How to Get Better Picture Quality From a Plasma TV

Most plasma or LCD televisions support high definition (HD) video. The standard resolutions that these televisions can display at is 720p, 1080i and 1080p. The picture quality that your TV produces varies greatly depending on your source and cables that are connected to your television.

Instructions

1. Buy a Blu-Ray player to take advantage of your plasma or LCD television's highest resolution. Using a standard DVD player, your plasma television can only display at 480i, which is not even HD quality. Blu-Ray players can display resolutions of up to 1080p, which is full HD.

2. Call your cable company to see if your cable package has HD television channels. If you do not, you need to upgrade your plan to get HD channels. Watching standard cable television doesn't take advantage of your plasma or LCD television.

3. Upgrade your video cables to help you achieve a better picture quality. Buy either HDMI cables or component video cables to connect your sources to your television.

4. Dim the lights when you're watching television. This allows your TV to display the pictures more vividly.

5. Clean your television to optimize the picture quality. Remove dust or fingerprints from your plasma or LCD television.

Tips & Warnings

• The shorter the length of your HDMI or component video cables, the better your picture quality will be. The reason is that with longer cables, outside sources may interfere with your video signal when traveling to your TV.

• You do not need to buy expensive HDMI or component video cables to get a good picture from your television, but don't be cheap either. Cheap cables can break and may cause intermittent crackling and loss of signal.