Comparison of CRT, LCD, plasma, and OLED displays

This is a page that lists advatages and disadvantages with CRT, OLED, LCD and Plasma.

Comparison

Pros:

High dynamic range (up to around 15,000:1),^[1] excellent color, wide gamut and low black level. The color range of CRTs is unmatched by any display type except OLED.
Can display natively in almost any resolution and refresh rate
No input lag
No ghosting and smearing artifacts during fast motion due to sub-millisecond response times, and impulse based operation.
Near zero color, saturation, contrast or brightness distortion.
Allows the use of light guns/pens
Excellent viewing angle

Cons:

Large size and weight, especially for bigger screens (a 20-inch unit weighs about 50 lb (23 kg))
High power consumption
Generates a considerable amount of heat when running
Geometric distortion caused by variable beam travel distances
Can suffer screen burn-in
Produces noticeable flicker at low refresh rates.
Normally only produced in 4:3 aspect ratio (though some widescreen ones, notably Sony's FW900, do exist)
Hazardous to repair/service
Effective vertical resolution limited to 1024 scan lines.
Color displays cannot be made in sizes smaller than 7 inches (5 inches for monochrome). Maximum size is around 24 inches (for computer monitors; televisions run up to 60 inches).

Pros:

Cons:

Limited viewing angle, causing color, saturation, contrast and brightness to vary, even within the intended viewing angle, by variations in posture.
Bleeding and uneven backlighting in some monitors, causing brightness distortion, especially toward the edges.
Smearing and ghosting artifacts during fast motion caused by slow response times (2-8 ms) and "sample and hold" operation.
Only one native resolution. Displaying resolutions either requires a video scaler, lowering perceptual quality, or display at 1:1 pixel mapping, in which images will be physically too large or won't fill the whole screen.
Fixed bit depth, many cheaper LCDs are only able to display 262,000 colors. 8-bit S-IPS panels can display 16 million colors and have significantly better black level, but are expensive and have slower response time
Input lag
Dead pixels may occur either during manufacturing or through use.
In a constant on situation, thermalization may occur, which is when only part of the screen has overheated and therefore looks discolored compared to the rest of the screen.
Not all LCD displays are designed to allow easy replacement of the backlight
Cannot be used with light guns/pens

Pros:

High contrast ratios (10,000:1 or greater,) excellent color, and low black level.
Virtually no response time
Near zero color, saturation, contrast or brightness distortion. Excellent viewing angle.
No geometric distortion.
Softer and less blocky-looking picture than LCDs
Highly scalable, with less weight gain per increase in size (from less than 30 in (760 mm) wide to the world's largest at 150 in (3,800 mm)).

Cons:

Large pixel pitch, meaning either low resolution or a large screen. As such, color plasma displays are only produced in sizes over 32 inches.
Image flicker due to being phosphor-based
Heavy weight
Glass screen can induce glare and reflections
High operating temperature and power consumption
Only has one native resolution. Displaying other resolutions requires a video scaler, which degrades image quality at lower resolutions.
Fixed bit depth. Plasma cells can only be on or off, resulting in a more limited color range than LCDs or CRTs.
Can suffer image burn-in. This was a severe problem on early plasma displays, but much less on newer ones
Cannot be used with light guns/pens
Dead pixels are possible during manufacturing

Pros:

Cons: