What’s the difference between LED, LCD and Plasma?

Plasma – Deeper blacks and more vibrant colours If you love to watch football on a huge screen, then a Plasma TV is your most affordable, value-for-money option. Price is its advantage—particularly with the larger screen sizes. In fact, it’s quite possible to get a larger display compared to an LCD of similar pricing.

It produces deeper blacks than an LCD, which equates to better contrast ratios and more details in dimly-lit scenes. However, it consumes more energy than both LCDs and LEDs. It can also be viewed easily from all angles, making it a hit with pubs and bars that screen live games.

LCD – Higher resolution for more details LCDs are a popular choice, particularly now that Blu-ray is really taking off. Most have a higher resolution, which means you’ll be able to enjoy movies and games in high-definition, right down to every minute detail. They use less power than Plasmas, and tend to work best in well-lit rooms.

As LCDs use plastic instead of glass in their screens, they are also lighter than Plasmas, making it easier to move around or mount on walls. However, unlike Plasmas, there is a slight image fade when viewed from the sides.

LED – Ultra-slim and powerful design LEDs are the priciest among all HDTVs, and for good reason. LED technology allows manufacturers to create the slimmest displays yet, without compromising on performance. In fact, it offers the best of all worlds—the performance of a Plasma, the resolution of an LCD and the beauty of LED design. What’s more, it offers an extended panel life, and consumes the least amount of power amongst the three. For the best TV experience, the LED TV is highly recommended.

Building the perfect sound room: surround sound for movies and music.

Good sound is subjective, so the best way to judge any audio system is by ear, and not necessarily by technical specifications. But to get the best out of your system, do take special care to set it up properly.

• 5.1 channel surround
This is the industry standard for a home theatre system. A 5.1 sound package would consist of:
1. A Center Channel speaker that lets you hear characters talk. This is often placed above or below your television.
2. Front channel speakers for left and right audio. These are placed on either side of your television. It provides both background music and general sound effects.
3. Rear channel speakers for left and right audio. They are used for background sound effects.

• 6.1 channel surround
A 6.1 channel system adds one extra speaker—a rear surround to provide an extra level of surround-sound detail. It should ideally be placed on the back wall of your home theatre room.

• 7.1 channel surround
A 7.1 channel system adds two extra speakers for an all-encompassing surround sound experience. These are centered between the front left and right & the rear left and right speakers.

Surround sound for music
• Super Audio CD
Created originally for classical music fans, Super Audio CDs are a finer alternative to traditional CDs. This format eliminates many of the distortions and noise produced by default, to give you a much clearer transfer from the original source recording. It requires a specialised player with a built-in decoder and six dedicated analog audio outputs to play.

• DVD-Audio DVD-Audio is the ultra high-fidelity music format aimed at audiophiles. Capitalising on the immense data-storage capacity of the DVD optical-disc format, DVD-Audio is able to include additional content such as still images and videos, making it a truly multimedia format.

Some DVD-Audio discs can play at reduced quality on some standard DVD-Video players, but to experience the full benefits of DVD-Audio, you'll need a player that's specifically designed for it.

The right set-up

What is Blu-ray?

Blu-ray Discs are the high-definition alternative to DVDs. They offer 6 times better image resolution than standard DVDs, giving you a home theatre experience unlike anything you’ve seen before. Details are sharper, colours are more vibrant, and sound quality is as life-like as it gets.

Your existing 5.1 channel audio system is perfectly adequate for Blu-ray. But to truly enjoy the full advantages of Blu-ray Disc’s enhanced audio, you’ll need to purchase a sound system that's designed to compliment Blu-ray.

Some of the newer Blu-ray Disc players now come with in-built internet connectivity, so you can enjoy enhanced digital features and online services.

As Blu-ray Discs are encoded on the same discs used for standard movie DVDs and music CDs, you’ll be able to play your current collection on any Blu-ray Disc player.