The Flat Screen TV Has Come of Age.
The casual term “Flat Screen TV" actually embodies 2 display technologies – Plasma Gas display and LCD display. Both technologies make the existence of the Flat Screen TV possible, even if they work in vastly different ways.
The first Flat Screen
technology is also the oldest – LCD or Liquid Crystal Display. These
tiny cells that produce the image on your Flat Screen actually work
counter-intuitively. The more electricity that’s passed through a LCD
module, the DARKER the LCD pixel.
In
opposition, the
Plasma Flat Screen television works like you might expect.
Electricity is used to excite plasma gases which “excite” red, green,
and blue phosphors, creating the display image.
Each one
of these Flat TV technologies has distinct advantages and disadvantages.
Let’s take a look at some.
Size:
The material that’s used to manufacture LCD Flat Screen displays is more
challenging to produce in large sizes. The result is higher costs per
unit of display. On the other hand, the plasma packs can be made to
accommodate just about any reasonable size simply by increasing the
number of plasma elements in the set. The result is a larger potential
screen area at a reduced cost.
Image
Quality: You need to consider a few things before you decide to
purchase a LCD or Plasma television. First, Plasma TV technology has
the ability to produce greater color saturation than an LCD. Remember,
and LCD works in reverse – the lower the voltage, the brighter the
pixel. So, there is a theoretical limit of lumens that an LCD TV can
display, and this limit is based on the mechanical manufacturing spec of
the LCD substrate material used to produce the screen. In order to
display dark areas of an image, the LCD’s light output is
electromechanically bent away from the viewer.
This has
a side effect of lowering the overall contrast of an LCD Flat Screen.
Because LCD’s also react more slowly to changes in voltage the pixels
often lag, or have a tendency smear (ever so slightly) fast moving
images. You can compare
plasma and LCD screens side-by-side here.
Now, I know
it seems like an LCD TV is not the best choice, but consider some of the
advantages it has over a Plasma TV.
LCD’s
are not subject to Phosphor Burn-In or Burn-Out. Because an LCD is
naturally in the state of Light Emission, they have almost 2 times the
expected life span of similar sized Plasma TVs. This makes them ideal
for use with the static, High Resolution images that a computer
displays. An LCD Flat Screen is also not affected by altitude.
Consider that a Plasma's main display element is a gas. At higher
altitudes, this gas will become less dense, requiring more voltage to
excite the gas to light emission. The result is a hotter running device
with a shorter life span. Because a LCD is really a liquid, it’s not
susceptible to routine changes in altitude.
So which
Flat Screen TV technology is right for you?
Here’s some
tips:
1)
What will be
the primary use of your Flat Screen TV? Will be it be an all around
media display device, interfacing not only with your DVD and Cable Box,
but your Computer as well?
2)
What are your
viewing habits? Is it mostly broadcast television, or do you plan on
incorporating your Flat Screen into your Home Theater?
3)
Do you have any
environmental conditions that may cause issues with your Flat Screen?
Do you live in Denver, Mexico City or some other High Altitude place?
Do you have any power requirements?
Once
you’ve answered these questions, only one other critical element
remains. Finding the right Flat Screen dealer that not only offers the
right price, but fantastic customer service as well. Below is list
of online Flat Screen TV dealers. These
online merchants have proven to be reliable, honest, excel at customer
service and have some of the lowest prices online. They have received
our highest recommendation.
|
