Buying a television has become an increasingly complicated subject for the typical consumer. TVs are more than just a display for watching your favourite programs on, they are packed with features which are labelled using the various manufacturers’ technical terms. The following article should help explain some of the terminology surrounding the subject.

The first of all you have LCD TVs. This is by far the most popular type of television technology because it is available in display sizes and prices ranges to suit all situations and budgets. Display sizes range from 15 inches right up to 60 inches, and provide good all round performance. LED TV is just a variation of the LCD which uses light emitting diodes to light up the TV’s display rather than the fluorescent lamps which are used in LCDs. The use of LEDs has the added advantage or providing improved colors, slimmer designs improved energy efficiency, this does however come at an extra cost.

Next is the plasma TV, which considered to be positioned at the upper end of the market. Firstly they are not available in the smaller display sizes of 32 inches and below and they also go up to sizes of 70 inches which is a larger than LCD and LEDs. The color reproduction of plasmas is better than LCDs, but the price and energy efficiency is not as good. They are very well suited in conjunction with 3D TV which brings us on to the next section.

3D TVs are available as either passive 3D or active 3D. Both have their pros and cons. Firstly, passive 3D is cheaper, both in terms of purchasing the TV as well as the 3D glasses that are required. Because of the way that passive 3D works, it does not produce as high resolutions as active 3D TVs, however the motion handling of passive 3D TV can be better than active 3D.

Lastly one of the latest features is something that various brands have labelled ‘Internet TV’ or ‘Smart TV’. This is because TVs can be directly connected to your home internet connection. This enables the TV to act as PC does and stream content such as movies and music from the internet. Some TVs also have an inbuilt browser to surf the web. The term Smart TV is used because they work similar to Smart phones and tablet PCs by using Smart Apps to access a wide range of content.