Seeing as how I have had my current tv for about 8 years, I have started to do some research on new technologies. There are three different technologies that one should be able to identify pro’s and con’s based on their needs and budget.

LCD – Or Liquid Crystal Display, has the screen setup with tons of electrodes. Each one is controlled individually and set to a certain color based on the picture. The good thing about lcd’s is you can find them at pretty much any size. They do sometimes suffer ghosting which means there is a slight blur because the picture is moving too fast. This type of set can be bad for video games and watching sports because of that.

• Pro’s: Stylish, Many screen sizes
• Con’s: Ghosting issues, Expensive, Lighter Colors

Plasma – Plasma sets use gases that control electrodes, somewhat like LCD sets. The user is never exposed to the gases and would have to destroy the set to be exposed really. Plasma’s are going to have your movie theatre black colors. The only major problem they have had in the past is burn-in. Burn-in is when you leave a picture with a logo or something permanent on the screen for a long period of time and the picture becomes burned into the screen and cannot be removed. This would be bad for games like Halo 3 that have a radar always on the screen. The good thing is they don’t suffer from ghosting so watching sports produces a great picture. As far as appearance you can’t tell by looking at the tv so you will have to check the information on each tv. A good eye will be able to catch the differences.

• Pro’s: Middle priced, Darker Blacks and better colors
• Con’s: Have had burn-in issues, No smaller versions

DLP – This technology uses a sort of color wheel where different colors are the light projected. I actually have a DLP set so I can speak first hand. I have never seen any ghosting issues because there are none. This is most like original tv’s which still produce the best results. You can hook dlp’s up to computers just like lcd’s and video games look good as well. Companies are cutting down on the back side size of the sets more recently Samsung has released a new 61inch tv with a slim back. Even though their size can be big they are relatively light weight. They start at 50inch but can go upwards of 70inches for lots of times half the price of LCD or Plasma sets.

• Pro’s: Relatively inexpensive, Bigger Screen Size, Long Life
• Con’s: Possible rainbow effect, slightly bulky in size

As you can see there are many choices out there for a new tv. You will not find one of the above in anything but HDTV and more are coming stock with 1080p or “full hd”. Most hd channels today are broadcasted in 720p but you might as well get 1080p if you can. The difference isn’t necessarily noticable below 50inches though. The number refers to the image and how many lines are in hd. A 720p picture on a 1080p set is just stretched out to fit the screen. Most normal tv’s run in what is called interlaced or 1080i is a common number to see with 720p. This means the picture is actually done in two sets. One is taken every other line for the odds and the same for the evens. Every line that does not have picture on it is black and then they are meshed together. On a progressive tv, thats what the p means, the tv will change the whole picture together which causes a more accurate and better picture.

Remember .. prices are always dropping on these sets. I saw a 42inch 1080p LCD by AOC at Costco for $799.99 last month and the more well known brands are also dropping prices at more of a steady rate though. If you don’t want to break the bank and have the room, I would suggest going with a DLP because you can get a huge picture with 1080p for 1-2k that would cost you at least double that in an LCD or Plasma tv.

Filed under: Product Review by Jon