When selecting components for your home theater, you will come to a point when you must decide on which type and size of television you will need for the best possible viewing experience. With the dizzying array of TV's on the market today selecting the right set can be confusing and frustrating. This guide will attempt to remove the confusion so you can make the right decision on your new TV.

Unless you have lots of money to spend, what you do not want to do is buy the latest technology. The great thing about the constant introduction of new technology is that the older generation of TV sets are heavily discounted to make room for the new sets. This has been going on for several years and, with a little study and shopping, you can find a fantastic TV for about half of the price it was selling for just one year ago!

There are basically three types of television sets that you should consider for your home theater. The three types of televisions are plasma, LCD and LED. There are also rear projection sets available, but these are thicker and bulkier than the other three types. With the recent drastic price reductions on the thinner sets, it no longer makes sense to get a rear projection TV when you are just saving a few dollars.

Plasma televisions often provide the best quality when it comes to picture. Their designs make them ideal for watching movies formatted for wide screen viewing, and they have a much larger viewing area than traditional televisions. They also come in a wide variety of sizes in order to adapt to many types of home theater needs. With Plasmas TV's you need to make sure, if you pause playback, that you do not leave the image on the screen for a long time, as you can burn in an image on a plasma screen. While these screens used to be prohibitively expensive, the prices have fallen dramatically in the past year to the point they are not much more than LCD televisions of the same size.

LCD televisions are the most common and the current sets have made great strides in overcoming some of the drawbacks of the LCD technology. Early sets did not have sufficient contrast and image remnants could be seen in dark portions of the screen. Also fast motion was not smooth since the screen was not refreshed fast enough. The newest sets have excellent contrast ratios (although still not nearly as good as plasma) and 120 Hz refresh rates that provide much smoother fast motion playback. These TVs are also available in much larger sizes than before, so plasma is not your only choice for very large screens.

LED televisions are really LCD televisions with LED backlights. This noticeably increases the brightness of the screen and also allows the screen to be much thinner. Many of the newer LED screens are only 1.5 inches thick! Since this is a very recent technology the prices are highest on this type of television, but the prices have been falling rapidly and you may find a great deal on one of these sets if you spend some time shopping.

Whatever you end up selecting, make sure it is capable of 1080p HD resolution and can connect with components using the latest type of cable, which is called HDMI. If you go for an LCD or Plasma set, you will be able to save a lot over the cost of an LED. If you are looking for a very large set, above 50 inches, you can find plasma sets on sale for less than half the cost of the same size LED set.

Alan Gardner has been writing articles on many diverse subjects for over a year now. Although he specializes in diet, fitness and weight loss, you can also check out his latest website at Philadelphia Plastic Surgery which includes an overview of Philadelphia Facelift options.

Now-a-days, Liquid Crystal Display LCD) televisions have specifications that manufacturers use to rate their technology and quality. This is called as response rate. It is designed to tell you how fast your television screen will display moving images.

The LCD technology in these televisions is very complex, but the core principle is that it uses crystals to pass or block light to create images. An image is combination of pixels. The response rate also guides you how swiftly a pixel can change colors.

One major point of debate of the LCD television system is that it has difficulty tracking motion and fast-moving objects. This in turn creates blur or lag on the screen. Problems are most common when we watch sport events or action movies, and play video games.

Meaning of Unit Measurements

The measure for LCD response rates is milliseconds. More importantly, you want an LCD TV that is rated with the least amount of milliseconds, because that means it has a faster response rate. An LCD television with a response rate of two milliseconds will be better than one with a 12-millisecond response rate. Lower the better.

Hertz is another unit used to measure response rate. Hertz refers to the number of times the image is updated per second. Most recently, manufacturers have increased response times to 120Hz and 240Hz. At 120Hz, an image on a television screen is refreshed 120 times per second. This technology has improved greatly in the last decade, making any blurriness on the screen barely visible.

LCD Television-Is it suitable for you

Most of these technical ratings, equations, and units are meant to confuse consumers and convince them to upgrade and pay for better technology. Often producers make suspicious or unreliable claims to convince you to spend more money when most of the time it makes almost no difference to your viewing pleasure.

The real reason you should consider these ratings is if you want to purchase a LCD television that, you will mainly use to play fast-moving video games andor watch sports. If this is important to you, by all means, it is worth to get the LCD television with the best response rates. If not, you have other options. If cost is the main criteria and you are looking for saving more money Plasmas and regular CRT televisions can offer better prices and be significantly cheaper than LCD televisions.

My recommendation is to use your own two eyes to make the final decision. Visit a store, in person, to see what suits you. This is the only way you will be guaranteed to make an educated decision based on your own evidence and research.

Puzzled as to how to choose an LCD TV There are a lot of models to choose from and many things to consider. Contrast ratio, HDMI ports, and refresh rate are as important in choosing a LCD television as how the TV looks in the store. Here is some advice about the basics of LCD sets.

The two main resolution levels for LCD televisions are 720p and 1080p. A 1080p set broadcasts in full HD, allowing the best picture available. A 720p set broadcasts at a resolution less than full HD but better than standard definition. While not as expensive as 1080p televisions, 720p sets can still have a good picture if they have reasonable specs.

Look for a contrast ratio of at least 4,0001. Contrast ratio is the description of how well a TV displays colors in dark settings. While the exact accuracy of contrast ratio numbers is debatable, higher numbers are preferred. A higher contrast ratio will help avoid blacks and shadows from looking gray or muddy.

When considering refresh rates, don't go lower than 60 Hz (hertz). A fast refresh rate determines how many times the picture frame appears on the screen per second. Blurring can occur if the refresh rate of the set is too low, so if you are viewing fast-motion video like video games, make sure that the refresh rate is at least 120 Hz.

Get an LED-LCD television if you can afford it. LED backlighting is a specific type of screen lighting that allows for blacker blacks, richer colors, and better contrast. LED lighting is the newest thing in LCD televisions and provides a better picture than standard LCD sets. They are more expensive than the non-LED TVs, though.

Determine how many HDMI ports you will need. HDMI cables provide both high-definition video and audio in one cable, allowing you to reduce the number of cables coming into your set. If watching TV shows is your sole purpose in getting your set, two HDMI ports should be fine. If you are planning on adding any auxiliary devices like a game console or Blu-ray player, make sure to get a set with at least three HDMI ports.

Perhaps the most important consideration, price is a strong point for LCD sets. TVs over 40 inches with good specs can be found for under $1,000, and it is possible to find a decent 42-inch, full HD TV for about $500. As mentioned earlier, LED-LCD sets will be more expensive. Expect to pay a few hundred more for an LED-lit set than a standard one.

Sometimes looking at an LCD TV in a store will give you a false impression as to how it really looks. Lighting and placement should be considered, as they may not match what conditions are like in your home. In order to get a really good set, pay attention to the specs and be informed as to what they mean. It will go a long way in determining how well you like your TV.

To Find additional information on LCD Televisions as well as Home Theatre, Electricals and Blu-Ray Players and Recorders etc click LCD TVs Sale or LCD TVs UK