LCD TV Articles

See all articles

LCD TV vs. Plasma

This is the #1 question for me at any dinner party: Which is better, LCD TV or Plasma? This is a much debated topic and a fun one. When choosing between plasma and LCD TVs, you're actually selecting between two competing technologies, both of which achieve similar features (i.e., ,bright crystal-clear images, super color-filled pictures) and come in similar packages (i.e., 3.5 inch depth flat screen casing). To complicate the decision-making process further, price and size are two previous considerations that are rapidly becoming non-issues as LCD TVs are now being made in larger sizes and at competing prices with plasma. Read More...

LED TV vs. Plasma

New LED TV are changing the nature of how we view LCD TV in such a way that we must re-assess the advantages of LCD and Plasma over one another. All LED TVs contain an LCD display element (front panel). The difference of LED TVs lies in the backlight. Rather than the standard florescent backlighting systems of the past, LED TVs have LED bulbs (light emitting diode) as the backlight for the LCD panel. This has been a godsend for LCD TV manufacturers as it has allowed them to better compete in picture quality against plasma TV technology. Read more...

How To Buy an LCD Television in 8 Easy Steps

With all the benefits of the Digital Revolution come some unavoidable complications, like being "on call" 24/7, and coping with computer glitches, … and buying a new (digital) TV set. Buying a television these days is no simple task, which is why we wrote this buying guide-to assist the average person on his or her path to becoming an educated consumer. Read More...

How to Calibrate Your LCD Television

Regular readers of LCD TV Buying Guide reviews will notice that our display reviews often contain lengthy sections detailing the various picture adjustments available on a particular LCD television. Why? Because in order to get the best detail and most accurate picture from your TV, you'll need to do some adjusting with these controls. Factory settings on TVs are almost always tweaked to maximum brightness and contrast and are enabled with image "edge enhancement" features as well. Manufacturers do this so that the TV picture will "pop" on the retail store floor compared to other models. However, this is not how the director of the programming you are viewing intended for you to see the film, or sports or sitcom that you see. Read More...

ARE MANUFACTURER CONTRAST RATIO SPECS IMPORTANT?

A few short years ago there was widespread exuberance in the A/V consumer world when NEC or Panasonic announced that the newest version of their gas plasma display (that’s what we called them then) delivered an astounding 1500 to 1 contrast ratio.

Truth is that a 1500:1 contrast ratio would be almost unbelievable even today if evaluated on a post calibration, whole screen, ANSI checkerboard pattern basis. The highest I have measured on a recent flat panel display was nearing 800:1. Read More...

LCD TV RESPONSE TIME, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

One of the specifications you’ll see (or will not see) when researching a new LCD TV flat screen purchase is response time. This important spec represents the amount of time it takes for one pixel to go from active (black) to inactive (white) and back to black again. Think of it in relation to shutter speed on a camera. It’s the speed at which an LCD panels crystals "twist" to block and allow light to pass. It is measured in milliseconds (ms) with a lower number meaning faster change between active and inactive pixels and resulting in less image artifacts. The lower the response time the better. Read More...

LCD TV ARTICLES