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Apr

LCD TV or CRT TV?

Filed Under LCD TV Buyers Guide, LCD TV Reviews, Plasma TV | Leave a Comment

LCD TV or CRT TV?

I have been thinking about buying a new TV with a larger screen for a while.

In the retailers LCD TVs are by far the sexiest looking compared with Plasma TVs and old school CRT TVs.

Then again, the retailers are generally running the Monsters Inc or Madagascar DVD on the the LCD TVs and Plasma TVs. That sort of movie brings out the best points of LCD and Plasma TVs and always look great.

On the other hand, the CRT TVs usually have to make do with a broadcast quality, analogue TV signal. No wonder they look grainy by comparison.

Then I visited a friend’s house not long ago and he had just bought a new 42 inch Plasma TV. Beautiful bright, clear picture – he had a football match on. But after a minute or so I noticed the picture seemed a bit “off”. It just didn’t look natural.

I walked closer to the Plasma screen to see what was happening. The thing that was bothering me with the picture was something to do with the leading edge of the players bodies when they moved. There was some sort of pixellation effect going on that was making it look unnatural to my eyes.

I’ve read about this effect in reviews of both LCD TVs and Plasma TVs, but this was the first time I have noticed it myself. I have not seen the same effect with LCD TVs todate. Is this because they are usualy running at a higher definition? Who knows?

Hence our comments about always watch the LCD or Plasma TV you are thinking of buying for a good while with a few different programs before you buy.

Anyway, I ended up buying an old style 29 inch Sony Wega CRT TV that was on special (noody is buying them any more). I am such a sucker for a bargain. Then again it was about a quarter of the price of an equivalent LCD TV (and four times the weight!).

It has replaced a Samsung CRT TV that I always thought had a good picture. Well I am blown away by how much better the Sony picture is. The sound is a lot clearer too. Happy am I.

Then last night I watched some of my favourite scenes from the Matrix DVD – the shot out in the hall, helicopter rescue. Boy oh boy did that look good.

Then I switched back to good old analogue broadcast TV and it was like – did the TV just break?? What has happened to the picture here??

Was it broken? No. I had just got used to the DVD picture quality and it was the changeover back to the analogue broadcast tha was theproblem. Funny how your eyes adapt.

The moral for me is that the availability of digital TV is going to be a real kicker for LCDs. Every program will be in DVD quality.

Of course there’s HD DVD and Blu Ray coming down the track. This will give you the ability to see the colour of every pimple on your favourite newsreaders nose in full blown technicolour. However, if you’re fed up watching your favourite sports team lose it ain’t gonna change that!

Until then I am enjoying my low tech, retro, back breaking CRT. The money I saved will help pay the chiropractors bills.

And hey, in a few more years they will be collectors items and I’ll sell it for a profit on e-Bay.

Read out about LCD TVs at www.lcdtvcenter.com

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Mar

Will SED Take Over From LCD TVs?

Filed Under LCD TV Buyers Guide, LCD TV News, LCD TV Prices, Value LCD TVs | Leave a Comment

Plasma and LCD TVs are the red hot item in the consumer electronics product category. But how long will this last?

Personally I think the hot streak is going to be long and strong, because the prices are falling and the TVs are still improving, especially the picture quality.

Price Movements
I’m sure in the first few months of this year that prices have taken a big step downwards again - I think the prices of some of the major brands could be down by 20% - for both LCD and Plasma TVs.

The value LCD TV brands seem to holding their price point - temporarily at least - at the floor they set late last year, but no doubt those will shift again soon, because the main brands are getting too close to them.

This is all fuelled by the ramp up in panel production of the huge 3rd generation LCD panel factories owned by the likes of Samsung and LG Philips LCD.

Anyway, what is SED?
SED stands for surface-conduction electron-emitter display. The main players so far in SED are Toshiba and Canon.

They have announced that they will start selling their first SED flat panel TVs in the fourth quarter of 2007.

SEDs are claimed to be an improvement because:
(a) they use light-beaming technology similar to that for CRT TVs i.e the pictures wil be more natural and not “digital”.

(b) the SED panels are thinner and consume less energy than Plasma and LCDs displays.

My Prediction
Hard to tell at this range. In another year Plasma and LCD TVs will have taken more steps forward in picture quality. HDTV (High Definition TV) will probably be standard for just about all Plasma and LCD TVs.

And of course, the prices will also have taken another few steps downward.

So, SED will have to be a real breakthrough to displace either Plasma or LCD. And to make it harder, by the end of 2007 a lot of us will already have a 42 inch LCD or Plasma TVs.

Get the latest LCD TV news at www.lcdtvcenter.com.

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LCD TV or CRT TV?

Will SED Take Over From LCD TVs?