Choosing the Right Plasma TV
While plasma TVs are now no longer in production, their unique performance characteristics mean that they still have plenty of admirers. Companies like Philips made a lot of different models so, with a little work it is easy to find one that suits your needs.
What is a Plasma TV?
- Plasma televisions use electrically-charged plasma and colored phosphors to display an image. The method of displaying the picture means that they can be made very thin and flat.
- Plasma has a few advantages over the more common LCD TVs. It can produce a very deep black color, its localized lighting can deliver higher contrast, and it is also less susceptible to motion blur. On the other hand, they are less bright than LCD screens, and they can also suffer from image burn-in.
- Plasma screens ultimately ended up being less popular than LCD TVs, and most manufacturers abandoned the technology. However, manufacturers like Philips made a lot of different models while they were still producing them so there are still plenty of them around.
Which Screen Size Should I Get?
- Screen size is a key specification for any TV. Bigger TVs can be viewed from a longer distance, but really big ones can also dominate a room. A typical guideline is that your TV's display size should be about half of your viewing distance. So if you sit around 8 feet from your TV, you might want a 50-inch model. See the manufacturer site for size details.
- The appropriate size also depends on screen resolution. Stretching a low-resolution picture to fit a very large screen can harm picture quality. 4K resolution never reached plasma screens, at least not regularly available ones, so your choice is likely to be between 720p HD, 1080i, and 1080p Full HD. Higher resolutions will preserve image sharpness on bigger screens, but you might not notice much difference on a 42-inch television at regular viewing distance.
Which Features Might I Want to Look For?
- Smart TVs connect to the Internet in order to access web browsers, apps, and content streaming services. Built-in smart functionality makes your TV more versatile, especially if the remote is set up to provide quick access to your favorite apps and streaming services. If it has picture-in-picture technology, you can even use your apps while watching TV.
- Look for a model with plenty of ports. Depending on your other devices, you might want HDMI, USB, or regular AV ports to plug in other electronics like DVD players. This may be less of a concern if you have your TV plugged into a home theater receiver with its own USB and HDMI connections.
- Unique to plasma TVs is a feature called sub-field drive rate. This is the speed at which pixels can switch on and off. Sub-field drive rate isn't the same as frame rate because the image displayed doesn't actually change, but by pulsing more rapidly, each pixel can create different levels of brightness.
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