Wow, what a great question! I hear it all the time from my clients, and while there are a number of "rules of thumb", ultimately the decision comes down to personal preference.
Still, I'll try to list out some of the things we try to take into consideration when consulting with our clients.
The first thing to consider are your room size. A larger screen will cost more, and a small room will get overpowered by a large TV (and a large room will dwarf a small TV!). Ideally, if you are sitting less than 8-9 feet away from your TV, you will be best served with a 42" or smaller TV. If you are 10-12 feet away, you're looking at up to 50", and greater than 12 feet you'll want a 56-63" or even larger screen. Of course other room considerations come into play as well. For example, the screen needs to balance with the rest of the furnishings, and it needs to physically fit in the space - if you're mounting a flat-panel over the fireplace, you may have limitations because of the ceiling, mantle, fireplace opening, and other built-in elements of the room.
This rule of thumb is tempered by your desire to be immersed in the video. If you really hate that, a smaller screen will let you feel "outside looking in." But if you really want to be immersed in the action, a larger screen size will fill in your peripheral vision with more movie, sports, or video game action, making you part of the action.
Of course, budget plays a role, but to a smaller extent. The reason I say this is because if your budget is smaller, but you still want a really big TV, you can use a rear-projection or front-projection system instead of a panel (LCD or Plasma) TV. Panels generally cost more than projection units at the larger sizes. There are also budget-minded flat panel TVs that do a pretty good job for less money than the name brands. I'd caution, though, against getting caught up in the "cheap panel TV" sales hype that you'll see this holiday season. You really do get what you pay for, and you don't want to be stuck with a picture that's even worse than your old TV!
As always, if you're still confused about all of the options out there, give us a call, and we'll be glad to give you a free consultation!
Thanks -
Rob
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Which TV?
"What TV should I buy?" or "What's the real difference in all of these TV types?"
Those are the questions I get asked most often. There is an answer, but it's probably different for each person. Let's start with the second question - what are the differences in the TV types.
Note that there are actually 5 different TV technologies in use today.
Just a few years ago, the only type of TV you could get was a CRT-based set, also known as a "tube TV". Nice picture, easy to use, and everyone had one (or two, or three...). They were pretty reliable, but very heavy, especially in the larger sizes, and they took up a very large chunk of your room. Many people bought expensive furniture to house these TVs - partly people wanted to hide some of the size and aesthetics of these large electronic boxes. You can still get them, and they are pretty cheap compared to the newer types of TVs. But they're still very huge for a relatively small picture size, and they are still very, very heavy.
Recognizing the desire for larger TV sizes, especially for watching movies and sports, manufacturers started coming out with Rear-projection TVs and Front-projectors. Initially, these were both CRT-based also, but since they projected on a separate screen, the actual size and weight didn't go up as much for the larger sizes. Still very heavy, though. Good front projectors were coffee-table sized, and sat in the middle of your room! Smaller ceiling-mounted projectors were available, but they were also very heavy - you wanted to be certain the projector was mounted securely! Rear projectors had flat screens, and were typically up to 50 inches or so. Compared to the 30-37" screen sizes of the largest CRTs, that was pretty good.
Then came the flat panels. You probably first saw flat panels in computers - my first one was on a laptop. The technology was developed initially to make the computer portable! Then came flat panels for desktop computers - taking up a lot less desk space was well worth the extra money you spent on an LCD display for your computer.
Over the last few years, two types of flat panels have emerged for home entertainment use. When I talk about flat panels here, I'm talking about a screen that's flat, and is only about 3-6 inches deep, regardless of the screen size. These panels fit very well in almost any room and can be mounted on a wall to save even more space.
LCDs, similar to the LCDs used for computer screens, are generally higher resolution (they have more pixels, so they can show more detail), and they tend to be somewhat smaller than their Plasma cousins. But still, 40" LCDs are common today - not bad compared to the largest CRTs of just a few years ago!
Plasmas are also flat panels. Because of the technology and manufacturing process, plasma TVs are more cost effective in the larger sizes. Typical sizes run up to over 60", with the very largest available plasmas coming in at 103"! Originally, plasmas had a lower resolution for the same screen size (720p), but recent plasma entries are up to 1080p, the same as LCDs.
Note that plasma TVs have a glass viewing area, and so are more subject to glare than LCDs, which have a plastic viewing area. Recent plasmas have an anti-glare coating which helps somewhat. On the other hand, plasmas can generate deeper blacks and richer color depth, and have a wider viewing angle than LCDs. Ultimately, which panel is best depends on your viewing habits and room conditions.
Rear-projection TVs no longer use a CRT to generate the picture - they use either a small LCD panel or a mirror panel called a DLP. Either way, the picture generation unit is much lighter than a CRT, and the entire unit can be made thinner and lighter. Current rear projection TVs are as little as 11" thick, compared to up to 2" for an older CRT-based unit (and compared to 3-5" for a panel TV). Rear-projection TVs are less expensive than either LCD or Plasma TVs for the same size, but can't produce the same black levels and color richness. They also have a relatively narrow viewing angle - if you look at them from a 45 degree angle or greater, the picture will be noticeably darker.
Front projectors these days can either sit on a table top or be mounted to the ceiling. You still need a screen, and the prices of both screens and projectors range from pretty inexpensive to wildly expensive, depending on the features and resolution you want. You have the ability to customize your screen size and resolution for your own room and viewing pleasure, and you can get as big as you like. Front projectors typically work best in a room where the light can be well controlled. But you can get a really, really big screen, so if you want a true theater experience, this may be your best bet!
Still not sure what's right for you? Give us a call here at Inspired Electronics, Inc., and we'll be glad to provide a free in-home consultation to help you decide what's best for you!
- Rob
Those are the questions I get asked most often. There is an answer, but it's probably different for each person. Let's start with the second question - what are the differences in the TV types.
Note that there are actually 5 different TV technologies in use today.
Just a few years ago, the only type of TV you could get was a CRT-based set, also known as a "tube TV". Nice picture, easy to use, and everyone had one (or two, or three...). They were pretty reliable, but very heavy, especially in the larger sizes, and they took up a very large chunk of your room. Many people bought expensive furniture to house these TVs - partly people wanted to hide some of the size and aesthetics of these large electronic boxes. You can still get them, and they are pretty cheap compared to the newer types of TVs. But they're still very huge for a relatively small picture size, and they are still very, very heavy.
Recognizing the desire for larger TV sizes, especially for watching movies and sports, manufacturers started coming out with Rear-projection TVs and Front-projectors. Initially, these were both CRT-based also, but since they projected on a separate screen, the actual size and weight didn't go up as much for the larger sizes. Still very heavy, though. Good front projectors were coffee-table sized, and sat in the middle of your room! Smaller ceiling-mounted projectors were available, but they were also very heavy - you wanted to be certain the projector was mounted securely! Rear projectors had flat screens, and were typically up to 50 inches or so. Compared to the 30-37" screen sizes of the largest CRTs, that was pretty good.
Then came the flat panels. You probably first saw flat panels in computers - my first one was on a laptop. The technology was developed initially to make the computer portable! Then came flat panels for desktop computers - taking up a lot less desk space was well worth the extra money you spent on an LCD display for your computer.
Over the last few years, two types of flat panels have emerged for home entertainment use. When I talk about flat panels here, I'm talking about a screen that's flat, and is only about 3-6 inches deep, regardless of the screen size. These panels fit very well in almost any room and can be mounted on a wall to save even more space.
LCDs, similar to the LCDs used for computer screens, are generally higher resolution (they have more pixels, so they can show more detail), and they tend to be somewhat smaller than their Plasma cousins. But still, 40" LCDs are common today - not bad compared to the largest CRTs of just a few years ago!
Plasmas are also flat panels. Because of the technology and manufacturing process, plasma TVs are more cost effective in the larger sizes. Typical sizes run up to over 60", with the very largest available plasmas coming in at 103"! Originally, plasmas had a lower resolution for the same screen size (720p), but recent plasma entries are up to 1080p, the same as LCDs.
Note that plasma TVs have a glass viewing area, and so are more subject to glare than LCDs, which have a plastic viewing area. Recent plasmas have an anti-glare coating which helps somewhat. On the other hand, plasmas can generate deeper blacks and richer color depth, and have a wider viewing angle than LCDs. Ultimately, which panel is best depends on your viewing habits and room conditions.
Rear-projection TVs no longer use a CRT to generate the picture - they use either a small LCD panel or a mirror panel called a DLP. Either way, the picture generation unit is much lighter than a CRT, and the entire unit can be made thinner and lighter. Current rear projection TVs are as little as 11" thick, compared to up to 2" for an older CRT-based unit (and compared to 3-5" for a panel TV). Rear-projection TVs are less expensive than either LCD or Plasma TVs for the same size, but can't produce the same black levels and color richness. They also have a relatively narrow viewing angle - if you look at them from a 45 degree angle or greater, the picture will be noticeably darker.
Front projectors these days can either sit on a table top or be mounted to the ceiling. You still need a screen, and the prices of both screens and projectors range from pretty inexpensive to wildly expensive, depending on the features and resolution you want. You have the ability to customize your screen size and resolution for your own room and viewing pleasure, and you can get as big as you like. Front projectors typically work best in a room where the light can be well controlled. But you can get a really, really big screen, so if you want a true theater experience, this may be your best bet!
Still not sure what's right for you? Give us a call here at Inspired Electronics, Inc., and we'll be glad to provide a free in-home consultation to help you decide what's best for you!
- Rob
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Fireplace TVs
We get a lot of calls to mount TVs over the fireplace.
From a design perspective, this makes a lot of sense. It pulls the room together, giving it one focal point, instead of two. It also saves a lot of space in the room, and it makes furniture placement a lot easier - you don't have to lay out the furniture to be able to see both the fireplace and the TV at the same time!
Overall, we really like the look of putting the TV over the fireplace - in fact, one of the key ads in our ad campaign shows a wonderfull view of a modern living room with the TV over the fireplace.
While fireplaces are an excellent place to put the TV, they can also be a bit more difficult than standard on-wall installations. For example, the fireplace front may be made out of brick or stone, or there may be a mantle right where we need to put the TV. And usually, builders don't put electrical outlets and cable raceways where we need them. Since one of the advantages of locating the TV over the fireplace is a nice, clean look, it's important to have a way to hide both the video wiring and the power cables.
While these installations can take us a bit longer, we have several partners that we work with to help move the electricity, remove or remount the mantle, and ensure a clean-looking installation. While they're in there, we usually ask them to put in a path for us to run the cables - then our job takes less time. Finally, we come in and mount the TV and speakers, install the source equipment, and calibrate the whole thing.
Incidentally, we also have the electrician put in a surge-suppression outlet. That helps protect your investment from transient power spikes and other power issues.
People also ask about the heat and soot from the fireplace - does it reduce the life of the TV? The answer is, a little bit, but not by much. The important thing is to make sure you keep the screen clean - the soot will very slowly create a thin film on the screen. This can take many years, depending on how often you use your TV, so don't worry that it will make your TV go bad in weeks or months! The other point to note is that you should limit the amount of time you burn a fire while the TV is on. This is because the additional heat from the fire, combined with the heat generated by the TV electronics, can shorten the life of your TV. Again, it's not a huge impact, as most TVs are designed to operate at room temperatures of over 100 degrees. Since the heat from the fireplace dissipates as it rises, you're not likely to exceed the operating temperatures - you will simply be running the TV at the top of its designed range.
I hope this answers some of your questions about putting the TV over the fireplace. Feel free to drop us a line here or by email if you have questions or comments!
Thanks -
Rob
From a design perspective, this makes a lot of sense. It pulls the room together, giving it one focal point, instead of two. It also saves a lot of space in the room, and it makes furniture placement a lot easier - you don't have to lay out the furniture to be able to see both the fireplace and the TV at the same time!
Overall, we really like the look of putting the TV over the fireplace - in fact, one of the key ads in our ad campaign shows a wonderfull view of a modern living room with the TV over the fireplace.
While fireplaces are an excellent place to put the TV, they can also be a bit more difficult than standard on-wall installations. For example, the fireplace front may be made out of brick or stone, or there may be a mantle right where we need to put the TV. And usually, builders don't put electrical outlets and cable raceways where we need them. Since one of the advantages of locating the TV over the fireplace is a nice, clean look, it's important to have a way to hide both the video wiring and the power cables.
While these installations can take us a bit longer, we have several partners that we work with to help move the electricity, remove or remount the mantle, and ensure a clean-looking installation. While they're in there, we usually ask them to put in a path for us to run the cables - then our job takes less time. Finally, we come in and mount the TV and speakers, install the source equipment, and calibrate the whole thing.
Incidentally, we also have the electrician put in a surge-suppression outlet. That helps protect your investment from transient power spikes and other power issues.
People also ask about the heat and soot from the fireplace - does it reduce the life of the TV? The answer is, a little bit, but not by much. The important thing is to make sure you keep the screen clean - the soot will very slowly create a thin film on the screen. This can take many years, depending on how often you use your TV, so don't worry that it will make your TV go bad in weeks or months! The other point to note is that you should limit the amount of time you burn a fire while the TV is on. This is because the additional heat from the fire, combined with the heat generated by the TV electronics, can shorten the life of your TV. Again, it's not a huge impact, as most TVs are designed to operate at room temperatures of over 100 degrees. Since the heat from the fireplace dissipates as it rises, you're not likely to exceed the operating temperatures - you will simply be running the TV at the top of its designed range.
I hope this answers some of your questions about putting the TV over the fireplace. Feel free to drop us a line here or by email if you have questions or comments!
Thanks -
Rob
Thursday, October 4, 2007
The Digital TV Revolution
The other day, a friend of mine mentioned that someone had come by his house trying to sell satellite TV service. The pitch was that you will need Satellite TV in order to cope with the FCC-mandated demise of analog television in February 2009.
Have you heard about this yet? The FCC mandated a few years ago that broadcasters shut down all of their analog television broadcasting stations on February 16, 2009, and replace them with digital broadcasting stations. TVs that were only designed to receive analog TV can't receive the new digital stations. So this guy was walking around door-to-door telling people that they needed to get satellite service so they wouldn't have to buy a new TV. Was he right?
Actually, there was enough truth in it to sound good, but it wasn't complete.
First, it's true that analog TV is going away. The FCC-mandated date is February 16, 2009. But what does that mean?
Analog TV has been essentially unchanged since the 1950's. Even though new technology can offer much better picture clarity, better sound, surround sound, data broadcasting services (think weather, traffic, stock quotes), and a whole host of other services, analog TV can't take advantage of any of it. Plus, analog TV is notoriously inefficient when it comes to how much of the radio spectrum it requires.
Digital TV, on the other hand, is much more efficient - you can cram a lot more channels into the same or less space with digital than you can with analog. And, you can make it higher resolution (high-definition), add surround sound, CD-quality sound, multiple data services, multiple language options, and even put multiple high-definition programs in the same amount of radio spectrum as you needed for a single low-quality analog television signal.
Note that Digital TV (DTV) is not necessarily High Definition (HDTV). DTV can be standard definition (what you are used to seeing), or one of several levels of HDTV. All HDTV is DTV, but not all DTV is HDTV. Make sense?
So once the FCC cuts off the analog TV stations, what are you supposed to do? Throw out all your TVs and buy new ones? Well, even though we sell TVs, I don't actually recommend that - we'll help if you want us to, and we think there's real value for you to invest in a new TV set. But your old TVs will still work.
Here's how. First, here's where the satellite guy was right - satellite broadcasters (and cable companies) already output the correct signal type directly to your TV. That's part of the purpose of the set top box (STB) that you have in your living room. So all of these STBs already handle the conversion. And 80% of people in the US already have cable or satellite TV service. Oh, and the cable/satellite companies are not subject to the same regulations - satellite uses their own dedicated broadcast frequencies, and cable doesn't get broadcast over the air - they have their own dedicated wire that they completely control.
Second, and here's what the satellite guy didn't tell my friend, the government is offering a coupon program so you can buy what's called a digital off-air tuner, or a converter box. If you receive your TV via a regular antenna, this box will take the new digital TV signals and convert them to the older analog signal. You'll connect the new converter box to your TV, and then use the converter box to change your television stations. The government is offering up to two $40 coupons to as many households as request them. So if you have any TVs that get their signal from a regular antenna (and you want to keep the TV), you'll want to get these coupons. The converter boxes will probably sell for $40-100, and will be available in very early 2008. The coupons will be available starting in January.
If you want one or two of these coupons, check out this US government web site:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html
Of course, you could always go to a new TV. Much clearer pictures, surround-sound, more channels, all of these are pretty compelling reasons to switch to DTV (especially the HDTV version). Either way, if you have questions, please either give us a call or post a response here on the blog. We really don't want you to make decisions like this based on partial or incorrect information!
Oh, my friend? He asked that satellite guy for a business card or brochure so he could consider the offer. The satellite guy either didn't have any or wouldn't give him any information. It was apparently a "now or never" deal. Sounds fishy to me... and to my friend, who gave the guy the boot!
There are a lot of people out there waiting to take advantage of any situation where there is likely to be some confusion. This guy had just enough real information to sound compelling, but didn't give the whole picture. Don't let them take advantage of you!
Thanks -
Rob
Have you heard about this yet? The FCC mandated a few years ago that broadcasters shut down all of their analog television broadcasting stations on February 16, 2009, and replace them with digital broadcasting stations. TVs that were only designed to receive analog TV can't receive the new digital stations. So this guy was walking around door-to-door telling people that they needed to get satellite service so they wouldn't have to buy a new TV. Was he right?
Actually, there was enough truth in it to sound good, but it wasn't complete.
First, it's true that analog TV is going away. The FCC-mandated date is February 16, 2009. But what does that mean?
Analog TV has been essentially unchanged since the 1950's. Even though new technology can offer much better picture clarity, better sound, surround sound, data broadcasting services (think weather, traffic, stock quotes), and a whole host of other services, analog TV can't take advantage of any of it. Plus, analog TV is notoriously inefficient when it comes to how much of the radio spectrum it requires.
Digital TV, on the other hand, is much more efficient - you can cram a lot more channels into the same or less space with digital than you can with analog. And, you can make it higher resolution (high-definition), add surround sound, CD-quality sound, multiple data services, multiple language options, and even put multiple high-definition programs in the same amount of radio spectrum as you needed for a single low-quality analog television signal.
Note that Digital TV (DTV) is not necessarily High Definition (HDTV). DTV can be standard definition (what you are used to seeing), or one of several levels of HDTV. All HDTV is DTV, but not all DTV is HDTV. Make sense?
So once the FCC cuts off the analog TV stations, what are you supposed to do? Throw out all your TVs and buy new ones? Well, even though we sell TVs, I don't actually recommend that - we'll help if you want us to, and we think there's real value for you to invest in a new TV set. But your old TVs will still work.
Here's how. First, here's where the satellite guy was right - satellite broadcasters (and cable companies) already output the correct signal type directly to your TV. That's part of the purpose of the set top box (STB) that you have in your living room. So all of these STBs already handle the conversion. And 80% of people in the US already have cable or satellite TV service. Oh, and the cable/satellite companies are not subject to the same regulations - satellite uses their own dedicated broadcast frequencies, and cable doesn't get broadcast over the air - they have their own dedicated wire that they completely control.
Second, and here's what the satellite guy didn't tell my friend, the government is offering a coupon program so you can buy what's called a digital off-air tuner, or a converter box. If you receive your TV via a regular antenna, this box will take the new digital TV signals and convert them to the older analog signal. You'll connect the new converter box to your TV, and then use the converter box to change your television stations. The government is offering up to two $40 coupons to as many households as request them. So if you have any TVs that get their signal from a regular antenna (and you want to keep the TV), you'll want to get these coupons. The converter boxes will probably sell for $40-100, and will be available in very early 2008. The coupons will be available starting in January.
If you want one or two of these coupons, check out this US government web site:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html
Of course, you could always go to a new TV. Much clearer pictures, surround-sound, more channels, all of these are pretty compelling reasons to switch to DTV (especially the HDTV version). Either way, if you have questions, please either give us a call or post a response here on the blog. We really don't want you to make decisions like this based on partial or incorrect information!
Oh, my friend? He asked that satellite guy for a business card or brochure so he could consider the offer. The satellite guy either didn't have any or wouldn't give him any information. It was apparently a "now or never" deal. Sounds fishy to me... and to my friend, who gave the guy the boot!
There are a lot of people out there waiting to take advantage of any situation where there is likely to be some confusion. This guy had just enough real information to sound compelling, but didn't give the whole picture. Don't let them take advantage of you!
Thanks -
Rob
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