Buying Guide - Flat Panel Television

Plasma versus LCD: Which is a better buy?

Plasma TVs hold tiny cells of noble gases between two glass screens. When electronically charged, these gases form plasma, emitting ultraviolet light. These excite the phosphors to emanate visible light. Plasma TVs are like computer monitors, using an external TV tuner to receive and display broadcast signals. They display true lifelike colors, deeper blacks and brighter whites. However, Plasma TVs produce more heat and are thus energy-inefficient. Plasma screens are prone to ‘burn in”, which means that when the TV is on for longer hours, static images such logos, game icons etc, freeze onto the screen leaving a ghost-like shadow or a watermark due to premature aging of pixels.

Liquid Crystal Display Television or LCD TVs use CCFL tubes for back lighting the screen making the screen low reflective, offer brighter images and are great for viewing in brightly lit rooms. Compared to Plasma TVs of the same screen size, LCD TVs are lighter and energy-efficient and display higher resolution images without any “burn in” issues. Some LCD TVs feature built-in ATSC and NTSC tuners while some also feature a QAM tuner to receive unscrambled HD cable programming without a cable box. LED TVs are part of the same family, but with a Light Emitting Diode for backlighting. This enables higher contrasts resulting in sharper display.

Listed here are some other important features that need to be understood.

Screen Sizes: Both plasma TVs and LCDs offer a wide range of screen sizes to suit various room sizes. Plasma TV displays start from 37 inches and goes all the way up to 103 inches to give you a movie theater experience right inside your living room! Thanks to their CCFL technology, LCD screens are available starting from 10 inches onwards to an astounding 70 inches! Laptop screens and desktop LCD monitors use the same LCD technology. With a built-in TV tuner cards and supported programming capabilities, these smaller screens can also be used to watch TV programs.

Consider the size of your room and the viewing distance available before you decide on the screen size. The viewing distance and the image quality are two essential aspects of the screen size equation. Watching your TV from the right distance optimizes the viewing experience and eliminates visual distortion. Sitting too far may make you miss the finer details that these TVs offer while at a closer distance you may see dot-like pixels.

Some recommended optimal viewing distances for FPTVs:

26” FPTV - 3.25 to 5.5 feet,

32” FPTV, -- 4 to 6.66 feet

 42” flat panel TV - 5.25 to 10.5 feet

50” to 70” inch - 7.5 to 16 feet

Viewing Angle: Plasma TVs have a near perfect 180 degree viewing angle while the minimum viewing angle for a LCD TV is 120 to 178 degrees depending upon the model and size. This means that you can watch the TV comfortably from anywhere in the room, as you would if seated in front of the screen.

Native pixel resolution: This indicates the number of pixels per square inch. Pixels are very tiny colored dots that combine to display an image on the screen. Higher the pixels, higher the resolution and what you see is a smooth and seamless high quality image.

Flat panel TVs are categorized as Enhanced Definition (EDTV) or High Definition (HDTV). EDTV is capable of a 704x480 (widescreen) or 640x480 (4:3 aspect) pixel resolution that is represented as 480p. As 480i it is known as standard resolution which is used by DVD players and some digital broadcasts.

HDTV gives you two formats - 1280x720 and 1920x1080. 1080 is the maximum resolution that a FPTV can currently produce. It is represented by the vertical number as 720p and 1080p and 1080i. Here "p” stands for progressive scan and "i” for interlaced. Resolution measurements indicate the number of pixels present per square inch horizontally and vertically.

In the interlaced format the TV projects every alternate lines of the image and is hence incapable of reading progressive scan DVDs. HDTVs with 1080i and 1080p are compatible with high definition DVD players and Blu-Ray DVD players.

While lower than 1080i, HDTV with 720p resolution reads standard and progressive scan DVDs and displays it in the correct sequence to gives an enhanced display. This is the minimum display one should opt for when buying a FPTV.

Some models are marketed as “HDTV ready”. This means that although the TV has HDTV capabilities, it will receive high definition inputs only when a similar high definition tuner is attached to it.

Aspect Ratio: 4:3 or 16:9 – The aspect ratio refers to the units of horizontal measurement of your TV display in proportion to its vertical measurement. Conventional TVs and widescreen HDTVs come with an aspect ratio of 4:3 and 16:9 respectively. A widescreen HDTVs combined with a surround sound audio gives you a cinema hall experience right at home. To view the same image size of a normal TV onto a widescreen TV, without any cropping, squeezing, stretching or distortion, the height of the widescreen TV has to be the same. To avoid this, the TV automatically adjusts the display without compromising on the image. However, widescreen TVs still continue to stretch images meant for conventional TVs.

Contrast Ratio: This indicates the ratio between the darkest and the brightest parts of an image as produced by a television. There are two types of Contrast ratios and they are expressed as 2000:1, for instance. Static contrast ratio measures the blackest black and brightest white in a static shot or within the same scene at the same time. Dynamic Full On/off contrast ratio, uses a built-in processor to analyze the brightness levels in the picture and adjusts the back lighting to enhance the black levels.

Higher the contrast ratio the clearer the images will appear on the TV. Dark images on a TV with a low contrast ratio appear gray and insipid while bright images look washed out. A good static contrast ratio starts at 1,000:1and goes all the way to 5000:1. !800:1 is a high static contrast ratio. 10,000:1 is an average dynamic ratio. Plasma TVs have a higher contrast ratio than LCDs and produce better blacks. Finally trust your eyes and select one that pleases you.

Motion Response Time: TVs with a motion response time of 8 millisecond or 4ms display high definition images in a smooth seamless manner without any motion judder. This is especially important if you are watching fast action movies or action sports. A faster response time ensures that you don’t miss out on a single motion or action sequence.

Screen Refresh Rate indicates the number of times the moving image displayed on TV is reconstructed in the span of a second. A higher refresh rate, translates into a smoother image with reduced flicker. Refresh rates are measured in Hertz “Hz”. A refresh rate of 60 Hz for instance, indicates that the TV can reconstruct the image on the screen 60 times in a second, resulting in smooth and better looking images.

Media Connectivity: To create a home theater, your FPTV should be able to connect with external media including a DVD or Blu-ray DVD player, audio systems, a digital A/V receiver and others.

HDMI connector transfers digital A/V signals to the television to give the highest possible resolution upto 1080p. If your digital A/V receiver offers HDMI switching, then you can make do without any HDMI inputs on your TV. Nonetheless, it helps to have at least one HDMI input on your TV to connect your HD devices like HD DVD player, Blu-Ray players, set-top box, game consoles and your upscaling standard DVD players. The newer models of these media come with one HDMI out that helps connect them to your HDTV to get HD sound and images.

DVI Connectors: Older models of HD equipment connect to the TV using DVI connectors. However, chances are that copy-protected programs may not play with this connector.

Component Video connector: An analog connector for standard and some HD data, the component video connector is used with an old-style DVD player without an HDMI. In this manner, a progressive scan DVD player with no HDMI out can transfer progressive signals to a television.

Other connectors include the S-video and composite connector that connect a camcorder or a standard DVD player to your TV to view your home-made videos.

For audio, a TV should have analog stereo audio inputs and digital audio outs along with optical and coaxial digital audio jacks to be used with set-top boxes, DVD players and receivers.

Other features to look for:

Surround sound: A must for home theatres, TVs now come with a pair of stereo speakers, a subwoofer and SS decoders.

Picture-in-Picture or PIP: allows you to watch another program simultaneously in a small window and you require two tuners to avail of this feature.

Combo Television: These include VCRs and DVD players either or both in a single box and relieve you from having too many dangling wires.

V-chip feature allows parents to lock some channels that are unsuitable for viewing by kids.

Memory stick readers let you attach your digital camera to display pictures on the TV screen.

A USB connector lets you view stored pictures from your PC or laptop.

Universal remotes eliminate other multiple remotes and control all your multimedia from one single device.

Warranties: Most TVs come with a basic manufacturer’s warranty, but you can go for extended warranties by paying a bit extra, so that you don’t have to pay heavily for services after the initial warranty period expires.

Summing it up:

Given the abundance in choices when it comes to flat panel TVs, selecting one that is just right for you can be slightly difficult. Use this guide to narrow down your choices and make an intelligent decision.