There are various types of ways to display an image on a television. I’ll save scientific descriptions and explanations and for another time and place and focus here on the types of TV displays you’re likely to see when out shopping or browsing for a new TV. I’ll first describe each display type, hopefully providing you with the basic knowledge you’ll need to choose a TV that best fits your needs. Then, check out the links at the bottom of the page as they have comparison charts and descriptions of the technology types I discuss here. Also, be sure to check out the next blog covering the different types of digital televisions.
Display types
Click on the title of each type for a link to more technical descriptions of each respective technology.
● CRT (cathode ray tube) – CRTs usually have the best picture quality right out of the box compared to other digital displays. With high definition (HD) content, however, other digital displays may be able to produce a brighter, clearer picture than CRTs. CRT TVs can easily be seen from all viewing angles, meaning you can sit pretty much anywhere in the room and clearly see the screen. Currently, CRTs are among the least expensive TVs you can buy (depending on screen size).
● Plasma – Plasma sounds cool to say and it’s a pretty cool technology. I won’t bore you here with the mechanics of plasma displays (see the Plasma link for that). Besides CRTs, plasma displays give the best side to side viewing angle. So you don’t have sit right in front of the TV to see the picture. Early plasma TVs had trouble with screen burn-in where a shadow of an image remained on the screen even after changing channels or even turning off the TV. You may have seen screen burn-in on a cash register monitor at your local supermarket or department store. Today, however, screen burn in isn’t much of a problem for plasma displays. Plasma displays can display vivid, colorful images and can be wall mounted to save space in your house (see picture below).
● LCD (liquid crystal display) – LCD displays have been around for along time, but have now transitioned into the television market. LCDs can either be in a flat panel display or a digital big screen display.
Like plasma displays, flat panel LCDs can be wall-mounted and are much lighter than other digital displays. LCDs have pretty good side to side viewing angles, but you’ll want to test it out at the store before bringing it home. If you have a large room and will have viewers sitting off at a sharp angle, there may be slight difficulty seeing the screen. Also, LCDs are not as bright as other digital TV displays, so you may have to dim the lights or close the blinds while watching TV. Flat panel LCDs are commonly used as computer monitors (you may be using one right now) because they can be made relatively small (as small as 13 inches) and don’t take up very much table space.
Big screen LCDs cannot be mounted on the wall, but are much smaller that traditional big screen TVs. The side to side viewing angle is better than traditional big screen TVs, but not as good as flat panel LCDs. So you’ll probably want to directly view a big screen LCD display and not sit off at an angle. Also, big screen LCDs are the cheapest of the big screen displays, but sometimes have trouble displaying shows with a lot of dark scenes (e.g., Batman movies).
● DLP (digital light processing) – DLPs are a newer type of large screen television. They can have the largest screen size of all the current digital technologies (up to 72 inches across). DLP big screens cannot be wall mounted and will need a pretty large table top or entertainment center to sit on (depending on the screen size). As with LCD big screens, side to side viewing angles are limited, restricting you to view the screen directly. DLP big screens have a reputation for doing the best at displaying dark scenes in shows or movies. You won’t have to worry that you’re missing a scene because the colors are too dark. Once criticism of DLP big screens is what is called the “rainbow effect.” The rainbow effect is a term used to describe brief flashes of color that sometimes happen when very bright or very dark backgrounds are displayed. Not everyone can see the rainbow effect, so you’ll probably want to head out to your local electronics store, if possible, and try watching a DLP big screen for five minutes or so to see if the rainbow effect bothers you. DLP big screens can be fairly expensive, but prices are expected to continue falling throughout 2006.
● LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) – A relatively new technology that is offered in big screen TVs, sometimes referred to as SXRD. LCoS is a type of combination between DLP and LCD big screen technology. As such, LCoS displays don’t produce any rainbow effect and are as good as DLP big screens at displaying images in dark scenes. This type of display cannot be wall mounted and are on the same level as other digital big screen displays with side to side viewing angles (not the best). LCoS displays are actually cheaper to make than plasma or LCD displays, but the current market prices may not relflect such. Expect prices of LCoS displays to fall as more and more TV manufacturers offer the technology.
Compare types of display
Here are a few other resources for you to use when comparing different types of TVs on the market. Each one offers a slightly different spin on comparing TV display types.
Wikipedia TV comparison chart – pretty detailed with links to each of the display types
Crutchfield TV comparison chart – easy to understand and descriptions along same lines as I have done above
CNET TV type review – Paragraph by paragraph listing of TV display types.
PCWorld Magazine’s brief guide to big screen TVs