OTHER TECH

Flat-Panel LCD

If you're looking for the best value at 37 to 42 inches, you might find yourself struggling with the old question of "plasma vs. LCD?" But among big-screen TVs, plasma is the clear value winner - at least for now. On the other hand, LCD prices have been dropping at a phenomenal pace and show no signs of slowing down. Also, aggressive panel manufacturers in Korea and Taiwan are bringing ever more factories online, producing ever-larger "motherglass." In short, economies of scale will catch up with plasma, and by next year LCD will mount a serious challenge at the 42-inch size.

How It Works A matrix of thin-film transistors (TFTs) supplies voltage to liquid crystal-filled cells sandwiched between two sheets of glass. As with plasma panels, a trio of red, green, and blue cells make up one pixel, but each uses a colored filter instead of phosphors to create a color. When hit with an electrical charge, the crystals "untwist" to filter light generated by a lamp behind the screen.

Pros •Only a few inches deep. •Higher resolution than plasma at similar screen sizes. •Uses less power, runs cooler, and weighs less than plasma. •No danger of burn-in.

Cons •More expensive than similar-sized plasmas. •Of the fixed-pixel technologies, LCD has the most trouble with blacks. Some light always passes through, even when the crystals are in an untwisted state, so the best black is usually a very dark gray. •Because of how light goes through the cells, LCD flat-panel displays usually have narrower viewing angles than plasma TVs. •Compared with DLP, LCoS, or plasma, LCDs require more space between pixels, which can result in a visible screen-door effect.

Entry point: $1,500 A quick look at current prices proved that flat-panel LCD isn't yet a big-screen contender. The entry-level 37-inch size barely qualifies as "big-screen," but models from no-name brands like Syntax Olevia cost about $1,500, while major-label sets from Sharp and others run closer to $2,000. I found entry-level 42-inch models from Philips and others selling for around $3,700 - that's $4.92 per square inch of screen, if you're counting. But make no mistake - large-screen LCDs will reach plasma price levels very soon.