TV Technologies

Now that Rear Projection technologies are pretty much DEAD...Thanks to people that want thin TV's for some reason, this page will just discuss what's available out there now!

In today's market of Flat panels and Low prices, you basically have two choices...

LCD or Plasma-though Plasma is also steadily on it's way out as well, but at least for good reason as noted below.

If you're thinking LED is a new type of TV, well, it's NOT. Just a different backlight or edgelight in certain cases.

I'll also discuss some other technologies being overblown in the world of TV below.

So, If you want to hang it on a wall or place on a pedestal for a sexy and space saving solution, choose LCD!

OK OK, Why LCD over Plasma?

SO WHAT ABOUT PLASMA vs. LCD Flat Panels?

Plasma has always been seen as a temporary solution because LCD at the time was too expensive to mass produce in big sizes.

Now companies are actually getting out of Plasma!! Fujistu and Pioneer were major players in Plasma, providing panels for many major brand names that will quietly exit the business and get into LCD.

I know that hurts you recent buyers of the cheaper plasmas, but it's true... see below for why...

Plasma has:

1. Limited lifetime

Most Plasmas are quoted a lifetime of around 30k to 60k hours, where LCD starts at around 60k to 80k hours.

2. Burn in issues

Don't ever leave a video game in pause for more than 10 minutes on a Plasma, the image may get permanently burned in on the screen. LCD refreshes itself as long as you don't leave it for days.

3. Phosphor trailing

Just like DLP has color breaking issues, the gasses can't accurately fire and disperse with quick motion, thus a weird yellow trail is visible on fast moving objects, where LCD simply has shutters that open or close.

4. Glare and reflection.

Try putting Plasma in a bright room, it has glass panels that reflect room glare and also a double image for those viewing from the side, where most LCD's don't use glass on the front surface.

5. Limited Brightness

View the panels side by side with a bright WHITE image on the screen, Plasma will look Gray by comparison to due to maximum output capability.

For those of you who are worried about the environment, Plasma uses more electricity and runs quite a bit hotter than LCD too, which means more A/C is needed to disperse it!

LCD IS JUST BETTER!!!

So who makes the best LCD?

That's a little more difficult as the technology is the same for the most part. What you need to consider is what is added to the process, and who has the know how to best reproduce the signal that was recorded originally.

Basically, when you look around at who provides the equipment to the professionals, and also creates the content, you probably have a winner that knows what goes into to the process, and can then transfer that knowledge to the consumer platform.

You also have to trust your eyes, NOT THE PRINTED SPECS. Ask yourself what looks real, not bright or vivid at first glance. What picture do you think best represents what the image really looked like when it was shot. Shopping by specs is a big mistake!

Take Contrast Ratio. This is one of the biggest lies in the industry because there is no standard for measuring it. One manufacturer may state 30k:1 that performs at the same level as another at 15k:1.

In fact, a million : 1 is the maximum current equipment will even measure, so how are some companies stating over that?

So what is Contrast Ratio?

It's simply a measure of how many shades I can show from Black to white.

So as I transition from a deep black through gray to white. How many gradiations can I represent? When you add color, this is affected by that as well.

If I can only show 15 grades, then I only have 15 grades of green, blue, red or whatever the color. If your white looks yellow, then all of your colors are skewed as well, so you have to make sure that white is actually white.

Now contrast can be measured several different ways and nobody seems to do it the same. I can take Black on a screen then white and measure the difference (DYNAMIC CONTRAST). That will render a high contrast ratio, and that's what most manufacturers will state on the specs.

But that is pure Marketing.

Realistically, you have black and white on the screen all the time, so a better measure is taking a measurement of black and white on the screen at the same time.

Is the white still bright or muted by the black?

Is the Black still dark or whitewashed by the brightness?

This is a true measure of Contrast Ratio.

Use your eyes, not the specs.

Look at Grass, is it too green (artificial turf) or just right? Look at whites and blacks, can you see detail even though it's bright (snow scenes) or dark (night shots)?

Just envision yourself there, and see if that's how it should look. It's really that easy.

Again, look for the company that provides equipment and actually produces content for the industry. They know what it takes to make an accurate signal because they are basing the consumer electronics from their Professional equipment using standards that Broadcasters and SMPTE Movie Studios employ

120hz, 240hz, 600hz....

What the heck does this mean?

Well, TV signals are based on electricity. When you watch TV, you see Video shot at 30 frames (60 interlaced fields from the camera) per second. That means every one second, 60 still pictures flash before your eyes. Unfortuneately, your eyes can see at a faster rate than the signal can show, so when an object like a football, hockey puck etc. goes by quickly, it looks choppy or Judder occurs (technical term).

So the TV manufacturers try to help you see things better by increasing the frame rate at the TV to better match what our eyes perceive.

But again, there is no standard for doing so.

Some will simply duplicate the same frame again, some add in a black frame, and some try to take an average of the frames to create one or more in the middle depending on the version or rate.

You have to look at the screen and watch for weird processing to determine who does it best. Nobody has completely mastered this so don't buy a TV for just that feature alone.

Look at the overall picture quality!

I HOPE THIS HELPED, Now see below for up and coming TV technologies...