Comparison of CRT, LCD, Plasma, and OLED

Further information: Comparison of display technology

Parameter	CRT	LCD	Plasma	OLED
Brightness	Some compensate for ambient light	Very poor in direct sunlight without reflective design (battery powered devices); uneven backlighting in older models; low temperatures can cause dimming or blackout	Some panels are highly reflective, should be used in a dark environment for optimum picture quality	Poor in bright ambient light; white color dimmer than LCDs of same brightness
Contrast	Over 15,000:1	Over 1,000:1	Over 20,000:1	Over 1,000,000:1
Color	Excellent	Good on most newer models	Excellent	Vivid and wide gamut, blue OLED degrades faster than other colors so manufacturers may overdrive the blue LEDs to compensate, causing oversaturated colors organic materials decay over time (2011)
Color depth	Unlimited	Up to 68 × 109	68 × 109
Black level	Excellent	Poor due to bleed through	Excellent	Excellent
Ghosting and smearing	No ghosting or smearing artifacts; slightly blurry; halo may appear around objects with high contrast to background	Display motion blur on models with slow response time, and the elimination technique (strobing backlight) can cause eye-strain	None even during fast motion, advancements in 3D have eliminated phosphor trailing due to the use of fast-switching phosphors	None even during fast motion
Response time	Sub-milisecond	1–8 ms typical (according to manufacturer data), older units could be as slow as 35 ms	Sub-millisecond	Sub-millisecond
Frame rate	60–85 fps typically, some CRTs can go even higher ("200 fps at reduced resolution"); internally, display refreshed at input frame rate speed	60 or 75 fps typically; internally, display usually refreshed at 200 Hz	60 fps typically, some can do 120 fps; internally, display refreshed at eg. 480 or 600 Hz
Environmental influences	Magnetic fields may cause distortion or shimmer, earth's magnetic fields may cause distortion	Low temperatures can cause slow response, high temperatures can cause poor contrast	High altitude pressure difference may cause poor function or buzzing noises	UV exposure can damage, water can damage organic materials
Flicker and eyestrain	Part of the screen always lit during refreshes; flicker noticeable at refresh rates below 85 Hz	Depends; as of 2013, most LCDs use PWM (strobing) to dim the backlight which can cause severe eyestrain for some people although the flicker isn't visible because it is normally done at 200 Hz or faster	Poor due to phosphor based but improving in newer models	Part of the screen always lit during refreshes due to multiplexing
Aging	yes	yes	yes	yes, different colors age at very different rates
Weight	Heavy, especially for larger units, a 20 inches (51 cm) screen weighs about 50 pounds (23 kg)	Light	Heavy, however, less weight gain per size increase	Very light
Size	Bulky depth, 7" smallest possible for color screen, over 40" is very heavy	Compact, can be manufactured almost any size and shape, very thin allowing mounted distance to user for less focusing-related eyestrain	Up to 150"(3.8m)	Compact, can be made in nearly any size or shape.
Energy consumption and heat generation	High	Low with CCFL backlight 30–50% of CRT, with LED backlight 10–25% of CRT	Varies with brightness but usually higher than LCD	Varies with brightness but usually lower than LCD (except when displaying a lot of white area)
Screen burn-in	Yes, the reason screensavers became popular	Discoloring may occur due to thermalization, but usually it is not permanent; dead or stuck pixels may occur in manufacturing or usage	Severe in early models, dead or stuck pixels may occur in manufacturing or usage	Yes, dead or stuck pixels may occur in manufacturing or usage
Maintenance	Hazardous to repair or service due to high-voltage, requires skilled convergence calibration and adjustments for geographic location changes	Difficult to replace backlight
Is compatible with Light pens or guns	Yes	No	No	No
Electro-magnetic radiation emission	Emits strong electromagnetic radiation in the audio-frequency to low-frequency RF range (from the electron beam deflection coils)	Emits very little electromagnetic radiation	Emits strong radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation	Emits very little electromagnetic radiation
Other	No native resolution. Currently, the only display technology capable of multi-syncing (displaying different resolutions and refresh rates without the need for scaling). Display lag is extremely low due to its nature, which does not have the ability to store image data before output, unlike LCDs, plasma displays and OLED displays.	The LCD grid can mask effects of spatial and grayscale quantization, creating the illusion of higher image quality. Many newer models are powered by an external 12V power supply (for thinness), and could (with a special cable) be connected directly to the computer's power supply, possibly saving power, desk space and wall-outlet space	Screen-door effects are more noticeable than LCD when up close, or on larger sizes; fragile and required to be upright to avoid screen collapse	No backlight needed, can be fabricated on flexible plastic substrates for flexible displays

References

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