LCD and DLP are two new and different imaging technologies for flat screen TVs. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display and DLP stands for Digital Light Processing. Both produce accurate and sharp images. The differences are in display, price and performance. The DLP system was developed by Texas Instruments, and it uses a DMD (digital micromirror device) chip, which is composed of over a million microscopic mirrors, or pixels. These mirrors are activated when they receive a digital signal, and they either tilt toward or away from the light source. This controls the light and dark reflection. The colors are produced when the light goes through a spinning color wheel of red, green and blue, which produces many shades of vibrant colors that generate clear, sharp and vivid images. Both DLP and LCD television screens are slim and lightweight.
LCD screens are made of three polarized glass panels, one red, one blue and one green. Liquid crystal molecules run between the panels. The molecules change their angle from open to closed and partly closed as an electric current passes through them, enabling different levels of light to pass through. The colored light passes through the glass panels and the liquid crystals control the level of color necessary for the image projected on the screen.
Both DLP and LCD systems have excellent image quality, and one is not necessarily better than the other. There are advantages and limitations to each. The DLP system is especially good for watching fast-paced TV, like sports or action scenes, because of the fast pixel switching of the mirrors. The LCD screens may have better color contrast, but to view with the best colors you have to watch LCD TVs while looking straight-on at the screen. They also have a slightly shorter life-span.