HDTV Buying Guide: LCD

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LCD Panels (Liquid Crystal Displays)
LCD televisions have been around a little longer than plasmas. In essence, they are gigantic computer monitors. They come in a variety of sizes from 7 inches all the way up to about 63 inches. LCD’s offer a great value but with compromising picture quality.

Pros
These are the brightest displays, and that brightness, coupled with vivid colors and svelte shapes, make them very attractive to most buyers. With the varying degrees of sizes and qualities, an LCD can be found for any application. Most all LCDs have a Computer Monitor Input, which allows an LCD to double as a television and computer monitor. That way, you could hook your laptop up to an LCD and have a 46” high definition picture frame when having family get-togethers. LCDs use 1/3 less power than plasmas do, so they are much more Utility Bill Friendly. 1080p resolution on LCDs is very affordable. I will discuss this term later in the article. However, the most important reason someone buys an LCD over a Plasma or Rear-Projection television is the fact that LCDs do not have glare!!! It doesn’t matter if you have your blinds or curtains open, a bay window, or a spotlight throwing light onto the television. With glare and reflection never being an issue, LCDs are more attractive to people whose televisions are in sun rooms or living rooms, or if their television size ranges from 13" to 37".

Cons
LCDs have trouble rendering details in dark scenes, and black levels typically aren't as dark as those seen on plasmas. Often blacks look more like a dark navy blue than a true “black.” LCDs are also, on average, $200 more than a Plasma of the same size. As aforementioned, the refresh rates on LCDs are not as fast as a Plasma. Sometimes screen door effect can be prominent if the refresh rate and processor are slow. When watching TVs in a store like Best Buy make sure you catch some type of sports clip on it to see how well the television responds to fast movement. In addition to screen door effect, image trail can also occur. This still deals with the refresh rate and fast motion. The best way to demonstrate this would be to show you. I assume, you are at your computer. Take your mouse and move it quickly back and forth across the screen. Do you see how it looks like there are other cursors behind that one? Like it isn’t fluid? Like there is more than one of them? Well that is what image trail is. Who buys an LCD? Someone might buy an LCD because they are looking for a smaller television or are tired of having to close curtains just to block out the light to enjoy TV on the weekend. True representative picture quality might not be of utmost concern for the LCD buyer. They also may be buying an LCD because they will last longer than plasmas do. Rear Projection Televisions are the next display technology. Continue to Part 4.