Introduction
Digital Television (DTV) is an entirely new technology that will ultimately replace today’s analog television system. Digital signals are transmitted using computer code – ones and zeroes - which means they are less susceptible to interference and provide a higher quality picture and sound than analog.

High-definition TV (HDTV) is the best quality DTV. HDTV’s sound and picture quality are many times better than today’s analog TV. DTV also can be standard definition (SD) [good] or enhanced definition (ED) [better].

What you need to watch DTV: DTV (including HDTV) is available over-the-air using a standard antenna or via digital cable or satellite. No matter how you receive your TV signal (cable, satellite or over-the-air), you will need DTV equipment to watch the DTV programming.

DTV equipment may be purchased as an all-in-one or component solution. “Integrated” DTV sets with built-in tuners are an all-in-one solution for DTV – they include a digital tuner to receive over-the-air DTV broadcasts and a monitor to display the programming.

A “component” solution includes a DTV monitor (screen) without a DTV tuner (these monitors are sometimes labeled “HD Ready”). Monitors must be paired with a cable or satellite set-top box, or stand-alone DTV tuner.

“Digital cable ready” (or ”plug-and-play”) televisions are also available that can be used to receive digital cable TV without a separate set-top box. A CableCARD that can be plugged into the set is needed for certain cable programming.

Analog TVs will need additional equipment to receive over-the-air television when the DTV transition ends. Today most people have analog televisions. All broadcast TV stations in the country have temporary use of a second, separate channel so that they can transition from analog broadcasting to digital. The target deadline for ending analog broadcasting is December 31, 2006, but this date may be extended. When analog broadcasting ends, consumers with analog sets will need to obtain a separate converter box to watch over-the-air TV. Analog sets equipped with a converter box will display the digital broadcasts, but not in full digital quality.

CE Buys Flat Panel TV Recommendations
LCD TV	Plasma TV
Tatung 30" Widescreen LCD HDTV Monitor w/ DVI & Built-in Speakers	HYUNDAI 42" Widescreen High Definition Plasma HDTV w/Built-in Digital Tuner

Technology
LCD technology - Voltage rearranges liquid crystal molecules allowing light to pass through. Millions of crystals are suspended in liquid between two transparent panels. A bright fluorescent backlight is then passed through the crystals, which are instructed to allow it or prevent it from passing to create an image, while colors are controlled by a filter.

Plasma technology - Gas in glass panel excited by electricity to produce color. Each pixel is made up of three phosphors displaying the primary colors – red, green and blue (RGB). When struck with an electron beam the phosphors emit light that can be controlled by the intensity of the beam to create images.

Size
Shoppers should not just consider price (the bigger, the more expensive) but also where they will be watching when determining screen size. Bigger screens take up more space and also require more viewing distance. Use the following as a viewing distance guide when shopping for a large screen flat-panel TV.

Price
LCDs are generally more expensive than plasmas of the same size.

Life Span
LCDs have about 50,000 to 60,000 hours of life of watching. That’s about 25 years worth if you watch an average 6.6 hours of TV every day. The fluorescent light source can be replaced (expensive) at that time but you've probably bought a new screen by then!

Plasmas have about 30,000 to 60,000 hours of life of watching. However, as very high voltages are required control electrons, plasmas consume up to 30% more power than LCDs.

Viewing Angle
How far you can sit to the side of the screen and still see the image clearly? Plasmas offer a wider viewing angle as light is emitted from the pixels themselves while with LCDs, the backlight creates excessive brightness and color shift if you move off-axis from the screen.

High-end LCDs have a 130 to 140 degree limitation. With plasma, you are guaranteed a viewing angle of 160 degrees.

Brightness & Contrast
LCDs have much brighter pictures because of the technology used. Brighter pictures exposes more detail. In a completely darkened room, plasma TVs have a brightness and contrast advantage over LCD monitors because with LCD panels, some of the light does not get fully blocked and appears to your eyes as a background glow instead of full black. In a normal real world setting where ambient light and other factors can affect the TV image, LCDs fare better. That's because plasmas tend to reflect more outside light, brightening blacks and dark colors, thereby reducing total contrast.

Plasma pixels can be controlled to emit no light at all they produce deeper black levels, which define contrast. Even when an LCD pixel is switched off, light emitted from the backlight escapes leaving blacks a dark shade of grey. Plasmas also produce better greyscale that reveal more detail in dark picture areas.

Contrast figures are given as a ratio, which is the difference between the darkest black and brightest white e.g. 3000:1. A top selling Plasma TV has a contrast ratio of 5000:1 whereas a top selling LCD TV only has 550:1.

Color
The bright nature of LCDs makes primary colors appear instantly vibrant but the immediate impact decreases with time. Plasmas produce natural, more accurate colors over a wider spectrum. Colors choice are influenced by the type of films you are watching.

Movement
Motion rendering is better in plasmas due to faster pixel response times while LCDs were burdened by blurred edges and streaming trails. Recent advances have made the difference between the two negligible.

Burn-In
A few years ago, plasma screens sometimes had an issue with burn-in, where images or text seemed to be permanently etched into the display panel. Recent significant developments in plasma technology have essentially eliminated the problem. LCD displays were never subject to localized image burn-in.

Summary & Recommendations
Plasma screens offer good-quality images whether you're watching HDTV or regular cable. The sets are about four to six inches thick with mostly widescreen aspect ratio. The smallest plasma still being produced measures about 42 inches diagonal.

The downsides, however, are significant. Plasma screens uses more power, and thus generate more heat than other kinds of TVs. They are also prone to burn-in.

LCD screens, on the other hand, have a wider range of sizes, down to 15 inch monitors that can be used as computer screens. They're usually an inch or so thicker than plasma screens. Unlike plasmas, they're immune to burn-in, weighs less, and generate less heat.

The downside of LCD screens? Their pictures are difficult to view from the side and don't always offer great quality when it comes to fast motion (beware sports and action flick fans).