Are you looking for a new big screen TV? There are several choices of different technologies for your next big screen TV. Right now one of the best and most popular items available is the Plasma HDTV technology. But how do you know which model is the right one for you? Here are some brief descriptions of the CRT technology, LCD screens, Plasma HDTV, and projectors so you can better understand your options for your next big screen TV.

CRT TVs

While it may not be as high-tech as a Plasma HDTV screen, you can still get a big screen TV with the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology (small cathode ray tubes that produce color to create images), also known as direct-view televisions. CRT is the basic technology for televisions that everyone is familiar with and is most commonly available. While they are bulkier and do not have the same image quality as the newer technologies, CRT screens still provide good color, have a long life, can be viewed in brightly lit rooms, and are available for decent prices. CRT screens exist in wide screen and flat screen options. CRTs are built to last, with picture quality that does not fade. A CRT is a good economical choice. However, when Plasma HDTV becomes less expensive in the future the CRT TVs will probably become extinct.

LCD TVs

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens consist of two polarizing transparent panels with a liquid crystal solution in the center that is in a state between solid and liquid. LCD is flat and lightweight, which makes the LCD technology popular for laptop and even some desktop computer screens. The biggest detriment of this type of TV is its limit in size (about 40 inches). The LCD screen is a good choice if you are not interested in getting a large screen.

Plasma HDTV

Plasma HDTV is one of the best and most impressive technologies in the market right now. The plasma screen consists of tiny gas plasma cells that are charged at exact electrical voltages to make a picture. It uses a digital technology that has a higher resolution than the CRT TV screens. The Plasma screens can be produced to have the resolution to watch HDTV. As of now, Plasma HDTV is still superior to LCD screens in displaying blacks which means it has better contrast and picture. They also have better viewing angles than the LCD screens.

The Plasma HDTV not only gives you superior picture quality but it is also smooth and sleek. These screens are flat and light (but not quite as light as the LCD screen) and can be hung on the wall like a picture and are not limited in screen size as the other models are. However, this new technology is still very expensive.

Projectors

Projectors, although not technically a television, are a popular way to get the big screen experience. Quality projectors will give you a good picture and they are excellent for watching movies or playing games. However, you need to have a blank wall or screen and lights have to be dimmed or off to watch it since the projectors light is dim.

With a better knowledge of the CRT technology, LCD Screens, Plasma HDTV, and projectors you can make a better decision on what type of big screen TV you want to have. With so many choices it is important to know what you are selecting from. If you are serious about your television watching experience, than you will want to get Plasma HDTV for your next big screen TV purchase. This will give you the sharpest image out of all your choices.

About the author:
Kaitlin Carruth is a client account specialist with http://www.10xMarketing.com More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. To learn more about plasma HDTV, please visit
http://www.dishnetworkproducts.com/articles/plasma-hdtv.phpor for more information about a big screen TV, visit http://www.dishnetworkproducts.com/articles/big-screen-tv.php.

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Plasma televisions are one of the hottest products on the market today. But with so many retailers, how do you know where you can get the best plasma television? Here are some things you should know before you before you commit yourself to the purchase.

Firstly, deciding where to buy your best plasma television is not as easy as it may sound. You will need to think about where you will go- will it be a traditional store, located around the corner, or will you get a better deal at an outlet store for a major nationwide retailer? To complicate the choice further, you now have hundreds- if not thousands- of online shops to choose from.

If you decide to buy your best new television from a ‘brick and mortar’ shop, you should first shop around the neighbourhood, comparing prices, to get the best price. Don’t forget to check whether the retailer is an authorised dealer, as this may become important down the road, if you need to return the item, or have it repaired. There are generally two types of these shops: Those which are warehouse-type stores and smaller specialty shops.

The larger retailers may be the best place for you to purchase your plasma television, as they usually have the best prices. It’s important to remember, however, that the staff that are employed may not be that well-versed in the products that they are selling and the quality of service can sometimes be very poor. If you know exactly the brand and model of the plasma television that you are looking for, then a smaller specialty retailer might be best for you.

Searching for that perfect deal online can be somewhat more difficult. While the prices are usually lower, you don’t have the luxury of being able to see the product and sample its picture quality. And, more often than not, the great prices are usually offset by the costs of shipping and handling.

Buying the best plasma television should not be a stressful experience if you know where to shop.

About the author:
Tom Ace is the founder of Plasma tv Resources a website providing information on plasma televisions

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Flat screen TV is one of the most popular and exciting TV technologies today. At only a few inches thick, flat screen TVs offer unparalleled flexibility and convenience. Older conventional TV’s, in fairness to them, did offer crisp and vibrant images. However, these TV’s, which operate through a cathode ray tube (CRT), suffered from one major drawback, they were bulky. As screen size increased, so did the bulk and weight. However, the TV of old has reached its twilight years. New television technologies have enabled TV manufacturers to create TVs with wider screen size yet still only a few inches thick. Thus, flat screen TVs usher home entertainment into the 21st century.

Flat Screen TV basically refers to two technologies: Plasma and LCD. The advances in these two technologies have enabled TV makers to build thin, lightweight TV screens with a large picture area. Plasma and LCD both offer similarly large, lightweight, flat screen TV’s but the similarities are skin deep for their inner workings are different.

Plasma or LCD?

Plasma and LCD TVs generally look similar however they use very different technologies. Plasma utilizes a grid of tiny cells of gas plasma that light up and create a picture when charged by precise electrical voltages. LCD (liquid crystal display) screens on the other hand are made of liquid crystals sandwiched between two glass plates and create images by varying the amount of electrical charge applied to the crystals. Both Plasma and LCD offer excellent picture quality. The following are their strengths and weaknesses and edge over the other.

1. Plasma screens can display blacks more accurately compared to LCD. Thus, pictures in a Plasma TV have richer contrast and better detail especially in dark TV and movie scenes. LCD TV’s are catching up however.
2. Plasma TV has better viewing angles than LCD TV. How far you can sit on either side of the screen before the qualities of the pictures are affected is what the “viewing angle” is. In LCD TVs, brightness and color tend to shift when angled too far while that of Plasma TVs remain solid.
3. Plasma TV can produce brighter color while light leakages in LCD screens affect the color saturation.
4. Plasma TVs are priced relatively less than their LCD counterparts especially in the large screen segment. Plasma TVs offer much larger sizes than LCDs, yet are still priced lower.
5. LCD has a higher native resolution than plasma TVs of the same size. This results to sharper images and makes LCD TV the better choice for HDTV.
6. LCD TVs consume almost 30% less power than Plasma TVs.
7. LCD TVs are generally lighter than similar sized Plasmas.
8. Among the two, LCD screens have a longer life span than plasma screens. LCDs can last up to 60,000 hours compared to Plasma that average from 30,000 to 60,000 hours.
9. Plasma TVs are more prone to screen burn-ins compared to LCDs although newer plasma technology are less susceptible to these.

If you are looking for a large flat screen TV, Plasma TV is recommended. Plasma TVs can give you better value for your money. The price difference between Plasma TVs and LCD TVs is big. However, if you have money to burn, then LCD TV is the better choice especially if you want the sharpest images. For smaller flat screen TVs at the range of 15″ to 36″, LCD is the way to go. Ultimately, both technologies are still evolving and new innovations and improvements are definitely in the works.

About the Author

Mitchell Medford is an author and product consultant for several consumer electronics manufacturers. Visit his website for more information on home theater, LCD TVs, and plasma televisions.

Plasma TVs have been one of the most popular home entertainment solutions on the market for several years. They offer outstanding resolution and a quality picture and are usually capable of displaying HDTV signals, allowing you to watch all of your favourite HDTV programs. Compared to rear projection TVs, plasma technology offers some of the best viewing angles- no need to fight over the best seat anymore- and offer uniform screen brightness.

But how does plasma technology work? It’s pretty simple. Some form of inert gas- say Xenon, for example, is inserted between two plates, which are held together, between which are over two million pixels, capable of producing a mind-boggling array of colors. The gas is then energized by a charge which turns it into a viscous substance, creating an ultraviolet light, which allows each pixel to display the appropriate color. Unlike rear-projection TVs, each pixel in a plasma display contains red, blue, and green phosphors, there is no need for a cathode-ray tube. In traditional TVs, the cathode-ray tube, or CRT, fires electrodes to the screen, where they excite phosphor atoms causing them to light up, thus creating a picture. The CRT is bulky and is responsible for the box-shape of traditional televisions. For example, if you want to increase the size of the screen in a CRT, you must also create a larger cathode-ray tube, therefore making the whole TV that much bigger- and bulky.

One drawback to plasma technology is the inability to recharge each individual pixel. Each pixel is an independently sealed entity, as is the plasma display panel and the gas, so if a pixel, or a group of pixels, fail or darken, the entire panel unit must be replaced.

Fortunately, however, you can expect your plasma display to last at least 60,000 hours of playing time, before the pixels begin to darken. So, in layman’s terms, if you watch your TV for four hours a day, you can expect the panel to last around eighteen years.

Plasma technology has greatly increased the quality of home entertainment, ushering in a new era of television technology.

About the author:
Tom Ace is the founder of Plasma tv Resources a website providing information on plasma televisions

A Plasma HDTV or a LCD Television Is this your dilemma? This is a rather difficult and complicated comparison between two technologies that process the image in a totally different manner.

This article highlights the pros and cons of plasma versus LCD as applicable to a television display. It also presents a set of guidelines to help you determine where either of these two flat panel display technologies fit best.

Plasma or LCD Which type of display is right for you?

Though both LCD and plasma displays come in the form of slim flat panel displays, yet from a technology perspective, these two flat panel displays process the image in a totally different manner.

Plasma uses a matrix of tiny gas plasma cells that are charged by precise electrical voltages to emit light and hence to create the picture image. Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) panels - work by trapping a liquid crystal solution between two sheets of polarized glass. When an electric current is passed through the liquid crystals, they change the polarization of the light passing through them in response to the electric voltage as a result of which, more or less light is able to pass through the polarized glass on the face of the display.

It is not the scope of this article to go into the actual details of how these different display technologies process the image after all, what really matters is not what is going behind the screen but rather how these different display technologies perform as a television screen. At the same time, it is worth taking note that it is these same differences that gives each of these display technologies, its strengths and weaknesses, and that therefore renders one more suitable than the other in certain circumstances.

The list below highlights the most important differences between these two flat panel display technologies:

Size: For the time being, collision between plasma television and LCD TV occur in the 40 to 50 inch screen range. In reality, LCD TVs top out at around 45 meaning that for bigger screen sizes, a plasma display is your only real option if what you are after is a direct-view TV system. On the other hand, at the smaller end of spectrum, namely 15 to 36 TVs, LCD is the way to go if what you want is something stylish and slim (at under 4-inches in depth).

Picture Quality, Contrast and Color Saturation: Both plasma and the latest TFT-LCD flat panel displays are capable of producing excellent picture quality with bright, crisp clear images.

However, plasma flat panel displays are more suitable for basic home theater usage than LCD. The gas cell structure within a plasma display is such that there is no light leaking between adjacent cells (or pixels). This renders plasma displays capable of displaying deeper blacks hence better contrast and detail in television and movie scenes where lots of dark and light content is shown simultaneously.

In comparison, the nature of LCD technology where a backlight shines through the LCD layer means that it is hard for it to achieve true blacks (i.e. true absence of light) as there is always some light leakage from adjacent pixels.

This does not mean that LCD panel s are not suitable as TV screens; todays LCD TV sets make use of extreme high contrast panels that are capable of displaying deeper blacks, yet the latest plasma TV sets still have a slight edge over LCD when it comes to contrast levels.

The situation is somewhat similar when it comes to color saturation. Again, it is the different display structure between LCD and plasma that is the reason behind the difference between the two technologies in this respect, and though both are capable of handling color in an exceptional manner, yet plasma displays still lead in this respect - producing more accurate and vibrant colors.

Viewing-angle:Plasma Television sets like their CRT TV counterpart - typically have better viewing angles than LCD. The viewing angle represents how far one can sit on either side of the screen away from the center, without experiencing significant deterioration in picture quality mainly as a result of color shifts and reduced contrast.

Though recent developments in LCD technology means that this is less of an issue with some of the latest LCD TV sets boosting a viewing angle of 160 to 170 degrees vertically and horizontally, yet it is always best to check. The tendency especially with cheaper sets is that the deterioration in picture quality is more accentuated with LCD than with plasma displays.

Burn-In: As with all phosphor-based displays, plasma displays are prone to burn-in, or image retention. Screen burn-in occurs when an image is left for too long on the screen resulting in a ghost of the image burned on the screen. Surely, keeping the brightness and contrast levels down will help reduce the risk of burn-in.

While some brands of plasma displays are more prone than others to burn-in, yet in general, plasma screens are more prone to suffer permanent burn-in during their first 200 hours of use; the reason being that fresh phosphors burn more intensely as they are ignited.

Technically speaking, burn-in is the result of a damaged pixel, whose phosphors has been prematurely aged and therefore glows less intensely than those of surrounding pixels. The presence of a static image for more than half-an-hour is enough to cause temporary burn-in; temporary burn-in or image ghosting, should not be cause for alarm as normally this will wash out after several hours of use.

Worst still is the prolonged presentation of static displays, such as the use of black or gray bars to view a 4:3 picture in its original format on a wide screen display; this will result in a permanent burn-in. Once permanent burn-in occurs, the damaged phosphors cannot produce the same levels of light output as the other phosphors around them do.
In these circumstances, an LCD display may be a better choice.

Viewing distance: It seems that the pixel size and shape of an LCD panel renders a smoother picture than an equivalently sized plasma panel for the same pixel count.

This means that even if your viewing distance falls within the recommended distance of approximately twice the screen width, if this is less than at least nine feet, most probably you will be better off with an LCD TV.

Life-time: The rare gases used in plasma display panels have a life and will fade over use. Earlier plasma TV sets had a quoted half-lifetime of between 20,000hrs, following which the image brightness will fall to half its original value. However, the latest plasma displays can boost anything between 30,000 and 60,000 hours. On the other hand, LCD displays have a guaranteed lifetime of between 50,000hrs and 60,000 hours. This degradation in image brightness takes place gradually over time.

Now, the average household in the US replaces their TV set every 7 years. Taking a conservative figure of 30,000 hours for either technology, this corresponds to well over 6hrs usage a day - every day - for over a period of 14 years! In other words, both plasma and LCD displays are extremely stable and reliable devices. This means that life-time should not be an issue with either display technology.

At the same time, keep in mind that there is no way to re-generate the gases in a plasma display or to repair any dead pixels in an LCD display the only option in such circumstances will be to replace the display.

Response: Some LCD panels especially on older generation models - had a tendency to blur images particularly during fast moving scenes in movies and sports. However, recent advancement in LCD technology means that response times are such that there is no noticeable difference in performance between LCD and plasma TV sets in this regard.

Power requirements: The advantage here goes to LCD panels as these consume less electricity. Estimates show that the use of LCD panels can result in some 30% power savings for the same screen size than plasma display.

Price: Price is always a big issue when it comes to choosing your TV display. Although prices online vary considerably, yet LCD TV sets tend to be more expensive than Plasma Televisions. The main reason behind this price gap is that the production process for plasma technology still supports a better yield and thus carries a pricing advantage especially at the large screen end of the market.

This contrasts heavily with LCD display technology where an estimate 30 to 40 per cent of all manufactured panels will have to be discarded as a result of defects leading to what are known as ‘bad-pixels’.

Making the Choice:

There is a market for both plasma and LCD displays - Plasma gives you a bigger screen for your dollar, deeper blacks, but then LCD do not suffer from burn-in and at the smaller end of the market (less than 40-inch screen size), LCD is your only way forward if you want something slim and stylish.

It is all a question of knowing what are the advantages and limitations of each with respect to your specific needs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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