Flat panel televisions are quickly becoming quite common on store shelves and in consumers’ homes. Although Plasma TVs seem to be be getting all the attention in this area, the LCD television is also making an impact.  Best TV Reviewers have a hard time deciding between the two, because they are so similar in picture quality, price, and longevity.

An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) starts out with two sheets of glass that are “glued” together.  Between the two glass sheets are tons of liquid-crystal-filled cells.  When an electrical pulse is given to the cells, they “untwist” and filter white light, which is given off by a lamp in the TV.  LCDs produce color through subtraction, meaning they block out certain wavelengths (colors) from the white light, leaving just the right colors.  The intensity of the light allows the TV to display a brilliant picture, chock full of color.

When deciding between an LCD or a plasma, one thing you should consider is the lighting of the room.  Plasma TVs will almost always out-perform LCD TVs in normal to low lit settings, whereas LCDs are better for sun rooms, breakfast rooms, or any well lit area. LCD TVs generally handle annoying reflections from open windows or nearby lights with no difficulty. Avoid putting this TV over a functioning fireplace, the heat can compromise its longevity.

Best TV Review is a fan of LCD TVs.  One of the main reasons is their slim, sleak, modern design.  They are only a few inches deep, and are fairly light.  LCD TVs, as a general rule, use less power than plasma (25% on average) and also weigh less in equivalent screen sizes (about 20% on average).

Unlike plasma TVs, all widescreen LCD TVs over 15 inches in size have true HD resolution (usually 1280×768 pixels, sometimes more).  Plasmas usually only offer true HD quality in models over 40?.  Bigger models starting at 46 inches and up actually have 1920×1080 pixel resolution, but they command quite a price premium at the moment.

LCD TVs don’t suffer from ‘burn-in’ or ‘burn-out’ like plasma panels do. They can, however, have ’stuck’ or dead pixels. The leading manufacturers have higher standards for defective pixels, so you can usually purchase from those companies with confidence that you won’t see white, black, red, green, or blue dots on your TV programs that won’t go away (and if you do, your warranty offers some protection).

Because plasma TVs employ phosphors for imaging, they are susceptible to glare from indoor and outdoor light. LCD TVs don’t have this problem; they create images by shuttering light through tiny color filters and generally handle annoying reflections from open windows or nearby lights with no difficulty.

Best TV Review rates LCD TVs a solid 9.

The Good: Slim and sleek, very modern, brilliant picture quality, any size 15?+, can be used as a computer monitor, all over 15? are HDTVs, don’t suffer from ‘burn-in’, glare is not an issue, fairly light, long life span (50,000-80,000 hours depending on use)

The Bad: Picture quality is weaker than plasma (especially in dark settings), more expensive than plasmas when you look at 40?+, black sometimes looks like dark grey, limited viewing angles

This is purely subjective, of course, but when I watched episodes of Hawaii Five-O in the late 1970s one thought struck me each time: this show is great. I loved it for a number of reasons.

To begin, the locale was terrific. Each sixty minute show was shot on location on the island of Oahu. For people who had never visited Hawaii, and for those who had been there (like me) it was special to see the beautiful scenery week after week as each exciting plot unfolded.

A second factor was the story lines. There was lots of drama and the bad guys were, well – really bad. The Hawaii Five-O police force had detectives who were of Hawaiian extraction, a fact that added an air of authenticity to each program.

And then there was McGarrett. Played by actor Jack Lord (he had a role in the first James Bond movie as an American CIA agent) McGarrett, actually Steve McGarrett was the head of the local police department and the show’s protagonist. In his role as the “primary good guy” Jack Lord was intense and dynamic. In fact, he performed his role so well that many viewers began to strongly associate him with the character he played and forgot that he was “just acting.”

Interestingly, the cast for this outstanding show enjoyed one of the great perks ever provided to TV actors. In addition to being paid handsomely for each episode, the performers got to work — and live – in a true tropical paradise.

The show had its run during the height of the “Cold War” and one of the recurring “bad guy” characters was a sinister Chinese agent working for “The People’s Republic of China” that McGarrett could never capture.

Other antagonists were evil and despicable, as well, and McGarrett, along with his Hawaiian detectives would fan out all over the island (offering lots of great scenery) in an attempt to corner and catch the bad guy.

There have been many, many other “cop” shows over the years, some of which have been first-rate. But, in my opinion, Hawaii Five-O was – and is – the best TV cop show of all time. Now, if my programming provider would find a way to bring back these awesome shows, I would become one very happy subscriber.

In fact, I’m not sure if there has ever been re-runs of Hawaii Five-O. If that’s the case, the time to “right this wrong” is now!

By: Frank Bilotta

Knowing how to pick the best TV is not a question of technique but a question of what best suites you. The question is more subjective rather than objective. This is because in order to know the best TV for you, you have to bear in mind your budget, the space you intend to put the TV and the features that you it to have. With all the new TV having different brands and features, it is hard to rely on their claim that they are the best. The best TV is decided by the consumer themselves. I can not give you a specific brand of TV to buy but what I can give you is an idea what can constitute the best TV for everyone:

1. The Price. The price of the TV is the main motivation whether or not a TV is worth buying. Just by simply looking at the price tag, a consumer can instantly decide if its worth getting it or not notwithstanding the fact that it has the latest features or add-ons available in the market. As long as the budget does not allow it, the wise consumer would not waste time letting it go. However, if the company selling the TV provides for a very good plan for payment then most probably the consumer will purchase it. Discounts and promos can also be a motivation for the buyer to get the TV.

2. Features. If the price, discounts, promos or payment plans is not convincing enough for the buyer, the features of the TV is sometimes a motivating factor especially if it has the latest features to date. What TV is currently selling in the market right now is the one with LCD monitor, power saving feature, timer, remote controlled, flat screen, cable ready, etc.

3. Size. Some like it huge, some like it smaller. Although most buyers prefer it a widescreen TV, this does not necessarily mean it is the best TV. The size of the best TV should complement the space allotted to the said unit. If it is so big that it crowds up the room, then that is not considered the best TV. It is more considered as a blockade or obstacle.

4. Warranty, Technical Assistance and Durability. These are additional factors that makes up the best TV. These are services being offered by the company selling the TV that may be useful in the long run.

5. Accessories. The accessories for the TV also make up the best TV. Through the accessory the watching experience is more enjoyable and convenient with the use the accessory such as additional speakers, TV rack, etc.

6. Brand. Usually, the reliability of the product comes with the name. there are a lot of established names when it comes to TV and there are also a lot which are yet to be discovered. But the best TV would be the ones usually that comes from the established companies like Philips, Sony, JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, etc.

For experiencing the Tampa Super Bowl and all your other favorite sports and TV Shows what better than a new HDTV that won’t let you loose any detail of action. Here I will give you some shopping advices on How to Select the Best TV for you, and my best recommendations.??

Brightness
Ok this is important and would not notice it until it begins causing eye disturbance. It all depends on the room you have your TV. If you have a very illuminated room (a lot of sun coming in) you should look for a TV with a bright picture and a big contrast enhance. In this sense, LCS’s are the best option because they deliver excellent color quality and brightness distracting reflections; meanwhile it totally depends on the model: here are some suggestions of medium sized TV’s for illuminated rooms; their technology enhances contrast, reduces reflection and offers more pixels, better details and better pictures so you will enjoy a vibrant out of the screen experience. Some great deals:

Samsung SyncMaster 400PX LCD Monitor – 40 – Black

Samsung LN46A860 46 LCD TV (Widescreen, 1920×1080, 50000:1, HDTV)

Samsung 9 Series LN46A950 46 LCD TV – 46 – ATSC, NTSC – 181 Channels – 16:9 – 1920 x 1080 – Surround – HDTV – 1080p

If you have a dark room, brightness will not be a very important factor because you don’t need to worry about reflections, but you should care about your sitting position. If you are looking in front of the TV, the Samsung LCD’s described previously will give you a great experience; but if you are watching the game with a lot of friends siting in all around the room, only the one siting in front of the TV will get all the real benefits of LCD’s image quality. If these is your case, maybe your TV is for a hole family, you should think on a plasma witch gives you a consistent picture quality from all the room, and they are actually cheaper if your thinking on a big screen size. But remember, they are not the best on very light rooms. Some recommendations:

Vizio VO37L 37 LCD TV – 37 – Active Matrix TFT – ATSC, NTSC – 16:9 – 1366 x 768 – HDTV

Panasonic Professional TH37PH10UK 37 Plasma Display – 37 – 16:9 – 1024 x 720

Meanwhile, depending on your case, my best recommendation would be a Pioneer Plasma, witch handles excellent picture quality and still managing to do away with unwanted reflections.

Pioneer KURO PDP-5020FD – 50 1080p Plasma HDTV

Enter the next generation of Pioneer KURO , where a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Awaken your senses and discover there is more to this television than meets the eye. Deeper black levels that pave the way to breathtaking detail, added dimension and more vibrant color are just the beginning. High-Definition 1080p Resolution(1920 x 1080p) 50 Diagonal Class / 16:9 Wide-Screen Aspect Ratio (49.85 Screen) New Deeper Intense Blacks for Unmatched Contrast(5x Previous Generation) New Thinner Cosmetic Design New Home Media Gallery Home Network Connectivity 4 Independent HDMI 1.3 Inputs Anti-Reflective Filter Subwoofer Output

Pioneer 50 Plasma TV – 50 – NTSC, ATSC – 16:9, 4:3 – 1920 x 1080 – HDTV

ATSC Digital Reception : Woofer – 4.8 cm x 13 cm cone type : Tweeter – 2.5 cm semidome type : Dolby Digital Audio Format : Rear Terminals – CableCard, Subwoofer, 6-16 ohms speakers, control out, digital out, audio out, 4 HDMI in and PC Input : Side Terminals – Component Video & Audio In, 16-32 ohms phones, USB in : Dimensions – 48-1/2 x 33-15/32 x 28-7/16 inches : Weight – 84.9 pounds, 93.8 pounds with stand

What about the size??Yes it’s true, the bigger the better, but wait a moment. First take a look to your TV room, if you have about 10 feet from the TV to your couch or bed you can go for a 65”, but if your space is smaller try to get a proportional smaller TV. It obviously depends on your budget and room size.

Take a look at my recommendeds, compare them and analyze which will best meet your needs and budget. Enjoy the games.

Digital Light Processing (DLP) was invented in 1987 by Texas Instruments. It is named for its ability to process light digitally with the aid of an optical semiconductor called a Digital Micromirror Device or DMD chip. The DMD chip is made up of over one million mirrors. The size of each mirror is less than 1/5” the width of a human hair.  They are not susceptible to burn-in, but some people do notice a glitch called Rainbow Effect (red/blue/green shadows).  They are basically modern day tube tvs (CRTs).

Like digital video camcorders, DLP devices come in either one or three-chip models. One-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to pass white light through a color wheel that sends red-green-blue colors to the DMD chip in a sequential order to create an image on-screen. Three-chip DLP systems use a projection lamp to send white light through a prism, which creates separate red, green, and blue light beams. Each beam is sent to their respective red, green, and blue DMD chip to process the image for display on-screen.

One-chip models are said to produce a display of over 16-million colors. Three-chip models can produce a display of over 35-trillion colors.  Most consumers will be looking at the One-chips, because the three-chips are generally for very large screens, such as movie theaters.  The three-chip TVs do not suffer from the “Rainbow Effect.”  The one-chip models are still very good televisions, and have a clear and detailed display.

DLP TVs are lighter and skinnier than tubes, but are too heavy and bulky to hang from a wall.  They range in size from around 44?-75? and weigh between 65 and 215 lbs (most weigh 75-150).  They are 7-22? deep, but most models range from 15-20?.

DLP televisions vary in price, but generally will run you for around $1,500+.  This price is still a lot cheaper than comparable LCD and Plasma screens, but you either buy a big tv for a good amount of money, or get nothing.  So if you are looking for a smaller TV and do not want to spend over $1,500, look elsewhere.  The cost to replace the bulbs must also be taken into account (usually $200 per bulb).

The DLP recieves a Best TV rating of 7.

The Good: Significantly cheaper than LCD or plasma, very good picture quality for the price, pretty cheap for the size of the TV, excellent grayscale, no burn-in, smooth-stable image at 1080p,

The Bad: Bulbs need to be changed every couple of years (depending on use), bulky, slow refresh rate, not very strong with gaming/watching sports/action movies, the “Rainbow Effect,” you wont find smaller models (or prices under $1,500), weak angles, the technology is becoming dated

**If you buy a DLP TV, Best TV suggests purchasing a warranty, because the bulbs will eventually have problems

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In today’s rocky economic climate, most households are cutting back wherever they can. And with cable and satellite television costing anywhere from $65- $150 a month (more if you count premium movie channels) many people are making their television sets the first part of their homes to get the axe. But what if there was a way to enjoy thousands of television channels, including hard to find international shows and sports programming, and never pay another monthly cable bill again?

Welcome to Satellite Direct- the future of television.

With no subscription services or monthly bills, no hardware to install, and 24/7 unlimited access, is it any wonder that Internet Media Magazine hailed Satellite Direct as “unequivocally the best TV to PC software on the net”? Don’t be fooled by other so called “Great Deals” on satellite television service for your PC that give you only limited access to channels, or have dozens of hidden fees that end up costing you more than your current cable service.

For less than the price of one month’s subscription cable or satellite service, you can enjoy a lifetime of television- over 3,500 channels!- from the convenience of your laptop or desktop. And forget the hassles of waiting for installation, or hours on hold with the cable company. Installing Satellite Direct is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Register – Answer a few simple questions, and our easy registration system will process your ONE TIME payment. That’s right, no monthly bills- ever.

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3. Watch and Enjoy – Sit back and enjoy thousands of television channels, from soaps and sports to movies and dramas, any time, day or night.

With crystal clear picture and sound quality, exceptional customer service, and a lifetime of television for less than you’d pay for just one month of cable service, Satellite Direct is the best way to get the most for your TV dollar.

Plasma is the type of television most associated with high end home electronics.  All plasma televisions come in a flat panel variety. Most are sized in the 40-49? range. They are competitively priced against LCD flat panel televisions, and feature a stunning picture that puts you in the middle of the action. Plasmas weigh more than LCD’s, but nothing additional supports couldn’t handle. They are susceptible to burn-in, but despite rumors to the contrary, the gases that power the picture can not be refilled. While they are too young to accurately measure, plasma televisions should last anywhere from 10-20 years.

Keep in mind that true HDTV resolution can’t be found in plasma TVs smaller than 50 inches. There are two HDTV broadcast standards – 1920×1080 interlaced (1080i), and 1280×720 progressive (720p). So, in order for a plasma TV to be considered truly ‘HD’, it should have at least the same amount of pixels as a 720p signal, or more.

‘HD’ in smaller sizes of plasma means that there are more pixels than ‘ED’ plasma, but generally not as many as there are in a true HD display. So, you’ll find that it’s difficult to see any substantial difference in picture quality between these two types of plasma TVs, particularly when viewing an HDTV program.

When viewing a widescreen DVD, you may often be surprised to see that the less expensive EDTV plasma TV actually looks sharper than the more expensive HDTV plasma TV! That’s because the image resolution of a widescreen DVD (nominally 704×480) is very close to the actual pixel count (852×480) in an EDTV plasma. However, new blue ray DVD’s are made for 1080 resolution.

The bottom line? Think about where you’ll put your plasma TV, how far you’ll be sitting from it, and what you’ll be watching on it most of the time. If you’ll be sitting eight feet or more from a 37-inch or 42-inch plasma TV, you’ll probably be quite happy with an EDTV version.

Now to address a few concerns about plasma: First of all, today’s plasma TVs don’t have the same problems with premature image aging (burn-in, burn-out) that plagued older plasma monitors and TVs. That’s because the mix of gases used in the panels have been changed to improve longevity. You’ll hear the figure ‘60,000 hours’ thrown around; be conservative and figure half that, which is 30,000 hours. 30,000 hours is the equivalent of watching eight hours a day of television, seven days a week for 10 years.

No, you don’t need to recharge the gas in the panel – it can’t leak out

Best TV Review gives Plasma screen TVs (HD) a rating of 9.5.

The Good: The best picture quality you can get (in normal to low lit settings), long lifespan, modern/sleek design, very slim chance of ‘burn-in,’ cheaper than LCD in the bigger sizes, perfect for movies/gaming/sports, cheaper EDTV’s can offer the same picture quality when viewing DVD’s (480p), the gas does NOT need to be recharged

The Bad: Not much here.  Expensive (but worth the money), smaller sizes aren’t in true HD, weigh a little more than LCD’s