Home Theater Shoppers Can Be Overwhelmed By Television Variety

Gone are the days of two television choices - black & white or color. 

With so many different types of televisions available, anyone who has set out to make the simple purchase of a television set knows there's nothing simple about the process. If creating a home theater is your ultimate goal with a television purchase, it really pays to know what's out there before you go looking. It is also a good idea to do some physical research on different picture qualities offered by different types of televisions. Some people may love the idea of plasma and then see it and decide to go with something else, for example.

Here are the standard television formats available on today's market.

• Cathode-ray tube - The old standby picture tube televisions are still on the market and they're still going strong. More affordable than other options, these televisions tend to be a little more in reach for most people. The best thing about the old CRT televisions is the fact the pictures are pretty sharp. They come in flat screen now to lessen distortion of the old curved edges and most nowadays are compatible with wide screen or letter box type DVDs.
  
  
• Plasma - These are the really neat, thin televisions that mount on walls. Generally only about five inches deep at the most, these are pretty slick and offer sharp pictures for the most part. Sometimes, however, there are issues with distortion, especially in the case of regular television program watching.
  
  
• Rear Projection - This is the big screen television. Coming in an array of sizes, these televisions can provide a great picture, but will have some obscured picture quality when looking at them from different angles.
  
  
• Front Projection - Considered the Mac Daddy of televisions for home theaters, these offer unlimited screen sizes. They project the image across the room at the screen very much like a good old fashion movie screen. The prices on these can range greatly as can the quality of the picture produced.

A note on high definition:  Almost any television on the market today from old CRTs to front projection systems can come in HDTV compatible packages. This simply involves receiving a digital transmission from a cable or satellite company and decoding it.

Picking the television that's right for you will depend a lot on personal choice and budget. Most of today's televisions have come light years from the old black-and-white days.

Back to:   Television Types and Size Considerations