Posts Tagged televisions

Wading Through Technology – HDTV Televisions, Which One is Best For You?

There are several to choose from. The main three HDTV types are LCD, plasma, and the new LED, all thin enough to hang on your wall.

HDTV LCD televisions provide a wider and sharper image that rivals DVD’s. HDTV televisions offers about twice as many “lines” of resolution and better quality, digitally encrypted sound to enhance the viewing experience.

Digital HDTV’s can provide sharper, clearer pictures and sound with very little interference or other imperfections. Of perhaps greater importance, digital television sets will potentially be able to send, store, and manipulate images as well as receive them, thereby merging the functions of the television set and the computer.

Unlike the rear projection TVs of the recent past, the new DLP TVs are thinner as well, but not yet to the point where you can hang them on your wall. But DLP has a price advantage, which means you can get a bigger screen for less money!

You may also want to compare Plasma TV and LCD TV as it is this comparison that is putting more pressure on DLP manufacturers. With DLP, you can also get a front-projection system, which requires a dedicated screen. This is the preferred method of many home-theater buffs, since it allows for a flawless picture and a much larger screen, but it’s not the best set-up for most living rooms.

An HDTV LCD television is a flat screen and so they look very sleek and cool in any room and another advantage is that a flat screen LCD television will require much less space than “Grandma and Grandpa’s” old bulky televisions. The Liquid Crystal Display technology that is behind the LCD televisions has come a long way in recent years, it has been around for a very long time but only recently has it been able to produce the kind of quality needed for a modern television.

LCD TVs vary in size, but larger sizes have been limited due to manufacturing costs and are now coming down. We are now seeing manufacturers like Vizio, Samsung and Sony producing larger and larger screens.

Sales of Plasma Televisions have not grown as much as LCD Televisions sales, partly because plasma screens have a shorter life span and use more energy. In terms of quality, LCD, Flat Plasma TV, and DLP all come in a variety of high-def resolutions, and each side will argue that they offer the best experience. That’s a much longer discussion, but we’ll just say that each one has their strengths and a few weaknesses depending on the type of environment and content you like to watch.

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LCD Televisions – Things You Need to Know Before You Buy

So what should you know before you make your new purchase? Here are some helpful tips to hopefully make your preliminary decisions a little easier.

Size
LCD TV’s are available in such a vast array of sizes. You can purchase as small as 10″, and then move up the range from 32″, 37″, 42″, all the way up to 108″. The decision can be difficult with so many options, however, begin by considering the viewing distance from the prospective television. How far away do you plan on sitting from your new LCD TV? Obviously, you do not want to buy the 52″ TV if you are only 4 feet away. Optimally, for LCD TV’s of 42″, plan to be about 10 feet away, where as an LCD TV of over 60″ should be viewed at over 15 feet away. In sum, do not get in over your head and buy a large TV without having the proper space to view it.

Resolution
Resolution may be expressed as 720p, 1080p, 1080i, 1024×768, etc. These numbers represent the vertical and horizontal lines that make up the picture quality on the screen. The most advanced and future-ready resolution is 1080p, which stands for 1080 pixels (or vertical lines) with progressive scanning. This is better than 1080i, as the “i” represents “interlaced”. Interlaced simply uses the previous technology of updating a picture every other line beginning with the odd numbered pixels, and then the even. Progressive scanning is constantly refreshing every pixel all of the time.

Refresh Rate
In addition to either progressive or interlaced scanning, companies such as Samsung, Panasonic, and Sony offer multiple speeds in which those pixels are refreshed. With a higher refresh rate, comes better clarity, less interruption of high action scenes. The most common refresh rate is between 60-120 Hz, however, 200 Hz has reached some markets. Smaller TV’s may not show much difference with higher resolution and refresh rates, but on the contrary, larger TV’s demonstrate rather big differences.

Contrast Ratio
Contrast Ratio is described in terms of 700:1, or 25,000:1. It is simply a ratio of how many steps it takes in shades of gray to go from black to white and back again. Some brands offer what they call “Dynamic Contrast Ratio” in which is not a true description of the TV’s color capabilities. With a dynamic contrast ratio TV, it will lower the back light in darker scenes to darken pictures. In short, an LCD television with a higher contrast ratio will be able to deliver greater color and picture quality.

Overall, when deciding on a TV, begin with determining the size that meets the needs of the viewing room. From there, you can decide on the importance of the resolution, refresh rate, and contrast ratio.

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Plasma TVs – Things You Need to Know Before You Buy

Televisions of the past worked because of a cathode ray picture tube. Plasma technology replaces those tubes with individual pixels that respond digitally. Each pixel contains three glass encased globes that contain the colors blue, green and red. Those individual pixels are what make the picture so beautifully clear. The reason they are called plasma TVs is because of the plasma gas that is also encased within those glass globes. Once the TV is turned on, then the electrical charge heats up the gas and continues to spark with the colors needed to intensify the brightness level desired. The image is presented as a bunch of dots that become invisible to the eye at a reasonable distance, thus creating the picture we see.

One of the biggest advantages of a plasma TV is its versatility. They can be mounted on virtually any wall in the house, including the ceiling. They are thin, not bulky, and can be hidden easily inside walls or entertainment centers when not being watched. Electronic companies produce plasma TVs in a wide range of styles and sizes as well. Sony televisions and Panasonic televisions can be as large as sixty inches which makes for a stunning movie watching experience. The larger plasma television sets are true 16X9 HDTV-capable and show the picture the way it was originally filmed.

Plasma TVs have some disadvantages that need to be considered when deciding on a new unit. They are very fragile and have to be handled with extreme care. Although thin, these TVs are very heavy and require special wall mounts that have to be placed correctly to avoid breakage. The plasma technology will degrade with time due to phosphor wear, and will show up in picture quality. Some plasma televisions come with video processors which can up-convert lower quality recorded shows into a higher resolution and better picture, but not all plasmas are equipped with this feature.

Samsung televisions regularly offer fifty-eight inch screens, video processing and HD grade quality. Sony televisions offer more of the same with different models, prices and quality. Panasonic televisions come to the table with exceptional customer service as well as many of the same features offered by Sony and Samsung.

So how do you decide which plasma television would suit you? Search online or go to a local electronics store and find the one that tickles your fancy. Searching online affords an easier way to do the research needed to choose the best model with the most functions that your wallet allows. Once you have decided, then test drive that model in a nearby store. You will be delighted.

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