Different Types of HDTV Technologies
Buying a high-definition TV can be confusing. How do you decide which model is the right one for you and your family? There are a seemingly endless array of options, features and specifications to choose from. Here is some information to help you decide.
LED Versus Plasma Monitors
HDTV monitors come in two basic flavors: LED screens and plasma screens. What is the difference?
LED monitors are liquid crystal display (LCD) screens that use light-emitting diodes, more popularly known as LEDs, to backlight the screen. Traditional television sets depended upon fluorescent tubes for backlighting.
Plasma sets, on the other hand, use a completely different technology, essentially the same technology used by fluorescent lamps. Plasma sets rely upon an electrical charge that makes gases emit ultraviolet light, which then triggers phosphors in the set to glow.
While both technologies produce a high resolution and high quality picture, there are some key differences between them that may affect your purchase decision.
Plasma monitors are slightly better at depicting moving images, and generally have more finely tuned static contrast ratios, producing blacker blacks and whiter whites. Plasma displays are also significantly less expensive than LCD sets. A Plasma set from a major manufacturer can cost considerably less than a comparably sized LCD set.
Plasma monitors, on the other hand, use considerably more electricity than LCD screens, with some models using as much as three times as much as a comparably sized LCD screen. What you save initially on purchase price, you may spend in utility bills over the course of your first year of ownership. LCD screens are also non-reflective, which makes them a much better choice for viewing areas with multiple exterior light sources.
Other HDTV Technologies
The 4K Ultra High Definition Television, or UHDTV, has a resolution of 3840 × 2160 at 8.3 megapixels and is one of the two resolutions of ultra high definition television, the other being 8K UHD which has a resolution of 7680 × 4320 at 33.2 megapixels, a whole 16 times the pixels of current 1080p HDTV. 4K UHD has twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the 1080p HDTV format, with four times as many pixels overall.
Rear-projection digital light processing (DLP) TVs map digital connections between your video source and your monitor to produce a picture with a very high level of quality. They are, however, considerably bulkier than flat screen TVs. Currently, Samsung is the only major manufacturer producing DLP TVs.
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) sets, on the other hand, are incredibly thin, but they are also extremely expensive. Their high purchase price may be offset somewhat by the fact that they consume very little power. Each pixel in an OLED set is its own light source, which creates images with incredibly realistic contrasts. An OLED HDTV may be the way to go five years from now.
Now that you have a better understanding of the HDTV technologies, check out our selection of deals and coupon codes from your favorite retailers below.
Samsung HDTV Deals
Sony TV Coupon Codes and Deals
