What TV should I buy?
Posted on 09. Jul, 2010 by admin in Featured Articles, Home Media
3D TV
If you are like most people, it is overwhelming trying to keep up with the myriad of new television technologies and the differences between Plasma, LCD, LED, and the latest craze…3D. Although opinions vary, here are some advantages and disadvantages of each.
Plasma (Best Picture)
Plasma technology does have the best picture, in the right room. Compared to an LCD, it has better contrast ratio, better black tones, more color depth, and more availability in very large screen sizes. The disadvantages are that it is heavier, more susceptible to burn-in, uses more power, generates more heat, and is not good in brightly lit rooms.
LCD (Best Value)
LCDs are by far the most widely used, due mostly to their lower cost and availability on every corner. Aside from price, LCD advantages include: no burn-in susceptibility, cooler running, longer display life, looks better in brightly lit rooms, and less power consumption than Plasma. They are also lighter and have a slimmer profile than Plasmas. On the down side, LCDs use fluorescent tubes to light the screen. As a result, LCDs have trouble creating deep blacks. This is due to fluorescent tubes always being on and light leaks through, even when a part of the image is supposed to be black. A lack of deep blacks reduces the perceived sharpness of the set’s image.
Types of TVs
LED (Better Picture than an LCD and thinner)
LEDs have recently become the latest and greatest, offering a profile that is a mere 1 ¼ inches thick. Actually an LED is not an LED at all; just an LCD that uses LEDs to illuminated the screen instead of a fluorescent tube. There are two ways to do this: either by placing LEDs across the entire back of the display, or by placing LEDs just around the perimeter, which is called an “edge lit” display. Both techniques use less power than plasma TVs and LCD TVs lit with fluorescent tubes. Prices are still rather high for an LED. Samsung has a 46” LED for $3,200, while their larger 50” Plasma is actually $800 less. This high pricing is rapidly declining though, as Vizio will be introducing a 55 inch LED at $2,200.
3D (Amazing Picture, Incredibly Thin)
That latest technology that everyone will be talking about is 3D technology for the home. What these TVs do is simply allowing the viewer to experience video in a Stereoscopic effect, which gives the illusion of depth. This technology is better than the older Anaglyph 3D, which used glasses with two different colored lenses. New 3D TVs require active liquid crystal shutter glasses, which work by very quickly blocking each eye in sequence. The glasses, in addition to the liquid-crystal lenses, contain electronics and batteries (typically good for 80 or more hours) that sync to the TV via an infrared or Bluetooth signal. Aside from the new TV and glasses for everyone watching, you will need a 3D Blu-ray player to complete the system.
How fast will consumers embrace this 3D technology? Just like CD players in the mid-80s, CDs were limited and most of us waited for more to titles to become available before splurging on a CD player. Developers do have a solution, which is a 3D engine that will convert 2D video to 3D. This should help the acceptance curve, but are we ready to wear those glasses for an entire evening?
Beyond…
So, what does the future hold? One major change in TVs is that new models have a built in Ethernet jack to stream video, such as NetFlix. This is a sign of things to come and soon no one will actually own any DVDs. Just as CDs are nearly a thing of the past, DVDs will soon disappear. We will all be paying a subscription fee for movies and music and we will be able to instantly access anything. So what could possibly be next? I can already control my TV with my iPhone. How about remote controls that are voice activated, use your hand gestures, or that can read you mind? It may sound far-fetched, but these technologies are already in production.
For more information on this topic, call Neil Berry at Allied Home Technologies at (615) 385-3999, or visit www.alliedhometech.com.
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