Choosing a TV - Flat Panel TVs: Plasma or LCD?
Flat-panel TVs create beautifully bright, crisp images using either plasma or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels. Many models measure 4 inches deep or less, opening up a whole new range of TV placement options. Mounted on a wall, a flat-panel TV becomes part of your room instead of part of the furniture. The digital technology inside flat-panel sets has many benefits. The most obvious benefit is their Shallow depth and light weight allowing you to expand your placement options. Wall-mounting is the most space-efficient approach, but you can also place your flat-panel sets on a table, cabinet or console.
Plasma TVs have been around a little longer than LCD TVs and their technology is a little further along. Plasmas have better contrast and black level performance than LCDs, and offer slightly wider viewing angles. People often describe plasma's picture quality as richer or more "cinematic," so it's a great choice for a home theater, or for your main TV. LCD looks great in a kitchen or any other room with bright lighting. LCD displays are better at resisting glare from sunlight or room lights, and they're very bright (brighter even than plasmas).
Over the last several years our TV buying choices have improved dramatically. The good news is that as all types of TV technology keep improving, the prices keep dropping. If you're like most people, your TV is the component that gets the most use. Custom Home Audio sells a wide range of TV’s to suit your specific needs based on your taste, budget, TV size requirements and desired quality. Our knowledgeable staff will help you make that decision.
There are a few different factors that you will need to consider to help you select the TV that's right for you. Some things to consider:
Screen type:
Flat-panel: Flat-panel TVs create bright, crisp images without using traditional picture tubes. These super-slim, wall-mountable TVs use either plasma or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels. In recent years, LCD and plasma panels have dramatically improved their resolution, brightness, and contrast ratio. The main advantage of these types of TV is that they are so slim that they are either wall-mountable or can sit on a small stand allowing a lot more space in your room.
Rear-projection: "Big-screen" TVs produce clear, sharp pictures that look best when viewed straight on, from a seated position. The picture looks dimmer if you're viewing from the side, or standing up. Although their cabinets have slimmed down in recent years, RPTVs (rear-projection TVs) still take up more space than Flat Panel TV’s, and their larger screens require greater viewing distance for optimum results. The recent introduction and growing popularity of digital rear-projection TVs based on DLP, LCD, or LCoS technology has radically changed the big-screen TV market. These TVs have cabinets that are shallow and lightweight compared to conventional big-screen models.
Front-projection: Front-projection is a two-piece system: the projector and the screen. Until a few years ago, home theater front projectors were heavy, expensive CRT-based units that required professional installation and maintenance. But increasingly, CRT projectors are giving way to compact, lightweight digital home theater projectors. Just in the past few years, manufacturers have dramatically improved the picture quality available from DLP, LCD, and LCoS projectors. Because front projectors perform best in reduced light or darkness, there are lifestyle issues to consider. But their big, bright images create more emotional impact than any other display type.
Screen size
What size screen is right for you and your room? With conventional tube TVs, you had to sit at least 8 feet from a 32" screen to ensure a clear picture. Today's HD-capable TVs have higher-resolution screens that let you put a larger set in your room and/or sit much closer. High-quality video material like DVDs and HDTV programs look amazing on these sets. But you may also find that the noise and distortion in lower-quality analog signals (like standard broadcast and cable TV) are exposed and magnified. If most of your viewing is DVD-quality or better, you'll see more details by sitting closer. If you watch more regular (non-HD) video, sit farther back for a smoother-looking picture. Sitting the right distance from your TV is an important part of optimizing the viewing experience. Sitting too far away from a small- or medium-sized screen definitely diminishes the overall impact. At the same time, if you sit too close to a large screen, you're likely to be distracted by the screens "structure" — its pixels or scan lines.
Suggested Viewing Distances:
32” TV 5-7 feet
37” TV 6-8 feet
42” TV 6-9 feet
50” TV 9-12 feet
55” TV 10-13 feet
62” TV 13-15 feet
70” TV 13-17 feet
Screen resolution
Resolution tells you how sharp and detailed a picture will look. Resolution for TVs and video components is generally measured by the number of horizontal pixels times the number of vertical pixels in an image. Some examples are 640 X 480 pixels for SDTV (Standard-Definition Television), and 1280 X 720 or 1920 X 1080 for HDTV (High-Definition Television). You may also see references to EDTV (Enhanced-Definition Television) sets — typically flat-panel LCD or plasma models with 852 X 480-pixel resolution.
Even if HDTV programming availability is still limited in your area, our recommendation is that your next TV purchase should definitely be a HD-capable TV. These sets can seriously improve your viewing experience even if you don't watch any HDTV shows. All HDTVs and HDTV-ready TVs include “up-conversion” circuitry to give non-HD signals (DVD, antenna/cable, digital satellite, etc.) a cleaner, smoother look.
Screen shape (aspect ratio) — 4:3 vs. 16:9
The popularity of DVD and the ongoing transition to digital television are also driving the shift from the conventional square looking 4:3 aspect-ratio TV screen to the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. Virtually all analog (non-HDTV-capable) TVs have 4:3 screens, while most HDTV-capable TVs feature a 16:9 screen.
If you have access to HDTV signals, or if you really enjoy seeing movies presented in the more cinema-like widescreen mode, a 16:9 model would certainly make the most sense. These TVs can display 4:3 programs in a central 4:3 window with black or gray bars filling out the screen's width on the sides. You can also usually choose from several viewing modes designed to make 4:3 material fill the screen's width by magnifying and/or stretching the image.