A Quick Guide in choosing an LCD/Plasma TV

LCD Televisions are using liquid crystal technology to produce color images; they are thinner and lighter than most other flat panel televisions, and as it happens they are also the most widely sold (reports on 2007 sales have shown that more LCD televisions were sold than traditional CRTs worldwide).

They produce their image by filtering a white light which is provided by a number of cold cathode fluo. lamps behind the screen; some companies now use colored LEDs instead, a method that is becoming popular in producing new models (LED TV sets). A typical LCD screen has millions of LCD shutters arranged in a grid which open and close to allow a specific amount of the light through. For every shutter there is a pairing colored filter to remove everything from the light except Red Green and Blue. Each filter/shutter pair forms a sub-pixel, a small particle of the screen display. When the colors mix together they form a pixel, which’s color shade is controlled by altering the power of force of the light going through them.

The reason that LCD televisions are so popular is because of their price; having a price advantage over plasmas especially over 42 inches made them quite popular. Also, market predictions back in 2006 indicated that prices will fall, so people waited for the price decrease before actually committing to a purchase. At the end LCD televisions were taking over because they improved their technology much quicker than plasmas (moving to 1080 pixel displays from 720 pixels was an LCD winning point and decisive factor for gaining a considerable sales advantage over plasmas in Christmas 2007)

We should also mention that the Industry investments on LCD technology were so massive, that it was easier to progress further and improve quicker.

The main drawbacks of LCD televisions are the small viewing angle, the dimmer brightness and contrast abilities, and the average color saturation and accuracy; however, during the past year, the models that currently dominate the LCD television market sector are way improved than those a couple of years ago.

Another drawback of the LCD technology is the use of nitrogen fluoride in building the screen components, which is a harmful greenhouse gas; according to same research this gas is more harmful than other popular gases (carbon dioxide). But in reality, there is very little danger for the gas escaping in the atmosphere as most is broken down during the cleaning/recycling process. And the specific gas comes to replace the early-used per fluorocarbon, of which almost 70% was released in the atmosphere during recycling.

Currently, the dominant LCD Television brands in the market are those of Sony, LG,  Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Philips and Mitsubishi. I will focus on the first three bands.