If you want a new TV then there is some new technology on the market you really need to consider. Sizes are increasing too, and both those things can make it really hard to choose your next model. Thankfully the fight between LCD and plasma is pretty much over, the plasma TV is a dying breed now, so that makes your decision a bit easier. You will still find some plasma TVs for sale, and they have come on a long way in recent years, but the problems with screen burn never really went away so LCD TVs now firmly control the market.
Below you will find two TV technologies you need to think about when you go shopping again:
3D TV is Coming Out
That’s right, 3D TVs have started to crawl out of the lab and make it onto the store shelves, and I am sure the floodgates will now open for more, but are they worth looking at? The big problem with anything 3D at the moment is the glasses that you have to wear if you want to experience it. The current ones use ‘active shutter’ technology which means each lens has a shutter on it that opens and closes faster than you can notice, so each eye receives a slightly different image. I think they are cumbersome, and wearing glasses ruins the experience, I wouldn’t mind wearing them to watch the odd 3D film, but watching normal TV in them? No thanks.
So I think it would be wise to wait a few years before you get your first 3D capable telly, hopefully by then the technology will have advanced and we can see if they have done away with the glasses or not. Also by then the price will have come way down, the bugs have been ironed out, and a clear market leader will have emerged.
LED Back-Lighting is Available
These TVs are often incorrectly referred to as LED TVs, when actually they are just a normal LCD TV with LED back-lighting. The hype surrounding them stems from the fact they have ripped out the rather bulky CCFLs that are in the back of every other LCD TV to provide light, and they have put in LEDs instead which are much smaller. This means the TVs are ultra slim at the sides, and are just 2 inches at their thickest point, but is that really worth more money when current TVs are pretty slim anyway?
I think it is a good step forward, it makes them lighter and thinner, but I wouldn’t pay a massive premium for it like they are charging at the moment while the technology is still new and sparkly. Have a look in a year or so when the hype has died down, and if they are just 10% more than the non-LED range then they are probably worth getting, otherwise I would stick with a normal one.
Another thing you need to think about is the size, for me then a 42 inch TV is more than big enough for the main TV of the house, but if you want to show off then a 55 inch model definitely makes a statement.
