How to Determine if a Plasma TV Is Right for You

Plasma TV is one of the newer technologies available for your home audiovisual system. This type of screen offers many advantages; however, there are some things to consider before making the move to plasma. Follow these tips to help determine if plasma TV is right for you.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Think about where you’ll be putting a new TV. If you are interested in saving space, a thin plasma screen that can hang on your wall may be a good choice. If you’ve got a small space for your primary TV, plasma may be the way to go.

2. Decide how important picture quality is to you. Plasma TVs are available in ED (enhanced definition) or HD (high definition).

3. Consider how important screen size is to you. If a large size screen is the most important quality in your TV search, you’ll pay extra to get it in plasma. Plasma TVs are still quite expensive, and the larger the screen you buy, the more costly it becomes.

4. Consider what you’ll be hooking into your TV. Plasma TVs look great in ads and commercials, but that "wireless" look can be a little deceiving. If you’re planning on hanging a TV on the wall and will also be adding devices such as a cable/satellite box, DVD player or VCR, you may want to consider what you’ll do with the cords.

5. Decide what extra features you’d like in a TV. Plasma TVs have extra features common to most new TVs, but they also have some other options available like screen savers and memory card inputs.

6. Be aware of the other TV innovations on the market before committing to plasma. Keep your mind open to other technologies such as LCD, rear projection or different types of HDTV.

7. Take a close look at your budget and decide how much you can spend before shopping for any TV. Plasma tends to be more expensive than its competitors.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are looking for those trendy TVs that you see all over your prime time and home decorating programs, plasma is what you are looking for. From small screens that will look perfect in your bedroom (or even bathroom), to large picture screens that seem to fill a wall, plasma has a lot to offer.
• Outside of CRT direct view TVs, plasma screens offer the widest viewing angles of any new technologies. This is great if you have a large room or like to entertain.
• Beware of burn-in. Plasma screen technology is susceptible to burn-in, where images displayed consistently on the screen get burned into the display. This is common and can happen to any plasma screen TV. Many newer models come equipped with screen savers that help combat this problem.
• If you have small children or pets that could come into physical contact with the TV screen, you may want to consider a different type of technology. Liquids that come into contact with the screen can become trapped behind the screen and cause permanent marks.