Answer:
Plasma uses gas plasma cells charged by precise electrical voltages to create a picture.
LCD screens (liquid crystal display) are in layman's terms sandwiches made up of liquid crystal pushed in the space between two glass plates. Images are created by varying the amount of electrical charge applied to the crystals
Here are pros & cons of each for your decision
Pros of Plasma
- Better contrast ratio
- better ability to render deep blacks, more color depth,
- better motion tracking (response time)
- more availability in very large screen sizes.
Cons of Plasma
- more susceptible to burn-in (although this is not as much of a factor now, due to technology improvements in the past few years)
- more heat generation (as well as more power consumption)
- screen glare in brightly lit rooms
- heavier weight, and more delicate to ship.
Good brand that I would recommend for Plasma is Panasonic or Samsung and good model for around $1000 that I would suggest is Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-P46S1 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UAD100?ie=UTF8&tag=computer0bd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001UAD100
Pros of LCD
- LCD television advantages include no burn-in susceptibility
- cooler running
- less screen glare, more functional at high altitudes
- longer display life (although improvements are being made in Plasma screen life)
- looks better in brightly lit rooms
- less power consumption than Plasma.
Cons of LCD
- Lower contrast ratio
- not as good rendering deep blacks
- not as good at tracking motion (although this is improving, especially with the implementation of 120Hz refresh rates (and some now offer 240Hz) on higher-end models).
Good brand for LCD that I would recommend is Samsung or Sony, good model for around $1000 is Samsung LN46B550 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UE6HPM?ie=UTF8&tag=computer0bd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001UE6HPM
