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Do not buy plasma...old technology and will wear out faster. LCD is OK but LED is the newest and best. The LED's last almost forever.
LED-backlit LCD TVs differ from conventional
CCFL-backlit LCD TVs in the following:
- They can produce an image with greater dynamic contrast compared with CCFL-backlit LCD TVs.[5]
- With Edge-LED lighting they can be extremely slim. Current models on the market can be less than one inch thick.[5]
- They can offer a wider color gamut, especially when RGB-LED backlighting is used.[5]
- Lesser environmental pollution on disposal.[5]
- Higher cost due to current market product placement.[5]
Recently, manufacturers have introduced a
240Hz specification on some LCD TVs - some of which use the LED backlight manipulation as a mechanism which will produce an "effective" 240Hz "appearance" and others which state a straight out true 240Hz refresh rate. Some manufacturers TV models may claim "240Hz performance" and others 240Hz refresh rate. From our recent experience, a higher Hz rate in the panel produces a picture with less motion artifacts during fast motion and side to side pannning. 120Hz has less motion artifacts, lag, and judder than 60Hz, and 240Hz has less of the same than 120Hz. It's a marginal, not revolutionary improvement. In the end, these new specifications in performance allow the LCD manufacturers to mark up the product more while providing a new feature which is there essentially to make up for a serious flaw with LCD technology. It's the newest and greatest feature to convince you to upgrade. But consider beforehand how much sports programming and gaming you view when considering whether the feature is worth extra - especially in light of the need to turn it off for a majority of viewed programming.
Despite the obvious difference in pixel count, 720p and 1080i both look great. In fact,
unless you have a very large television and excellent source material, you'll have a hard time telling the difference between any of the HDTV resolutions. It's especially difficult to tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p sources. The difference between DVD and HDTV should be visible on most HDTVs, but especially on smaller sets, it's not nearly as drastic as the difference between standard TV and HDTV.
Basic Things You Need To Know On Picking A Good HDTV [*]As many HDMI ports as possible [*]Low response time (8 milli secs or below) [*]High contrast ratio [*]HD ready logo [*]High resolution [*]Buy a set from the best - Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp and Philips
Things to Look Out For
Good brands to buy from
If your totally stumped then you can't go far wrong if you buy from proven HDTV manufacturers.
Sony excel with LCD, Samsung excel with LCD and Plasma, Philips, Pansonic sharp offer first class Plasmas and good LCDs.
High contrast ratio
A high contrast ratio, for example 6000:1, ensures the better the images will appear against a darker background.
Low response time
8 milli seconds or under
A low response time ensures smooth, lifelike motion and reduces motion blur. This is especially good for gaming
Multiple connectivity
At least 1 HDMI port (2 or more is a bonus)
High Resolution
The higher the resolution the better picture and more detail.
Useful Info/terms
Resolution
The display resolution refers to the number of pixels in that can be displayed. Put simply the number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display (e.g. 1366×768).
HDTV Resolutions
The higher the resolution the higher the detail.
[*]480p - 704x480 progressive scanning [*]720p - 1280x720 progressive scanning [*]1080i - 1920x1080 interlaced scanning [*]1080p - 1920x1080 progressive scanning
Pixels
The small blocks that make up your picture. Each pixel will display a red, blue and green element to make up your image.
Line
A row of pixels
Scan
The difference in how HDTV’s display the individual lines.
[*]
Interlaced Scanning
Shown by the letter "i" (1080i for example) allows a whole frame to be redrawn in a 30th of a second. [*]
Progressive Scanning
Shown by the letter "p" (1080p for example), frame is redrawn in a 60th of a second producing a better picture
Aspect Ratio
The ratio of the width of the screen against the height of the screen. HDTV’s are widescreen (16:9) and regular TV’s are 4:3.
HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface is the future of connectivity for a lot of home entertainement gadgets.
One HDMI port is ok but it is wise to get two. If you want to hook up your PS3 via HDMI (for the best image) then three HDMI ports would be ideal.
