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The Best TVs
The best TVs currently made are plasma. Having said that you can go to your
local retailer and find plasmas of an older generation that aren’t as good
as some LCD TVs. It is important
to know what you are buying, or to have someone who knows guide you. There
is a big difference in the quality of flat screens out there and the addage,
"you get what you pay for" applies.
A good TV will have an outstanding black level, which means the blacks are
really black and not black with fuzzy stuff. This is an indication of good
contrast and color balance. Although there is technically a standard, many
brands tweak the color of their picture to make them stand out. Unfortunately
an overly exaggerated color temperature ruins color fidelity.
Another indicator of a better TV is the lack of ghosting. Ghosting is when
the previous image displayed on the screen can still be seen for moments
after the image has changed. This often happens in action shots or sporting
events. The technical term is Response Time: The response time pertains to
the time it takes for an LCD to make a pixel go from active (black) to inactive
(white) and back to active (black) again. It is measured in milliseconds
(ms). The faster the response time, the better. Failure to do this efficiently
can cause smearing or ghosting where the image of a previously displayed
screen is still on the screen after a new image is displayed.
Be aware that some LCD manufacturers do not provide correct response time
ratings; instead they provide only gray-white-gray times, or the fastest
possible time, not the average time taken for the panel to go black-white-black.
The Refresh Rate is the number of times a display's image is repainted or
refreshed per second. The refresh rate is expressed in Hertz (Hz). A refresh
rate of 75 means the image is refreshed or "redrawn" 75 times per second.
An acceptable refresh rate for the human eye is anything over 70Hz. Low refresh
rates result in on-screen flicker that can tire the eye.
Plasmas at High Altitudes
Some plasmas do not work well at high altitudes. They tend to buzz rather
loudly. There are retailers in Santa Fe that sell plasmas that are not rated
to 5000 feet. But because they are chain stores they do not have a lot of
discretion about what they sell.
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