Phil Speak: Screens, Screens, Screens: Because it HAS to look good!

Hello there my readers! I have returned to bring you the cold hard reality of High Def: The Blu-Ray drive is not enough! If you truly want to experience the full power of HD you need complete the set with a nice HD TV. A few years ago these babies were worth an arm and a leg, but now they’ve replaced the ol’ tube that’s been with us since the age of the dinosaurs.

Now you’d think that if you go to the electronics store to check them out, they’re all the same, just different sizes. WRONG! The huge diversity of models means that there’s plenty of features to choose from including the very way the TV works! So check this out:

LCD TVs or Liquid Crystal Display sets are generally longer lasting and are the most common. Because of this, they’re the cheapest types available.

Plasma TVs work differently and are slightly bulkier. However the colors they display are much richer and defined, and the black is very close to actual black (like when you turn it off). Unfortunately, these babies are a little more fragile and they get hot. Add to this a higher price tag and you get a wonderful but dying technology that will soon disappear from the store room. If you are lucky enough to grab one, don’t let it go!

The list of brands of Hi Def TV sets is almost endless. Beware that the brands that sound too weird (meaning that you haven’t seen around much) are usually of poorer quality from the mainstream. Personally, I recommend anything from Sony, Vizio, Samsung, Panasonic and Toshiba. Did I also mention that these sets will work if you hook them up to the computer? Yep, they do!

Be sure that to really enjoy that Blu Ray copy you just rented or bought, you have to get one that displays 1080p. This is the highest resolution on distributed media, and I assure you the investment is definitely worth it.

My little baby is a modest 23” Samsung 1080p tv/monitor. It’s served me well, and because of Samsung’s legendary reliability, you can bet that it’ll be around in a few years. You can see it here.

As I’ve told you before, be sure to check everything out when you go TV shopping! If you got questions, post a reply below or write on my twitter feed!