Everything you need to know about buying a flat-screen TV

BIGGER IS BETTER IN today's world of television watching, but paradoxically we also want our TV sets to be less obtrusive, as lightweight as possible and more versatile in their application. All this while delivering theatre-quality sight and sound.

Enter flat-panel LCD (liquid crystal display) and plasma screens, which offer dramatically improved image quality as long as they are showing enhanced-quality television programmes, videos and DVDs. With flat screens, we can enjoy multimedia entertainment with greater clarity than on conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) sets. Compatibility with computers is another advantage for those who want to work, surf the internet or play games on a screen bigger than a computer monitor.

The main difference between LCD and plasma screens is lifespan. Under normal viewing conditions, plasma screens will provide optimum performance for seven to eight years before the pixels start to die (affecting picture quality), whereas LCD screens can last twice as long. However, many believe plasma still offers superior technology, although most plasma models come as a screen only, into which devices such as a tuner, speakers and VCR are plugged. An LCD set has all these functions built in, so you can simply take one home, plug it in and start watching.

According to Bert C. H. Wong, product manager at Sony's flagship store (16/F East Point Centre, 555 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 2345 2966), flat screens use a signal-processing system, and because there is no tube like in their chunkier predecessors the screen bodies are more compact, much lighter and emit no radiation.

Plasma TVs generally come in a choice of two installation styles - wall-mounted or table-standing - and Wong says Sony's top-sellers in Hong Kong are the 42MR1 model ($59,990), which measures 135cm by 75cm by 10cm and the 32TS ($35,990), measuring 86cm by 63cm by 13cm. Unusually, both models come with built-in tuner and speakers.