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Some Important Tips To Take
Note When Getting A Good HDTV
1)
Size
Of Home Movie TV.
If budget allows, you don't want a "small" 25inch TV to be called
"movie" right? Anything less
than 42" would not be big enough to enjoy the
full effect of a true home movie.
2)
Types
Of HDTV.
Digital Light Processing (DLP) is mainly used in
rear-projection TV and it can produce higher
contrast video with deeper
black levels
than you normally get on other projector. However
there is one setback of the DLP having "rainbow
effect" that at any given instant in time, the image on
the screen is
either red, or green, or blue, and the technology relies
upon our eyes not being able to detect the rapid changes from
one to
the other. Unfortunately some of us can.
Not only can some folks
see the colors break out, but the rapid
sequencing of color
may (but not
necessary) lead to eye
strain and headaches to some people.
Liquid Crystal
Display (LCD)
is used in most of the HDTV. Most of the LCD TV’s
are designed with the
feature of non-reflective
face and provide relatively good
picture quality. It is good for saving
space, lighter,
and save
energyenvironmentally friendly. LCD technology does not
suffer light
output degrades due to phosphor wear,
with time to time. However
to take note that one of the common defect is having permanently
lit or unlit
pixels which are commonly referred to as stuck
pixels or dead
pixels
respectively.
Liquid Crystal On Silicon
(LCOS
or LCoS) can produce much higher
resolution images
than most of the HDTV available today. Beside this, LCoS
pixels are also smoother
than the pixels of other systems making
picture more "natural".
One
of the setback is that only
a handful of makers (to name a few JVC, Hitachi and Sony)
has ventured into this commercially. It may take some
time for the rest to follow-up or they never will as market demand is
the deciding factor. LCOS don't have very
good black
level, or ability to produce the color black and hopefully
as technology advances, this can be improved. After prolong usage, it
will need periodic
lamp replacement, which can cost several hundred
dollars at the moment.
Plasma Display Panel (PDP) has a
mixture of neon and xenon gases and when this mixture is
electrically turned into a plasma, it then excites phosphors to emit
light. PDP
TVs can display up to 16.77
million colors - more than the human eye
can even register - to provide a highly accurate, lifelike
picture. PDP TVs offer
perfectly uniform screen brightness.
It do not suffer distortion
when placed in proximity to a magnetic field as compared to
CRT. Speakers can be placed next to, below, or right on top of
Plasma TVs with no adverse effects. Plasma screens are fragile.
They
must be shipped standing up, and most are made of
glass, they must be handled with extreme care. The glass face reflects light
in the room, and in a way degrade
the image abit. If
you watch it from an angle, you may see some reflections
of
the room surroundings. They are heavy,
and the wall mounts must be properly set.
They should never be installed where they could be knocked
over or bumped into. Plasma sets are power
hungry
because of the high voltages necessary to activate the actual
plasma elements. The picture quality degrades
with time
due to phosphor wear, much as a traditional CRT TV set does
and will require gases re-charge when quality is unbearable.
All the above have its own pros
and cons
and
selection is purely based on individual needs and budget available.
3)
Resolution
must be any one of:
a)720p (
1280 x 720 progressive );
b)1080i
(1920 x 1080 interlaced );
c)1080p
(1920 x 1080 progressive ).
4) Contrast
Ratio.
Each HDTV maker uses their own ways of measuring
this feature and unless they all uses a standard method such as
American National Standards Institute (ANSI), there
is no meaning for comparison here. You can see some
makers stating a ratio of 1200:1 and some going as high as
27,000:1 but as a general guide the higher the better.
5)
Response
Time.
Again to take note, some HDTV makers report
this base on their own standard but as a general guideline anything 8 ms
or less is acceptable.
6)
Refresh
Rate.
Recommended minimum of 70Hz as screen frickering
due to low Refresh Rate will result in tired eye after watching it for
some time.
7) Viewing
Angle.
Generally the bigger the viewing angle the better
so as to be able to enjoy the picture quality away from center. This
goes to say that if your Viewing Distance is very close, for example
4ft then a big Viewing Angle (generally 170-degree and above) is more
comfortable, but if your Viewing Distance is far, for example 10ft,
then this will not pose a problem to you. And with bigger Viewing
Angle, the positioning of your HDTV is not a concern as you will get to
watch the same picture quality from different locations in your room.
8) Others
Features.
Then there are other such as Brightness, Aspect Ratio, Color Gamut,
HDMI Connectivity, Audio Performance, SenSurround Sound features, etc
which some of you might be looking at.
9)
Overall
Cost.
If you have a budget concern, this becomes a major factor in deciding
which of the above to invest and must includes shipping cost,
sales tax, future spare parts replacement (such as lamp or gas
re-charge) in the consideration.
With
the above tips (1 to 9), hopefully it is able to help
you decide on what you are looking for.
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