LCD TVs have a florescent backlight that sends light through a polarizing substrate and liquid crystal molecules. LCD TVs work with green, red and blue pixels. When electric current is applied to the pixels, they darken and stop the backlight from coming through. LCD displays can serve as computer displays with a conventional analog VGA input; it is a good way to save budget and space. LCD displays are thin and lightweight and have excellent longevity.

Plasma screens are a network of green, red and blue phosphors placed between two slender layers of glass. Natural gases neon, xenon and argon are used to produce the information, light and color. These gases fade over time. Unlike LCDs, Plasma screens have no backlight or projection; the phosphors give a bright, rich-in-color display along with a broad viewing angle. When plasma screens first entered the market, they gained instant attention for their large screen sizes and flat presentation. Presently, there are some screens over 80", and big plasma televisions generally gives a sharp picture. The drawback is that plasma displays are power hungry, and, its fragile makes means that it needs to be professionally installed, especially when it has to be mounted on a wall. Though thin, Plasma displays are quite heavy.

LCD screens are starting to catch up with plasma technology in the market, with companies coming up with bigger (55" and more) and cheaper models. LCDs are usually inferior to plasma technology when it comes to viewing angles (particularly older versions which have narrow angles) and contrast ratios, though they have worked on the "blur" effect, or the slow refreshing of pictures in the latest models. However, LCDs are developing at a distinctly quicker pace compared to their competition.

Plasma technology could be completely overtaken by LCDs in the near future. It would take a massive effort for plasma displays to keep up with the ever-improving LCDs in terms of longevity, contrast ratio, brightness, etc.