Plasma TV Maintenance

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After you buy a plasma TV it is a good idea to learn how to maintain it so it will last you a long time - after all it is not a cheap gadget that you can change every few months without feeling a sharp pain in your pocket. So just make sure you know where the weaknesses are so you don't abuse your TV in that area. Also it's good to know the truth about some rumors like the one about refilling your plasma TV with gas.

The Recharging Myth

As a plasma screen television produces images, it uses electricity to burn xenon and neon gas in order to illuminate phosphors. Because of this, many people believe that the gas will run out over time. The notion of having to "recharge" your plasma screen television is a myth. The amount of gases consumed in normal use is minuscule, and they will last throughout the normal life of the screen.

Burn-in and Plasma Screen Televisions

If you leave a plasma screen television on for too long while it is displaying a single image, the television can suffer from burn-in. Burn-in occurs when an image is permanently etched on to the screen of the television, leaving a pale "ghost" of that image no matter what is displayed on screen. The burn-in was a major disadvantage of plasma screen televisions, one that wasn't shared by LCD televisions. However, you don't have to worry about burn-in if you have a new model of plasma TV or even if you have an older one and use it for normal television, DVD, and occasional computer use. Plasma screen televisions that suffer from burn-in are often found in corporate settings, where a single image, or a single channel with a news ticker, can burn into the screen.

Preventing Burn-In of Older Plasma Screen Televisions

Burn in will only occur in older plasma screen televisions that display the same image, or the same part of an image, for an extended period of time. Using the screen to display a single image, like a picture, for a long period of time will inevitably cause burn-in if your plasma TV is older than a couple of years. Using the screen as a computer display for long periods of time will cause the desktop of the computer to be burned in to the screen. Also, constantly viewing news programs that have stationary on screen objects (such as news tickers) will cause these objects to burn in to the screen. Most high-end plasma screen televisions have an option called "white wash" that will eliminate a burned in image. Using the white wash will shorten the life of your screen however so don't abuse it.

Maintaining Your Plasma Screen Television

One of the beautiful things about plasma screen televisions is that they require little or no maintenance. There are no gases to recharge or bulbs to replace like it is the case with projectors or DLP TVs. All you have to do is insure that the television is placed within a safe environment and used properly. Make sure that it rests in a clean, cool, and dry space. When you install it make sure you leave enough room around it so air can flow and cool the plasma TV. Clean the screen regularly and don't use chemical solutions for that unless the manufacturer recommends it. Don't leave the television on when its not in use. If you follow these steps, no maintenance will be required and your TV will last you a very long time.

Recommend : TV buying guide

Energy Efficiency - Buying a New Plasma, LCD or Flat-Screen Television with Energy Star

Are you in the market for a new television set? Are you considering a plasma, LCD or flat-screen model? Have you considered it's energy efficiency? While most people shop for televisions with specific features already in mind, they rarely consider energy efficiency. Why is energy efficiency important in televisions? According to Energy Star, "today's TVs, when combined with related products like DVD players and set-top boxes, make up about 10% of a household's annual electricity bill."

Powering Your TV and it's Effect on the Environment

Watching television may seem harmless enough, but it's important to realize the environmental impact of the electricity you use. Generating electricity is a dirty business - especially in the United States. In 2006, nearly half (49%) of the country's 4.1 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity generated used coal as its source of energy. Why do we still rely so heavily on coal in today's more environmentally conscious world? You can find the answer in a recent MIT report titled The Future of Coal where they state, "Coal is a low-cost, per BTU, mainstay of both the developed and developing world," they continue with the following frightening statement, "its use is projected to increase."

Growing Power Needs

If 10% of your household's annual electricity bill doesn't seem outrageous to you then consider the following, according to Keith Jones of Digital CEnergy Australia, "by 2012, it will be safe to say that televisions will use more power than the average refrigerator in an average household."

Energy Efficiency - A Simple Solution

Thankfully, there is a simple solution - energy efficiency. The more energy efficient your new television is, the less electricity you use and the less pollution you contribute. With the help of Energy Star, finding an energy efficiency television has never been easier. Energy Star rated televisions use about 30% less energy in comparison to standard units. Energy Star also provides ratings on almost every type of television on the market - from standard TVs, to HD-ready TVs, to the largest flat-screen plasma TVs.

To maximize the energy efficiency of your new television, if possible, I recommend holding your purchase until after November 2008. According to Energy Star, "in November 2008, a new, much more stringent ENERGY STAR specification for TVs will be effective." This new standard will include efficiency improvements for both standby and active modes.

Finding Energy Star Rated Televisions

If you are ready to shop today then you can find Energy Star rated televisions using their free web-tool:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&pgw_code=TV#FAPSearch

The following stores also carry Energy Star rated "Home Electronics" so you should be able to compare Energy Star models personally.

Best Buy
Costco
Sam's Club
Sears
Wal-Mart

To find the closest store near you, Energy Star provides the following free web-tool:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.store_locator

It's important to always remember using energy efficient devices is an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint. Not only does energy efficiency help save the environment for future generations, it also saves you money each money by lowering your monthly electricity bill. When you purchase your next television, make the environmentally smart choice and purchase one rated by Energy Star.

Tags : TV buying guide

TV Viewing Distance and Screen Placement in the Home Theater

The optimum TV screen size is directly related to the available viewing distance - but there are other factors as well that need to be taken into consideration.

Viewing Distance: Is it just a matter of personal preference?

Sit too close to your big screen TV and you will be able to see the image build-up structure - scanning lines or pixels forming the image - thus distracting your attention and spoiling your home theater experience. Yet, sit too far away, and the impact will be lost.

There are differing opinions on the best way to determine the optimum TV viewing distance for a specific screen size. Just go to the movie theater and you will soon realize that it is all a question of personal preference - some would sit at the very back. Others would go straight to the front row, as they prefer the bigger picture and a wider angle of view, while some would simply choose their seat randomly somewhere in between these two extremes.

The truth is that there are no scientific rules her. This does not mean that there aren't any guidelines that you should follow when planning a big screen purchase or a would-be home theater room.

SMPTE Recommendations and the THX Certification standards:

The Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommends that the screen size for home theater use should occupy a 30 degrees field of view - in the horizontal plan - for the audience. Alternatively, the ideal TV viewing distance should be such that the screen width occupies an angle of 30 degrees from the viewing position.

This 30-degrees viewing angle seems to have been accepted by many as the standard in home theater and motion picture viewing.

This SMPTE guideline is also in line with the THX certification standards in that these recommend that the back row of seats should have at least a 26 degrees viewing angle and while recommending an optimum viewing angle of 36 degrees.

It is believed that within these viewing angle limits, the viewer will get better immersed into the action movie itself.

Vision System limitations:

There is also the issue of TV viewing distance based on visual acuity. This does not represent the optimum viewing distance - rather, this relates to the maximum viewing distance beyond which some picture detail will be lost.

Technically speaking, visual acuity is a measure of the eye spatial resolving power and indicates the angular size of the smallest detail that a person visual system can resolve. A person with 20/20 (or 6/6 when expressed in meters) normal vision can resolve a spatial pattern separated by a visual angle of one minute of arc angle i.e. 1/60th of a degree, at the eye when viewed at 20 feet away. Expressed differently, a person with normal 20/20 vision is capable of identifying an object with a height of 1.76mm at 20 feet way.

In terms of TV viewing distances, these represent the point beyond which some of the picture detail will no longer be resolved by the viewer vision system.

So How Does All This Translate In Practical Terms?

A few rules-of-thumb can help put in practice the guidelines detailed above. These rules for viewing distance refer to the screen width rather than the screen diagonal and therefore apply to both 4:3 and 16:9 display formats.

A general rule for the TV viewing distance based on the SMPTE and visual acuity guidelines, is that the nearest TV viewing distance between you and your big screen TV should be limited to approximately twice the screen width (more precise 1.87 x screen width for a subtended angle of 30 degrees), while the furthest distance being no more than five times the width of your screen.

This rule of thumb should give you a fairly good approximation for your TV viewing distance. It does not necessarily represent the ideal home theater viewing distance but rather the limits within which your TV viewing distance should theoretically be out of the trouble zone.

In other words, move closer than twice the screen width size, and the picture scanning lines, pixels and any other video artifacts will become too visibly intrusive - leading to distractions that will spoil your movie watching experience. Move further away than 5 times the screen width and your vision system will no longer be able to resolve all the picture detail.

But...

It is also important to realize that these maximum and minimum viewing distances should be seen in the light of the video signal definition.

A fully resolved high definition TV (1080i, 1920x1080) supports a closer viewing distance than standard analog TV. Thus while twice the screen width would be the ideal TV viewing distance for a HDTV display, it would be a bit too close for standard TV; in the later case, a three times the screen width would be a better option.

Similarly, the five times the screen width as the maximum view distance, while more than adequate for a standard analog TV picture, is a bit too far away for a person to see the fine detail supported by a HDTV picture - a three to four times the screen width represents a more practical limit for the maximum viewing distance in the case of HDTV.

These rules-of-thumb work best with big screen TV sizes in the range 42-inches and over.

When it comes to the use of regular-size standard definition analog TVs in the home theater, i.e. up to 36" / 40" diagonal, the optimum viewing distance range is between 8 feet and 12 feet. TV sets smaller than 36-inches aren't big enough to qualify for Home Theater use; their smaller screen size will not provide the desired impact on the viewer.

Vertical Angle of View & Screen Height:

For optimum viewing, the eyes of the viewer should be level with the center of the screen.

Maximum vertical angle of view: In those home theater set-ups where this is not possible, the SMPTE guidelines suggest that the maximum vertical angle measured at the seated eye height from the front row center seat to the top most part of the projected image should not exceed 35 degrees.

This does not represent the optimum viewing angle but rather the limit beyond which the viewer will be subject to an increased neck strain.

This maximum vertical angle limit is always measured from the front row as this represent the extreme angle of view.

Minimum angle of vision: While there do not appear to be any specific SMPTE or THX guidelines in this respect, yet studies have shown that if the screen size occupies less than 15 degrees of the viewer's vertical field of view, than that image appears small.

Practical Considerations:

In a typical home theater set-up, you do not need to really worry about neither the maximum vertical angle of view, nor about the minimum vertical angle of vision for an effective movie theater experience.

If one were to adhere to the recommended TV viewing distance of twice the screen width (as further detailed above based on the SMPTE guideline of 30 degrees horizontal field of vision), you would automatically be complying with the minimum angle of vision. The reason being that there is a fixed relation between screen height and width in accordance to your home theater screen aspect ratio of either 16:9 or 4:3.

Further more, in a typical home theater setup, it would be very difficult to exceed the maximum vertical angle of view beyond which you will be subject to an increased neck strain.

Taking into account that most home theater rooms are approximately 10 feet (3m) high, the resultant vertical viewing angle is normal well within the maximum of 35 degrees detailed in the SMPTE guidelines - all you have to do is just remain within the twice the screen width guideline for your viewing distance.

Tags : TV buying guide LED television

How to accept the best Flat awning TV

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Choosing the right technology

Plasma and LCD TVs look the same, but they are not. Some features or options don't differ a lot, but these are the major differences:

Size

If you arfe looking for an extra large TV, go for a plasma. Plasma TVs are the current size champions, particularly when comparing TVs that consumers can easily purchase. LCDs are catching up in size with their developing technology, however, and may surpass Plasmas in the near future. This may be due to difficulties in producing glass large enough for larger plasmas.

Burn-ins

With the latest plasma technology, this is less of an issue than ever before. The Pixel Orbitor, for example, is a method of reducing burn-in used by plasma manufacturers. It requires no additional programing from the end user as some older burn-in prevention techniques did.
Note: If you plan to use a plasma for gaming, some games with permanent 'dashboards' may still cause some burn-in. If you will be using the television for display use only, go for an LCD. Plasmas are more likely to get burned-in pixels.

Miscellaneous

- LCD TVs are far less fragile than plasmas. This is also an advantage when the tv set has to be shipped or moved to a different location.

- LCD TVs are also much easier to install than plasma TVs.

- LCD TVs have a better performance at high altitudes.

- LCD TVs are often cheaper than plasma TVs. The difference in pricing is getting smaller, however.

Ofcourse, all this information is available all over the web. For a detailed comparison sheet, I recommend using Wikipedia's comparison sheet.

Flat Screen TV comparison, don't get it wrong

If you have made a choice between plasma and LCD (I'll name it Flat screen TV from now on), you can pick a TV of your choice. Flat screen TV comparison will able you to find out exactly what you want and what'll fit the budget.

Brands

The following brands are being considered as the best manufacturers of Flat screen TVs:

- Hitachi

- Panasonic

- Philips

- Pioneer

- Samsung

If you are looking for a product with outstanding quality, we recommend choosing one of these brands.

Features

Different Flat screen TVs have different features. Most of these features look the same, but there are a couple of unique features as well:

- Ambilight

- HD ready or not?

- Picture in Picture

There are lots of comparison website available, but you will have to know how to use them. Filter the models by brand, price and features and the choice will be a lot easier.

Thanks To : LED television TV buying guide

How to Clean Your LCD TV screen

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* Easily Scratched!

First we have to understand a little bit of background about LCD screens to know why we should be careful when cleaning. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display; which has crystal molecules sandwiched under layers of polarized panels. These panels are usually made of "plastic-like" polymer materials, and like any plastics they can be easily scratched or gouged, even by just your fingernails! That's why cleaning LCDs requires special care while cleaning compared to the old glass CRT monitors!

* What You'll Need

- rubbing alcohol (aka isopropyl alcohol)

- distilled water (not tap water!)

- A soft cloth (lint-free)

* Steps

1. Dilute the rubbing alcohol into a mix with about 50% alcohol and the rest distilled water.

2. Pour this solution into a spray bottle. Old Windex bottles are good as they spray in a mist pattern with just the right amount to get good coverage on your screen. The spray bottles that squirt a single stream tend to drip solution all over the place.

3. Spray the mix onto a soft lint-free cloth. Old t-shirts and microfiber car wash cloths are both good choices. Large cloths are better since it helps to reduce the risk of leaving streaks on the screen from too much pressure.

4. Gently wipe the cloth on the screen in a circular consistent motion. Apply even pressure to the cloth and be careful not to push too hard, or scrape the screen with your fingernails!

* Suggestions

- Costly products that you buy at the "computer screen cleaning" aisle of your local computer store contain the same basic ingredients of alcohol and water! Some even contain other harmful chemicals such as ethylene glycol, which may be ok on older glass CRT monitors, but should NOT be used on LCD screens! Some of the extra chemicals can also be harmful to the environment and to your health.

- Be sure to use Mineral water! Not tap water; you don't want hard mineral spots on your screen.

- Don't use tissue paper; they will leave lint and spots of paper stuck to your monitor. Also they're too thin, risking damage from your fingernails poking through.

- Don't apply too much solution. If you do, just wipe it off with the cloth and use less.

- You can also use lint-free lens wipes from photography stores, but they're thinner so be careful about your fingernails poking through.

- For a cheap ready-made solution from the store, you can also use CD/DVD cleaner, It's already designed to be plastic-safe, and is a simple solution of about 50% isopropyl alcohol.

* Some Precautions

- Don't use Windex or other glass cleaners! These contain ammonia, which is ok for glass, but WILL hurt your LCD screen!

- Try not to use the really cheap paper towels, like the tough brown ones in public washrooms. They can scratch your screen.

- Be sure to shut down your computer and your monitor, then unplug from the wall. This reduces the risk of electric damage in case you spill some of the solution on components.

- Don't drink isopropyl alcohol! It's toxic!

- If you aren't sure, you can test a small corner of the screen first.

Follow the steps and suggestions above, and your trusty LCD monitor should give you years of clean, clear, trouble-free service.

Visit : TV buying guide