Flat Panel Televisions

• Plasma Tv's
• LCD Tv's
• Projection Tv's

• High Definition Upgradeable or HDTV-Ready

High Definition Upgradeable or HDTV-Ready simply means that the TV is capable of producing the highest resolutions possible for modern digital television. “Upgradeable” means that you’ll need to first add a separate HDTV receiver before you are able to view the pictures in high definition(1080i or 720p). However, regardless of whether the TV is “upgraded” or not, the picture is still fantastic. When watching DVD's or TV broadcasts, the picture quality will be close HDTV quality because most flat panel sets are equipped with line-doublers to improve the picture.


• 16:9 Aspect Ratio

Unlike conventional televisions sets, most flat panel (plasma, LCD and rear-projection televisions) Tv’s have a wide, rectangular screen that is similar in shape to a movie screen. This is called the 16:9 aspect ratio—for every 16 inches in width, the screen is 9 inches in height. Compared to conventional TVs, which are 4:3 in aspect ratio, the field of vision is much wider for flat panel TVs. The purpose of the 16:9 wide-screen television, is to be able to view the movie in its proper format, which greatly enhances the picture quality. This also eliminates the horizontal black bars on either side of the picture in DVD's that are widescreen formatted. Many events are shot in HDTV format (example: Pay-Per-View sporting events and movies, the Olympics, etc.) and with the escalating purchase of high definition television, 16:9 widescreen format very well may be the way we watch TV in the future.


• Reverse 3:2 Pulldown

Most television shows are shot on film at 24 frames per second. When the 24 frame per second film is transferred to video ,which runs at 30 frames per second, the picture quality becomes slightly distorted in the translation. Flat panel televisions are able to correct these distortions through a series of what are called  “reconversion techniques”, which reverse the distortions. This results in a smoother, cleaner picture. If you want a flat panel Tv that delivers optimum picture quality for Television Shows, it is recommended to look for this feature.


• 3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter

The 3D Y/C digital comb filter’s job is to take the incoming information from the cable signal and separate it into usable information. Most flat panel televisions have digital 3D Y/C comb filters that do good job at which virtually eliminating what is know as “dot crawl”, wherein the edges of objects on the screen appear rough and somewhat distorted. In addition, a good digital comb filter will counter the effects of something called “moiré“, where still objects appear to move and ripple. Most high end flat panel TV’s have component inputs from video sources (such as a DVD player) that separate the signal before reaching the TV and bypass the digital comb filter. This results in an even clearer, brighter picture.


• Picture-in-Picture

Picture-in-Picture (or PIP) allows you to watch two shows at once, with the second show in a box in a part of the screen. Though PIP is not exclusive to flat panel televisions, only flat panel TV’s  allow you to watch the second channel without needing an external tuner (for example, from a VCR).


• Inputs

“Inputs” refer to how a given audio or visual component connects to the flat panel TV. The input format that offers the highest video quality is known as “component video”. Component video inputs separate the information(such as brightness, color, etc) into usable data before entering the television, which produces optimum sound and video quality . A close second to “Component Video” input is the S-video input. Whereas “component video” separates brightness( blue signal and red signal) , S-video just separates brightness only from red signals. All flat panel televisions will also have inputs for various multimedia devices such as DVD players. Some even allow you to connect a computer.