Types of TVs

Thanks to image technology that is growing faster than ever, High-Def has become the standard, giving TV buyers more options at lower prices. But what is different in all of these confusing televisions, and what do you need to know before you buy one? If you plan to buy a TV for a loved one (or just for yourself), this can help you find out what to look for. Take a look to find out what distinguishes HDTVs, learn some of the confusing terms associated with them, and see a comparison of the types of TVs commonly sold today. What is the difference between the types and types of TVs, what are the differences and classification, type and formats will be discussed below.

CRT

If you bought a TV in the late 1960s and 2000s, then it was probably a cathode ray tube (CRT) kit. Each CRT kit has a vacuum tube with electron guns that direct red, green, and blue electrons to the phosphor screen. Rays scan a dark screen, creating thousands of red, green, or blue dots to create an image.

Technology dominated for three quarters of a century - CRT televisions date back to the 1930s, and only in 2007 sales of thinner and more versatile LCD monitors exceeded those of CRT televisions.

LCD against plasma

Flat screens began to appear in the late 1990s. Their immediate advantage over CRT was space. They were also lighter, so they could be mounted on the wall and have large screen sizes.

But the choice between a CRT and a flat screen was not easy - in the early 2000s, you had a choice of two flat panel technologies: LCD or Plasma.

LCD panels have backlighting from CCFL lamps that glow through a polarizing filter and a matrix of color liquid crystal crystalline cells. Each cell gives a different number of colors, creating a picture.Plasma screens consisted of thousands of cells between glass panels. Each of the cells (or pixels) contains gas, and when an electric charge passes through the reaction, a reaction occurs, and red, green or blue light is emitted depending on the current. Plasma sets had excellent black levels, contrast, better viewing angles and a high refresh rate (which means less blur when moving faster). However, they were less energy efficient than LCDs, and as LCD TV prices went down, they were eventually overtaken by LCD and LED technology in popularity. In 2014, Panasonic and other manufacturers stopped producing plasma kits.

Digital television

The launch of digital television in the UK has changed the way we watch television, and may have been the most significant recent technological development. From 2008 to the end of 2012, the whole country switched from analog to digital. About 1,154 transmitter stations have been upgraded because the analog signal has been disabled and the digital signal has been increased so that 26 million people can receive Freeview. For viewers, watching digital television meant reconfiguring an existing Freeview TV or buying a digital box if your TV was not a digital model. After the years of existence of only five channels for most people, this was their first experience of multi-channel television without the cost of subscribing to satellite television.

Digital television has gained other benefits, such as an electronic program guide, improved hard disk recording, subtitles, digital radio, and interactive services such as the red BBC button.

A high resolution

High definition television (or HD) has a resolution five times the resolution of standard definition, 1280x720p or 1920x1080p. A higher resolution image has more lines, it is much sharper, more colorful and more detailed. It is not surprising that the stars were worried, their imperfections and wrinkles will become more noticeable with the advent of HD TV.

In the UK, HD broadcasting began in 2006, and there are now dozens of free HD channels, such as BBC One HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD, as well as others that require a subscription.

To watch HD, you need a compatible TV and source, for example, a BT set-top box or a Freeview HD set-top box.

3D

In the early 2010s, 3D television was advancing as the next big viewing trend, and not for the first time - over the past century, numerous experiments with 3D in cinema have been carried out, such as House of Wax (1953) and Dial M for Murder (1954).

3D has even returned to the tremendous success of 3D films such as Avatar (2009), and this popularity was expected to grow into sales of 3D TVs. But, despite the efforts of manufacturers, 3D-TV could not capture the imagination of the public.It wasn’t very comfortable to watch, you had to wear glasses, and you had to sit right in front of the TV to get all the benefits of this technology. There was also a lack of content, and broadcasters gradually abandoned it. The BBC, which broadcast the 2012 Olympics in 3D, stopped broadcasting in 3D, citing a "lack of public appetite." In the long run, 3D has become fashionable - a technology that was not required and did not improve everyday TV viewing. According to Ofcom, in 2015, only 7% of UK television companies said they watch TV content in 3D.

LED tv

In mid-2010, LED screens became popular. The technology is similar to an LCD display, but instead of CCFL lamps, tiny LEDs are used as backlight.

There are two different types of LED TVs. Lamps are installed along the edges of the screen on the edge panels, allowing them to be thinner and more energy efficient. The backlight of the panel has LEDs all over the back of the screen, which means that the image should be more uniform, although they cost more.

Smart tvs

This view has a built-in internet connection. This allows them to connect to a router, usually via an Ethernet cable or a Wi-Fi plug-in, to access the Internet.

All major manufacturers make smart TVs. The interfaces are different, but they all include applications that you can use to stream content or use advanced features. These include free TV apps on demand from BBC iPlayer or 4OD, subscription services like Netflix, or social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Smart TVs were initially expensive, but prices have fallen, and cheap TVs include internet connections. According to Ofcom, in early 2015, smart TVs were installed in 21% of homes, compared with 12% in 2014.

OLED

OLED (Organic LEDs) TVs are a variation on LEDs, but without backlighting. This allows them to be incredibly thin - only 1 mm deep. Each pixel lights up individually, so when they are turned off, the black colors are exceptionally deep. OLED panels have a response time of 1000 times faster than LEDs, which is great for fast sports.

OLED is also physically flexible, LG has created a screen that is minimized. This can radically change the look of your home TV, opening up the possibility of using curved screens, and even those that can be removed from the wall. OLED is currently more expensive than other types of TVs, although prices are dropping. The 55-inch LG 55EG9A7V costs about £ 800, while the LG 55-inch OLED55B7V offers 4K and costs about £ 1,500, making it a premium product for television enthusiasts, although LG estimates production costs will go down with improved manufacturing processes. .

Ultra HD or 4K

Ultra HD or 4K is a set with a minimum resolution of 3840 × 2160 - four times more pixels than Full HD and eight times more than SD.The advantage of this high resolution is the amount of detail that you can see. From flower petals in a natural program to drops of sweat on a football player’s face, the pictures will be incredibly realistic and close to real life.

More Ultra HD / 4K content is now available for viewing. BT Sport launched the first Live Sport 4K channel at 50 frames per second, which means sharper images without blur. Netflix subscribers can watch favorites in Ultra HD, and BT has released an Ultra HD box. Over the past few years, the prices of Ultra HD / 4K kits have fallen, and they have become much more affordable, and more than 50% of sold TVs now support Ultra HD / 4K.