1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. This podcast 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: is brought to you by Audible dot com, the internet 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: leading provider of spoken word entertainment. For a free audio 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: book of your choice, go to Audible podcast dot com 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: slash tech Stuff. Hi there, everybody, Welcome to tech Stuff. 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: My name is Chris Polette. I'm an editor at how 9 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. Sitting next to me, as usual, is senior 10 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, it's good to see you all, 11 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: except we can't see you and you can't see us. 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: But you know, there's always that other medium on which 13 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: we're not. But I think the public is familiar with 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: the This is as smooth as it. I'm just tripping. 15 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: All Okay, you know what, I'm gonna just take over 16 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: from here. Okay, all right, So we're gonna talk about 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: television's HDTV S fly panels. Specifically, we're gonna talk about 18 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: l C D s versus plasma displays. And if if 19 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: you're like me, you know, if you've ever gone into 20 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: an electronics store and you see that huge wall of televisions. 21 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: You may wonder, like, all right, well, I see there's 22 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: some of them are plasma, some of them are l 23 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: c D. What's the difference, doesn't doesn't make a difference, Um, 24 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: And what's the best choice for me? And which one 25 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: can I afford and can have installed in my house 26 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: later this afternoon. Which one's gonna allow me to have 27 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: the largest possible TV for the least amount of money. 28 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: That's usually the way I go. That's I don't think, no, no, 29 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: I think that's pretty common. But of course there are 30 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: other things to take into consideration, like bigger is not 31 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: always better. For one thing, you want to make sure 32 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: you have the best picture quality and you want to 33 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: you know, there it also depends on what kind of 34 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: stuff you like to watch on television, because some displays 35 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: are better at showing certain kinds of action than others. Well, um, 36 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: I guess then it comes down to what kind of 37 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: technology will do that for you. And you know, most 38 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: of us grew up with crt s, the cathode ray tube. Um, 39 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: those are the bigger TVs that certainly not flat panel, 40 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: but you know they had a pretty good picture because 41 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: they were using an electron gun to illuminate phosphors in 42 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: the back of the TV screen and that produced a 43 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: really clear picture. And and in fact, there's some techno 44 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: files who would argue that they still provide the best picture, 45 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: that the picture from one of those sets, like an 46 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: HD TV set that's uses that that technology is actually 47 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: superior to plasma or l c D, but they don't 48 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: really make a whole lot of HD cathode ray tube sets, 49 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: and that they're giants there. Yeah, there's a lot of 50 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: space exactly, And and that's that's part of the issue here, 51 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: is that once people started seeing these flat panel displays, 52 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: you know, they're really sexy and sleek, and you know, 53 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: you can just imagine having this really kind of high 54 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,519 Speaker 1: tech looking entertainment center with this as the centerpiece. Um 55 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: that's got a very you know, enticing appeal to it. 56 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: And yeah, you might be able to get a better 57 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: picture on a larger machine, but you know you kind 58 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: of balance it all out, like, well, what's more important 59 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: to me? Is it more important to have the really 60 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: sleek machine that still looks amazing or to have the 61 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: absolute best, uh, visual performance. And I think a lot 62 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: of people, you know, they you know, they tend to 63 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: go to the flat panel for one, thing has been 64 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: marketed as like the top of the line in uh 65 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: in displays. So now it's part of that has to 66 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: do with marketing, But I mean you can't underestimate the 67 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: the appeal of that that thin wall mounted you know display. 68 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: That's true, that's true. Well, Um, there have been a 69 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: lot of different technologies that people have used to create 70 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: the thinner or even flat panel displays. I mean they're um, 71 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: you know, oh LED's the organic light emitting diodes. There 72 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: are you know, the DLP l c os, you know, 73 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff. But it really comes down to, well, 74 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: at least for the most part, plasma versus c D Right. Yeah, 75 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: I think oh LEDs will probably be something we'll see 76 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: more of in the future, but right now, um, the 77 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: technology is still pretty new. So the sets that are 78 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: out there are very small, like around eleven inches pretty 79 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: much it, and they're very very expensive. Um, but they're 80 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: also wafer thin, and they're super do wafer thin, and 81 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: there are beautiful latin I tell you, and um, you 82 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: can even you can even make them so that they're flexible. Yeah, 83 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: you could bend them around things if you I mean 84 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 1: granted you have to build that into it. It's not 85 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: like every set's gonna bend around everything. But um, it's 86 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: really cool technology, but it's still brand new, comparatively speaking, 87 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: and so it's uh for most of us, prohibitively expensive. 88 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: So l C D S and plasma, let's get down 89 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: to the brass tacks, as it were. So let's talk 90 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: a little bit about the technologies behind these. Um, I'm 91 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: just gonna do kind of a quick high level thing here, uh, 92 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: hime in whenever you like. Alright, So, liquid crystal displays 93 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: uses this stuff called liquid crystals. It's it acts kind 94 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 1: of like a liquid, kind of like a solid um, 95 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: and it's a it's essentially two glass plates with a 96 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: layer of these liquid crystals in between. And by applying 97 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: electricity to this layer, that's what you allow light through, 98 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: uh to create the pictures. And so these televisions are 99 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: back lit. There's a light source behind this layer of 100 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: liquid crystals that provides all the light you see on 101 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: the television. Plasma displays use an ionized gas. That's what 102 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: plasma is. It's a gas that can conduct electricity and 103 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,239 Speaker 1: it lights up only when there are when there's something 104 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: to show. On the screens. There's no backlight there. It's 105 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: just uh, electricity activating this gas to create light, So 106 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 1: you don't you don't have a constant backlight like like 107 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: you do with l c ds, And that becomes important 108 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 1: in a minute. Yeah. The neat thing about the plasma 109 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 1: is that when you introduce some free um atomic particles 110 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: into the plasma uh atoms, they basically excite the different 111 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: atoms by replacing electrons and it makes them bounce around 112 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: and when they do that, they give off light um. 113 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: So it's, uh, it's sort of an atomic reaction. You're 114 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: talking about actually subatomic really, because you're talking about electrons 115 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: and photons here. This is quantum stuff. You're watching quantum TV. 116 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: It's pretty awesome. I I really want to make a 117 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: quantum leap joke, but okay, well I'm not gonna Yeah, 118 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: I think that's a been dated anyway. So anyway, so 119 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: we mentioned the back light for l c D s. 120 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: Now that that's one of the big differences between the 121 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: l c D displays and the plasma displays. This can 122 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: affect something that is called contrast ratio. If you ever 123 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: start shopping for TVs, especially flat panels and h d 124 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: t V s, you'll you'll likely run into a lot 125 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: of talk about contrast ratios, and well, what is a 126 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: contrast ratio? It's the difference between the essentially the whitest 127 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: whites and the blackest blacks that that display can show. 128 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: So the bigger that number, like say say you say 129 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: it's one thousand to one, the bigger that number is, 130 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: the more colors that can show, the better the blacks 131 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: are going to be, the better the contrast is. So 132 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: a fifty thousand to one is a much better contrast ratio. 133 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: And in general, plasma screens show blacks better than l 134 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: c ds. And that's because, like we said, there's no 135 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: backlight on a plasma. So if you want to watch 136 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: a lot of movies, for example, a lot of really 137 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: like kind of you know, dark, grim movie type things. 138 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: They say, you want to watch The Dark Night, there 139 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: are a lot of blacks in that movie. You know, 140 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: you get like the black of the night, you get 141 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: the black of the Batman costume, you get the black 142 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: of the car, all of these things, um degrees of 143 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: black exactly. Yeah, it goes from you're going to see 144 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: the difference between them the pastel black from Yeah, for 145 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: your spinal tap fans out there's a paste black. But 146 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: they the if you have a screen that can show 147 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: a very good contrast ratio, a very wide contrast ratio, 148 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: you'll be able to see all that clearly. They're not 149 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: going to blend into one another. It's not gonna look 150 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: blocky or anything like that. Um So, plasma screens are 151 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: really good at that. L c D s are are 152 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: getting better, but traditionally they were seen as not being 153 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: very good as far as the contrast ratio goes. But 154 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: that's changing. Yeah, that's changing. There. There are a lot 155 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: of improvements in that field right there, and and there 156 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: are other change things that traditionally were different between plasma 157 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: and l c D that are increasingly becoming non factors 158 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: because the improvements in the technology have reached a point 159 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: where it's it's getting hard and hard to tell the difference. Now, 160 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: if you look at a lot of people's top you know, 161 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: top television lists, I think you'll probably see more plasmas 162 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: than l c D s even now, because that's the 163 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,719 Speaker 1: general consistent consensus is that they show more vibrant colors 164 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: and the contrast is better. You can have larger sets, 165 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: larger sets they don't. There's there's not really a problem 166 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: with blurring with fast action. Some of the older l 167 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: c d s had a problem with that where if 168 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: something was moving across the screen very very quickly, you 169 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: can get a blurring effect. So if you were watching 170 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: something that had a lot of fast action in it, 171 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: like you know, most sports, then you would get this 172 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: kind of blurring effect, especially at high definitions. UM plasma 173 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: didn't have that problem. But now again with l c 174 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: d s, they know, you're just starting to see l 175 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: c d s with like incredible refresh rates, which is 176 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 1: how many times uh the television refreshes the picture that's 177 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: on your screen. Um, you know they're a hundred twenty 178 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: hurts is not unheard of, and that's that means it's 179 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: refreshing at a rate about like a hundred twenty times 180 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: a second. It's really really fast. And there are even 181 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: faster ones coming out that I saw at c S, 182 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: which were two hurts, so four times a second. Then yeah, 183 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: so when well two hundred forty times a second, yeah, 184 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: not four times a second, you're thinking you're you're dividing 185 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: by minutes um two of a second. So that's so fast. 186 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: I mean we can kind of detect around like like 187 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: film I think is what like twenty four frames per 188 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,319 Speaker 1: second something like that, So this is ten times that. Um. 189 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: The idea here being that that it makes smoother transitions. 190 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: You don't see the blurring effect with with really fast motions. 191 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: But still plasma kind of holds the advantage there, but 192 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: it's not a not a really discernible one unless you're 193 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: paying incredibly close attention. And then there's the power consumption issue. Yes, 194 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: because l c D s are traditionally considered to be 195 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: the more energy efficient technology. Yes, in general they are, 196 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,559 Speaker 1: but not as much anymore, not as much anymore, um. 197 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: I mean even I remember a few years ago that, uh, 198 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: some communities were starting to ban the sale of new 199 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,839 Speaker 1: plasma televisions because they used so much energy, right, And 200 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: I can talk a little bit about why that is. 201 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,080 Speaker 1: The main reason is that, uh, you're having to essentially 202 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,680 Speaker 1: shoot electricity to excite these these atoms, you know, to 203 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: in order to give off light. Well, even when you 204 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: turn that television off, the electricity is still is still draining, 205 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: you know. Vampire power is what a lot of people 206 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: call it, um, because it has to stay ready, you know, 207 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: for the next time you turn it on. People don't 208 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: want to wait for it to warm up there and 209 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: sucks down electricity and and so you get a lot 210 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: more draining uh when the even when the device is 211 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: turned off than you would with an l c D 212 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: screen screen and l c D s also have to 213 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: warm up. They just don't have as long a warm 214 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 1: up time as plasma. And we're talking when we're talking 215 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: about long warm up times, we're talking about a matter 216 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 1: of seconds. But we've become so impatient as consumers that 217 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: we expect when we put hit that power button, we 218 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: expect that screen to come on pretty darn quick. So um, 219 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: but your I can give you one example of a 220 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: time when a plasma screen will pull less electricity than 221 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: an l c D. If you're watching something that's perfectly black, 222 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: because the l c D has a backlight and it 223 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:02,839 Speaker 1: will always be lit. Good point. If you watch nothing 224 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: but the black, are sorry. If you watch nothing but 225 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: the dark, Knight or spinal tap, yeah, something like that, 226 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: then yeah, you're gonna you're gonna pull less power with 227 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: your plasma display. But in general, yes, it's gonna it's 228 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,200 Speaker 1: gonna consume more power. Now, a lot of companies have 229 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: developed UM power saving techniques to reduce that. In fact, 230 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 1: it's become more and more important. I saw a lot 231 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: of that C yes as well. They had a lot 232 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: of different companies hooking up televisions too, UM electronic meters 233 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 1: telling you how much energy it was pulling at any 234 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: particular time, and they would line up previous models like 235 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: here's the set we released in two thousand five and 236 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: two thousand six, you know, all the way up to 237 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: two thousand nine, and then maybe even like prototype models 238 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: for for future ones. And you could see that the 239 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,959 Speaker 1: energy consumption peaked sometime around two thousand seven or so 240 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: and then dramatically began to drop because that's when everyone 241 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: started getting more environmentally conscious and also just an idea 242 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: of serving power to save money. Right, So yeah, so 243 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: that is also changing. UM. So it seems like the 244 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: battle between plasma and l c D is almost becoming 245 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: a moot point. It's sort of a pick the set 246 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: that's best for you, because in general, they're all going 247 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: to be about the same level of energy efficient, they're 248 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: all going to show pretty much the same colors. Of course, 249 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: it's always good to have a professional calibrate the TV 250 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: because looking at it in the showroom. Well, it may 251 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: or may not be the kind of thing it's it's 252 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:33,839 Speaker 1: not going to look the same in your house when 253 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: you actually get at home. It's been calibrated specifically for 254 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: that store exactly. Yeah, so it's important to calibrated either 255 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: by a professional or if you know what you're doing, 256 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: you can do it yourself. Yeah, there's some televisions that 257 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: actually have calibrations software installed, so that uses UH uses 258 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 1: light sensors to detect how much light is in your room, 259 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: and then we'll calibrate the contrast and brightness and everything 260 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: on its own, so that way you get the what 261 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: presumably would be the best picture for your such a oation. 262 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: I can talk about a couple of other minor things. 263 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: UM plasma screens. They tend to have a glassy UH display, 264 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:14,200 Speaker 1: so there's very reflective. So in general it's better to 265 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: use a plasma display in a room that has, you know, 266 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: low lighting. So if you have a lot of bright lights. 267 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: UH plasmas tend to be really reflective, you may not 268 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: be able to see what's on the screen very well. 269 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: UM l c D might be better in that case, 270 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: because most of those have a non reflective or Matt 271 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: style finish on their on the front display. So better 272 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: for your man cave is plasma, right, which is exactly 273 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: what I have. I mean, I turn all the lights off. 274 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: I got the I mean I don't have a plasma 275 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: display that I've got a man cave. Um. Yeah, I 276 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 1: turn off all the lights when I when I watch. 277 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: I've actually got a rear projection TV, so I've got 278 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: one of those monsters. Um. But uh, the yeah that 279 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: if you're if you're gonna watch in a dark room, 280 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: plasma is a good choice. I mean you're going to 281 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: get a great picture. Uh and uh and actually the 282 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: funny thing is plasma is still a little less expensive 283 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: than a comparable l c D. If you're looking at 284 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: the the big, big screens, you know, the on the 285 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: smaller end price is pretty much negligible. But if I'm 286 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: talking about like, if you're looking at sixty three inches 287 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: like a monster TV, plasma tends to be a little 288 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: less expensive than l c D. Right, And also they 289 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: do get bigger. You can get the really big monster 290 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 1: TVs in in plasma. Actually, I don't even know if 291 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: you can find an l c D in sixty three 292 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: in you might have to drop down to fifty five. 293 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: But well, uh, you know, if you're done talking about 294 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: plasma and l c D. Wow, I do have a 295 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: trump card, Yes, hit me with it. I want to 296 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: uh remind you of your pet favorite TV. Are you 297 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: talking about the Mitsubishi Laser View, Yes, I am, and 298 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: you know that the manufacturer says that it takes one 299 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: third the power of a plasma TV and has twice 300 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: the color. So uh, but it does it with lasers, 301 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: which means doesn't tell you that it just has twice 302 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: the yellow, twice the yellow. That's just a joke. That's 303 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: only only twice one color exactly. Yeah, yeah, we have 304 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: half the blues, but three times the yeah, I'm just kidding. However, 305 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: it's also eight times more expensive, you know, because it's 306 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: brand new technology uses lasers instead of vel C D 307 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: S or plasma or and it's it's gorgeous and it 308 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: also is three D ready Yeah, but you've actually seen, yes, 309 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: I have, and it's it's pretty capful. It's you know, 310 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: when I first read about I thought I wanted one, 311 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: and then I saw one and I knew I wanted one, 312 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: So I still want one. I'm not gonna buy one 313 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: any type soon don't don't have seven grand laying around 314 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: to spend on it, but it does. It is very, 315 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: very impressive television. It's not a flat panel um so 316 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: it's not gonna you're not gonna mount that on your 317 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: wall unless you have a you know, a real load 318 00:16:55,600 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: bearing wall right there. But it's it's definitely an impressive television. Yeah, well, 319 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,199 Speaker 1: I guess that I don't have any more TV. The 320 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: only thing I could talk about is burning, but that's 321 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 1: not even an issue anymore. So, Yeah, there used to 322 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 1: be a big issue used to if you had let's 323 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:15,879 Speaker 1: say that's your video gamer, and you would put a 324 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: game on pause for eight hours where you go sleep 325 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: and then you come back and play some more with 326 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: with plasma, if those colors were we're sitting there on 327 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,360 Speaker 1: the screen for that long, you would see like when 328 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: you'd start the game, you'd see that there was a 329 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,479 Speaker 1: ghost image of whatever it was that was paused for 330 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: those eight hours, and sometimes the ghost imaged wouldn't go away, 331 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: it was burnt into the screen for pretty much ever 332 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,719 Speaker 1: and ever, um LCD didn't really have that problem as 333 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: much as almost almost uh didn't exist. But that's pretty 334 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: much been solved too. That so you don't get too 335 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: many issues with plasma burning unless unless you're just being 336 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: really extreme, like you pause your video game and then 337 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,880 Speaker 1: you go on vacation for a couple of weeks, then 338 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: you might have a problem. But you know that's that's again, 339 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: that's an extra beream case, and that would be a 340 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: certainly not a good way to conserve electricity. No, that 341 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: would not be very eco conscious of you. I mean 342 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: I would never do that, but Poulette wouldn't put it 343 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,360 Speaker 1: past him. So anyway, well, you know what, I've got 344 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: something else we can talk about, but before we get 345 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: to it, I think we need to thank your sponsors. Yes, 346 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: audible dot com. If you go to www dot audible 347 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 1: podcast dot com slash tech stuff and sign up, you'll 348 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: get a free download. And they've got fifty thousand books 349 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: on audio as well as podcasts and and other other 350 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,199 Speaker 1: products as well. And if you're like me and you 351 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,639 Speaker 1: listen to lots of stuff on the train, it's a great, 352 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 1: great resource. And we have a couple of picks that 353 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: we'd like to talk to talk about something that we 354 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: could recommend as potentially your first free download. My choice 355 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,719 Speaker 1: would be stuck in the box of life in local 356 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: TV news. Um, if you're like me or a TV junkie. Um, 357 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: and I mean a TV news junkie. I you know, 358 00:18:57,359 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: actually did an internship in a TV news room when 359 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 1: I were in college. And this is by Donna McNeely, 360 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: who is a former anchor, reporter, producer, and writer. She 361 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: even narrates it herself, and it's gotten. It's got an 362 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: excellent reviews. Um, you know, only only one five star 363 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: review on Audible, but I looked up the book just 364 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,880 Speaker 1: to see how everybody else feels about it, and it's 365 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: got excellent reviews everywhere. So I would definitely check that out. Wonderful. Yeah. 366 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: My uh suggestion also comes from something that I had 367 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 1: a huge passion end when I was a kid and 368 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,880 Speaker 1: I was watching TV. Um, actually one of my heroes, 369 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: I would say, uh, and the book is It's Not 370 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: Easy Being Green and other Things to Consider by Jim Henson, 371 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: The Muppets and Friends, And uh, yeah, I was a 372 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,920 Speaker 1: huge Jim Henson fan as a kid. Um, you're still 373 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: still I am a Joe huge Jim Henson fan. Also 374 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: come from a family of storytellers and puppeteers, so that 375 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: kind of helps too. But anyway, this book is is 376 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: about the man Jim Henson. It's kind of about his 377 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: philosophy and his views and um, and I recommend that 378 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: one that's a that would be a and I mean 379 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: I want it. Either of those or any of fifty 380 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: thousand others could be your first free download if you 381 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: sign up at www dot audible podcast dot com slash 382 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:18,119 Speaker 1: tech stuff. Okay, so let's get back to my favorite segment. 383 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: I'm sure it's yours as well. Listener mail. Oh that's loud. Yeah, well, 384 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 1: you know it's we have to alert them. It's really 385 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 1: so it's early yet. This is true. So this listener 386 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: mail comes from our listener, Jamie McCarty. Jamie actually has 387 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: a correction for us, which we appreciate. Jamie was very 388 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,159 Speaker 1: polite and um and was also praising us quite a 389 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,159 Speaker 1: bit in this email. But I'm gonna skip right to 390 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: the the correction. This is about our our podcast where 391 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 1: we talked about games with GPS receivers. UM. GPS receivers 392 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: do not transmit any information back to the satellites. The 393 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: power required to transmit back to the satellites would be 394 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: way too much for such small devices. Actually, the device 395 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,960 Speaker 1: is simply receiving and coded time stamps and up to 396 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: date satellite constellation coordinates that provide enough information for the 397 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: receiver to calculate its position. While it's possible to send 398 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: out positional information, it requires a cellular radio waves or 399 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: satellite modems and I guess now WiFi, which is which 400 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: only the most sophisticated devices have. Thanks Jamie. That actually, 401 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: that's that's true. Unless it has one of those devices, 402 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: it's not going to send out any signals. It's just 403 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: acting as a receiver, otherwise it would be a GPS 404 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,359 Speaker 1: transceiver yep, yep. So it's basically coordinating, uh, the signals 405 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: it receives and figuring out where you are based on 406 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: that information. So yeah, just getting bombarded by signals all 407 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: the time as long as you're someplace where there's an 408 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: open area to the sky. Yes, yes, So thanks very much, Jamie. 409 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,199 Speaker 1: We greatly appreciate that. And if you would like to 410 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: write to us, you can do so at tech stuff 411 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,199 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. And uh, if you 412 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: want to learn more about l c d S and plasmas, 413 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: we have any of information on the website. That's how 414 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. And we will talk to you 415 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:10,360 Speaker 1: again really soon for moralness and thousands of other topics. 416 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: Is it how stuff works? Dot com brought to you 417 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, Are 418 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: you