Understanding Plasma, LCD, and Rear Project Televisions

Many American families gather around their television for a little bit of family bonding time. Your television is probably one of the center pieces to your home, and you want to make it an impressive one. Buying a television today is not nearly as easy as it was when there was only one type of television to choose from. Today you have hundreds of makes, models, and sizes to choose from which can make your decision very hard. This is a look into two of the most popular models of televisions available to you, the Plasma LCD television and the rear projection HDTV.

When choosing a television it is important to have some small understanding of some of the terms used in the electronic industry today. Words like "rear projection television", "LCD Flat Panel" and "Plasma" can cause a lot of confusion to the unprepared buyer. If you want to know exactly what you are getting yourself into, you need to know a little about the technology involved in each. For example, you need to known whether a widescreen or a flat screen television is a better choice for you, or if plasma or LCD screens have a better picture quality. By having a basic understand of the terms used, you will help yourself not be confused or taken advantage of by the television salesman who helps you with your purchase.

One of the most popular televisions is the rear projection television. These televisions have a unique type of technology in which a lamp is used to help project the image onto the screen. You may also hear this kind of technology called micro display. This type of technology differs from the traditional technology used in older televisions like CRT or cathode ray tube technology. There are many different types of micro display that you may be interested in. One type is the LCD or the Liquid Crystal Display, another type is the DLP or the Digital Light Processing, and yet another is the LCoS which is Liquid Crystal on Silicon. These types of televisions have both their high and low points. One of the high points of this television is that they are lighter and flatter then televisions containing CRT technology. However, they have a low point being that you need to replace the lamps in them every two or three years.

Another popular television type is the Plasma Television. You will almost always find these types of televisions in a flat panel display. This is because they have a type of technology that is easy to fit into a smaller amount of space, which can be convenient for people with shorter living rooms who still want a larger sized television. These types of televisions work a lot like a fluorescent lamp. They are made up of two glass panels which have xenon gas in between them. After putting the gas into a plasma form and injecting it, an electrical charge is then ran through the gas making it light up. Each pixel is made up of reds blues and greens which will cause an image to appear on your television.

Liquid Crystal Display Televisions, or LCD televisions, come in two different types: A rear projection and a flat panel television. A rear projection LCD television creates its image by forcing light through a see through liquid crystal display chip which has individual pixels that display the image. This projects the image through a lens that makes it bigger; it bounces off of a mirror, and eventually reflects onto your screen for you to view it. That is why these televisions are lighter and smaller, because the chip takes up so much less space then the traditional cathode ray tubes. This type of a television is not as compact as a plasma television, but they are much smaller then the televisions you used to see in the older days. They also have a wider screen, and are much cheaper then the plasma or LCD flat Panel televisions. You will also notice that these televisions have a brighter image display and greater contrast compared to other televisions. This would be a great, inexpensive way for a family to upgrade their television.

Hopefully this short guide will aid you in choosing the right television for you or your family. There are lots of things to know about televisions now a days, but do not let them intimidate you. If you are interested in more information on the television types, you may want to visit your local electronic store and seek out a knowledgeable sales representative.