Archive for the ‘Big Screen Televisions’ Category
The intuitive answer is no, and yes you’d be right for thinking that. If you see a cheap flat panel monitor for sale, you need to remember that you get what you pay for.
In general the “budget” flat panel displays will lack color balance as well as sharpness compared with the entry-level and higher end flat panel displays. Also one other consideration is whether the machine is refurbished or used. If it’s used or refurbished there is probably a higher chance that some of the pixels may be “inactive”.
What this translates to is that even if a small fraction of the pixels on your monitor or inactive, there may be parts of your monitors that will stand out more and not be consistent with the rest of the colors on your screen. Sometimes this happens with new monitors too so you need to be careful on this issue.
Though there have been discussions of ways to resolve these broken pixels, such as through special “massage” methods, its clearly preferable to get a monitor that works 100 percent out of the box.
Another thing you might want to consider is the lag time in the video output. For cheaper monitors it may lag a bit more. In general, cathode ray tubes will have the highest available performance in this regard for high end applications.
If possible test out the monitor at the store prior to buying it to see if you notice any glaring shortcomings. Otherwise you may have truly found a good deal.
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Many people are turned off by the prospect of acquiring a flat panel monitor to replace their cathode ray tube pretty much based on the price factor. Of course this is certainly a valid reason as not everyone will have the budget at any given moment in time to purchase this item, which in many respects is not considered a “must-have” but a luxury instead.
This article hopefully will address the value of flat panel monitors beyond simply looking at the price. Even though flat panel monitors are becoming cheaper every few months, they are still on average more expensive than cathode ray tubes. But the question is, is it worth it for the price?
Well consider these factors and incorporate them (or not) into your own decision making process. LCD flat panel monitors generally will not flicker as much as cathode ray tube monitors. The dimensions of the flat panel also tend to be more consistent. As far as the physical value of flat panel monitors, they are clearly much more compact while provide a greater viewing area than their CRT brethren.
And beyond the desktop, flat panels save you on power and electricity as they are less likely to hog up as much resources. One other thing is that you are far less likely to experience screen burn where an image is seared into the screen after being left on for a long time.
Flat panel LCD monitors do not experience distortions around magnetic forces. They also tend to better output colors and other renderings. Most people get hooked on LCD flat panel monitors the moment they start using it.
Though this is far from comprehensive in terms of assessing the value of flat panel monitors, it should offer fodder for you in terms of deciding what the value of these features are TO YOU. Good luck and have fun!
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Like most other men I enjoy watching a big screen television. In my opinion the bigger the better. But there are so many choices when it comes to purchasing a big screen television it’s easy to get confused. There are three main types of big screen televisions. Plasma, LCD and Rear Projection. Let’s go through the pro’s and con’s of the three.
The first is Plasma televisions. These televisions have been praised for their clear picture and thin frame. I’ve found these televisions to deliver a high quality picture. They are so slim they can be hung on the wall like a picture frame saving a lot of space in the lounge room. The downside is they don’t have a very long life-span. A lot of people I know that have a plasma television complain about having to keep getting it fixed after only a year.
The second is LCD televisions. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. LCD televisions deliver and even higher quality picture that plasma televisions. They are also light weight and slim in size. The only downside I can see is the price. LDC televisions are the most expensive out of the three.
The third is rear projection televisions. The main advantage to buying a rear projection television is the price. It is the cheapest out of three, a lot cheaper in fact. In most cases the half the price. Now let’s talk about the disadvantages. A good saying is “you get what you pay for” and in this case it is no exception. Rear projection televisions are bigger than the LCD’s and Plasma’s. A lot bigger, so you better have a big lounge room if you want to purchase one. The second disadvantage is the picture quality. The picture picture quality of rear projection televisions are a lot poorer.
So the question really is how much you want to spend. Paying less for a rear projection television will help your hip pocket but will be a lot harder on the eyes. Buying a LCD television will cost a bit but will deliver excellent picture quality. The choice is yours, but if you have the money get the LCD television.
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Seems like the market for cathode ray tube monitors is dwindling with each generation of technology shifts and market place preference changes. There are still individuals who prefer to use cathode ray tubes for one reason or another, and the following list of pros and cons should illuminate the differences, both good and bad between the two generations of monitors.
The biggest single pro of flat panel monitors is that they offer more viewing area while taking up less space. Another big advantage is that they normally provide great clarity and can be used out of the box without too much configuration.
OK so here comes some of the cons. Well truth is it’s impossible to list pros and cons that will cut straight down the middle since the monitor market is so vast and there are so many different models and manufacturers out there. But in general customers have said that flat panels lack in certain areas relative to cathode ray tube monitors.
Elements such as the sharpness, color, and also the response of flat panel monitors have been said anecdotally to be less on par than when compared with cathode ray tube monitors. In general, cathode ray tubes are considered better for “work horse” type applications such as if you need to do heavy duty video or digital manipulation and editing.
However remember one size doesn’t fit all, so it’s in your best interest to find out if you really need to use powerful applications as mentioned above, or you prefer a better quality experience and space saving features that are native to a flat panel monitor. The choice is yours.
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The optimum TV screen size is directly related to the available viewing distance – but there are other factors as well that need to be taken into consideration.
Viewing Distance: Is it just a matter of personal preference?
Sit too close to your big screen TV and you will be able to see the image build-up structure – scanning lines or pixels forming the image – thus distracting your attention and spoiling your home theater experience. Yet, sit too far away, and the impact will be lost.
There are differing opinions on the best way to determine the optimum TV viewing distance for a specific screen size. Just go to the movie theater and you will soon realize that it is all a question of personal preference – some would sit at the very back. Others would go straight to the front row, as they prefer the bigger picture and a wider angle of view, while some would simply choose their seat randomly somewhere in between these two extremes.
The truth is that there are no scientific rules her. This does not mean that there aren’t any guidelines that you should follow when planning a big screen purchase or a would-be home theater room.
SMPTE Recommendations and the THX Certification standards:
The Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommends that the screen size for home theater use should occupy a 30 degrees field of view – in the horizontal plan – for the audience. Alternatively, the ideal TV viewing distance should be such that the screen width occupies an angle of 30 degrees from the viewing position.
This 30-degrees viewing angle seems to have been accepted by many as the standard in home theater and motion picture viewing.
This SMPTE guideline is also in line with the THX certification standards in that these recommend that the back row of seats should have at least a 26 degrees viewing angle and while recommending an optimum viewing angle of 36 degrees.
It is believed that within these viewing angle limits, the viewer will get better immersed into the action movie itself.
Vision System limitations:
There is also the issue of TV viewing distance based on visual acuity. This does not represent the optimum viewing distance – rather, this relates to the maximum viewing distance beyond which some picture detail will be lost.
Technically speaking, visual acuity is a measure of the eye spatial resolving power and indicates the angular size of the smallest detail that a person visual system can resolve. A person with 20/20 (or 6/6 when expressed in meters) normal vision can resolve a spatial pattern separated by a visual angle of one minute of arc angle i.e. 1/60th of a degree, at the eye when viewed at 20 feet away. Expressed differently, a person with normal 20/20 vision is capable of identifying an object with a height of 1.76mm at 20 feet way.
In terms of TV viewing distances, these represent the point beyond which some of the picture detail will no longer be resolved by the viewer vision system.
So How Does All This Translate In Practical Terms?
A few rules-of-thumb can help put in practice the guidelines detailed above. These rules for viewing distance refer to the screen width rather than the screen diagonal and therefore apply to both 4:3 and 16:9 display formats.
A general rule for the TV viewing distance based on the SMPTE and visual acuity guidelines, is that the nearest TV viewing distance between you and your big screen TV should be limited to approximately twice the screen width (more precise 1.87 x screen width for a subtended angle of 30 degrees), while the furthest distance being no more than five times the width of your screen.
This rule of thumb should give you a fairly good approximation for your TV viewing distance. It does not necessarily represent the ideal home theater viewing distance but rather the limits within which your TV viewing distance should theoretically be out of the trouble zone.
In other words, move closer than twice the screen width size, and the picture scanning lines, pixels and any other video artifacts will become too visibly intrusive – leading to distractions that will spoil your movie watching experience. Move further away than 5 times the screen width and your vision system will no longer be able to resolve all the picture detail.
But
It is also important to realize that these maximum and minimum viewing distances should be seen in the light of the video signal definition.
A fully resolved high definition TV (1080i, 1920×1080) supports a closer viewing distance than standard analog TV. Thus while twice the screen width would be the ideal TV viewing distance for a HDTV display, it would be a bit too close for standard TV; in the later case, a three times the screen width would be a better option.
Similarly, the five times the screen width as the maximum view distance, while more than adequate for a standard analog TV picture, is a bit too far away for a person to see the fine detail supported by a HDTV picture – a three to four times the screen width represents a more practical limit for the maximum viewing distance in the case of HDTV.
These rules-of-thumb work best with big screen TV sizes in the range 42-inches and over.
When it comes to the use of regular-size standard definition analog TVs in the home theater, i.e. up to 36″ / 40″ diagonal, the optimum viewing distance range is between 8 feet and 12 feet. TV sets smaller than 36-inches aren’t big enough to qualify for Home Theater use; their smaller screen size will not provide the desired impact on the viewer.
Vertical Angle of View & Screen Height:
For optimum viewing, the eyes of the viewer should be level with the center of the screen.
Maximum vertical angle of view: In those home theater set-ups where this is not possible, the SMPTE guidelines suggest that the maximum vertical angle measured at the seated eye height from the front row center seat to the top most part of the projected image should not exceed 35 degrees.
This does not represent the optimum viewing angle but rather the limit beyond which the viewer will be subject to an increased neck strain.
This maximum vertical angle limit is always measured from the front row as this represent the extreme angle of view.
Minimum angle of vision: While there do not appear to be any specific SMPTE or THX guidelines in this respect, yet studies have shown that if the screen size occupies less than 15 degrees of the viewer’s vertical field of view, than that image appears small.
Practical Considerations:
In a typical home theater set-up, you do not need to really worry about neither the maximum vertical angle of view, nor about the minimum vertical angle of vision for an effective movie theater experience.
If one were to adhere to the recommended TV viewing distance of twice the screen width (as further detailed above based on the SMPTE guideline of 30 degrees horizontal field of vision), you would automatically be complying with the minimum angle of vision. The reason being that there is a fixed relation between screen height and width in accordance to your home theater screen aspect ratio of either 16:9 or 4:3.
Further more, in a typical home theater setup, it would be very difficult to exceed the maximum vertical angle of view beyond which you will be subject to an increased neck strain.
Taking into account that most home theater rooms are approximately 10 feet (3m) high, the resultant vertical viewing angle is normal well within the maximum of 35 degrees detailed in the SMPTE guidelines – all you have to do is just remain within the twice the screen width guideline for your viewing distance.
Andrew Ghigo – A Telecoms/Electronics engineer by profession, with specialization in digital switching and telecoms fraud management systems.
Editor and publisher of http://www.p
ractical-home-theater-guide.com – a site dedicated to all home theater enthusiasts with the scope of serving as a comprehensive home theater guide to home theater systems, product reviews and home theater design.
This article is an excerpt from a series of articles appearing under the
home theater design section of the site.