There are so many different types of televisions on the market today how do you decide which one is right for you? Available today are LCD, plasma television, DLP, CRT, flat panel, rear projection, HDTV, wide screen and more. With so many to choose from it’s important to understand the basics of each type before making an expensive purchase.

Each type of TV has positives and negatives. Before purchasing a possibly expensive piece of furniture for you home it would be wise to learn a little about each technology. This may prevent you from making a big mistake when you are ready to buy. Once you understand which type of television is right for you it’s a lot easier to take the plunge.

If you are more than 10 years old you probably grew up watching television on a CRT type of TV. CRT stands for cathode ray tube. These televisions are still very popular due to a few advantages they still hold over the newer plasma televisions and other newer types.

If you’ve ever watched a plasma or LCD TV from the side you have probably noticed that the picture is darker from that angle. One of the great things about CRT televisions is that they are still bright even when viewed from the side. Sure, the LCD or plasma television has a great quality picture from the front, but if you plan on placing your TV in an area that will be viewed often from the side you should be testing out all of the different models in that regard. It would be very disappointing to see the great plasma picture quality at the dealer and then get it home and have a darker picture from your viewing point of view.

Another positive with regard to CRT displays is their price. They are more inexpensive than the more modern types of televisions while still producing a very clear and bright picture. They also show the color black truer than most newer models and have no danger of burn-in. On some of the newer models it’s possible to have a bright picture burn into the screen and be faintly visible for the life of the TV.

With all of these positives why are the CRT displays diminishing in popularity? There are two main reasons. One, these television sets are usually bigger, bulkier and heavier. And two, if you want a large wide screen TV that is 42 inches, 50 inches, 60 inches or larger you just cannot find a CRT display that big. So if you have a big wide screen TV in mind you won’t be able to go with the older CRT units.

The last deciding factor about CRT televisions concerns whether you should buy a flat screen or curved screen model. The flat screen versions can be viewed from the side better than the curved screens. The curved screens can distort the picture while the flat screens let you see the picture as it was intended to be seen. The difference may not be apparent when viewed alone, but put them side to side and you will certainly see the difference.

The next type of technology we will look at is the flat panel LCD displays. These come in HDTV (high definition television) or wide screen. If you want to see your DVD movies as you saw them in the movie theater you need to purchase a widescreen TV. LCD is a liquid crystal display and is not only used in televisions, but in computer monitors as well.

LCD displays have a flat screen and are relatively thin in width and lightweight. They have an exceptional picture viewing quality and as with the CRT displays will not produce burn-in. These TVs have high resolution that creates a superior picture.

The biggest problem with LCD flat screens is the fact that their viewing angles are lessened when compared with traditional CRT models. If you get too far off to the side the picture becomes extremely dark. They are also incapable of creating true blacks, another disadvantage when compared to older CRT models. Plus, the larger models can become rather expensive. However, if money is not your major concern and you plan on viewing the TV from directly in front you may decide that this is the best choice for you.

Plasma television sets, also known as plasma HDTV displays, have come way down in price over the last two years. Their prices used to exclude people from buying them, but their prices are now comparable to LCD models.

These TVs have become popular because not only can you get it in a very large screen size, perfect for your favorite movie or sporting event, but it has an excellent picture quality that is also viewable from wide angles. This is a plus over the LCD technology. This TV will give you the perfect “movie experience” at home in your own theater room.

Plasma television displays are great when it comes to picture quality and viewing angles, but their prices may still be slightly higher than other types. They also have a small potential for burn-in. But the big negative is their life span. They are basically not repairable when their bulb burns out. Depending on how much you watch TV you could end up with an expensive unit that will only last a few years. Once the bulb has burned out the TV is generally history. This is not the case with an LCD display where the bulb may cost in the neighborhood of $200, but it can be changed.

Rear projection models also have their positives and negatives. Rear projection CRT HDTV’s are cheaper than the larger plasma and LCD displays, plus they have a flat screen and great picture. The negatives are their size and weight and smaller viewing angles. They are too heavy to hang on a wall and are much wider than the more narrow plasma and LCD units. Also, in a well lit room their picture can seem a little less bright than what is considered ideal.

There are other types of rear projection HDTV units too. The most popular are the LCD and DLP models. Both have flat screens with wide viewing angles, are thin and lightweight which means they can be wall mounted, will not produce burn-in and have terrific picture resolution and quality. Also, when the bulb burns out they can be replaced, unlike the plasma television models. However, they can both be a bit on the expensive side.

Now that you know the differences it’s time to go down to your local electronics store and try them out. A little bit of viewing can go a long way in your determination of what’s best and what’s not. One more piece of advice: when looking at the varied assortment of models at you local store you’ll notice that some have bright pictures and some do not. Do not base your opinion solely on that one thing. The store models will not have their brightness controls all set the same and it’s possible that a dim picture on one of their televisions could easily be adjusted into a magnificent picture.

About the author
This article is brought to you by Best Plasma Television, an online source for quality plasma television sets. For more information please visit Best Plasma Television

Over the years, I have grown really attached to my home theater system. I must say, of all the rooms in the house, my own little movie theater is the one I could not live without. I am absolutely in love with my home theater system and, if you are anything like me, I am sure you will love yours too. I found, when I was initially building my system, that there was so much information to absorb. Every product out there seemed better than the next, and I found myself unsure about which to buy. Here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for a new home theater projector.

There are two main types of projectors on the market; DLP and LCD. DLP stands for digital light processing. It was invented by Texas Instruments, and utilizes a microscopic array of over 2 million mirrors. DLP has a higher contrast than LCD, but there are some unfavorable consumer reports that note something called the “rainbow effect”. The “rainbow effect” is noticeable when looking from one side of the screen to the other, and is characterized by a sudden burst of color.

LCD stands for liquid crystal display. These projectors have three distinct glass LCD panels inside; one for each component of the video signal (red, green, and blue). While DLP chips reflect light, the LCD panels allow light to pass through them. LCD projectors produce brighter images, and they are known for having excellent color saturation. In the end, you will be hard-pressed to notice a great difference between the two types of projection systems.

When shopping for a new projector, keep your particular needs in the forefront of your thoughts. As I mentioned above, it is really easy to lose yourself in the minutiae of each particular system. Connectivity is a definitely something to be mindful of. Make sure that you are able to connect all of your components, including your gaming system. Nothing beats playing Halo in real-life size! Contract ratio is another important factor; the higher the ratio, the better the picture will be.

The brightness of your projector is another thing to consider. Light output is measured in ANSI (American National Standards Institute) lumens. You will want to avoid a projector that produces anything shy of 1000 lumens. As you are likely aware, the projection resolution is extremely important. This refers to the number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen. Go for something that is no less than 1024×768, as this will allow you to fully appreciate the depth and quality of HDTV. In the end, you should buy the projector that is in line with your needs and your budget. Soprano’s is coming on right now! Time to go!

About the Author
Warren Thompson is like a kid in a candy store, when it comes to home theater products. When he can drag himself away from his miniature movie theater, he writes for http://www.hometheaterfocus.com

DLP (Digital Light Processing) projectors can be attached with computers, DVD players, VCR players, HDTV’s and video games. It comes in various models and with enhanced features. DLP Projectors are also called as Multimedia projectors.

In mid 1990’s Texas Instruments developed Digital Light Processing. DLP technology is based on DMD or Digital Micromirror Device. It is a switch, which controls the intensity, and placement of projected light via 4,80,000 mirrors. In a DLP-based display there are unlimited colors. You can control the saturation and clarity to make bright video as clear as you want. The DMD is coordinated with a graphic signal, a light source and a projection lens.

The micromirrors of DLP are fixed on a panel of small pivots, which enable them to slant either way. If it slants towards (on) light source it creates bright pixels on the screen and when it slants the other way (off) it creates darker pixels.  When the bit-stream image code enters the semiconductor, the semi conductor directs the switch to on or off. If the switch remains on more times than off, it reflects a light gray pixel. Otherwise it reflects darker gray pixel.

In DLP systems white light is passed through a color wheel and it runs to the surface of the DMD panel. The color wheel converts the white light into red, green and blue. From these three colors a DMD chip can create 16.7 million colors. So a 3-DMD chip DLP system can create a mammoth 35 trillion colors. Then our eyes understand these colors and see an image.

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High definition DVD, also known as HD-DVD (which actually stands for High Density DVD), is one of two competing high definition storage formats - the other being Blu-ray (http://www.the-hdtv-tuner.com). The need for a new, high capacity storage format, has been primarily brought about by the rapid rise in popularity of HDTV in Japan and the US. HDTV has much higher bandwidth than either NTSC or regular DVD discs, so in order to record programs from HD-DVD higher capacity discs, of at least 30GB, are required.

High definition video is also being used increasingly to make Hollywood movies as it offers comparable quality to film at much less cost. Therefore, the studios plan to release future movies on one or both high definition formats.

HD-DVD was developed by Toshiba and NEC and has the support of the DVD Forum, along with a number of Hollywood studios. Currently those studios which have announced support for HD-DVD are; Universal Studios, Paramount Studios, Warner Bros., and New Line Cinema. It has a capacity of 15GB for single-sided discs and 30Gb for double-sided. It doesn’t need a caddy or cartridge and the cover layer is the same thickness as current DVD discs, 0.6mm. The numerical aperture of the optical pick-up head is also the same as DVD, 0.65mm.

Because of its similarities to current DVD, high definition DVD is cheaper to manufacture than Blu-ray, because it doesn’t need big changes in the production line set-up. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray have backward compatibility with existing DVDV discs. That is that current DVDs will play in HD-DVD player, although new high definition DVD won’t play in older DVD players.

High definition DVD currently supports a number of compression formats, including MPEG-2, VC1 (based on Microsoft’s Windows Media 9), and H.264 which is based on MPEG-4 and will be supported by the next version of Apple’s QuickTime software, which will be included with Mac OS X Tiger.

About The Author

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner (http://www.the-hdtv-tuner.com) - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.
Copyright Kenny Hemphill - http://www.the-hdtv-tuner.com

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