TV Buyers Guide

LCD versus Plasma

In recent times, the two most common types of televisions purchased are LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and Plasma TVs. LCD TVs have two polarizing transparent panels, with a liquid crystal solution layered between the two panels. When a bulb shines light at a perpendicular angle, the crystals act as shutters either blocking or allowing the light to pass through, which forms an image on the screen.

The benefits of LCD TVs are that they have a slim line profile, around 2 inches thick, have a wide viewing angle, up to 80 degrees in either direction, are more energy efficient than plasmas, and due to their slim profile and weight, they are easier to mount on the wall.

Plasma Televisions: Similar to an LCD, Plasma TV screens, also have two thin panels of glass, but within the panels is a matrix of pixels that contain compressed gas in tiny pockets. When an electrical charge is applied to a pixel, the gas reacts to produce plasma, which then produces light, and an image on the screen.

The main benefits of plasma technology is that it is able to produce higher contrast ratio?s, and is very good for watching fast moving images, such as sport, or fast paced movies.

For more detailed information on a particular plasma or LCD TV, please consult the relevant retailers website.

LED Tvs

While LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology has been around for a while, using LEDs for illuminating tv screens is relatively new.  Fluorescent lamps are used in standard LCD, which are quite bulky, and therefore add to the overall depth of the television.  In contrast, by using hundreds of small LEDs to illuminate the screen means they can now be produced ultra thin.  Because of the advantages that this offers, its likely that LED tvs will become industry standard, replacing LCD and Plasma TVs.

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What Screen Size?

Screen size on LCD and Plasma TVs is measured diagonally across the screen.

The screen size that you choose should be determined by the viewing distance to the TV.

Below is a general rule of thumb to determine the screen size in relation to viewing distances.
6 to 8 feet away: 17 to 26 inches
8 to 10 feet away: 28 to 36 inches
10 to 12 feet away: 36 to 42 inches
12 feet plus: 42 to 50+ inches

Other factors to take into account to find the best tv are whether the TV will be on a stand or wall mounted, and the overall size of the room.

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High Definition TVs

High Definition TVs, commonly known as HDTVs, can have up to 5 times as many pixels as a standard television. This produces a much clearer and sharper picture quality, and gives the image a much more real life feel.

What is HD Ready? Plasmas and LCDs are sold as 'HD Ready', which means the TV is capable of producing high definition images. However a high definition source such as a games console, Blu-ray player or digital satellite service, is still required to produce HD images. Without this, an HD Ready TV will only display standard images.

3D TVs

There are two main technologies utilised for producing the 3D effect on TV’s or at the cinema. 

The first method involves the viewer wearing glasses with lenses that control which eye sees which part of the image.  The two most popular methods for this are polarized lenses and shutter glasses.  Polarized images are displayed to the viewer and each lens blocks out one of the images to provide the depth effect.

The other method is shutter glasses, where the user wears powered glasses with an LCD screen that opens and closes extremely quickly and blocks the image from alternate eyes, creating the 3D effect.

The key problem for 3D TV is consumers unwillingness to need to wear glasses.  One solution to this is autosteroscopic technology, where the picture is displayed in columns that are alternatively angled to the right or left eye to create the 3D effect.  At this time however this is limited to small screens as there are strict viewer distance limitations for the technology to work effectively. 

The below video provides a good overview of 3D technology.

See the following link for 3D TVs.

To get the best tv sound, its definitely worth getting surround sound speakers, so you get the full home cinema experience.  To get 5.1 surround sound you need 6 speakers.  2 for the rear of the room, 2 for the sides, and one at the front, along with a sub woofer to provide the bass.  To get the full 360 degree surrond sound experience you will want to go for 7.1 surround sound, which adds a further 2 speakers to get the full sound immersion effect. 

Click the following link to view Home Cinema offers on the site. 

TV Feature Definitions

There are many TV features that are often highlighted to inform the customer about what is the best TV for them. Below is a selection of specs that are often mentioned when promoting a TV.

Frequency Rate: Also referred to as the refresh rate. This is the number of times that the screen updated per second. The frequency rate is expressed in Hertz, with 100Hz having a higher refresh rate than 50Hz. The lower the frequency, the more chance that the viewer will notice flickering on the screen.

Image Aspect Ratio: This is the ratio of the width to the height of the image produced on the screen. 4:3 is considered the standard ratio, with 16:9 being a widescreen image.

Resolution: This is the number of pixels per square inch. The greater the number of pixels, the higher the resolution, and sharper the picture quality. The number of pixels of a particular TV is expressed as the number of horizontal pixels by the number of vertical pixels, e.g. 1366 x 768.

Progressive Scan: Under older standard definition technology, TVs have an interlaced picture that alternates illuminating odd and even lines. With the development of progressive scan, all lines are illuminated at the same time to produce an image with more clarity.

Connections: HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface cable, is an all digital cable that carries high definition video and multiple digital audio channels.
DVI - Digital Visual Interface cable only carries high definition visual images. A separate cable for audio is required.
Scart Cables - A scart cable is an analogue cable so can't be used as a high definition connector. It does however have multiple pins and can therefore support both audio and video.
Component Cables - An analogue connection that can support high definition video, and can have 3 or more, 5 different colour coded connectors.

For more detailed information on cables, please consult with the relevant television retailers website.

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Energy Efficient TVs

The following popular LCD and Plasma TVs have been energy saving recommended by the Energy Savings Trust

32 Inch - Samsung LE-32B450C4

42 Inch - LGPJ650

50 Inch - LG 50PJ650

For more information about how the Energy Savings Trust rate LCD and Plasma TVs please visit their website Energy Saving Trust.

Disposing Of Your Old TV

With new electronic technology developing so quickly, it often means that your old TV is basically worthless.  So once you make the decision to upgrade to a new television, you can easily dispose of your old TV at a recycling depot.  Old TVs are actually considered a hazardous waste, but its easy enough to dispose of your TV responsibly by following this link, TV Recycling, where you can arrange for them to come and pick it up from you.

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