GlennT,

The simplest explanation of difference between LCD and Plasma screens would be the following:

Plasma screens have better contrast, and black level then LCD screens.

LCD screens have better resolution, lower power consumption and lower prices then comparable sized plasma screens.

Beside that, plasma screens are more alike CRT in a way that they might exhibit ghosting effect (burned pixels if the same picture stays on screen for very long time), and they also suffer from picture quality degradation with time (after couple years the light level drops, similar as with projection lamps).

It should be noticed that both type of screens doesn't behave the same when in different lighting situations (outdoor, indoor etc.)

To sum it up, plasma screen are considered to be better then LCD screens, but because of the competition, there are constant upgrades of both technologies.

Also, notice that high quality LCD might perform better then lover quality plasma screen. And if TV signal is of low quality, there is no TV set in the world that would make it look good on any type of screen.

Good luck.