LCD, Plasma and LED screens – what’s the difference

Just a few years ago, owning a flat screen TV was a point of differentiation for the most up to date households. “Look how thin it is,” elicited ooh-ahhs of admiration from neighbours and friends. Today, flat screens seem to be as commonplace as toasters and microwaves. And with the digital TV switchover scheduled to be complete by 2012, more and more households are looking to upgrade their old cathode-ray blocks to newer sleeker models.

If you’re looking to take the plunge by upgrading to the latest flat screen TV, here are some of the major differences between the most popular makes and models available on the market:

LCD – liquid crystal display technology produces an image by filtering white light. Millions of LCD shutters and coloured filters, known as sub-pixels, come together to form a single spot of colour or a visual pixel. These pixels come together to form full images and seamlessly detailed displays. Recent developments in this technology have drastically reduced the costs associated with LCD screen production, making these some of the most popular and affordable televisions on the market. However, critics remark that LCD displays are of a comparatively lower standard than other technologies and are much more power hungry.

Plasma – the individual pixel displays of a plasma screen rely on individual plasma cells, which are essentially fluorescent lamps emitting a colour display. Unlike LCDs, plasma pixels are true representations of the display colour rather than a number of sub-pixel colours that are combined and blended to give the desired display. Hence, plasma displays are often lauded as being of superior quality to their LCD counterparts.

LED – based on the technology of light emitting diodes (commonly used as an energy efficient alternative for light bulbs), LED screens were first demonstrated in the late 1970s. Due to comparative efficiency when it comes to power consumption, LED screens today are most commonly used for large oversize billboard displays and have more recently entered the home entertainment market as an LED backlit LCD system where LEDs are used instead of the fluorescent lighting of traditional LCD screens. This offers greater efficiency and thinner screens.

These exciting new developments will transform your television viewing experience. If you are yet to join the flat screen revolution, you can choose to rent appliances like a flat screen TV for your home. Rental finance from websites like www.flexirent.com.au makes it easier to upgrade to new technology as it comes out. It very well may be that the advanced 3D TVs of on today’s market will become as commonplace as flat screen televisions are today.

Are your appliances out of date? A good start is to rent appliances, Please find out more and visit www.flexirent.com.au

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