Screen Sleuth

With flat panel technology, the Plasma TV is just one of choices to consider before purchasing your next high defintion television. Although they were initially the more expensive choice, one of the prime features of a Plasma TV is its realtively lower cost compared to LCDs. You can easily own your next Plasma television for as little as, and sometimes well below, $1000 depending on the size you want. The designer appeal and greatest benefit in these televisions are their super large screen sizes that can average 50″ diagonally and are often much larger, but are also available in smaller screen sizes as well. Although some people may feel that they are somewhat more expensive than their previously owned telvision sets, these TVs offer a better and bigger screen, clearer images and more desirable features that allow for connecting to other digital devices.

The most striking feature is how slim this television is with a depth that can be as little as three inches thick, and are continually becoming thinner almost every few years. Even with such a shallow depth, you’ll get a wider screen with a greater viewing angle giving you the pleasure to watch from just about every corner of your room. Plasma televisions can also achieve darker blacks which means that the brightness and color contrast is greater as well, and will make for a sharper more crisp onscreen image. With a life-span that is more than 10 years before the set reaches half brightness, which is similar to what you’d expect from your standard CRT, you’ll be ready for your next television upgrade. These features are part of the benefit in having a true home theater experience with a Plasma TV from merely just watching television.

In years past, the only real problem that could occur over prolonged initial use of a Plasma television is the minor chance for burn-in, which is the ghosting of an image onscreen. This is a problem that has been readily resolved by the manufacturers and easily avoidable by keeping the contrast low during the first 100 hours of use. As well, the native resolution compared to similar sized LCD televisions was lower, but it’s comparable in dynamic resolution, so you will still be viewing amazingly clear images. With the trending fall in prices, the Plasma TV is an even more desirable choice for a flat panel home theater screen, and the technology is constantly being improved further adding to its value in the dramatic improvement of picture quality. Even with more improvements on the horizon, you’ll find that a plasma television is an affordable and attractive alternative to your current television today.

By Screen Sleuth | tags: Education, Plasma TV, Technology

HDTV has made television viewing a whole new experience. This new technology might apparently seem to be a bit costly and confusing but for a high-end experience the awareness and the cost is worth it. HDTV is not an incomprehensible muddle of technical terminologies caused by a great extent of marketing hype. But at heart it is pretty simple – HDTV gives you a better picture.

You will know you are ready for a HDTV when:
• You are unhappy with your present analog TV even if it is not faulty.
• You desire some thing which is superior, flatter, sharper and brighter.
• You don’t mind spending hundreds of dollars more to fulfill your desire.

Now what are the prime things which deserve your consideration?

Do all HDTVs look good? Yes, in a store they all look awesome. An inexpensive HDTV showing high-def appears a lot better than a standard analog TV even with the highest quality picture. The 1080i or 720p, over-the-air cable, DLP or plasma, when HDTV shows high-def, the reputation of the standard TV takes a nose dive.

Regular TV in high-def is awful. You will be disappointed if you watch non-HDTV on your new high-def television. The character of picture quality is defined by the source. So, the standard def TV compared to high-def TV looks inferior. The bigger and sharper HDTV highlights the flaws of the low quality source even more.

DVDs look amazing. Technically DVD discs have a standard definition. But viewed on a HDTV gives you an incredibly superior picture and audio quality. You will be pleasantly surprised with the difference when you hook up a real cheap DVD Player with your HDTV. Just stretch your hand towards a Hollywood classic and you’ll know.

HDTV has wide screen. Most DVD movies, a lot of TV shows and some commercials have black bars above and below the screen. When you are watching the same on HDTV the picture would fill the whole screen. The only exception being the ultra-wide screen movies. So, wide screen is better. The HDTV and/or HD source is capable of resizing the image in the way you desire.

Choose the right connection option. Use the HDMI input if your TV has one. It is the most future ready input type. Otherwise you have the option to connect via component video, which is the second-highest-quality input type. There are a couple of other HD-level connections: HDTV antennas connect via standard antenna wire, and some HD sources use FireWire or computer connections also.

HDTV can fulfill all your requirements for a high end television viewing experience. Enjoy!

By Screen Sleuth | tags: hdtv, high definition

So, how is your family TV?  Yeah… The 27- inch set bought eight years back is no longer holding up it’s end of the bargain. So what else could you think of in this digital era other than a high definition TV? For the HDTV neophyte, we’ve gone over some of the basic distinctions you should be aware of before you buy a new digital television.Before discarding the monotonous analog TV get yourself accustomed to the sea of changes that has taken place in television viewing today. It has under gone some amazing transformations.

The New Digital TV Era:

How does HDTV function? Unlike analog TV signals, a digital TV receives and displays ‘digital’ TV signals. The result is significantly improved picture quality. Therefore an HDTV is a digital television with an internal ‘high definition’ TV receiver. All you have to do is plug in to your digital TV to a High Definition TV broadcast source (with a proprietary HD receiver which functions with the required encoding process.) and start enjoying.

Remember the new-age Digital-HDTV technology is dynamic; it is upgrading in a continuous progression. For a consumer today’s HDTV probably can become outmoded within a few years or even months. So, while buying take note that replacing an outdated external component like the HDTV receiver is preferable to the complete integrated HDTV system.

A digital TV can receive and display NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) Analog TV signals and ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) Digital TV signals. A Digital TV which is competent to display an HDTV quality picture is said to be HDTV-Capable. A Digital TV which is HDTV-Capable requires an External, High Definition TV Receiver (referred to as HDTV tuner, set-top box or decoder). HDTV ‘ready’ does not mean HDTV capable.

Primary requirements –

The Screen Size: Since HDTV has virtually a perfect picture, an increase in the screen size improves the picture quality. This is unlike the analog TV where its lower picture quality and other inherent artifacts get overblown in a bigger screen size. The screen resolutions: an NTSC analog TV has 480i resolution; the HDTV’s 480i improves the picture quality because of its digital quality. The ATSC Standard for High Definition Television requires a resolution of either 1080 interlaced lines, or 720 progressive scan lines; or higher. Lower (Digital TV) resolutions – 480i and 480p are both acceptable as HDTV Resolutions.

Video and Audio Connections: There are multiple connector options in an HDTV monitor since it has a number of in/out ports. The type of connector and cables vary not only in the way they work but also the type of component with which they are used. A few examples include - HDTV Video: HDMI (High Definition Media Interface); DVI (Digital Video Interface); HDTV-Component (Y/Pb/Pr).

HDTV Receiver: It can be a set-top box, a HD TV tuner or a decoder. An External HDTV Receiver is required to receive High Definition Television Signals, whatever the source. It includes Cable, Satellite, OTA Broadcasts, and (High Definition) Digital-VHS recordings; also HD-DVD’s. An HDTV Receiver is also desired to properly show DVD’s with Progressive Scan, as well as Progressive Scan and HDTV-Capable Video Games.

So there you have it. A few things to look out for if your just getting your toes wet in finally upgrading your TV.

By Screen Sleuth | tags: analog TV, hdtv