If you look at the "shootout" you can see the brightness is significantly greater with the LCDs they used than the plasma (see Table 1).:
http://www.displaymate.com/LCD_Plasma_ShootOut.htm
While the MAX setting shows a greater difference in brightness, with backlight settings at MAX, the article states even after calibrating them to be about even that, "this is actually a bit on the high side for low ambient light viewing without causing eye strain, but is still lower than the settings many consumers are likely to use".
Otherwise, sheesh the plasma blows em all away!
Viewing angle, absolutely no contest.
contrast, absolutely no contest, MORE THAN DOUBLE the
BEST LCD.
EDIT: and then offaxis it's like stoopid different
Panasonic Plasma
3,842/3,502
Samsung LCD
1,877/462
Sharp LCD
1,330/174
Sony LCD
1,344/467
(and the above numbers are only at 45 degrees!!!!!!!)
able to calibrate the closest to 6500K.
IOW, if you are more than two seats wide, get a plasma. If you have any decent light control, whatsoever, get a plasma. If you're mounting above a fireplace, get a plasma. If you ever lie on the floor, get a plasma. If you want the best black detail, get a plasma. If you want the best contrast, get a plasma. If you want the most accurate colors, get a plasma.
If you flood your viewing space with tremendous amounts of ambient light, and yet somehow still consider yourself a videophile, I guess LCD could enter the contest. You're still not going to enjoy good blacks, nor contrast, no matter what you do with tremendous amounts of ambient light, however.
Also, people are careless, so any possibility of burn-in should be avoided by such people.
I can't believe people still talk about burn-in. I don't think you could burn in a modern plasma, even if you tried. Well, you'd have to try to even come close. Like, leave it on a static image for a week or two straight.
My brother's plasma is left on static images quite often. Never even experienced any retention at all. In the manual, there is absolutely nothing written about any kind of break-in period to avoid retention, let alone burn in. It's plug and play and enjoy.
I've said this before here, and it will sound terrible, but really just for ease of discrimination, I basically disregard any PQ review of any movie title, if the person is using an LCD. That's how great the divide is in performance, IMO.
I've never once owned a plasma, nor LCD, and my only display is a front projector.
