LCD
Flat panel televisions are quickly becoming quite common on store shelves and in consumers’ homes. Although Plasma TVs seem to be be getting all the attention in this area, the LCD television is also making an impact. Best TV Reviewers have a hard time deciding between the two, because they are so similar in picture quality, price, and longevity.
An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) starts out with two sheets of glass that are “glued” together. Between the two glass sheets are tons of liquid-crystal-filled cells. When an electrical pulse is given to the cells, they “untwist” and filter white light, which is given off by a lamp in the TV. LCDs produce color through subtraction, meaning they block out certain wavelengths (colors) from the white light, leaving just the right colors. The intensity of the light allows the TV to display a brilliant picture, chock full of color.
When deciding between an LCD or a plasma, one thing you should consider is the lighting of the room. Plasma TVs will almost always out-perform LCD TVs in normal to low lit settings, whereas LCDs are better for sun rooms, breakfast rooms, or any well lit area. LCD TVs generally handle annoying reflections from open windows or nearby lights with no difficulty. Avoid putting this TV over a functioning fireplace, the heat can compromise its longevity.
Best TV Review is a fan of LCD TVs. One of the main reasons is their slim, sleak, modern design. They are only a few inches deep, and are fairly light. LCD TVs, as a general rule, use less power than plasma (25% on average) and also weigh less in equivalent screen sizes (about 20% on average).
Unlike plasma TVs, all widescreen LCD TVs over 15 inches in size have true HD resolution (usually 1280×768 pixels, sometimes more). Plasmas usually only offer true HD quality in models over 40″. Bigger models starting at 46 inches and up actually have 1920×1080 pixel resolution, but they command quite a price premium at the moment.
LCD TVs don’t suffer from ‘burn-in’ or ‘burn-out’ like plasma panels do. They can, however, have ’stuck’ or dead pixels. The leading manufacturers have higher standards for defective pixels, so you can usually purchase from those companies with confidence that you won’t see white, black, red, green, or blue dots on your TV programs that won’t go away (and if you do, your warranty offers some protection).
Because plasma TVs employ phosphors for imaging, they are susceptible to glare from indoor and outdoor light. LCD TVs don’t have this problem; they create images by shuttering light through tiny color filters and generally handle annoying reflections from open windows or nearby lights with no difficulty.
Best TV Review rates LCD TVs a solid 9.
The Good: Slim and sleek, very modern, brilliant picture quality, any size 15″+, can be used as a computer monitor, all over 15″ are HDTVs, don’t suffer from ‘burn-in’, glare is not an issue, fairly light, long life span (50,000-80,000 hours depending on use)
The Bad: Picture quality is weaker than plasma (especially in dark settings), more expensive than plasmas when you look at 40″+, black sometimes looks like dark grey, limited viewing angles