Demystifying the TV

Author: Buy and Sell Classifieds Kenya   |   Posted on: September 10, 2011

With 241 brands in the world, it’s not easy buying a television. Which make you would finally choose would largely depend on your budget and very little on the specs. But that's not to say you can't have the best.
In this article, we demystify the evolution of the television and the aspects of the individual types to help you make a decision at least to what type of TV you want.

The Plasma
These are the really large TVs, it seems the bigger the better with sports bar s in Nairobi going for the largest to screen the games on. There's nothing like watching a game like you have front row sits at the game. But what exactly is a plasma TV, and apart from size is there anything else that differentiates it from the TV you have at home? Fundamentally no, but it has a brighter display, higher contrast and a wider range of colour. Plasmas made a big bang the world over with over 19.1 million sales in their first year of introduction and it seems it’s just getting bigger and bigger. And thinner. At 10 cm, plasmas are one of the slimmest TV types there are out there. It has the added advantage of being able to be wall mounted. On the down side, it requires more power to run, so buying one would have the further effect of raising your electricity bill. All in all, sometimes size matters, and when it does plasma is the way to go.



HDTV

Although the craze for high definition viewing has just faded, taken over by the 3D phase, HD has been there for years. Broadcasted for the first time in 1936 in Britain (don't we love the Brits) HD is fundamentally compared to previous versions of display. HDTVs have a higher resolution than traditional TVs with up to 2 million pixels per frame giving pictures a crystal clear quality. With DSTV premium offering HD channels, it is time to chuck that old TV set and move on with the world.



LED - LCD TVs
Just to clarify, and we won't go into great detail as to how the TV actually works, but LED refers to light emitting diode which is the light source for LCD - light crystal displays that cannot emit light directly.
LCD TVs are light and compact compared to any other TV type, can be in any size, unlike the plasma that is limited to being larger than 32 inches. Unfortunately, the LCD TVs have a limited viewing angle meaning that viewing it at sharp angles will be difficult unlike the plasma. As to the LED backlight, it offers added advantage to the LCD TVs as it has a very long life compared to the fluorescent lamps that traditional TVs use and they don't die abruptly, as they gradually dim allowing the viewer to notice and replace before it’s too late.


3D TV

Finally, the TV of the hour, the 3D TV. Generally 3D TV projects a TV program into a realistic 3 dimensional field. And the TV itself comes in 2 ways. There's the one that comes with the eye glasses (the red and blue ones) that filter separate offset images to each eye, and there's the auto stereoscopy (Auto 3D) that doesn't require glasses, but has the light source in the TV split the images directionally into the viewers eyes. If you've never really experienced the 3D experience, go out to Fox Cinemas at the Sarit Centre and prepare to be wowed. If you aren't prepared to go all the way with 3D, you can get the 3D-Ready TVs that show programs in 2D and 3D format. But even with the headway TV manufacturers have made in terms of technology, the 3D TV has some Xs against it. One is that you would have to watch it in a darkened room to get the full effect and another is that although you may expect the same immersive qualities as those at the cinema, 3D TVs don't offer that much depth in pictures. Also, some people have complained to headaches and visual problems after watching 3D TVs and if you are unlucky enough to be included in the 12% of people who are unable to see 3D images, for various reason, then maybe the 3D TV is not for you.
Now we aren't saying that you definitely have to buy these high end TV types, but high prices are a reflection of the investment into research and development that manufacturers put into it enabling higher quality entertainment and invariably, higher prices result in longer warranties.
So think carefully the next time you go TV buying, which one provides more value?