Choosing A Big Screen HDTV

So it's time for you to choose a new television.

Likely things have changed since you last looked at televisions. The big choice now is between LCD and plasma high definition televisions.

So what's the difference and which type of display should you choose?

When large flat screen televisions first came in, almost all the available screens were plasma. Now you have the option of LCD as well, except at the really giant screen sizes where LCD technology isn't a viable option.

LCD television screens are made up of hundreds and hundreds of small dots or pixels. These are turned on and off as needed but if a pixel fails, it will show up as a black dot. This is most noticeable on a computer screen but it also happens on televisions. the difference is that you're less likely to notice it on a television screen unless a cluster of nearby pixels fails, which will then start to bug you as you watch. You can insure against this to some extent by making sure that your manufacturer's warranty covers the failure of pixels but some guarantees put a minimum number of failed pixels before the warranty applies.

Plasma screens create their colors by sending an electrical charge which is then passed through a pixel grid a bit like the old fashioned television screens.

It is generally thought that plasma screens produce blacker blacks than LCD screens, which tend to display black as a dark charcoal gray.

At the very largest screen sizes then plasma is probably your only choice because of the technicalities of producing flawless LCD screens.

One of the current best 50 inch HDTV screens is the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U. It has a high contrast which makes for stunning television viewing and game play and it's very affordable. You can find out more about the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U here.