Plasma & LCD TVs

Display Type: The type of display technology the television uses to display images. LCD technology uses liquid crystals excited by electrons to produce an image. In contrast, Plasma technology uses phosphor gasses excited by electrons. LCDs consume less power then Plasmas, have a longer lifespan, and don't suffer from the same burn in problems. Plasmas have better contrast ratios, viewing angles then LCDs, and are generally better with fast moving images.

Aspect Ratio: The ratio between the width and height of the display screen. The typical standard ratio is 4:3 while widescreen is 16:9, 15:9, or 16:10.

Display Format: Analog TV signals in the US are formatted in 480i (SDTV) resolution. Each picture has 480 horizontal lines, and each frame of video is displayed in two separate halves (this is called an interlaced picture, abbreviated 'i'). SDTV sets display all signals at 480i, and generally do not receive digital TV signals. Progressive Scan DVD Players and most over-the-air digital television signals are 480p, the same resolution as standard television, but display each frame at once (called progressive picture abbreviated 'p'). EDTV sets are 480p. The best are HDTV signals, which are 1080p, 1080i or 720p resolution, the higher the resolution number, the more detailed the picture. 1080i is capable of rendering more picture detail than 720p but the 720p is clearer for rapid motion, such as football games. A true HDTV set would display at least one of the 720 or 1080 resolutions.

Resolution: The native pixel resolution of a television (Horizontal x Vertical Pixels). The higher the native resolution of a television, the higher the image quality becomes.