, full, deep, etc.) and accuracy, the Plasma will fade over time. LCD has similar issues see DLP vs LCD for details. Therefore a TV that will provide a very good (Depending on brand and price of the same or better quality) picture for a long period of time at a reasonable price point is a good fit for the majority of consumers. Therefore, we expect this technology to gain in popularity. This increase in demand will drive the price down and provide even more of an advantage over other options.
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What are the advantages of DLP technology compared with LCD technology?
-Picture quality with DLP technology is superior, for the following reasons:
Higher Contrast: The simpler optical system reduces the unwanted effect of "stray" light, allowing for better contrast ratios, which means sharper, more detailed images.
Better Motion Reproduction: Pixel switching speeds in DLP technology are faster, allowing more accurate reproduction of fast-moving action without smear or ghosting.
More Film-like Images: The high "fill factor" of DLP technology creates images that are smoother and more film-like, compared with technologies where individual pixels in the image are clearly visible, creating a pixilated effect.
-It also has other advantages:
Digital: DLP technology is digital, as opposed to analog, so images are reproduced more accurately.
Reflective: DLP technology is reflective, as opposed to transmissive, which means that it is less susceptible to degradation caused by the absorption of light.
dlp.com

The abbreviation "DLP" stands for "Digital Light Processing". DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) micro processing chips manipulate the way a digital or graphic signal is reflected off of a multitude of tiny mirrors on the chip onto the screen producing an image. The DLP chip is probably the world's most sophisticated light switch. It contains a rectangular array of up to 2 million hinge-mounted microscopic mirrors. Each of these micromirrors measures less than one-fifth the width of a human hair.
The array of microscopic mirrors on a DLP chip reflects a digital light image through a projection lens onto a screen. The image that is produced is far more detailed and defined than any previous technology.
Color is produced when the digital light image is sent through a spinning color wheel. When only one DLP chip is used (which is the case for home theater systems) an array of millions of colors can be produced that far exceed the capability of previous technologies. In larger venues a three chip light prism system is used to create an array of trillions of color possibilities.
If you prefer to watch precise and seamless smooth motion, practically NO picture degradation, NO burn-in or fading, amazing color reproduction, incredible brightness, contrast, clarity, and picture reliability DLP technology is by far the best choice.
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To see a video of how this technology works watch this: DLP Technology

1990 LCD televisions produce a black and white image by selectively filtering a white light. The light is typically provided by a series of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) at the back of the screen, although some displays use white or colored LEDs instead. Millions of individual LCD shutters, arranged in a grid, open and close to allow a metered amount of the white light through. Each shutter is paired with a colored filter to remove all but the red, green or blue (RGB) portion of the light from the original white source. Each shutter-filter pair forms a single sub-pixel. The sub-pixels are so small that when the display is viewed from even a short distance, the individual colors blend together to produce a single spot of color, a pixel. The shade of color is controlled by changing the relative intensity of the light passing through the sub-pixels.

Liquid crystals encompass a wide range of (typically) rod-shaped polymers that naturally form into thin layers, as opposed to the more random alignment of a normal liquid. Some of these, the nematic liquid crystals, also show an alignment effect between the layers. The particular direction of the alignment of a nematic liquid crystal can be set by placing it in contact with an alignment layer or director, which is essentially a material with microscopic grooves in it. When placed on a director, the layer in contact will align itself with the grooves, and the layers above will subsequently align themselves with the layers below, the bulk material taking on the director's alignment. In the case of an LCD, this effect is utilized by using two directors arranged at right angles and placed close together with the liquid crystal between them. This forces the layers to align themselves in two directions, creating a twisted structure with each layer aligned at a slightly different angle to the ones on either side.

LCD shutters consist of a stack of three primary elements. On the bottom and top of the shutter are polarizer plates set at (typically) right angles. Normally light cannot travel through a pair of polarizers arranged in this fashion, and the display would be black. The polarizers also carry the directors to create the twisted structure aligned with the polarizers on either side. As the light flows out of the rear polarizer, it will naturally follow the liquid crystal's twist, exiting the front of the liquid crystal having been rotated through the correct angle that allows it to pass through the front polarizer. LCDs are normally transparent.

To turn a shutter off, an electrical voltage is applied across it from front to back. When this happens, the rod-shaped molecules align themselves with the electric field instead of the directors, destroying the twisted structure. The light no longer changes polarization as it flows through the liquid crystal, and can no longer pass through the front polarizer. By controlling the voltage applied across the crystal, the amount of remaining twist can be finely selected. This allows the transparency or opacity of the shutter to be accurately controlled. In order to improve switching time, the cells are placed under pressure, which increases the force to re-align themselves with the directors when the field is turned off.

Wikipedia.org

Plasma technology consists hundreds of thousands of individual pixel cells, which allow electric pulses (stemming from electrodes) to excite rare natural gases-usually xenon and neon-causing them to glow and, thus, produce light. Xenon and neon atoms, the atoms used in plasma screens, release light photons when they are excited. Mostly, these atoms release ultraviolet light photons, which are invisible to the human eye. But ultraviolet photons can be used to excite visible light photons, as we'll see in the next section. This light illuminates the proper balance of red, green, or blue phosphors contained in each cell to display the proper color sequence from the light. Each pixel cell is essentially an individual microscopic florescent light bulb, receiving instruction from software contained on the back electrostatic silicon board.

The xenon and neon gas in a plasma television is contained in hundreds of thousands of tiny cells positioned between two plates of glass. Long electrodes are also sandwiched between the glass plates, on both sides of the cells. The address electrodes sit behind the cells, along the rear glass plate. The transparent display electrodes, which are surrounded by an insulating dielectric material and covered by a magnesium oxide protective layer, are mounted above the cell, along the front glass plate.

Both sets of electrodes extend across the entire screen. The display electrodes are arranged in horizontal rows along the screen and the address electrodes are arranged in vertical columns. The vertical and horizontal electrodes form a basic grid.

To ionize the gas in a particular cell, the plasma display's computer charges the electrodes that intersect at that cell. It does this thousands of times in a small fraction of a second, charging each cell in turn.

When the intersecting electrodes are charged (with a voltage difference between them), an electric current flows through the gas in the cell. The current creates a rapid flow of charged particles, which stimulates the gas atoms to release ultraviolet photons.

The released ultraviolet photons interact with phosphor material coated on the inside wall of the cell. Phosphors are substances that give off light when they are exposed to other light. When an ultraviolet photon hits a phosphor atom in the cell, one of the phosphor's electrons jumps to a higher energy level and the atom heats up. When the electron falls back to its normal level, it releases energy in the form of a visible light photon.

The phosphors in a plasma display give off colored light when they are excited. Every pixel is made up of three separate subpixel cells, each with different colored phosphors. One subpixel has a red light phosphor, one subpixel has a green light phosphor and one subpixel has a blue light phosphor. These colors blend together to create the overall color of the pixel.

By varying the pulses of current flowing through the different cells, the control system can increase or decrease the intensity of each subpixel color to create hundreds of different combinations of red, green and blue. In this way, the control system can produce colors across the entire spectrum.

plasmatvscience.org

Choose (by clicking on the title of the item) any Top Selling HDTV you want to see pictures of, read reviews about, see specifications about and see customer ratings of.................

DLP HDTVs

Mitsubishi WD-60C9 60 Projection TV - 60 - DLP - 16:9 - 1920 x 1080 - HDTV - 1080i, 1080p

Mitsubishi WD-60737 60 Projection TV - 60 - DLP - 16:9 - 1920 x 1080 - HDTV - 1080p, 1080i

Mitsubishi WD-65C9 - 65 Widescreen 1080p DLP HDTV - 120Hz

Mitsubishi WD-65736 65 Projection TV - 65 - DLP - 16:9 - 1920 x 1080 - 1080i, 1080p

DLP HDTV Projectors

Mitsubishi HC3800 Digital Projector - 1920 x 1080 - 16:9 - 7.7lb - 2Year Warranty

BenQ W6000 DLP Projector

Optoma HD20 DLP Projector - 1920 x 1080 - 16:9 - 6.4lb

InFocus SP8602

LCD / LED HDTVs

Sony BRAVIA KDL-52V5100 52 Widescreen 1080p LCD HDTV - 120Hz - 50,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio

Philips 52PFL7403D 52-Inch 1080p LCD TV

Samsung / LN46A750 46" LCD TV / LN46A750

SHARP AQUOS LC-52LE700UN 52 LCD TV - 52 - ATSC - NTSC - 176 / 176 - 16:9 - 1920 x 1080 - HDTV - 1080p

Plasma HDTVs

Panasonic / Viera TH-58PZ800U 58" Plasma TV / TH-58PZ800U

Samsung PN63B590 Plasma TV - 63 - ATSC - 16:9 - 1920 x 1080 - Surround - HDTV - 1080p

LG 60PS80 - 60 Widescreen 1080p Plasma HDTV - 600Hz - 2,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio

Pioneer PRO 151FD - 60" Elite KURO plasma TV with built-in network media player - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV