LCD & Plasma TVs Buying Guide
Thinking to upgrade or purchase an LCD or Plasma TVs, well according to ConsumerReports.org, this is a great time to do so as prices are down and consumers have more and better choices to choose from. Thus to help consumers to decide what and when to buy, ConsumerReports came up with a buying guide.
For your convenience I had done a summary on the buying guide. Basically the guide boils down to the following points.
- Prices continue to drop, with more volatility expected.
- LCD technology is pulling even with plasma for quality.
- More 40-inch-plus LCD TVs arrive, along with more 50-inch and larger plasma sets.
- 1080p TVs offer higher resolution, at a higher price.
- Our surveys show few repairs so far for many flat-panel brands
Prices are still going down and is expected to be even lower in the coming months due to promotions tied to the football season, holiday sales, and more discounting of older models. Some market analysts project that smaller sets could see the biggest price cuts because of oversupply. These models range from 26- to 37-inch.
LCD and plasma technology have made improvement over the years. In LCD TVs, they have had difficulty producing true black and natural-looking motion with no blurring. They’ve also had a narrower viewing angle than plasma sets. These are now lesser of a problem as LCD technology have made improvemet in these areas. Like wise plasma TVs have made improvement to minimize distracting reflections and screen burn-in. These are the two issues that plague plasma TVs.
Plasma sets used to be the only flat-screen TVs larger than 40 inches, but now, LCDs had caught up. Further more the price gap between plasma TVs and big-screen LCD sets are narrowing resulting in more buyers choosing LCD sets.
1080p ( progressive scan ) TVs have 1920×1080 native resolution and are starting to be popular. These models can potentially display all the detail in the 1080i signal in most HDTV broadcasts, as well as the 1080p high-def DVDs from Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. However such sets cost more and ConsumerReports states that :-
While a 1080p TV can display more and finer detail than a 720p set, resolution alone doesn’t determine picture quality. Black level, brightness, and color accuracy are just as important. A 720p set that does everything right can have excellent picture quality, but an equally adept 1080p set has the potential to be even better.
The difference is most obvious on large screens and in close viewing. With a 1080p model, you can sit near enough to appreciate the fine detail without seeing the faint grid of pixels. But from a normal viewing distance–about 6 feet from a 42-inch screen–a 1080p set won’t look dramatically better than a good 720p TV.
Keep in mind that any display device is only as good as the programming it receives. A less-than-pristine cable signal, for example, limits even the best TV.
ConsumerReports survey data shows that most branded LCD and Plasma TVs are reliable without needing repairs for the first two years. The LCD TVs found to be reliable are from JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba. Suprisingly Dell LCD sets have had higher than average repairs.
In plasma, the reliable brands are from Fujitsu, Hitachi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony and Toshiba. But the repair rate for Philips and Vizio plasma sets has been higher than average.
Well that’s it, these are the 5 essential points from the buying guide for you to take note off when buying either an LCD or Plasma TVs. I hope the summary has been useful.
Read more from ConsumerReports Buying Guide.
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