Types Of Tvs

Flat panel TVs are all the rage now, with their slim profiles and large screen size. There are two types to choose from: Plasma and LCD. Plasma TVs work by illuminating thousands of tiny fluorescent lights to create an image. LCD TVs operate like the screen of your laptop. While these TVs can't be beaten in terms of cool points, there are some things to consider. Here's the skinny...

Plasma TVs: Plasma TVs are not TVs in the traditional sense. They are more like monitors and need an external TV tuner to display broadcast signals. Plasma displays are digital and have higher resolutions than CRTs. When shopping for plasma TVs, it's important to note that not all plasma displays can produce the full resolution of HDTV. Some Plasma TVs are considered EDTVs (enhanced-definition TVs), with a resolution of 852x480. On the higher end ($10,000 to $20,000), there are full-blown high-definition plasma TVs capable of a dazzling 1365x768 resolution.

Pros:
• They have a large screen size.
• They have a slim profile (3 inches thick!).
• They can be wall mounted, ceiling mounted, or placed on a stand.

Cons:
• They are very expensive (with no apparent price break in the near future).
• The are very susceptible to burn-in (damage done to a TV screen as a result of the long display of a static image).
• You can expect only about a year and a half of serious use before apparent loss in picture quality.
• They have a poor black level (ability to render the color black, which affects picture detail).

Direct View (CRT) TVs: Direct view or CRT TVs are the old stand-by, tube-type sets we've all come to know and love. Because these sets use cathode-ray tubes to "paint" the image on the screen, direct-view TVs have a bright, clear picture that can be viewed from any angle in the room.

Pros:
• They produce great pictures with strong colors (especially dark colors).
• They can be viewed from any angle in any light.
• You can expect at least five years of serious TV watching before the picture quality starts to degrade.
• They are relatively inexpensive.

Cons:
• They are bulky and heavy.
• They are limited to about a 40-inch screen size.
• With the introduction of LCD and Plasma, direct-view TVs days are numbered.
• With curved-screen direct-view TVs, larger screen size means a greater curve. So while you can get a clear view from any angle, if you're looking at a bigger curved-screen TV from the side, some stuff may be hidden on the other side of the bulge.

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