Since a television is one of the central components of your home theater system – and usually the most costly – it is well worth taking a good look at your options. In addition to plasma flat screen TVs, there are LCD and LCD/LED TVs. 

LCD 

A LCD TV uses different technology than a plasma TV, something called a liquid crystal display. In LCD televisions, two pieces of transparent material are placed at right angles and are backlit by fluorescent tubing. 

LCD TVs come in sizes ranging from 16″ to 57″ and are made by many different manufacturers, not just a handful. In comparison to plasma, they have less of a side viewing angle and aren’t as good at tracking motion, say, in a sports game. But LCDs are lighter in weight than plasma, so they can be hung much more easily, and they use less power. 

LED TV 

The third type of flat screen TV is the LED TV, sometimes called the LED/LCD TV, and it is a technology that is relatively new, first appearing on the market around 2004.  LED TVs are very similar to LCD TVs, but instead of fluorescent lighting, they use LED to backlight the screen. 

LED TV’s come in a wide range of sizes, but are a bit thinner than their LCD predecessors, usually less than an inch. LEDs often surpass LCDs in terms of picture brightness and contrast in terms of quality. LEDs are also more energy efficient, making them the best choice of all TVs in terms of efficiency. 

As a new technology, LED TVs hold a lot of promise, but at the moment they are a bit more expensive than LCD TVs and comparable in price to plasma.