Buying a television doesn't just mean choosing screen size, brand and price. The basic needs of viewers are to have a clear, trouble free and eye-friendly viewing experience. Today, televisions have many hardware and software features that limit or facilitate our viewing experience. We assume that their latest screen technologies and features exceed basic viewing needs. But that's only a fairy tale.
Introduction
Those of us who watched TV (Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screen technology) in the '80s and '90s never thought about viewing angles. Why? We didn't need to. We watched our screens from pretty much anywhere in a room. To ensure that our basic viewing needs were met, we simply had to ensure that we sat beyond a safe distance from the screen. That distance protected our eyes. Also house and interior designs took into account a CRT TV.
When new screen technologies were launched in the market, we assumed that we'd get what we already have and more. The truth is that while TV sizes increased incredibly and images began to be captured with so much detail, they have come at the expense of losing some basic positive viewing experience with the CRT screen. Before LCD and LED TVs that dominate the market these days, plasma TVs was first challenger to the CRT TV domination.
Plasma TVs have many qualities that allow a good quality viewing experience, many better than LCD TVs. Yet it has become obsolete. We assume that new is better but it is not. And many of us know it and experience it. Those of us who are confused about their experience with these new technologies suffer from their expectation of society. This expectation assumes that something new has been put out there because it is better than the existing technology because it is inherently superior. Just ask yourself a question - if bigger and bigger screens were so important, why do we find people watching videos and movies on relatively tiny phones and not complaining about it. In my informed opinion, reflectiveness of screens damages the eyes and I can also say it from experience. From experience, I can also say that 3D movies can damage your eyes. In one of the film festival seminars, they showed a 3D technology promotional video. The explanations clearly indicated to me that if 3D wasn't implemented in very specific ways, they could damage your eyes. So I put a question to a 3D expert from Hollywood. I told him my eyes hurt from watching 3D films. I wanted to know what measures were being put in place to reduce these negative impacts of 3D. Instead of addressing the question, he said that this was MY problem and not the problem of most viewers. He said companies cannot be bothered about the small percentage of people who have these problems. What he said shocked me. These companies were putting out technologies for mass consumption and they didn't care about the negative impact of 3D technology! Even the best of governments and medical authorities weren't aware and didn't create guidelines for the proper implementation of 3D! I know plenty of people who has problems watching 3D films and know that the company executive was lying. So if you know that neither companies nor governments will care about your health, you better understand the technology to understand the harm it can cause.
Now let's get to the tech part.
Plasma TVs have many qualities that allow a good quality viewing experience, many better than LCD TVs. Yet it has become obsolete. We assume that new is better but it is not. And many of us know it and experience it. Those of us who are confused about their experience with these new technologies suffer from their expectation of society. This expectation assumes that something new has been put out there because it is better than the existing technology because it is inherently superior. Just ask yourself a question - if bigger and bigger screens were so important, why do we find people watching videos and movies on relatively tiny phones and not complaining about it. In my informed opinion, reflectiveness of screens damages the eyes and I can also say it from experience. From experience, I can also say that 3D movies can damage your eyes. In one of the film festival seminars, they showed a 3D technology promotional video. The explanations clearly indicated to me that if 3D wasn't implemented in very specific ways, they could damage your eyes. So I put a question to a 3D expert from Hollywood. I told him my eyes hurt from watching 3D films. I wanted to know what measures were being put in place to reduce these negative impacts of 3D. Instead of addressing the question, he said that this was MY problem and not the problem of most viewers. He said companies cannot be bothered about the small percentage of people who have these problems. What he said shocked me. These companies were putting out technologies for mass consumption and they didn't care about the negative impact of 3D technology! Even the best of governments and medical authorities weren't aware and didn't create guidelines for the proper implementation of 3D! I know plenty of people who has problems watching 3D films and know that the company executive was lying. So if you know that neither companies nor governments will care about your health, you better understand the technology to understand the harm it can cause.
Now let's get to the tech part.
Technology Benefits and Disadvantages
For more than half a century, the broadcast technology was standard definition (SD). The images had a ratio of 4:3. 4 being the width (horizontal) and 3 being the height (vertical). The screen size could be 15 inches or 30 inches but the ratios were 4:3. Having a CRT TV made sense then. Today broadcast technology has evolved and Hight Definition (HD) images have a ratio of 16:9. However, not every broadcaster in India has changed their technology. So you will find both ratios - 4:3 and 16:9.
If the TV screen ratios don't match the broadcast image ratios then part of the image will either not be seen or the image will be squeezed and distorted-both poor viewing experiences. CRT TVs don't make that much sense any more for this reason.
CRT TVs require a certain amount of space, a certain depth (the third axis, other than width and height) for installation. The bigger the TV, the greater the depth. So even if you can afford a large TV, you cannot buy one if the CRT TV takes up a lot of space in the room. Plasma, LCD and LED screens don't take up that much space in a room as they are much thinner even for screens that are 3-5 times bigger. Their width and height don't affect the space in a room as they can be installed very close to the wall.
CRT TVs require a certain amount of space, a certain depth (the third axis, other than width and height) for installation. The bigger the TV, the greater the depth. So even if you can afford a large TV, you cannot buy one if the CRT TV takes up a lot of space in the room. Plasma, LCD and LED screens don't take up that much space in a room as they are much thinner even for screens that are 3-5 times bigger. Their width and height don't affect the space in a room as they can be installed very close to the wall.
Plasmas are obsolete as of now. So there is no need to consider it now. But technologies have the ability to make come backs when someone develops a new capability with that technology.
💬Do you know aluminum was commonly used in households till World War II came along? As aluminum was light and strong, the governments of the days deemed it was more important to use it to build tanks, weapons and other war equipment than to make household items. So steel replaced aluminum in households.
💬Do you know aluminum was commonly used in households till World War II came along? As aluminum was light and strong, the governments of the days deemed it was more important to use it to build tanks, weapons and other war equipment than to make household items. So steel replaced aluminum in households.
LCD TVs are now being replaced by LED screens. However, LCD TVs still have a dominant position in the current TV market. As a rule, every technology that is used widely will be cheap. LCD is cheap because of its wide use. The increasing use of LED screens will change that position. The only thing that will come in the way of reducing prices will be the availability of raw materials used to make these screens. Remember, mobile phones also used LED and LCD screens. If I understood that raw material market scenario better I would have been able to predict the future of TV screens better.
Why are LED TVs being increasingly used?
Apple's iPhone use a tweaked LCD technology, which produces great viewing experiences but that is not the general story of LCD televisions. In a second part of this article we will explore human experience of viewing.
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