Posts Tagged ‘Traditional LCD’
The Best Home Theater
The Best Home Theater Specs Not Worth Paying For
It never fails year after year The Best Home Theater Manufactures start hyping some new technology as a reason for you to replace your old system. With so many flat screens in HDTV comes in LCD, Plasmas and even the flashy new 3D. We have heard the advertising tricks so often that the only gimmick retailers have left to use is price. But that is what makes this year the best year to find some really great deals on The Best Home Theater if you know what to look for.
What To Look For In The Best Home Theater
Please remember not all HDTVs are created equal at all. If this is your year to get the new home theater you must determine which one will suit your home and budget. The choices are endless so do your homework first if you want to save some money. Getting the most bangs for the buck is the name of the game.
Plasma Home Theater
You might think that plasma is the older technology and it is but you may not want to take it off your list just yet. Being the older technology the prices have come way down. The design has the old bugs worked out and that means fewer problems to the consumer. Plasma is best for fast motion like sports with rich contrast, and deep blacks. On the negative side of the coin they do eat the energy in the neighborhood of 3 to 4 times as much as some of the newer energy saving models.
The LCD Home Theater
Traditional LCD you will find very bright and costs in the mid-range. There are a lot of discount LCD home theater systems that have blacks that seem to be more grey than black. The motion does not keep up with the fast action sports as well as a cheap plasma screen.
The slightly newer LED-backlit LCD home theaters have a thinner foot-print than the plasma and the blacks are much better. You will find them very energy conscious as compared to the plasma models.
Best Home Theater Specs To Not Pay For
Here is one of the specs they get you with time and time again (Resolution) it is what they use to describe the number of pixels used to make the picture on the screen. And of course more is better but you must take into consideration what the eye can tell a difference between. Most all HDTV home theaters are sold in 720p or 1080p which means they have either 720 rows of pixels or 1080 rows of pixels. So if you have chosen a small screen and paid more for 1080p the likely hood you could even tell the difference is very slim. Resolution becomes more important when you opt for the larger screen.
Home Theater With Internet Connectivity
The dealers like to call these smart home theaters because you can stream TV and movies right from the Web. Sure it is nice to have a feature like this built into your home theater but more often than not it is just extra wasted money spent. Many of the gaming consoles have the feature already built- in that you already own. It could be that the DVD player you already own has the feature built-in. But should you need the internet streaming capability add on devices very in price from $50 to $100 and can be found everywhere.
(Order Today!) The Best Home Theater
Home Theater Refresh Rate (Gotcha)
This means the speed that the HDTV paints the picture on the screen. The measurement is in Hz so a 60Hz refresh rate would refresh the screen at 60 times a second. The more expensive model at 120Hz refreshes 120 time a second. Now for the sports buff into the fast action will not be happy with the 60Hz because the fast action will seem to blur at times.
Refresh rates determine how fast the TV repaints the image on the screen. 60Hz models refresh the screen 60 times per second; 120Hz models refresh the screen 120 times per second. It's true that buying a TV with 120Hz refresh rate instead of 60Hz makes a noticeable difference when watching fast-moving programs like sports, where motion blur can become an issue at 60Hz. The sports buffs get hooked by the fast talking salesmen that tells him he needs the 240Hz refresh rate model ends up spending money he does not need to. The professionals agree that the eye can just barely tell the difference between 120Hz and 240Hz which means that it is an unneeded expense.
What Home Theater Specs Do Matter?
Home Theater Size Does Matter
You must buy what fits the budget but buy as big as you can if you have the room for it. Here is a very useful guide to use to make sure you do not over buy or under buy. There are some good guild lines to follow based on how far you will sit from the screen:
- 3 to 5 feet away needs a screen at least 32”
- 4 to 6 feet away needs a screen at least 42”
- 5 to 7 feet away needs a screen at least 50”
- 6 to 9 feet away needs a screen at least 60”
HDTV Screen Thickness
This comes into play when hanging on the wall and special cases. The LED HDTVs on the market today win the prize for being the thinner than plasma and LCD screens.
LED home theater is one of the newer technologies with lower energy consumption and the thinnest screens. Your first thought is this is the Best Home Theater to buy. But on the negative side the LED is also the most expensive home theater to buy as compared to plasma.
Home Theater 3D TV?
You are sure to find some price breaks on the 3D home theater system but you will pay more than the standard HDTV. 3D still requires you to wear glasses plus they cost extra in addition to the HDTV. There are two types of glasses, active or passive. The say active shutter glasses are better but they need recharging. There are lower end glasses that start at about $20 and I suspect that the higher end glasses are much better. The high end glasses run into 3 figures. Passive glasses have lower quality images but they are lighter and lower cost.
It may be a better recommendation to wait for the 3D that requires no glasses. You can find them coming out in Europe and Japan but they are not quite ready for prime-time yet. They are still very expensive with a 55” starting at $10,000. They still have viewing angle problems so it may be a while before we see 3D home theater systems in America that do not require glasses. They want you to buy into 3D and pay the premium but 3D content is still not a high priority with TV executives.
The Best Home Theater Bottom Line
Always buy to one you like best not the one the salesman says is better. LED home theater is somewhat more costly but have the best and newest feature packages that money can buy. The best prices will be found on the older LCD and plasma HDTVs because they fall behind in modern features. Remember The Best Home Theater is the one you like the best always so check them out before you buy.