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Decor & Renovating Interior Design // Living Room // Selecting a Television: LCD/LED, Plasma, or 3D
If you’re getting ready to get your first flat screen HDTV you’ve got some hard decisions to make. Not too long ago your best choices were between Plasma and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). But now LCD technology has added LED (Light-Emitting Diode) backlighting and now 3D televisions are available in Australia.
The Internet is a great place to learn the advantages and disadvantages of each technology; but it’s not the best place to buy your TV. You really need to visit a “brick and mortar” electronics retail outlet to see the differences in operation. After viewing a model you may have seen on the net at a bargain price “up close and personal”; buying from an Ecommerce site makes good sense, providing the shipping costs don’t drive the price over what you’d pay locally.
Once upon a time Plasma TVs – which create a picture by electrically charging plasma gas cells – had significant advantages over their LCD cousins in terms of both picture contrast and viewing from extreme angles; but that’s changing. Plasmas reproduced truer blacks and better overall color quality.
An older LCD lights the picture from behind with fluorescent tubes but with LED backlighting technology, the traditional advantage of better blacks from Plasmas has pretty much disappeared. In addition, LED makes the already lightweight LCD TVs even lighter and even more energy efficient. The remaining difference is price.
While LCD is going down in price, Plasmas still have an advantage, especially in larger sizes. With a few exorbitantly priced exceptions, the largest LCD available is 52’ while Plasmas go to 63’ and beyond. LED/LCDs are too new to find much significant price discounting.
To further confuse you, 3D HDTV is here, although it is expensive in several ways. Not only does the unit itself set you back quite a bit, you have to buy the special 3D glasses for viewing. If you have a large family or like to have groups of friends over to watch sporting events the cost of the glasses adds up quickly. Finally, if you have a Blu-Ray player, you’ll have to replace it with a special player for 3D viewing.
The final issue to think about when considering 3D TV is the availability of programming. As of now, no Australian broadcasters have plans to transmit programs in 3D, but that will probably change in time and as a larger market is created. This is similar to the issue of 1080P HDTV. This is the highest resolution available and many pay a premium for it, even though there is little1080P regular programming available --- its primary use is to watch the highest resolution movies possible with a Blu-Ray player. And as you may know, Blu-Ray DVDs cost more than standard DVDs.
If you like to have the latest cutting edge technology and can afford it, you might want to consider an LED/LCD TV or the new 3D models. If you’re wall mounting your TV, the lighter LCD still has a significant advantage. If you’re interested in buying what’s best for the environment, LCD has the advantage there as well. If price is your primary concern, you’ll probably want to shop for the best deal you can find on a Plasma.
