Picture Quality - Plasma TV Picture quality examined

Also see : Plasma TV Comparison Charts | Plasma TV Installation | Plasma TV Resolution | Plasma TV Advantages | Plasma TV Maintenance

What makes that stunning picture on a Plasma TV or screen?

The plasma-based television / TV tube means it doesn't work like a conventional TV firing electrons - instead the Plasma television sets operate with the changing of gas into plasma to produce an image on the plasma screen. This is all done in an incredibily controlled state within the plasma TV unit - perfectly safe of course, in fact safer than firing an electronic from one end of a box to another (how your conventional TV works).

Plasma TV tubes incorporate the highest quality in flat glass for plasma televisions. Every screen is perfectly flat and that adds to the depth within the picture. More importantly, the fantastic viewing angles available with a plasma TV mean that they surpass LCD TV and Projection Televisions for viewability. Even if you are at sitting to the far left side or right side of the plasma TV screen, you will still see a great image.



What makes the best plasma TV picture image - plasma TV tube or plasma TV electronics?

The plasma screen/tube is indeed important, but there is a much of a sameness in plasma TV tube manufacturing - being specialised there are <10 facilities worldwide which manufacture plasma TV screens, the plasma TV tube specifications only vary specifically by resolution as a rule.

You will notice resolutions : 800x600, 1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024 and so on. The higher numbers mean the sharper and clearer the image will be. This is the main differential in plasma TV picture quality. A higher resolution will be essentiall when using your plasma TV screen with a PC computer.

Also, importantly the plasma TV electronics inside differ greatly. The video DAC is at the heart of the plasma TV and determines quality of image, sharpness and colour hues greatly. We have found the best video plasma DACs to be in the Sony and Pioneer plasma TV units.

The video DAC becomes more critical as you increase the size of your plasma TV as more detail can be seen. If picture quality is your criteria then we suggest a minimum of 1024 plasma TV resolution with a very good plasma TV DAC.


Plasma TV contrast ratio

The plasma TV screen contrast ratio is the measure of the brightest luminance the plasma TV screen can achieve against the darkest luminance. The darkest luminance is important to the plasma TV screen image because blacks will be truer to their real colour, rather than appearing grey and washed out.

You can use the plasma TV screen contrast ratio as an approximate measure of how the image will appear in different lighting conditions. The higher it is, the better the contrast, although the measurement process is open to some different interpretations by different manufacturers.

We have found the Sony and NEC plasma TV units to have particularly good contrast ratios.

Plasma TV Picture quality summary

- Plasma TV / screens quality is determined primarily by resolution e.g.1024x768. There is little difference in the plasma tv tubes.

- Plasma TV video DAC is very important and will produce the best plasma tv colour results / low signal degregation. The latest plasma TV sets incorporate the best plasma screen DACs available.

- Plasma TV contrast ratio plays a role also, should you be watching dark scenes or using the screen in a dimly lit area then this will be of importance.

- where picture quality of your plasma TV display unit is critical, we recommend Sony, Pioneer and Panasonic plasma units for best quality, staying with a higher resolution of 1024+ for best plasma TV picture reproduction.