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HDTV - Plasma HDTV - What You Need To Know About HDTV

To help us meet our demand for bigger and better, analog television (that which we have been “using forever”) will cease to function and digital transmissions will be taking over. There are ways to get along with this new technology, including HDTV and Plasma HDTV.

Everyone’s seen all the advertisements by now. They throw out all kinds of technological terms, abbreviations, and numbers and perhaps you’ve been thinking something like “What in the world does all of this mean?” We’ll cover a few basics on HDTV for you here today and hopefully, take the mysticism away.

HDTV is high definition television. The resolution on these TVs can be compressed and optimized to 1080 pixels and have a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. What that means to the consumer is your pictures will be sharper, clearer, and hold more color while refreshing the image at 120 times per second. Our good old fashioned televisions have worked with a cathode ray tube (CRT) simply do not have the capability to project images in such a fashion because they don’t have the technology to back it up. Advantages include high quality pictures, no matter the size of screen, higher resolution (10x that of analog), and progressive streaming. Plasma televisions are a form of HDTV.

Plasmas are all built with a 16x9 (widescreen/landscape) screen that is dependent on the signal being delivered from the DVD player or the cable or satellite company. As with any piece of electronic equipment, the receiver can only be as good as the information that is being pumped into it. There are three formats for viewing images on the plasmas with the most common being 720p (progressive) and 1080i (interlaced). These types refer to how the images are projected onto the display. Interlaced scans every other line (odd then even) every 1/60th of a second while progressive scans the entire image every 1/30th of a second and these allow you to have a very high quality image.

Zoom and standard modes are available on Plasma HDTVs.

When you go HDTV, there are a few items to make sure to have to complete your set. You will, of course, need the HDTV set, a way to receive the signal (antenna, cable, or satellite service) and a source for the signal (local, cable or satellite HDTV station). You won’t be able to simply plug it into a wall and watch. Don’t forget that you may need a digital tuner if your TV does not have one built in or speakers (if the product says “monitor” it may not have speakers).

A quick rundown of major brands dictates the following sizes (in inches): Hitachi, Philips, and Pioneer have 42 and 55; LG 42, 50 and 60; Maxent and Samsung have 42 and 50 and Panasonic is the most popular and has the widest selection at 42 through 103. 42” is best for viewing 5-15 feet away, 50” is 7-17 feet away, 60” is 8-21 feet away, and 65” is 9-23 feet away. Contrast ratio, digital cable ready, panel life and integrated HGTV, resolution and warranty are the most important factors to look for on your purchase.

The next time you have a hunkering to view billions of colors in smooth context and clear sharp pictures, go out and find yourself an HDTV or Plasma HDTV. It’s such a superb choice in technology that disappointments are next to nil. Hop on the bandwagon, and come join the fun in the Plasma HDTV. It’s such a superb choice in technology that disappointments are next to nil. Hop on the bandwagon, and come join the fun in the century of digital technology!