More and more people are appreciating the reality of digital television, but to appreciate all that digital television has to offer, one must replace their old CRT television with a modern television system. There are two major digital technologies to choose from, LCD TVs and Plasmas. This article will focus TV Plasma technology and what it can offer to the home cinema system experience.

The digital experience of today can only be enjoyed with technology that is capable of receiving and displaying digital broadcasts in HDTV and DVD-video formats amongst others.

TV Plasma Technology

The plasma screen TV became popular around the turn of the millenium, driving the emergence of large flat screen television sets. In contrast to the older CRT TV systems, plasma displays are comprised of many tiny cells that hold a noble gas mixture trapped within two panels of glass, when a cell is electrically charged, the gasses are turned into plasma, emitting an ultra-violet light in the process, exciting phosphors and generating visible light.

Plasma VS ordinary CRT (cathode ray tube) TV

When plasmas TVs first hit the market, the most obvious way in which they exceeded the traditional CRT technology was their slim profile. Plazma tvs were so thin they could even be wall mounted. The next most obvious difference was that they produced a picture with a much higher resolution than anything that had ever been seen on the consumer market.

Plama tvs produce increadibly smooth images and are naturally progressive meaning that all screen pixels light up simultaneously. This makes for an almost non-existant motion blur a plasmas screens.

In order to reproduce images, ordinary CRT televisions in conventional NTSC television sets utilize a beam of electrons that is directed at the back of the picture tube. An image is generated by moving horizontally from side-to-side as well as vertically from line to line from the top to bottom of the tube. This scanning action lights the phosphors to eventually produce an entire image, however the side-to-side action creates what is known as scan lines.

A plasma screen tv does not use the same method as a CRT to reproduce the image, plasma pixels light up simultaneously producing a much better image quality with visible scan lines all but impossible. Plasma technology utilizes line doubling that allows a plasma set to retain a high image quality even when transmitting analog video like TV broadcasts.

While power consumption varies greatly depending on picture content, TV plasmas consume about the same amount of power as a traditional CRT display.

Plasma vs LCD Technology

Plasma screens are exceptionally bright and feature a very wide color range. They feature a low-luminance black compared to an LCD tv screen.

A plama tv systems generally consume a more power than LCD tvs, manufacturers have recently taken steps to improve the power burden, for instance Panasonic have recently introduced a “neo-plasma display panel” technology in it’s series of Viera plasma HDTV TV Plazma systems, that the commpany claims consumes only half the electricity of the last series of plazma televisions when displaying the same general picture.

Plasma TV Resolution

Plama screens can produce exceptional resolutions. Most plama screen tv systems are called fixed-pixel displays work by scaling the video image of incoming signals to the display panel’s native resolution resulting in a level picture quality that is dependent on the performance of the algorithms used by the video processor used by individual display manufacturers. The most common native resolutions are 854×480 (EDTV), 1366×768 or 1920×1080 (HDTV)

Modern Hi-Def plama televisions usually feature 1024×768 on 42 inch plasma screens, 1280×768 or 1366×768 on 50 inch, 60 inch and 65 inch screens and 1920×1080 in all screen sizes. The displays are usually progressive with square pixels and will up-scale incoming standard definition signals to match their native resolutions.

Plama television screens are also capable of displaying computer display signals such as VGA, SVGA and XGA allowing you to use with personal computer and video games.

Modern Looking Design

A modern plasma television is increadibly thin, making for more modern, space-saving and generally “chick” designs. Measuring only a few inches in thickness, a modern plasma set can be wall mounted or even hung from the ceiling, which is a striking contrast to the old CRT televisions that are generally quite thick and the only practical means of mounting is to place it on a table that is wide and sturdy enough to accomodate it’s bulk.

With a plasma television you need not worry about having a bulky set of equipment occupying your room, you not only get a much wide screen display, but get to fill your living room space with a modern high-tech looking piece of equipment that seamlessly blends in with the rest of the room, but you saving on floor space at the same time.

Conclusion

TV Plasma technology has come a long way since it was introduced around the turn of the millenium. While competing technologies such as LCD now offer a viable alternative, plasma tvs offer several advantages over LCD screens and the legacy CRT televisions, while modern technology has reduced some of the common flaws:

Plasma Television Systems offer you:

• A slim, space saving profile, that can be wall mounted or set up in a variety of other ways
• Achieves superior and more accurate color reproduction than an LCD or CRT
• Produces a superior “black” color and image quality in general than an LCD as well as superior contrast ratios
• Allows for far wider viewing angles than an LCD TV with angles up to 178 degrees on some systems
• Does not suffer from motion blur thanks to high refresh rates and response time

While older plasma models could potentially suffer from screen burn-in, loss of luminosity over time and use more electricity on average than LCD technology, new advances in the technology has all but eliminated this downside.

Basically if you are are looking for the best picture quality solution for your money, buy plasma TV models that are modern and do not suffer from the negative effects that the original plasmas incurred. Prices for plasma televisions have dropped dramatically in recent years and you should not need to sacrifice quality in order to purchase a discount TV. A decent 42″ or 50″ plasma can be purchased for under $1000 and prices are dropping all the time.

Note

For video game junkies, a plasma TV in addition to the latest gaming peripherals like gaming headphones, controller and the pick of the best gaming keyboards you can find, is a great way to indulge in ones gaming obsessions, but a modern video card that can take advantage of the superior resolution offered by a plasma TV is essential.

More and more people are creating their home cinema experiences with wide screen TV’s, surround sound speakers and projector systems. While the latest innovations in flat screen and audio technology play a major part in creating the home cinema experience that we all enjoy, less obvious is the role of the living room space, seating and TV mounting platform which typically takes the form of a specialist stand that can accomodate a flat screen TV. There is a wide variety of LCD TV stands and Plasma TV stands available in a variety of shapes, designs and materials, that can accomodate the vast majority of home cinema television systems.

TV Stand Versus Home Entertainment Cabinets

Modern day systems are designed to be clean, sleek with clear designer lines to enhance the appeal of your entertainment area or living room. A good television stand is designed to keep accessories discretely in their place while hiding tangled cables and at the same time enhance the stunning visual impact of your widescreen television unit and sonic ricnhess of an accompaning stereo surround sound system.

When it comes to ways of mounting your television, there are two popular types: television stands and entertainment cabinets.

Most TV stands for flat screens can accomodate all makes of television, so can effectively be considered a TV stand for plasma TV or a TV stands for lcd TVs. We will use the terms “LCD” and “Plasma” interchangeably for the rest of this article.

A stand for lcd TV is usually a small piece of furniture that can accomodate a large TV unit on top of it. You can either go for the minimalist option here that is simply a mount with no additional storage or extras, although there will usually be some sort of shelving or drawers that can be used to store your media, rest DVD players or cable boxes. Flat screen TV stands take up less area than cabinets.

Entertainment centerpieces are essentially plasma TV stands furniture, that is they can be considered another piece of furniture that takes up space in your living room and will likely be the focal poinit. Entertainment centers usually have a variety of storage space and shelving that surround the television and feature a large central space on which the television can fit inside. Some plasma TV stand furniture feature doors that can be closed when the television is not used. Your primary consideration when purchasing an entertainment center is that it will match your home’s interior decor and is the right size for your entertainment area. This is a smart option if you required a lot of space for other media equipment such as DVD’s, video games, game consoles and other accessories.

Style and Material Options: Natural Wood vs Steel/Glass

There are a vast range of choices from natural oak plasma lcd TV stands options to a cherry colored plasma stand, allowing furnishing style, texture, lighting and color choice can be seamlessly coordinated. You will be able to find the right balance with your other furnishing and entertainment furniture surroundings with the soft polished wood plasma TV stand that is delivered in an eco-friendly style.

The cool elegace of the modern Swedish design should not be ruled out either. The ultra-modern, see through aesthetics tinted glass stands for lcd TV more than makes up for the ocassional finger prints and dust.

Corner Plasma Tv Stand Options

Are you stretched for space, the power outlets in your space limited and you wish to avoid the long extension cords that are easily tripped over. The solution? Corner plasma TV stands. You can occupy the dead space zone with elegance with a corner TV stand. These types of TV stands are shaped with a ninety degree inclination to the corner of a room, allowing the TV floor stand to offer a wide top-counter surface that can serve as a 42 plasma TV stand or larger.

One way of determining the right dimensions for you are to take your plasma, lcd, or CRT TV dimentions and enter them in Google. This should offer you a staggering number of choices, from plasma TV table stands, wood plasma TV stands, glass tv stand models to stands for 32 inch LCD TV systems, 42 plasma TV stands, 50 plasma TV stand and lcd TV floor stand choices constructed from in metal, plastic, oak, walnut, composities material with the option of being pre-assumbled, un-assumbled and much more.

We have also listed a number of popular makes of modern plasma TV stand and lcd television stands at the end of this article.

Pedestal TV Stands

A Pedestal LCD Television stand is another space saving option, that features a elongated support “pillar” that raises the television unit high above the floor and in the optimal viewing position for your television watching requirements. Pedestal plasma lcd TV stand designs both strip away the clutter and make a bold designer statement at the same time. Wire and cable hiding accessories can eliminate the untidy look you get and to a certain extend pedestal TV stands can be adjusted to suite the shape and size of your television unit.

Swivel TV Stands

If you are seeking the ultimate in positioning control and flexibility, then swivel flat panel TV stands allow you to position your television for optimum line-of-site and viewing impact. There are a wide variety of swivel stand designs to choose from including wall, plasma TV floor stand and ceiling options.

To buy a swivel TV stand, first compare it’s width with the width of your widescreen TV. Ensure the Swivel TV stand will compliment the size of your unit. Swivel TV stands are usually rated for carrying capacity, so check that the stand can accomodate an adequate level of weight – especially if you own a plasma TV as these are generally much heavier than LCD alternatives. It is generally a good idea to ensure a swivel TV stand has at least double the holding capacity it needs.

An alternative to A Flat Screen TV Stand: Wall Mounting Your Widescreen TV

The ultimate space saving solution is to do away with a lcd plasma TV stand entirely and mount your wide screen television directly on your wall. With modern televisions being flat and very thin, this is a viable option, but on the down side it takes extra work than the simplicity of traditional lcd and plasma TV stands.

Wall mounting kits can be purchased online or from a local electronics or home appliance store dealer. You must ensure your TV is properly measured or else you will waste time and plaster and possibly a smashed TV set if you get it wrong, but plasma TV floor stands are bulky and space-consuming, so a wall mounted option has some definite benefits.

Conclusion

There are a wide variety of LCD TV stands and plasma TV Stands available, with the main difference being that plasma TV’s being enerally heaviler, might require the stand to be rated to support more weight than an LCD stand. When you buy a stand for plasma TV, you need to decide if you want to go with a basic stand or home entertainment cabinet system. The material used in plasma screen TV stands is another consideration. Do you prefer traditional wood, or are modern plasma TV stands that feature steel and glass more to your taste? There are also a variety of types of stand, from corner stands, to pedestal and swivel options or you might even choose to forgo a flat panel TV stand completely and have your widescreen TV wall mounted.