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We’re still toying or rather I am with the idea of buying a flat panel lcd tv. SO Ive been doing some reading and researching to try and decide which is better LCD or Plasma. I wrote an hdtv buying tips post a while back you might want to check out

So for all you guys and gals out there trying to figure out which way to go, I’ll share with you what my ideas on flat panel Lcd tv’s are

Ok maybe a Samsung 1 cm thick flat panel is a little nuts. Its actually freaking crazy, Man I would love something like that, anyone out there wanna send me one 

3 reasons why Why I think flat panel LCD tvs are great 

In my mind a flat panel lcd tv is a great purchase because:

1. of the low profile and spacial efficiency, but not that alone.
2. A flat lcd tv is also great because it offers the highest resolution of any tvs, and also because it has low glare, Though a friend of mine has a plasma and when I asked him about the glare he sort of scoffed at that and said it was all sales hype. Which made no sense because plasma’s are more expensive, he’s a HABs fan so what does he know anyways.
3. Because the flat profile of a  flat lcd tv means that, unlike a normal curved tv screen, which catches light from any direction and sends it to you in the form of glare, a  flat lcd tv is only vulnerable to light disturbances from a particular direction, kind of like a mirror, and unless there is a powerful light source there right in that specific spot, the  flat lcd tv will not reflect it back at you. As far as I understand it plasmas have a coating or something or other over the screen area? Which produce the glare. I’d have to double check that but thats what I have heard. I’ll check and get back to you on that.
4. Ok so I’m over delivering here. I almost forgot about the reliablity of flat panel lcd and plasma tv’s.

From engadget.com: LCD and plasma TVs are far more reliable than older rear-projection
types, according to a report by Consumer Reports. On average, only 3
percent of flat panel TVs need repairs, with the majority of those
repairs being free thanks to warranties. Rear projection TVs had a far
higher repair rate of 18 percent, probably due to the limited life of
the bulbs contained in these TVs. When flat panels TVs did need an out
of warranty repair, they cost around $260 for LCDs, and nearly $400 for
plasmas, with rear projection TV repairs costing around $300. The
report also called out expensive extended warranties, saying that
they’re only worth it if you’re particularly paranoid and they’re
cheaper than any possible repairs.

How can flat panels be flat anyways, ever wonder about that?

The reason it can have a flat screen is because a flat lcd tv does not have a cathode ray tube like a normal tv. A cathode ray tube, or crt, is basically a gun that shoots out electrons at high speed at the surface of a normal tv. These electrons strike a surface that flouresces, or glows, giving you a pixel on the screen. This means that a crt tv has to have a curved screen and enough depth to position an electron gun behind it to shoot the image out of the tv. A flat lcd tv, however, because it doesn’t have a crt tube, but instead a light source with polarizing filters and a thin layer of liquid crystals between, it can be very thin and efficient.

It also uses up less power by far than a normal tv so, although initially, a flat lcd tv will cost more than a normal tv, eventually, that  flat lcd tv will actually save you money by cutting down on your electricity bill. But the best thing about a  flat lcd tv is the clarity of the image. Because there is no distortion from the curved screen that normal tvs have, you will simply never see a clearer image than on a flat lcd tv. Additionally, flat lcd tvs have better resolution than most normal tvs and clearer defined boundaries. This will make some difference in watching normal tv programs, but is most noticeable when you look at dvd movies, which are at a higher resolution than normal tv programs. If you are a movie fan like I am,  flat lcd televison is the way to go without a doubt!

Which will at some point bring me to my next topic Whats the deal with HDTV and what if you don’t have an HD dvd player, more to find out I guess huh!!