The advent of the home cinema has introduced the public to the idea that it is possible to have your very own movie theatre at home. A lovely concept, isn't it? No need for queues. No long lines to get to the concession stand. And yes, you can indeed have steak and chips during your movie.
But the centrepiece of that home theatre is the one that would cause the most consternation and confusion – the display. With three major technologies to choose from (LCD, LED, and plasma TVs), the choice can induce a lot of headaches as we try to figure out what is best for our needs. As a result of the amount of financial investment involved, the 'wrong' choice would lead to more than just squinted eyes and annoyance.
Plasma, in physical terms, refers to the 4th state of matter (the other three being solid, liquid and gas), when a gas has an electrical current run through it. The most common example of plasma is the fluorescent lamp. As a result of this excited state of matter, the plasma then gives out energy as heat and UV photons, which strike a phosphor-covered wall of material inside the plasma tube, giving off light. The gases used in these tubes are usually an inert gas such as neon, xenon or nitrogen, which are not prone to volatile reactions or combustion.
A plasma display is made of pixels, with each pixel containing three cells that are coated in different phosphor colours (red, green, blue). By varying the voltage, different levels of brightness can be achieved, which also result in different colours being displayed.
The Best Plasma TV - It's All About the Details
Plasma TVs generally have lower resolutions per screen size as compared to LCDs and LEDs. 46 inch or less plasma screens have resolutions maxing out at 1366 x 768 pixels (HD), with Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution only being used on plasma screens 50 inches and above in size. This can be contrasted with LCD and LED panels having Full HD on screens as small as 24 inches. This is a natural consequence of plasma pixels being slightly bigger in size compared to LCD or LED pixels.
However, Plasma screens counter this by having far better colour reproduction and higher contrast ratios, leading to more lifelike and 'real' picture quality. Ultimately though, they lack the 'sharpness' of LCD TVs and LED TVs.
Buying a New Plasma TV - Things to Consider
First of all, you need to choose your TV size. A general guide for doing so is considering the amount of space you have, and your viewing distance from the TV. The baseline is 6 feet for a 40 inch TV. This goes up by 3 inches for every foot of distance. For example, for 8 feet of viewing distance, your TV should be 46 inches. This calculation is necessary as any distance closer than that for a given TV size would result in individual pixels being visible to the naked eye, resulting in a less than optimum viewing experience. Any further distance, on the other hand, would result in loss of detail, as the human eye cannot perceive such small details at high definition, at too great a distance.
Most good plasma TVs have built-in speakers that do not exceed 20 to 25 watts RMS, resulting in sound that is usually quite tinny and low on quality. This is usually fine for watching the news or sports, but results in a severely limited experience when viewing movies or HD content. Our recommendation? Get a home theater system.
Other things to consider include the number of HDMI ports, USB and internet connectivity, as well as eco options such as low-power modes, auto-off timers and night modes. Generally speaking, plasma TVs consume up to 15% more power per screen size as compared to LCD and LED panels.
Great Plasma TV Price on Lazada Malaysia
Panasonic plasma TVs and Samsung plasma TVs are the best sellers on Lazada Malaysia.
We have a wide selection of plasma TVs, with Panasonic, Sharp and Samsung amongst the brands that are available for your selection. No matter what the budget or considerations you have, we at Lazada.com.my will definitely have a TV that suits you.