During a press tour of Japan with Sony to see its 2012 AV product ranges, Pocket-lint has learnt that the UK is the last hold-out in the LCD versus plasma TV skirmish that has raged since both technologies were introduced to our shores.

According to the firm, the UK is the only significant market left in which plasma TVs sell well. We were quite surprised by that news, but even America, the home of the giant TV, doesn't care as much about the tech as it once did. Perhaps that is because, over time, LCDs have gradually matched the sizes of plasma televisions and, since LED backlighting arrived, improved in quality too.

The theory offered to us was that plasmas are popular in the UK because they offer such enormous value for money. And us Brits love a good bargain. When it comes to value and performance, plasma TVs can offer good picture quality for less cash than a big-screen, LED-backlit LCD.

However this may not be true for long. In some demos this week, Sony's new LCD range holds up incredibly well against plasmas from Panasonic, and even in a side-by-side comparison with a Pioneer Kuro. Still one of the best TVs ever made.

But, with Sony pledging to be a company that will have zero environmental impact on the planet by 2050, it makes sense for the firm to start cutting the amount of power TVs produce. While great strides have been made with plasma, it's still a less efficient technology on the whole.

Indeed, Sony this week demonstrated an LCD TV that, at its lowest, can run on less that 40 Watts. The goal, Sony told us, is to get TVs down to less than 1 Watt of consumption. But that's a long way off.

Does it surprise you that the UK is the last country to maintain it's love of plasma TVs?