Plasma televisions, LCD television, DLP televisions & digital television
Ever found yourself in a retail store with rows and rows of televisions, showing the same video and each looks better than the other? Well you are not alone. With the mix of new technologies and standard technologies, today's television market is rapidly changing, and can get confusing. It's important, as a consumer purchasing a new television, to understand the differences, pros and cons in the varied offerings.Basically, there are 4 types of televisions in the market, not to be confused with type of signal (SDTV, EDTV or HDTV).
Tube TV
Tube televisions are the old stand-bys. Also known as direct view, these are the bulky, big, heavy television with the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) technology, which is a specialized vacuum tube. Newer models can display HDTV video signal. These televisions are less expensive compared to their counterparts and have a very long lifespan.
DLP TV
DLP televisions are based on a technology invented by Texas Instruments back in 1987 called Digital Light Processing. The technology is based on an optical semiconductor called DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) chip. The chip consists of over one million mirrors to process light. They come in either single chip or 3 chip configurations. One-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to pass white light through a color wheel that sends red-green-blue colors to the DMD chip in a sequential order to create an image on-screen. Only one DMD chip is used to process the primary RGB colors. Three-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to send white light through a prism, which creates separate red, green, and blue light beams. Each beam is sent to their respective red, green, and blue DMD chip to process the image for display on-screen. One-chip models are said to produce a display of over 16-million colors. Three-chip models can produce a display of over 35-trillion colors.They are not susceptible to burn-ins however; they do require a lamp replacement every 1000 hours to 2000 hours, depending on the manufacturer. DLP do not come in flat panel configuration. The advantages of DLP are cost and picture quality. To see a demo of DLP technology visit the DLP technology website.
LCD TV
LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. The Display comes either in flat panel or rear projection configuration. These panels are popular due to their light weight, thin construction, vivid colors and ability to be used as computer monitors. LCD tends to show a ghosting effect if the refresh rate is too slow while others tend to show a screen door effect, which nothing more than a pixilation effect or in other words gaps between mirrors. The best criteria to select and LCD is actually to view it, checking for those to effects before buying. LCD panels are not susceptible to burn-ins.
Plasma TV
PlasmaTV'ss or PDP (Plasma Display Panel) are considered to be top of the line in picture quality and because of this are also considered to be the first choice for high end home electronics. All plasmas come in flat panel configurations, which make them ideal when space is limited or where the aesthetics of the TV body are important. The panels consist of gases which emit colors under different temperatures. It is a common misconception that Plasmas leak gases and can be refilled. Plasmas cannot be refilled. Plasma panels are susceptible to burn-ins.Ann average life span of 6 to 8 years is typical for these panels.
As with any home theater decisions, the best choice is to have a professional guide you through the many options out there. The professional home automation specialists at Illuminations can guide you through the process to ensure that you select the right products for your space, needs, wants, and budget.
For more information about televisions and the Home Theater and HOME AUTOMATION SERVICES at Illuminations call 800-863-1184. One of our CEDIA CERTIFIED DESIGNERS will be glad to answer any questions you have or schedule a time to meet and discuss your home automation and lighting control needs.
Illuminations Lighting Design is a full service design build firm specializing in residential and commercial indoor lighting and outdoor lighting installation, service and maintenance as well as home automation, home theaters and lighting control systems.
Labels: Home Theater Design, Home Theater Experience, Home Theater Lighting, Sony Home Theaters
posted by xinger at
4:47 PM
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