Archive for the ‘Plasma Televisions’ Category
Wall mounting your Plasma or LCD TV can be done in five easy steps. Required tools are a ratchet set for the mount screws, drill, level or tape measure, sheet rock knife (if placing wires in the wall).
Step 1) Determine where you want to locate your TV. Consider a place where direct sunlight will not hit the TV. You may also want to think about where you can position the speakers to get the best surround sound and the best seating arrangement. General rule is that the seating distance should be 1.5 times from the diagonal size of the TV. When seated the bottom of the TV should be at eye height.
Step 2) Now that you know where the TV will be located, the next step is to locate the studs in the wall. It is very important that your TV mount be securely fastened to a stud and not just the wallboard. The easiest way to the studs is to buy a stud finder. (Most hardware stores)
Step 3) Next we need to determine how to run the cables from your equipment to where the TV will be on the wall. One option is to run the cables in the wall. Another option is to use a cable cover then texture and paint the cover to match the wall. If running cables in the wall, cut a hole where the TV will be and cut a hole where your equipment will be. Make sure the holes do not cross over a stub unless you plan on drilling a hole in the stud for the cables to run through. Run the wires in the wall.
Step 4) With the wires in place we know where the mount needs to be. The next step is to attach the mount to the wall. Make sure that the mount is level, either by using a level or my measuring from the floor to each side of the mount. Also make sure the screws go into the studs and that you drill (starter holes) for the screws so that you do not crack the studs. Most mounts come with the screws and tell you which size holes to drill.
Step 5) Last step is to place the TV on the mount. This is actually the hardest step, make sure you have help with this step as it is difficult to see the mount and lift the TV at the same time. You don’t want to drop it at this point and need Television repair.
HDTVs use more power than you might imagine. Because old tube televisions are starting to vanish, replaced by much larger plasma and LCD sets, TV watchers in general may note an increase in their electricity bills. And with the ever increasing popularity of TV-based entertainment options, such as video games, digital video recorders, more and more electricity is being utilized on TV-related activity. Those devices use a bit of power, but typically the biggest energy hog in your entertainment center is the TV itself.
The power used by an active television is determined by three factors: size of screen; type of technology, such as plasma or LCD; and picture brightness, which nearly always depends on selected picture settings.
Average plasma: 338 watts
Average LCD: 176 watts
PlayStation 3: 197 watts
Xbox 360 Elite 185 watts
Nintendo Wii: 19 watts
DirecTV HR20 DVR: 33 watts
Screen size: Larger TVs use more power. A 32-inch LCD uses about half as much power as a 52-inch LCD. Of course, the 52-incher’s screen is nearly three times as large as that of the 32-inch model, so the efficiency payoff for going down in screen size does tend to taper off. However, the chances are your new flat-screen TV will use more power than your old tube TV-if the new set is significantly larger.
Technology type: Plasma TVs use more power than LCD TVs, on average, roughly two to three times more electricity to produce a picture of the same brightness as LCD. In the last couple of years, plasma TV makers have made some progress–but they still can’t compete with LCD for energy efficiency. One problem is that in plasma sets, each pixel is a distinct light source (think of it as a tiny light bulb), so when resolution increases, say from 720p to 1080p, power use goes up also. The intensity of light from each pixel must be increased to brighten the picture as a whole.
LCD TVs, on the other hand, a backlight shines through an LCD panel to create the picture. Since the pixels reside in the panel, and not the backlight, the TV’s power use is largely independent of resolution. Many LCDs can conserve additional power by automatically turning the backlight down during dark scenes and up during bright scenes. Some models use a different backlight technology, such as LEDs, which are inherently more efficient than standard fluorescent backlights. And some “local dimming” models can even control the brightness of different parts of the LED backlight independently.
Picture settings: The brighter the picture, the more power is consumed, and since light output is primarily a function of the picture settings available on all TVs, this is the one factor that any user can control regardless of television. Reducing the light output of your TV can cut power use by as much as half, and as long as you don’t overdo it, you’ll still enjoy great picture quality.
The principal settings that matter are contrast and backlight. Both directly control light output. Nearly every TV has a contrast control, but backlight is generally restricted to LCD models but not every LCD has it. In LCDs with both backlight and contrast controls, backlight is the main determinant of light output and power use. The brightness control has less of an impact on TVs light output than the other two settings do.
Other controls are also often available, such as energy saver modes, which typically limit peak light output, dynamic settings that raise or lower the light output depending on the brightness or darkness of the image being displayed, and room lighting sensors that increase light output in dark rooms and lower it when the lights dim. Turning on any of these controls will generally reduce the TVs power use, but it will often sacrifice image fidelity. Automatic adjustments can be distracting, for example, and aggressive energy saver modes can make images too dim. No LCD tv repair is needed this is normal.
CLEANING YOUR LCD & PLASMA SCREENS
Keeping LCD and Plasma TV screens clean not only provides a better picture, but extends the life of the TV. Learning the proper methods of cleaning your screen can save yourself a lot of grief and possible damage to your investment, and keeps you from costly television repairs.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1
Obviously, your LCD or Plasma Tv screen isn’t glass. So, DO NOT! use Windex or any other household cleaners. They Can Harm Your Screen! Ammonia is bad !
Step 2
Ensure that your TV has been off long enough that it doesn’t feel warm to the touch. Wipe your screen with a soft, lint-free cloth. If there are no visible smudges after dusting, stop here. The Less you have to clean your screen, the longer it will last!
Step 3
To remove smudges from the screen, you will need a mild cleaning solution. There are many LCD/PLasma screen cleaners on the market, but they are overpriced and contain little more than water and isopropyl alcohol. Why not make your own solution and save money?
Step 4
Using a measuring cup, make a solution of equal parts water and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). Do not add more than 50% alcohol, as this will produce a mixture too harsh to use.
Step 5
Take a soft, lint-free micro-fiber cloth and dip it in the cleaning solution. Squeeze out any excess solution. DO NOT spray the solution directly on the screen. This could damage nearby electrical components or wick into the screen layers. Wipe the solution-damp cloth lightly! over the screen, concentrating on visible smudges.
Step 6
If there is visible dirt in the corners of the screen, use a cotton swab dipped in the solution to clean them. Once you are finished cleaning the screen, give it a quick wipe with another dry cloth.
Now set back and enjoy your clean screen.
Troubleshooting and diagnosing it and perhaps repairing it by yourself means you have just acquired a very nifty and potentially profitable skill! You could pursue it as a hobby or very seriously as an alternative source of income. Either way I believe you are a winner.
More and more people are living in smaller spaces such as apartments and condominium units, hence, there is the need to innovate and find solutions in maximizing space. It is no wonder that the flat screen TV is slowly replacing the ordinary bulky TV monitors we have been comfortable with for years. The two popular ones are the plasma TV and the LCD TV.
Here are some of the advantages of the plasma TV:
1. They are available in large sizes. The Panasonic plasma TV, for instance, offers 37-inch to 60-inch HDTV.
2. The color comes out clearer.
3. It has a long lifespan and can last up to 30,000 hours of viewing.
4. It is easy to find an plasma TV repair service nearly anywhere
Procuring that new plasma or LCD TV is likely to be more pricey than having your malfunctioning sample fixed or repaired. Depending on what is wrong with it, it is probably more practical to have it looked at first by a professional to see what is wrong. You could either bring it to the Factory Service Center for some diagnostics (which might entail some costs) or you could DIY troubleshoot it! There are good plasma tv repair guide and LCD TV repair course available on the internet. You could avail yourself of these self-help programs and then find out what is wrong with your TV using the information you will learn.
Having an electronic home appliance like that state-of-the-art flat screen television suddenly die on you is not really an event we always prepare for. Our five year plans, after all, does not usually include an electronic device. Neither do we, as a norm, keep spare LCD or plasma TVs inside the store room. However, whenever such things happen, it always bring about that hair-pulling dilemma that I think most us go through. That is, the dilemma to either have the appliance repaired or to junk it and buy something new.
The answer to the question of whether to buy or to have your LCD tv repaired, as you would expect, is not easy as it depends on the situation. For example, with the older generation televisions like the cathode-ray tube (CRT) TV, a malfunction would most likely signal the owner to put more weight on the “buy new” scenario instead of repair scenario. This is because the prices of its more advanced descendants, the flat screen LCD and Plasma televisions, has gone down so dramatically in last few years. And with the modern flat screen’s relative advantage in picture quality, reliability and energy efficiency, the argument for the “buy new TV” option seems more convincing than having an aging, bulky and power hungry CRT TV under go repair.
But what if the TV that is breaking down is a high-tech LCD or plasma TV? The answer to this also depends on a number of considerations but the difference here is that the decision will not be as easy to arrive at since new flat screen TVs are not as inexpensive as CRTs and hence throwing away that flat screen in the living room will not be as easy as throwing away that 10 year old tube.
Buying a new TV certainly does have its advantages though. The flat screen TV technology is evolving on a monthly basis and hence, the newer ones will have already incorporated more advance and convenient features than the ones they sold just a couple of months before. The newer ones will also most likely be more energy efficient than its predecessors and so will be more environmentally friendly. New TVs will also have a warranty and that should give anyone piece of mind for one year at the very least.
The other option, the TV repair option, likewise, has its advantages (and it seems it has more advantages compared to the buy new option). Over the next four days I will cover those advantages.