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How High Should You Install a Plasma or LCD TV?

22 January 2007

The simple answer to how high should you be placing your new plasma or LCD display is -- hang it as high as you'd like. Everyone has a personal preference to how they want to view television. Some like it way up high; others watch it down near the floor.

Here are some things to consider about TV placement. With the lighter, thinner plasma and LCD displays, it's possible to install them on the wall or set them on a mantle over the fireplace.

They can be inside cabinets or entertainment centers. And many people watch TV for long periods of time or they play video games for hours. If you spend a good length of time looking up from your seated position, or even looking down, even if it's just a matter of a few degrees of tilt, you can put a lot of strain on your neck muscles.

The head tends to want to stay level. Look up or looking down requires muscles and tendons to push and pull the neck to move it to that position and keep it there. It's important to consider how far away you'll be sitting from the display. A set that is up high, on the fireplace, might not work if you're only 7 to 8 feet away. If you're back 12 to 13 feet, it might be less difficult to view for longer periods.

If you're unsure as to your personal preference, start out with the center of the screen at eye level from where you'll be sitting. Watch the display for a while and determine what works best. Adjust higher or lower to test it out before finally settling on a more permanent location (especially if this involves wall hanging or any invasive mounting plans.)

No matter what height you decide on, make sure you TV mounting system comes with some sort of tilt mechanism. This way, if you go high, you'll be able to tilt the screen down so the display is perpendicular to your line of sight.

If you'd like to talk to an expert plasma or LCD installer for more advice and help putting it up, you can post your project on the ConstructionDeal.com site. It's a free service to find a local TV installation pro. We've got a network of companies in your area and it's much easier than searching for someone at random from the yellow pages.

Labels: HDTV, plasma tv, Plasma TV Installation, tv installation

posted by ConstructionDeal.com, 12:36 PM | link | 0 comments |

Plasma vs. LCD TVs

27 December 2006

The debate has been raging for some time over which HDTV television technology is the best. Oddly enough, a new voice is speaking up on the differences - Panasonic. Which is odd, because they make both LCD TVs and Plasma display TVs. Supposedly, they wanted to clear up any misconceptions and myths surrounding plasma.

From their website, "Panasonic makes both LCD and Plasma, so we have no ax to grind. We just want you to know the facts.

Today's small screen LCDs are fine for kitchens, bedrooms and home offices. But the larger the LCD screen size (like 37" and above), the worse their problems become.

So if it's big earth-shattering sports and movie experiences you want, with breathtaking natural color, then buy any of our new plasma TVs."

The site goes on to describe the advantages of a plasma TV over the LCD:

Plasma vs. LCD:

Plasma has darker blacks, better contrast, and great image quality. On the LCDs, blacks look more gray. There is less detail in the image. Plasma looks better on a larger screen, such as a TV in the living room.

Plasma has smooth, crisp motion during scenes with high speed or fast motion. Quick motions do tend to look more blurry on an LCD screen.

Plasma screens can reproduce the full range of colors specified in HDTV broadcast standards while LCD displays cannot hit those color ranges completely.

LCD screens can fade when viewed from more extreme angles while a Plasma screen can be viewed without distortion or color fade from any angle.

A Plasma TV is more environmentally friendly than an LCD screen because it contains no mercury or lead while the LCD does have mercury in it.

The Plasma screen is more durable. The LCD screen is apparently more delicate while the Plasma can stand up to use and abuse in the typical family or living room.

So, according to Panasonic, a maker of LCD screens and Plasma TVs, if you're looking for a large screen HDTV for your living room -- it's best to go with Plasma. For smaller screens, the LCD is perfectly acceptable for video games or viewing in the kitchen or bedroom.

If you're looking to turn your HDTV into a home theater and need to find someone to help hang your TV over a fireplace, on the wall, or to create an actual home theater experience - consider ConstructionDeal.com. We can match you - for free - with a local HDTV installer (either plasma or LCD!) and it will save you time and money in the process.

Labels: HDTV, home theater, Home Theater Installation, plasma tv, Plasma TV Installation

posted by ConstructionDeal.com, 10:01 AM | link | 0 comments |

Advantages of Plasma

12 December 2006

Everyone knows that they want a plasma TV installed in their home, but here's a little background on why you want Plasma TV:

The Advantages of Plasma Television

Picture Perfect - Plasma TVs have a higher resolution picture with no scan lines that you might find in your regular TV. The plasma screen can give you the full high definition picture in 1080i resolution. Scan lines are present when you watch a conventional TV but your plasma display does not operate the same way. Similar to your computer monitor, the pixels within the screen light up in various color shades to that there is no "refreshing" of the screen.

Theater Wide Screens - Televisions normally give you a picture in a nearly square box, called a 4:3 aspect ratio. Whenever you go to the movies, the theater has a much wider screen, with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Since most films were shot in wide screen, if you have a plasma TV you'll be watching the film as it was shot with the full and complete picture on your screen. It won't be chopped off in what's called a Pan & Scan mode that cuts off the sides of the picture frame.

Color Me Beautiful - the plasma picture display has the ability to give you sharper, cleaner, and more brilliant color, contrast, shades, and focus than any conventional television. The image is created digitally and enhanced with high definition technology. The range of color is nearly limitless. The blacks in a plasma display are darker than nearly any other tv, including most rear and front projection HDTVs. Of course, the higher the quality of plasma screen you get, the better your results will be. Plasma does really well when the image on the film or TV show is very dark. It gives an excellent contrast between the darkest blacks and subtle changes to lighter gray tones.

Size Matters - the plasma TV is a flat screen with very little depth required in the case. Rear projection TVs are getting smaller but are still taking up much more room in home theaters. This enables the TV to be placed on the wall, inside TV lift furniture, or from the ceiling. The plasma display is usually only 3 to 5 inches thick so it will fit perfectly on your fireplace mantle. If you need to find a quality plasma TV installation pro, we've got you covered.

Sit Anywhere You Like - the flat screen of plasma allows viewing from nearly every position in the room. A regular TV, even front and rear projection HDTVs, gives picture and brightness distortion when viewed closer to the sides of the screen. Plasma also offers a smooth, even picture all the way across the screen and eliminates the bright spots of regular large screen TVs.

There are plenty of great reasons to go with a new plasma HDTV. Do your homework on what you need, the size of screen you need, and reviews of the sets options and picture quality. Then, it's just a matter of shopping around to find the best price. When doing research on quality, google a search for "plasma tv reviews" or "plasma hdtv reviews." When looking for best prices, do a search under "plasma tv price comparison" or "plasma tv best prices" - this should give you websites that compare current prices. If you've got the model of plasma tv already in mind, do the same thing - google, "Sony 42" plasma tv price comparison", etc.

Once you've got your perfect plasma TV, you might need some help installing it. Consider ConstructionDeal.com when looking for plasma installation - we've got a network of installers and you can post your request for free! This will save you from having to look someone up at random from your phone book.

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