What is the best TV choice

Author: Clint Wright

Making a Correct Choice for A TV
It is the holiday season and many people are purchasing high end Televisions for the merry season. There used to be only one type of TV, the only thing you had to worry about was the size and color. Nowadays there are not only different sizes and colors and qualities but also different technologies. Which one should you choose? That one question can often cause confusion and uncertainty. The size of the TV is a simple one for most, the bigger the better. But for most consumers the difference in the technology can become overwhelming. There are three different major technologies on the market right now when comparing High Definition Flat Screen Technologies; Plasma, LED, and LCD. OLED is becoming available but the costs of those TV's are still very overwhelming so we are going to stick with just the three common technologies. We are going to break them down one by one in simple terms and let you make your decision.

Plasma-------->
Plasma Televisions produce vibrant colors by controlling electricity applied to hundreds of thousands of tiny pixels generated by gas. The gas that is used is either neon or xenon. As electricity flows through the gas it glows. A computer regulates the electricity applied to the gas hundreds of times per second to each individual pixel. A pixel is a tiny dot on the screen. The more pixels the screen has the higher the quality of the picture. It uses the same basic technology that a neon sign uses. The only difference is the size of each pixel is very miniscule whereas neon signs are usually very large. There are a couple downsides to plasma technology. The first and most important is since gases are used to produce the vibrant colors, there is always a chance of the gases leaking or becoming less reactive to electricity causing them to flicker, just like in neon signs. The plasma TV normally has less of a shelf life than LED or LCD TV's. If you are looking for a smaller TV, plasma is not available. Plasma is usually only 30" or higher as well.

LCD--------->

LCD are known as liquid crystal displays and are used for most computer monitors and other small screen devices. Actually a LCD TV is just a huge computer monitor with a turner or cable box attached. A LCD screen is non-reflective meaning it can be used without worry of a bright room or overhead lighting. Some prefer plasma to the LCD screen because plasmas usually produce deeper blacks and brighter whites, although LCD TV's have become more efficient at producing those colors. The major difference between LCD and LED is the backlighting. LCD TV generally uses a fluorescent bulb to produce the light that you see when watching TV. This causes the screen not to be able to produce deep blacks because the bulb is always on. But LED TV's are LCD TV's which use LEDs as a backlight instead of a florescent bulb.

LED---------->
A LED TV is an LCD which uses very efficient LEDs to produce the backlighting. This allows the TV to actually turn off some LEDs if the screen is calling for part of the picture to be black. This allows for a greater contrast and much deeper more intense images. An LED also can be much thinner than either an LCD or plasma. An LED TV is the most energy efficient of the three technologies as well. If you had to pick a TV and cost was not a concern I would definitely choose an LED. But if costs can be a concern then plasma might be the way to go. LED TVs can be very expensive.

Posted in: Electronics