February 19, 2004High Definition TVs Under $1500: Quick LookI spent a couple hours last evening in the local Best Buy trying to get my head around the dizzying selection of High Definition TV sets they had on display. There were four different screen technologies on display. LCD, Plasma, Rear Projection, and CRT. Here's my subjective assessment of the types after wandering among them for awhile. Plasma and LCD has the sharpest, brighest picture quality. I thought Plasma was sharper, but one of the sales guys I spoke to thought LCD. Both Plasma and LCD are by far the most pricey of all the types. And by extension, they offer the smallest screens for a comparable price. Good old fashioned CRT, in a widescreen HDTV format, was very bright and had the widest good viewing angle. But the CRT sharpness was not much better than a really good pic from an "old-fashioned" signal. Rear Projection, by far, the offers the best screen real-estate for your dollar. But the brighness is the lowest of the lot, and is viewable from the narrowest angles. Image sharpness was comparable to the CRT, but only when you're well centered in front of the screen. My evalution of these sets will be an ongoing process, but here's a quick first look at the ones that were: widescreen, HDTV, and that had a base price of under $1,500. (Keep in mind that all of these sets had manufacturer's rebates of $100 or more, that will reduce the price.)
|
|