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Until recently, LCD technology was best known for smaller, personal TV applications, such as in the kitchen, office or bedroom use. New advancements in LCD technology have produced larger TV sets with increased brightness and advanced picture quality. LCD televisions are rated for High Energy Efficiency and have a life expectancy of approximately 60,000 hours. Based on 8 hours per day, that works out to 20 years of television life.
To learn more about LCD technology, click here.
If you want to put real "theatre" in your home theatre, the projector and movie screen approach will deliver it. Front projectors are made to produce screen images in the range of 70" to 120" diagonal or more. Once people realize they can get a picture up to four times the size for the same money as a good TV, it opens up a whole new world of entertainment possibilities. And dollar for dollar the projector will often deliver the maximum 'wow' factor for the money invested.
Plasma technology works best for "main TV" application with larger screen sizes, such as in the living room with a home theatre system. It delivers more dynamic pictures without viewing angle restrictions, and it is very effective at displaying the fast motion images featured in today's action films and sporting events. Plasma life expectancy is approximately 60,000 hours. Based on 8 hours per day, that works out to 20 years of television life.
To learn more about Plasma technology, click here.
Director George Lucas originally created THX® processing technology to achieve maximum accuracy of movie sound in the home. Only equipment that exceeds the extremely rigorous THX® cerification standards can carry the prestigious THX® badge. For all the details of what THX® can do for your home theatre experience, vist www.thx.com.
How many formats can your DVD player play? DivX playback is becoming more common in the new DVD player models. DivX is a digital video compression format based on the MPEG-4 technology used on the internet to exchange video files. DivX files can be downloaded over high-speed lines in a relatively short time without sacrificing the quality of the digital video. With the internet quickly becoming a source of video entertainment, it is important to cover all the bases in digital playback
HDTVs (High Definition Televisions) offer superior clarity and sharpness of image with over 5 times the resolution of a regular television picture offer. They accurately represent vivid colours in a wide range of hues (such as subtle purples and reds) without any 'bleeding' and the edges. You'll be amazed by the fine details you could never see on a regular TV.
HDTV programming also provides 5.1 channel Dolby Digital Surround Sound to complete the true theatre experience.
HDTV refers to a complete product/system with the following minimum performance attributes:
- Display Scanning Format: active vertical scanning lines of 720 progressive (720p), 1080 interlaced (1080i), or higher
- Receiver: Receives ATSC terrestrial digital transmissions and decodes all ATSC Table 3 video formats
- Audio: Receives and reproduces, and/or outputs Dolby Digital audio
EDTV (Enhanced Definition Television), while not as high resolution as HDTV, is in fact a major step forward in picture quality, using a 480-line progressive scan technique commonly referred to as 480p, as opposed to the interlaced signal of a regular TV. On a big screen it looks closer in quality to HDTV than it does regular television. Most DVD players on the market output both interlaced and progressive signals, and they are getting better and cheaper by the month. So every DVD on the market can be played in EDTV right now!
EDTV refers to a complete product/system with the following minimum performance attributes:
- Display Scanning Format: \active vertical scanning lines of 480 progressive (480p) or higher
- Receiver: Receives ATSC terrestrial digital transmissions and decodes all ATSC Table 3 video formats
- Audio: Receives and reproduces, and/or outputs Dolby Digital audio
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What is Burn-in?
Burn-in occurs when an image remains on the screen too long. This may result from playing a video game too long, or watching letterboxed movies. After burn-in, you will always see a ghost outline of the burnt-in image. This is because some pixels on the TV can no longer create as much light as others, so they will always appear darker. The easiest way to avoid this problem is to limit game time and to watch videos in a full screen format.
Burn-in is a consideration with Plasma TVs, but not LCDs. Plasma TVs, like traditional CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) televisions, create their own light by exciting a phosphorous coating inside the screen. LCDs on the other hand create a picture by blocking light from an outside source (basically a powerful light bulb), which makes it impossible for burn-in to occur.
What is Response time?
Response time is the amount of time it takes for a liquid crystal cell to go from active (black) to inactive (white) and back to active (black) again. It is measured in milliseconds or (ms). Lower numbers mean faster transitions (ie. 16 ms is faster than 25 ms.) and therefore less visible image artifacts.
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