This is a question that you may find asking yourself on the quest for a new TV. There are many different display technologies to choose from and it can quickly get confusing when looking at all of the terminology used.
- LCD
- Plasma
- Front Projection "LCD or DLP"
- Rear Projection DLP "LED or Laser"
- OLED "Organic Light Emitting Diode" Future Technology
Each of these technologies have different features and benefits that you may want to consider. To find the one which caters best to your needs I would suggest sitting down and clearly defining / prioritising what you will be using the display for. Here are some examples:
- Watching Movies and TV Shows
- Using the display as a computer monitor
- Games "XBox, PS3, Wii"
Each of the above examples has different pros and cons to consider when you put them up against the various technologies. When watching Movies or TV Shows it will depend on what type of programming you watch the most. If you watch a lot of sports and action movies you will want to consider Plasma for its ability to reproduce high speed motion more smoothly. Plasma is also able to recreate a better overall cinematic experience due to its higher contrast ratio capabilities "blacks are really black and whites are really white."
If you plan to hook your computer up to the display as it's always fun to have a 50" computer monitor you will want to consider LCD for its ability to display crisp and clear static images from your computer without any flicker or burn in. You may hear that the problem of burn in on Plasma’s has been solved but don't buy into this lie. The solution is called a white wash that removes any burn in but destroys your contrast ratio. This means that you blacks begin to look very Grey and your TV will look very poor in a couple of years. New solutions are emerging but it is too early to guaranty if the problem has been improved.
When playing games from a console it’s a bit of a toss up. You could consider going both ways but just understand the pros and cons of both. Kids are known to put a game on pause and walk away for hours at a time which will be a bad idea for plasma. On the other hand for most games it's now more like playing a movie where the demanding graphics take full advantage of Plasma’s ability to reproduce true blacks and fast moving images. Depending on who will be using the display will determine which one to go with.
Front Projection: This technology is great for the person that feels that size is the only thing important. For a true cinematic experience nothing does it quite like a 120" screen. Keep in mind that the more affordable projectors under $1500.00 usually sacrifice 1 of the 2 important features. If you want high definition at an affordable price you will sacrifice greatly on the brightness of the projector. If you need a bright projector then you will be sacrificing the resolution "High Definition" If you do decide to get a projector here are some things to think about:
- Lighting: It would be ideal to have the ability to control the lighting in the room with black out blinds or even use a room with no windows. Ambient light significantly washes out your image and makes it difficult to see. If you have no control over the light in the room I would not recommend getting anything under 2500 lumen. If you do then you could drop down to a 1200 - 1500 lumen projector and still be happy.
- Lamp: Most lamps are able to reach 2000 hours of use before needing to be replaced. A great deal of projectors have an economy mode that will extend the life by another 1000 hours but you will loose some brightness so if this is a feature you are looking at make sure you can spare to loose some. You also want to check the price of replacement lamps as they can range from $250 to $600.
- DLP: I would recommend a DLP projector due to its versatility in being able to handle both static computer images and high action cinematic. This technology is used in high end digital cinema projectors in a great deal of movie theatres.
- LCD: You may find this type of projector to be more affordable and honestly if price is a concern you probably won't notice the difference unless you do a side by side comparison.
- Screen: In most cases you are projecting onto a white surface in which case your Blacks will be the absence of light. This is why the image will begin to look washed out with too much ambient light in the room. The absence of light doesn't exist because of the light coming through your windows. Also as the screen size gets larger so do the individual dots that make up the image "Pixels".
Rear projection DLP: This technology has come a long way since it was first released. Many stores do not carry this type of display any more due some of the problems they once had and the bad rep that followed. However with the advancement of Light Emitting Diodes and Laser technologies all of the problems are no longer around but the bad rep still lingers. With old rear projection displays you would still have to change the lamp every so many hours just like a regular projector. DLP technology in general also had a big point of failure called a Color Wheel. The color wheel spun at high speeds on bearings which over time wore out. By using 3 different LED's or Lasers "Red, Green and Blue" both the color wheel and the lamp have been eliminated all together. This advancement has increased the contrast ratio, color accuracy and overall life span of the display to surpass both Plasma and LCD. The only drawback to this great technology is the thickness of the display. It is still not able to compete with LCD or Plasma but the thickness has definitely come down significantly. If you want a very large screen, at a very low price and the best picture quality then the thickness shouldn’t matter. If you don't have any intentions of hanging the display on your wall then there shouldn't be any complaints.
OLED: is a new technology from Sony that will have the best of all worlds. It will be millimetres thin, have the best color accuracy, the best contrast ratio will far surpass any other technology. This is a technology defiantly worth keeping your eye on in the years to come.
Stay tuned for my next post!
