A Buyers Guide To Televisions
How big?
To work out the best size set for your room, you need to take your viewing distance into account. |If you sit too close to a large TV, the picture can appear fuzzy or grainy. Sit too far away and you’ll miss the fine details and won’t be able to read small text.
The general rule is that your TV should be one-third to |one-half the length of your viewing distance (don’t forget that TV screens are measured diagonally). Therefore, if you sit eight feet away from your TV, the ideal screen size is between 32in and 48in.
Full-screen or widescreen?
Most TVs today are widescreen , but some cheaper models still come as full-screen, a squarer shape more like CRT sets used to be. These are fine for kitchen or bedroom use. Full-screen TVs have a width-to-height ratio of 4:3, or four inches of width for every three inches of height. Wide-screen TVs have a 16:9 ratio, which is the preferred size for super-sharp HDTV (high-definition television).
LCD or plasma?
The most popular types of TV today are LCD and plasma. The jury is out on which is best. But the simplest way to decide which to go for is by the size of TV set you need. Few plasmas are made smaller than 42in, while LCDs don’t usually come much bigger than 52in.
Other factors to consider
*In a darkened room, plasma TVs have better contrast and brightness than LCD screens. So if you plan |on watching movies regularly with family or friends, plasma might be your best bet. LCD TVs, on the other hand, generally reflect less light and glare, so they fare better in more normal light conditions.
* Plasma TVs are better for wider viewing angles. With LCDs, some brightness can be lost if you are sitting to the side of the screen
* Plasma TVs are considered better for definition of movement – a key benefit for sports and action-movie fans. Early LCDs suffered from motion-response lag, where individual pixels are slightly out of synchronisation with the image on screen, causing ghosting and trailing movement. But LCD technology has advanced greatly and now any difference is negligible.
* If you plan to use your TV with gaming consoles or as a computer monitor, LCD may be the best option. Plasma is not great with static images, whereas LCD displays them perfectly, with full colour detail, no flicker, and no risk of screen burn-in. But, again, technological improvements are making these differences far less pronounced.
* LCD TVs typically use less power than plasma screens – and use about 60 per cent less juice than traditional CRT televisions.
* If in doubt which technology to go for, get a TV store to run an LCD and plasma side by side, if possible in different lighting conditions, and then make your judgement.