Best TV Review

Here at Best TV, we know how confusing it can be when walking into an electronics section, walking over to the televisions, and being bombarded with numbers, phrases, and “specs.” TVs with 1080i resolution use to dominate the HD world, offering the best picture at the time. However, in the past couple of years the new bully on the block – 1080p – has made it difficult for the 1080i’s to survive. In fact, you will rarely find a new 1080i television – you will find either 720p or 1080p.  This is basically due to the fact that 720p visually looks the same as 1080i in most cases (until you get into the 42″+range). Also, if a person wants to spend more money on a better picture, they will most likely be shopping for a large TV, and will most likely be willing to spend more to get the best. This leaves only a small piece of the pie willing to buy a 1080i resolution set, and manufacturers know this. Keeping this in mind, Best TV takes a look at both:

1080i:

The “i” stands for interlaced, which means that of the 1,080 lines of resolution, the even lines appear, then the odd lines, then the even lines, etc. This all happens extremely fast, around 0.033 seconds. Although it is fast, it is not as fast as a 1080p display, which shows all of the lines at the same time. The 1080 part comes from the number of horizontal lines in the display, 1920 x 1080. 1080i and 720p are considered standard HD definition.

1080p:

This technology has the same amount of pixels as 1080i, 1920 x 1080. However, the “p” means the display is progressive, meaning all of the lines are produced at the same time, taking about 0.016 seconds to display the image (twice as fast as interlaced) . 1080p can supposedly display over 2,000,000 pixels, double the resolution of a 720p display. 1080p is commonly referred to as “ultra HD,” “full HD,” or “true HD.” This is the latest and greatest technology, and dominates the high-end TV market.

1080p obviously offers a better picture, but also comes with a much higher price. Also, 1080p technology really only applies to Blu Ray DVDs and Blu Ray video games – everything else (cable TV, regular DVDs, etc) is displayed in regular HD (720p or 1080i). In the future there will definently be more use for a 1080p set, but that will be years from now. 720p resolution offers a better picture than 1080i when it comes to viewing action movies, sports, video games, etc. This is true up until about 52″ and above, because at that point the image suffers, in which case a 1080i set would be preferred. Lets break down that information one last time:

Best TV Summary:

1080p > 1080i if using Blu Ray technology

1080i > 1080p displaying everything else

720p > 1080i on screens under 52″

1080i > 720p in screens over 52″

Plasmas are the kind of television most associated with high end home electronics.  All plasma televisions come in a flat panel variety. Most are sized in the 40-49″ range. They are competitively priced against LCD flat panel televisions, and feature a stunning picture that puts you in the middle of the action. Plasmas weigh more than LCD’s, but nothing additional supports couldn’t handle. They are susceptible to burn-in, but despite rumors to the contrary, the gases that power the picture can not be refilled. While they are too young to accurately measure, plasma televisions should last anywhere from 10-20 years.

Keep in mind that true HDTV resolution can’t be found in plasma TVs smaller than 50 inches. There are two HDTV broadcast standards – 1920×1080 interlaced (1080i), and 1280×720 progressive (720p). So, in order for a plasma TV to be considered truly ‘HD’, it should have at least the same amount of pixels as a 720p signal, or more.

‘HD’ in smaller sizes of plasma means that there are more pixels than ‘ED’ plasma, but generally not as many as there are in a true HD display. So, you’ll find that it’s difficult to see any substantial difference in picture quality between these two types of plasma TVs, particularly when viewing an HDTV program.

When viewing a widescreen DVD, you may often be surprised to see that the less expensive EDTV plasma TV actually looks sharper than the more expensive HDTV plasma TV! That’s because the image resolution of a widescreen DVD (nominally 704×480) is very close to the actual pixel count (852×480) in an EDTV plasma. However, new blue ray DVD’s are made for 1080 resolution.

The bottom line? Think about where you’ll put your plasma TV, how far you’ll be sitting from it, and what you’ll be watching on it most of the time. If you’ll be sitting eight feet or more from a 37-inch or 42-inch plasma TV, you’ll probably be quite happy with an EDTV version.

Now to address a few concerns about plasma: First of all, today’s plasma TVs don’t have the same problems with premature image aging (burn-in, burn-out) that plagued older plasma monitors and TVs. That’s because the mix of gases used in the panels have been changed to improve longevity. You’ll hear the figure ‘60,000 hours’ thrown around; be conservative and figure half that, which is 30,000 hours. 30,000 hours is the equivalent of watching eight hours a day of television, seven days a week for 10 years.

No, you don’t need to recharge the gas in the panel – it can’t leak out

Best TV Review gives Plasma screen TVs (HD) a rating of 9.5.

The Good: The best picture quality you can get (in normal to low lit settings), long lifespan, modern/sleek design, very slim chance of ‘burn-in,’ cheaper than LCD in the bigger sizes, perfect for movies/gaming/sports, cheaper EDTV’s can offer the same picture quality when viewing DVD’s (480p), the gas does NOT need to be recharged

The Bad: Not much here.  Expensive (but worth the money), smaller sizes aren’t in true HD, weigh a little more than LCD’s

Digital Light Processing (DLP) was invented in 1987 by Texas Instruments. It is named for its ability to process light digitally with the aid of an optical semiconductor called a Digital Micromirror Device or DMD chip. The DMD chip is made up of over one million mirrors. The size of each mirror is less than 1/5” the width of a human hair.  They are not susceptible to burn-in, but some people do notice a glitch called Rainbow Effect (red/blue/green shadows).  They are basically modern day tube tvs (CRTs).

Like digital video camcorders, DLP devices come in either one or three-chip models. One-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to pass white light through a color wheel that sends red-green-blue colors to the DMD chip in a sequential order to create an image on-screen. Three-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to send white light through a prism, which creates separate red, green, and blue light beams. Each beam is sent to their respective red, green, and blue DMD chip to process the image for display on-screen.

One-chip models are said to produce a display of over 16-million colors. Three-chip models can produce a display of over 35-trillion colors.  Most consumers will be looking at the One-chips, because the three-chips are generally for very large screens, such as movie theaters.  The three-chip TVs do not suffer from the “Rainbow Effect.”  The one-chip models are still very good televisions, and have a clear and detailed display.

DLP TVs are lighter and skinnier than tubes, but are too heavy and bulky to hang from a wall.  They range in size from around 44″-75″ and weigh between 65 and 215 lbs (most weigh 75-150).  They are 7-22″ deep, but most models range from 15-20″.

DLP televisions vary in price, but generally will run you for around $1,500+.  This price is still a lot cheaper than comparable LCD and Plasma screens, but you either buy a big tv for a good amount of money, or get nothing.  So if you are looking for a smaller TV and do not want to spend over $1,500, look elsewhere.  The cost to replace the bulbs must also be taken into account (usually $200 per bulb).

The DLP recieves a Best TV rating of 7.

The Good: Significantly cheaper than LCD or plasma, very good picture quality for the price, pretty cheap for the size of the TV, excellent grayscale, no burn-in, smooth-stable image at 1080p,

The Bad: Bulbs need to be changed every couple of years (depending on use), bulky, slow refresh rate, not very strong with gaming/watching sports/action movies, the “Rainbow Effect,” you wont find smaller models (or prices under $1,500), weak angles, the technology is becoming dated

**If you buy a DLP TV, Best TV suggests purchasing a warranty, because the bulbs will eventually have problems