LCD TV Buying Guide

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is fast becoming an everyday term in our homes. It has become a popular choice when it comes to buying and watching television. Choosing the right LCD Television can be quite challenging, as they vary greatly in features and price. Pricecheck brings you a buying guide that clarifies the most important differences, and provides you with the information you need for finding an LCD TV that will best suit your needs.

Screen Size
Picture Quality
HDTV
Interlaced (i) or Progressive (P) Scan
Sound
Energy
Connections
Warranties
Advantages and Disadvantages
Make your choice

Screen Size
LCD TVs come in a large variety of sizes. LCD and Plasma TV dimensions are related using inches. One inch is equal to about 2.5cm. It is important to buy the right size LCD TV, but giving advice on screen size is difficult as the experience of watching TV is unique to each individual. Nevertheless we have tried to try and make your decision easier by providing you with the table below to determine the best screen size for you.

Picture Quality
LCD TVs always have an entirely flat screen. The advantage of this is that the reflection is less visible. The picture quality, however, can still strongly differ from one LCD TV to another. This is because LCDs are strongly dependant on a number of factors. Included in these factors are:

Contrast Ratio
Contrast Ratio is the measurement of the difference between the brightest and darkest colours on your screen, or the difference between whites and blacks displayed on a TV. The higher the contrast ratio, the better the TV is considered to be. The contrast ratio could be described as, for example,1000:1. This means that the number of steps taken to get from white to black is 1000.

Brightness
The brightness of a screen is measured in Candela or “cd”. This is a value for light intensity and is generally expressed as cd /m2. The higher the brightness the more natural the picture looks. 300cd is considered relatively low, while 600 is a high value.

Response Time
An LCD TV works using liquid crystals with a large backlight shining behind it. This causes the LCD to have a certain delay. When a fast moving object moves across an LCD screen the delay causes trails of blocks of the image as the screen cannot keep up. This is referred to as “artifacting” - the higher the response time, the more “artifacting”. Some older models have a reponse time of ten milliseconds, or even higher. If your budget allows it, your best choice would be an LCD TV with a response time of around five milliseconds (5ms). Artifacting is minimal with a good name brand LCD TV, and really won’t be noticeable until you get a screen over 30 or 35 inches.

Resolution
Resolution refers to the number of pixels (coloured dots) in an image. A pixel (picture element) is the smallest image on a screen, one image point. The resolution of an LCD TV is determined by the number of pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. The higher the resolution, the higher the detail the picture holds.
The resolution of LCD TVs is increasing. 1366x768 is the most common resolution. A resolution of 1920x1080 is also know as full HD. At this resolution the image density is so high that the picture quality is very sharp, almost like a photograph. Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are ready to run at a resolution of 1920x1080. The newest generation game consoles such as Xbox360 and the Playstation 3 also support this standard.

HDTV
Since its first appearance, high definition television (HDTV) has become an important issue for every TV buyer. In South Africa, SABC and MultiChoice have tested HDTV broadcasting locally, but both have cautioned local consumers not to expect the commercial availability of HDTV before 2009.

The current television signals exist of 576 TV lines. A signal can be called High Definition (HD) Television (TV) when the signal has at least 720 lines. A LCD or plasma TV can only carry the HD ready logo when the screen can distribute this resolution of 720 lines completely and is equipped with one of the following connections.

DVI connection HDMI connection

Interlaced (i) or Progressive (P) scan
The signal consists of a number of horizontal and a number of vertical TV lines. There are two different ways to refresh these lines. All lines are numbered from 1 to, for example, 1080 (1920x1080). When a screen refreshes this signal using interlaced (i) scan, the LCD TV first refreshes all even lines(2-4-6...) and then all odd lines (1-3-5...).When the signal is refreshed using Progressive Scan (P), the horizontal and vertical lines are replaced simultaneously. The picture quality at a resolution of 1920x1080P is therefore better than the picture quality of 1920x1080i. Many manufacturers supply a 1920x1080P screen. The chip which supplies the signal can sometimes only deliver up to 1080i (interlaced). Because of this it is often unclear whether a screen really has 1080p.

Sound
Sound quality is another important aspect of the LCD TV. Currently most of the LCD’s with a screen size above 26 inches have stereo sound. The speakers are usually integrated in the screen, but there are also LCD TVS with detachable speakers. The sound quality of LCD TVS often leaves a lot to be desired. If you value good sound quality, then it is recommended that you connect your LCD TV with a home cinema or audio system. Most LCD TVs have the necessary connections for this.

Energy
The energy usage of an LCD is about twenty percent higher that of the “old fashioned” cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs. LCD TV energy consumption depends largely on its screen size, contrast ratio and brightness of the screen.

Connections
If you intend to connect your TV to a DVD player, DSTV decoder or any other apparatus, first check the number and type of connections it has. Most LCD TVs have SCART (Syndicat Français des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radio et Télévision ) connections as well as an s-video connection. A component connection has also become quite common. Keep in mind however, that these are all analogue connection methods, and you may experience some loss of quality when using it. This is because the digital signal of, for example, a DVD, has to be converted into an analogue signal.
These days more and more products have digital connections such as DVI (Digital Video Interface), or HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). These connections will give you a better signal as there is no conversion necessary. Most of the recent LCD TVs have these connections. Quite a few LCD TVs also come equipped with a PC connection to easily connect your laptop and desktop computers.

Component connection

S-Video connection

Scart connection

RGB connection
Accessories

Warranties
If you are investing a big chunk of your hard earned cash in an LCD TV, then it would be a good idea to look at the warranty. Most manufacturers will offer you a one year warranty on their products. LCD TVs are sensitive electronic equipment so it may be worth your while to look into buying an extended warranty. Extended warranties are essentially service contracts which protect you against exorbitant after-warranty labour and repair costs. Without the extended warranty, repairs, like replacing a defective backlight, can prove to be very costly.
Before you get an extended warranty, make sure the warranty comes from a reputable company that has demonstrated some staying power. An extended warranty will not cover your LCD TV if the manufacturer warranty does not apply (because you didn’t buy it from an Authorised Dealer) or if the original warranty becomes voided (because of misuse or outright abuse).

Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages: Flat panel (LCD and plasma) compared to traditional CRT televisions

• It’s easier to watch: Flat panel TV displays like LCDs and Plasmas are significantly brighter and feature higher contrasts than traditional CRT sets. This means that an LCD TV will perform exceedingly well under most ambient light conditions.
• The display is multi-functional: an LCD is a television monitor (the newer sets are capable of displaying HDTV), regular TV and a home video.
• Long lifespan: The average lifespan of one of these displays is 60,000 hours. This means that if you watched television for eight hours a day, everyday, you could still expect to use the TV for about twenty years.

Disadvantages: Flat panel (LCD and plasma) compared to traditional CRT televisions

• Flat panels are considerably more expensive

Advantages: LCD compared to plasma

• Sharper image, good for still images such as computer displays
• Available in smaller sizes
• Lower pricing, especially those below 30 inches
• No image retention (burn in). Plasma screens suffer image retention if a still image is left on the display for an extended period of time.

Disadvantages: LCD compared to plasma

• Artifacting (image delay problem)
• More expensive over 35 inches
• Digital looking picture, colours look less natural

Make your choice
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