Product review by user

LCD TVs are one of the hottest electronic products on the market today. But, boy, are they expensive, with prices starting at around $900 for a good quality LCD TV. And some LCD have been know to poop out after just a couple of months use.

So how do you find a good quality LCD TV at the best possible price? Here’s the secret …

LCD TVs

LCD (light crystal display) TVs are constructed of a thin layer of liquid crystals sandwiched between two plates made of glass. When electricity passes through the colored crystals they light up to produce a picture.

LCD screens are now the most popular screens for computers and are quickly gaining in popularity as television screens.

LCD TV Features

The best LCD TVs have the following features:

* Super sharp picture - LCD TVs have almost twice the clarity of tube TVs and are now comparable in clarity to plasma TVs. Watching an HD (high definition) program on an LCD TV is like looking at a scene through a window.

* Light weight - Even large LCD TVs weigh less than 40 pounds so you can easily move them anywhere in your home. And LCD TVs are thin so you can place them almost anywhere, even mount them on a wall.

* Long life - LCD TVs have an average screen life of 60,000 hours, almost twice that of some plasma TVs, and they aren’t prone to screen “burn in” as are tube and plasma TVs, so they’re better for playing video games.

* Cheap to operate - LCD TVs use much less electricity than either tube TVs or plasma TVs.

How to Get the Best Price on an LCD TV

The first thing you need to do is figure out which size and model LCD TV you want.

The best way to do that is to visit the largest electronics store or discount store in your area and take a look at the various LCD TV models. Check out the screen for color and clarity. Grab the remote, check out all the functions, and find out if it’s easy to use. Then find a knowledgeable salesperson and ask him or her any questions you may have.

When you feel you have enough information to make an informed decision as to which make and model of LCD TV you want, head back to your home, fire up your computer, and begin searching for LCD TVs on the Internet.

There are various product comparison sites on the Internet that allow you to compare prices and even give you reviews that show you which products are best. The website I use not only compares product prices and gives you expert reviews, it also provides consumer reviews by people who own the product.

If you’re leery about buying an LCD TV from and unknown store, this website gives you consumer reviews of the store so you can find out if they’re reputable and if they’ll give good service.

Note: Click on the links below for more information on the site I use.

I used to go to discount warehouses to shop for big ticket items like LCD TVs. But now, because I’ve saved hundreds of dollars shopping online and have gotten the best products thanks to the consumer reviews, I do my shopping online.

Try it. I know you’ll like it.

Visit http://www.thesatellitetvguide.com/lcd-tv.htm for more information on LCD TVs and to check out LCD TV models and prices. Click on this link for information on free satellite TV systems and service.

The author, Brian Stevens, is the senior editor for TheSatelliteTVGuide.com and has written a number of articles on how to buy the best LCD TVs cheap.

Tags: best lcd tv, cheap lcd tvs, televisions, tvbest lcd tv, cheap lcd tvs, televisions, tv

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Unlike computer monitors, brightness is an important parameter in the choice of a LCD TV set. Since a TV set is viewed from a distance, a (measured) brightness of 220 to 250 nits is appropriate, where for a computer monitor, that would be too bright. When we talk about brightness here, we’re referring to the values we’ve measured ourselves, not the exaggerated, basically useless values claimed by the manufacturers. Some claim up to 800 nits of brightness, a level that would be like looking at a welding torch through a color slide.

Contrast is another story. A good contrast level is always preferable, but you have to be careful not to confuse contrast ratio and screen dynamics. Here’s an example to make that a little more clear.

Here I am trying to display concentric circles in shades of gray, from the lightest to the darkest. Screen A shows the shades correctly, but screen B shows only two shades. They have the same contrast ratio - that is, the relation between the whitest point on the screen and the blackest - but not the same dynamics. Screen A shows more details and more nuances than screen B. So as you can see, you need to be careful about manufacturers’ claims regarding contrast ratio.

Latency is a crucial parameter for users of LCD Televisions, because LCD panels are fundamentally slow. The latency measurement indicates the time it takes for a pixel to change from totally black to saturated white and back to totally black again. Unfortunately, that value is not very representative of reality, because pixels rarely make such extreme transitions. A pixel can change, for example, from dark gray to a lighter gray, and in that case the latency is much worse than what the manufacturers claim.

This curve shows the different latency values as a function of the gray level to be displayed. A change from black to white is shown on the curve as a point at 255 on the X-axis, a black-gray transition is 125 on the X-axis, an alternation between black and dark gray is 50, etc. The official ISO response time specified by the manufacturer is only for black/white transitions (0/255). While the value we measured is in agreement with the manufacturer on this point, it doesn’t mean much as far as the panel’s real-world responsiveness is concerned.

While computer applications are highly sensitive to latency, TV sets are a different matter. A TV doesn’t have a refresh rate of 60Hz by default - depending on the format, the rate is most often 30 Hz, or 30 images per second interlaced. That would seem to mean that a latency of 33 ms (1/30 Hz) would be sufficient, but that’s not so. It’s theoretically sufficient for an interlaced signal, but not for applications on a PC, like video games for example. And with PC/TV convergence the coming thing, 33 ms is not really enough. It would also rule out progressive video formats like 720P. And even for ordinary TV use, a 33 ms latency would be visible when sudden movements occur on-screen.

About The Author
Eli Aloisi is one of the many knowledgable staff members that encompass the PlexHomeTheater.com community. For more great articles check out www.PlexHomeTheater.com.

Tags: LCD TV, televisionsLCD TV, televisions

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