Reviews of the best LCD TV's - Sony - Samsung - Sharp - Panasonic:

LCD stands for "Liquid Crystal Diode" and the technology has been around for years in other products like alarm clocks, microwaves, etc, but it wasn't until recently that it was used in television sets, projectors, and monitors. Now you can get a slim looking tv set for your home that weights very little compared to the heavy plasma tv screens. The advantages of a flat panel LCD television display is that you get a brighter picture, the tv's have a 160 degree viewing angle, most come with tuners and speakers, picture quality is smooth and colorful, lcd displays come with a 16:9 aspect ratio - great for HDTV and DVD's or with a 4:3 aspect ratio for regular programming, and it's also capable of being your computer monitor. The average lifespan of an LCD display is 60,000 hours. Since LCD's came along after plasma tv, their size has been limited (usually under 27 inches), but with recent advancements from LG and Samsung, LCD tv's are now available as 42 inch models, 37 inch models, and a recent 55" prototype was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show. Again almost all LCD flat panel displays have built in tuners that pick up HDTV signals just fine.

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LCD displays are fairly light compared to plasma screens and therefore you can put them virtually anywhere in your home - flat wall mounts, tilt wall mounts, table stands, articulating, and ceiling mounts. Many people find the smaller LCD screens to be convenient in smaller areas like bathrooms, bedrooms or on countertops in the kitchen area. There's much more freedom when you buy an LCD tv than with a plasma tv. The top ten LCD TVs per reviewers (consumers rated them) are the Sharp LC-32D50U ($1380) - beautiful titantium finish on this 32 inch w/ 720p HDTV viewing, Sony KDL-40S2000 - integrated HDTV and PC inputs in this 40 inch model, Sharp LC-37D90U ($1980) - true 16:9 aspect ratio and 1080p HDTV viewing, Panasonic TC-32LX60 ($1180) - great customer feedback on this 32 inch LCD panel with swivel stand, Sony KDL-32S2000 - elegant silver design from the Sony Bravia LCD TV series, Samsung LN-S3241D ($1280) - new wide screen HDTV LCD TV with crisp picture, Sharp LC-45D40U ($2280)- one of our favorites with 45 inch LCD screen and excellent picture quality, Sony KDL-46XBR2 ($3680) - 46 inch LCD with Sony XBR video quality, Sharp LC-37D40U ($1680) - smaller than the 45 inch model listed above, but just as impressive, Sony KLV-40U100M ($1730) - another model in the Bravia S Series with integrated tuner in the flat panel display LCD TV. We put prices up on most of the models although with increased competition the prices will continue to fall (especially through the holiday season). You can find all these LCD TVs at Circuit City, Best Buy, or online at Plasmadepot.com and Dtvexpress.com. My wife recently bought me an AKai LCD TV/Monitor which is only 19 inches wide and the price fell 25% within 2 months after we got it. Oh well. Other top manufacturers of LCD tv screens are JVC, LG, NEC, Olevia, Philips, Toshiba, Soyo, Westinghouse, Magnavox, Zenith, Hyundai, and Polaroid.

LCD vs Plasma:

Plasma TVs dominated the market over the last few years, but recently LCD flat panel Television sets have made their own niche. We decided to check consumer reviews on which type of tv set was better in head to head test (LCD versus Plasma tvs). Plasmas have had a head start being in production longer, so their screens are larger at this point (32-63 inches vs 13-45 inches for LCD screens). LCD TVs have the viewing angle advantage (160 degrees versus 175 degrees). Plasmas tvs have a slight edge when it comes to "screen refresh rates". Both LCD Tvs and Plasma screens have excellent product life-span with close to 60,000 hours of viewing pleasure (no advantage to either). LCD tvs are lighter, cheaper to ship and more portable to place anywhere in your home. In terms of durability, plasmas are very fragile and when wall mounted need special care, while LCD tvs can be easily mounted by the owners without worry. Although the price is still in favor of plasma tv screens, LCD's are making ground in a quick way. We expect that within a year or so, the pricing between Plasma televisions and LCD Tv's will be practically similar which should give LCD screens the market edge.

LCD Wall Mount:

Attaching your new LCD screen to a wall is not that difficult (don't listen to people who have Plasmas). The LCD technology has made them much lighter than Plasma tvs and therefore they are easier to handle and maneuver when setting up a wall mount. LCD mounts are anywhere from $25-$250, but a good midrange flat wall mount should only set you back about $70. We recently visited Mountcenter.com and went into their LCD Mount section to see which products are the best sellers. They offer articulating wall arm, desktop/countertop, cabinet, ceiling, floor stand, flat wall, tilt wall, and pivoting wall arm mounts. The most popular are the Peerless SF630 Flat Wall Mount for Small LCD 10"-24" Screens ($25), Ranier RANFLP2 Universal Flat Wall Mount - for screens 24"-37" ($90), Perless SP850 Universal Pull-Out Flat Panel SmartMount for Screens 26"-50" ($240), Peerless SF635 Universal Flat Wall Mount for Small-Medium LCD 10"-37" Screens ($33), Chief PST-U Universal Fixed Wall Mount ($170), Peerless SP740 SmartMount Pivot Wall Arm for 22"-37" Screens ($115), the Peerless ST630 Tilting Wall Mount for Small LCD 10"-24" Screens ($25), and the Ranier RANAM2 Universal Articulating Wall Arm - for up to 80lb flat panel screens ($126). I've watched a few neighbors install these types of mounts and once you find the necessary studs in the wall, it's pretty easy.

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