If you're considering buying a new television, then one of the first decisions you'll have to make is whether to buy a plasma or lcd television. What's the difference? Technically speaking, plasma uses thousands of tiny gas cells, whereas LCD uses liquid crystal cells.

Most critics agree that plasma TVs produce a better picture, they are able to display more colours and deeper blacks and whites. They also have a faster response time, which means plasma screens do not suffer from as severe ghosting as LCD.

I recently tested a large LCD TV, and with fast moving sequences you will occasionally notice a ghost like blur around people on screen. Somewhat like a complete body halo. Plasma screens are also cheaper at larger sizes, you will notice that 50-70 inch plasma screens are considerably cheaper than their LCD counterparts.

However, it does appear that LCD is slowly gaining the upper hand on plasma. Most retailers seem to be stocking more LCD telelvisions, the reason being the high definition revolution. LCD can handle higher resolutions, so anyone wanting to get the maximum resolution performance out of their new HD set top box, ps3 or xbox 360 will want an LCD screen.

LCD also uses a considerably lower amount of power, upto 30% less, and they do not suffer from static image burn, important for computer gamers who pause their action from time to time.

Overall, if you're after a very large television, which will be primarily used for films and dvds then I'd pick plasma, but, if you're looking for a 32-40 inch screen to play movies and video games, then I'd pick LCD. Ultimately, however, if you're buying a top of the line plasma or lcd televisions, you'll be had pressed to notice a difference.