Purchasing a Big Screen Television

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Like most other men I enjoy watching a big screen television. In my opinion the bigger the better. But there are so many choices when it comes to purchasing a big screen television it's easy to get confused. There are three main types of big screen televisions. Plasma, LCD and Rear Projection. Let's go through the pro's and con's of the three.

The first is Plasma televisions. These televisions have been praised for their clear picture and thin frame. I've found these televisions to deliver a high quality picture. They are so slim they can be hung on the wall like a picture frame saving a lot of space in the lounge room. The downside is they don't have a very long life-span. A lot of people I know that have a plasma television complain about having to keep getting it fixed after only a year.

The second is LCD televisions. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. LCD televisions deliver and even higher quality picture that plasma televisions. They are also light weight and slim in size. The only downside I can see is the price. LDC televisions are the most expensive out of the three.

The third is rear projection televisions. The main advantage to buying a rear projection television is the price. It is the cheapest out of three, a lot cheaper in fact. In most cases the half the price. Now let's talk about the disadvantages. A good saying is "you get what you pay for" and in this case it is no exception. Rear projection televisions are bigger than the LCD's and Plasma's. A lot bigger, so you better have a big lounge room if you want to purchase one. The second disadvantage is the picture quality. The picture picture quality of rear projection televisions are a lot poorer.

So the question really is how much you want to spend. Paying less for a rear projection television will help your hip pocket but will be a lot harder on the eyes. Buying a LCD television will cost a bit but will deliver excellent picture quality. The choice is yours, but if you have the money get the LCD television.

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A 1080p Flat Screen TV Guide - Why Are Some 1080p Flat Screen TVs Better Than Others?

For many TV viewers, their dream is for a new 1080p flat screen TV. They'd like nothing better than to buy one, find one, or get one as a gift. It doesn't matter, as long as they get to watch one of these TVs instead of the big clunker they're watching now.

The fact is that TV technology has cone a very long way in the last 10 years, with a huge improvement in flat screen picture quality being the most noticeable benefit. In the early years of flat panel TVs, weather they were LCD or plasma, picture quality was noticeably lacking. Sure, they were thin, you could hang them on your wall, and your neighbors would be jealous, but really, their pictures looked pretty bad.

Times have changed. For all but the most jaded videophiles, almost any new flat panel TV ranks just under a gift from God, especially those of the 1080p variety. Even the bottom feeders look ok, and the best are nothing short of spectacular. What separates the best flat screen TV from the also rans?

As you might have guessed, a great flat screen TV, as in the days of TV gone by, will have a better picture than its lesser endowed brethren. One of the first performance statistics to be thrown around in ads, reviews and by your local TV salesperson is the resolution. All flat panel TV pictures are made up of tiny, colored dots called pixels. The set's resolution is simply the number of pixels it uses to make the picture. Flat panel TVs come in two basic resolutions; 1080p and 720p (which can actually be 768p, depending on the TVs manufacturer). All else being equal, more pixels is better.

Ah, but seldom is all else equal. In fact, many other things besides resolution are important when you start looking at picture quality. Some of the more important things to look at are the set's contrast ratio, black level, gray scale reproduction, color rendition, and lack of video artifacts.

The contrast ratio is simply the difference between the lightest and darkest black and brightest white the TV can produce. There are two basic ways this is measured; using a checkerboard pattern, or full on / full off. A larger number is better, but manufacturers seem to come up with endless ways to fudge this number to benefit their own TVs. Suffice it to say that if you're looking at two different TVs side by side the one with a better contrast ratio will look better.

Black level is a measure of how little light the set lets through when areas of the screen are supposed to be completely dark. In the old days of tube televisions that was no problem. The way that technology worked, if a part of the screen was supposed to be completely dark, the beam inside the TV tube just didn't scan it, so no light was produced.

With flat panel TVs, no area of the screen can be completely turned off, the black level is a measure of how well the TV can contain (LCD) or reduce (plasma) the screens luminance. Lower is better for a better picture. There aren't too many TV manufacturers that publish minimum luminance (that's what tells how little light the TV produces) specifications for their TVs, so you just have to play it by eye.

Gray scale is extremely important. Proper gray scale reproduction is the ability of the TV to reproduce truly neutral shades of gray at all levels of brightness. Many sets tend to trend toward blue, green or red instead of being a truly balanced gray. To make matters worse, they will sometimes favor one shade in the lighter areas of the picture, and another in the lighter areas.

You may think "That's okay, I never watch black and white TV shows anyway." Well, in addition to making sure black and white programming looks correct, all the colors on your TV screen, weather it's LCD or plasma, 1080p or 720p, rely on a properly rendered gray scale to be accurate. That's why good gray scale is one of the most important aspects of an accurate picture.

While only some TVs are really good in this regard as they're delivered, the good news is that many TVs can be calibrated to be very accurate, by a service technician or an ISF certified custom installer with the proper equipment.

Color rendition is exactly what it sounds like. It's a measure of how well the TV renders color. A set with good color rendition will produce rich accurate colors. A TV with poor color rendition will display weak (or in some cases, oversaturated), inaccurate ones. Which would you prefer? As noted above, good gray scale reproduction is one of the foundations of color rendition, but far from the only component. The TV's color decoder, panel construction and quality of it's power supply all come into play when it reproduces color.

One of the first places flat panel TV manufacturers skimp when they're building a TV is the video processing circuitry. There are many reasons for this. The main one is cost. Good video processing circuitry, such as the Silicon Optix HQV solution, are relatively expensive, while there are many other less expensive, albeit not as capable solutions on the market. In a market relentlessly driven to lower retail prices, every dollar counts. TV manufacturers feel they can make a tradeoff in the video processing capabilities of their sets and few consumers will notice.

The upshot for the consumer is that sets with poor video processing will exhibit video artifacts. Some of the more troubling video problems are moiré patterns, mosquito noise and "jaggies".

Moire' patterns are a fluctuating rainbow appearance in alternating black and white areas of the picture, such as referee's shirts. This effect can also be seen in other alternating line patterns, such as moving bleachers in NASCAR events. Thankfully for NASCAR, their seats are seldom empty, as the effect is more pronounced when the seats are empty.

Mosquito noise is seen in the transitions between dark and light areas of the picture and looks like mosquitoes flying around the transitions' edge. Jaggies are seen in moving, diagonal lines. Instead of being smooth, they will be jagged, or stair-stepped in appearance.

Another area to examine before making a 1080p flat screen TV purchase is weather or not the set has the inputs you'll need to connect all your components. For example, you may want to plug in a laptop computer. Some TVs have an HD-15 computer input, as is found on a laptop, while many do not.

Does the set have a sufficient number of HDMI inputs for connecting digital video devices, such as BluRay players, DVRs, online movie terminals, or cable boxes? Which version of HDMI are the inputs? HDMI 1.3 is required to accept the latest high bit rate color formats (of which there is little or no need for yet, but it is coming).

Many flat panel TVs now have network connection, USB ports or card slots to facilitate displaying digital video. Consumers are plugging in thumb drives, USB hard drives, and memory cards to show slideshows of family photos, for example. The proliferation of movie download services and terminals will make Ethernet ports and USB connectivity more important going forward.

One secret of the 1080p flat panel TV world is that there are really only a few companies that actually build the flat panel portion of the TV itself. For example, as of this writing, only 3 companies, Panasonic, LG and Samsung, produce plasma panels. In the LCD arena Sony, LG-Phillips, S-LCD (a Samsung/Sony joint venture), Hitachi Displays (a Panasonic, Hitachi, and Canon joint venture), and Sharp own large flat panel display manufacturing facilities. All the other companies buy their panels from one of these companies.

There is much to think about when evaluating a new 1080p flat screen TV. No matter which set you choose, it will probably be a huge step up from what you were watching before. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't put some thought into making what is, for most people, a major purchase.

A little bit of time spent finding the right flat screen now will ensure years of enjoyment from your new TV. After all, the difference between a good flat screen TV and a great one may only be a few hundred dollars, but the set will be with you for many years to come.

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Classic Television DVDs Bring the 1970s Back to the Small Screen

Imagine a family, all sitting around the TV, possibly the only TV in the house. Dad is holding the remote control, which everyone refers to as "the clicker." The remote has only two functions. One of the functions turns the TV off and on. The other changes the channels, all 7 or 8 of them, with a click of a button. Now try to imagine what that family is watching. Are you imagining them watching one of the classic TV shows from the 1970's?

In the 1970s most families had one, maybe two televisions in the house, and the second television was usually stashed away in mom and dad's room where they could watch the classic shows that the kids couldn't watch yet like Maude or Soap. The televisions in the house might have even shown the programs in black and white.

What kept families glued to these televisions that had only a handful of channels, an ancient clicker, and frequently no color? The classic TV shows from the 1970s, of course. There were so many family-friendly shows in a variety of genres.

For families that enjoyed comedies, the 1970s had some of the most memorable sitcoms. The families in the '70's learned all about families in the 1950's by watching the wildly popular Happy Days and its equally popular spin off Laverne and Shirley. Happy Days also launched the career of comedian Robin Williams who went on to star in another spin off of the show - Mork and Mindy.

Other family friendly classic television shows of the 1970's include The Partridge Family (with teen hearth throb David Cassidy), the show that introduced us to John Travolta, Welcome Back Kotter, One Day at a Time, Chico and the Man, The Odd Couple, Good Times, WKRP in Cincinnati, What's Happening, Three's Company and The Jeffersons.

Families with older children enjoyed comedies with a social conscience like All in the Family, Maude, Barney Miller or Mash. These classic 1970s sitcoms dealt with the social issues of the day in poignant yet comedic way.

Families also had several variety shows to choose from for their viewing pleasure. Classic variety shows such as The Donny and Marie Show and The Sonny and Cher Show had music, comedy sketches and popular guest stars each week. The Carol Burnett Show brought together some of the 1970's funniest comedians each week and The Muppet Show combined the genius of Jim Henson's fantastic creations with musical and comedy guest stars sharing the stage with Kermit, Miss Piggy and Animal.

There were plenty of one hour family dramas, too. Eight is Enough, Little House on the Prairie, and The Waltons were just a few of the classic television dramas that brought families together in front of the television each week.

There was also room for crime fighting and action heroes in the classic 1970s TV shows. The world learned what bionics was in The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin off The Bionic Woman. Each week families would tune in to see how Lee Majors and Jamie Sommers would use their bionic eyes and ears. CHiPs gave us a glimpse into the life of California Highway Patrol officers. Starsky and Hutch chased bad buys in their hot rod and BJ and the Bear tracked down bad guys in an 18 wheeler.

Two other classic television shows from that era that can't be defined by any of these other genres were The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. These shows were the place for the stars of yesteryear and the stars of the current era to make guest appearances, several at a time. For years, families stayed home on Saturday nights just to see who would get off the plane onto the island or turn up Julie the Cruise Director's guest list.

In today's modern times, there are hundreds of channels on each of the four or more TV sets in most homes. Yet, there seems to never be anything to watch, especially something that the whole family can enjoy together. Many of these classic TV shows from the 1970's are now on DVD and can be bought or rented either online or at a store. Why not consider getting a classic TV DVD for your family this Friday night instead of the usually family movie?

~Ben Anton, 2007

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A Look At Big Screen Television

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Big screen television is the dream of all entertainment lovers. There is nothing more pleasant than to spend an evening watching your favorite movies on a television as big as a cinema screen, is there? Big screen television is indeed something gorgeous to behold. You can enjoy television to the fullest with one of those lovely inventions of modern technology. Big screen television is one of the best ways to entertain yourself and your family during the long winter nights. It is part of the typical lifestyle of the modern man, craving for entertainment and spectacular sights.

A big screen television can really have a tremendous effect on you. Your imagination is stirred at the great scenes that pass through your eyes. With a big screen television you can feel as if you were actually participating in the movie. You can be really horrified at the horror movies. You can be really thrilled at the thrillers. When you watch Animal planet, you actually feel like you are on a walk in the jungle! Big screen TV is a really nice bargain these days. You can really find affordable TV sets at no price at all, or at a very insignificant one. Compared to the past, big screen television has changed a lot. It is bigger now, and what's more: cheaper and easier to find.

With the coming of new technology, plasma screen television has turned into a modern way of life. Now everyone wants to have one plasma TV set in their homes, not only because it is more comfortable, but because of the glorious extras that you get from it. Plasma TV is also produced in larger and larger screens, which have the trend of getting even larger as the technical innovations improve.

If you want to buy a big screen television, you'd better go for a walk in Best Buy, Sears, or Circuit City. They are the best places to find what you want about big screen television. If your demand isn't of a very large screen, you can search for TV set in your local shops. Internet offers great options for those willing to hang a big screen TV on their walls. You can browse through numerous offers for big screen sets on sale. You can find them on lower prices than those sold on the ordinary markets, which is good. Try Internet searching and discover the vast field of sales and purchase.

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Plasma Television Life Span - Why You Shouldn't Worry About It

Though there are varying opinions, the general consensus is that plasma televisions do have a long life span. Because a television set with a flat screen is generally a bit more expensive than other television sets, its life span is generally used as a justification for the added expense.

These televisions also provide a clearer image which makes this investment a sound one for a person's television viewing pleasure.

When people begin to ponder the possibility of adding a plasma type television to their collection of electronics, they will typically wonder what the average life span is.

Plasma televisions deliver clearer, more pronounced images than an LCD television screen and tend to last just as long. The average person only watches a couple of hours of television a day and that means it can last up to ten years if you only watch eighty hours of television a week.

Early versions of today's plasma technology were not economically or environmentally efficient. These older versions ran quite hot and a person would not be able to hear over their cooling fans. When the pricing is considered first before how long it lasts is considered, most people will not take the time to investigate further.

However, should a person consider the average use time, and not be the type to watch more than a couple hours a night, they will tend to take their checkbooks or credit cards out and purchase one as soon as they can afford one.

Nowadays, the average plasma TV's life span is just as impressive as the picture. Due to the advance in technology, and the fact that new models do not burn quite as hot, the picture is clear and crisp.

For people who like to simply watch a film every now and again, or the news while they are getting ready for work or bed, this will be a wise investment.

Models can be hung on walls, or set on special stands that are built for flat screen televisions. The fact that they are space saving is sometimes used to justify the purchase, but all in all; there's quite a few good reasons to consider a plasma television.

When purchasing a plasma type television set, the plasma television life span should be taken into consideration. Most will last a very long time with extended viewing so you should not be worried that your investment will not be worth it.

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