Sadly a cracked tv screen is not an easy fix and will need to be totally replaced, the cost of which can be almost as high as the tv itself. Retailer warranties generally don’t include accidental screen damage, so make sure you know the extent of the cover or your tv, and your wallet, may in danger.

So how do you prevent your display from being damaged? The answer is a screen protector, and there’s a great range now available.

Screen protectors are used to guard a wide range of displays from damage, from personal use to reinforced versions for public sector hospitals, corporations, and even the US military.

The protectors tend to be simple to use, light-weight pieces of high grade acrylic that hangs over the top of your display. They often require little to no assembly and are secured with straps around the back of your tv led. Many also include rubber grips to keep the screen in place and small felt spacers to absorb impacts and prevent the screen scratching the display.

Some protectors also come with more advanced features including non-glare optical grade plastic ensuring clarity and sharp, clear, and vivid high definition viewing. Others are even known to block very low levels of harmful UV light from plasma and LCD televisions, with one brand quoting their screens as blocking up to 92% of all Ultra Violet light in the UVA/UVB and some of the UVC spectrums (250nm to 400nm).

Of course, occasional cleaning of the screen protector will be necessary, but they’re much easier to clean than LED TV displays as they can be sprayed on and pressed down, and are likely to need cleaning less often that you do currently.

The only disadvantage to a screen protector may be that they do tend to reduce a tv screens brightness by about 5%, but that can be easily remedied by turning up the brightness up to accommodate.

For the personal consumer they’re available from around 19 inches to 55 inches diagonally and are available from a number of international retailers. Compared to the value of the tv the price of the screens is quite low at around £40 ($60) to almost £100 ($160) for the really big ones.

For the business consumer, complete screen enclosures are available for screens up to 65 inches, where the entire LCD TV is encased in strong aluminium extrusion and acrylic and hung using tv wall mounts. The enclosures are available in two colours; a black anodized frame with black matte acrylic, or a silver anodized frame with a frosted acrylic.

The enclosures also include air vents and guarded dual fans to keep the display cool, high quality sound option upgrades, and tamper proof screws.

As with any internet purchase, make sure you research your purchase beforehand and err on the side of quality rather than cost as the screen will be an investment for the future. Make the right choice and ensure you find a product that will protect your display for years to come.

LED backlights are now used in a range of displays, including billboards, monitors, industrial equipment and portable devices. Their low power consumption is particularly suited to battery powered displays, allowing significantly longer usage from one charge.

The key difference between an LCD TV and an LED TV is the backlight structure. While an LCD TV uses a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) as a light source, an LED TV uses light emitting diodes (LED’s), which are more power efficient and more capable at delivering a realistic graphic display.

Despite their lower power consumption, LED TV’s also tend to be brighter than LCD TV’s and many have non-reflective screens, making them particularly good in rooms with plenty of direct sunlight as the image stands out better.

LED’s have many advantages over the LCD TV and plasma TV counterparts, the most apparent of which is their size. LED TV’s are among the thinnest displays ever made, and significantly lighter than a TV LCD, making them easier to mount and more attractive on walls as they don’t protrude so far into the room.

The thinness of LED TV’s is due to the way the LED light bulbs are placed around the LCD screen, either behind it, known as backlit LED, or around the edges, known as edge-lit LEDs. Edge-lit LED screens are the thinner of the two and as they contain fewer LEDs, they tend to be less expensive. However, backlit LEDs can create deeper blacks using a technique known as ‘local dimming’, where LEDs are shut off, preventing unwanted light shining through.

LED TV’s also tend to have a better range of colors as they use red, green and blue lights to produce more realistic color combinations and greater colour depth, as well as a better contrast ratio than LCD TV’s.

LED light bulbs also have a very long lifespan and are expected to last for more than 50,000 hours without degradation – that’s 5 years of constant tv watching. They’re also better for the environment as they don’t contain mercury, making them easier to dispose of and more recyclable.

However, LEDs can suffer in the viewing angle area, and often lose colour and black levels when viewing at acute angles over 30 degrees. However, this issue is being addressed by the manufacturers and many are using in-plane switching panels, so keep an eye out for those when choosing your display.

As with any consumer product, there are pros and cons that will need to be weighed up by you, the consumer. However, a TV LED does have some distinct advantages over LCD and plasma TVs and for those they should be seriously considered. Of course these advantages tend to come at a price, but as more consumers jump on the LED bandwagon prices will fall, and it will only be a matter of time before they drop into your price range.

The first thing that you’ll notice about this TV LED is the sheer size. At 55 inches, it’s huge and definitely only suitable for a very large living room or office. That said, if you can fit a 55 inch tvs in your room and find tv wall mounts big enough to hold them, it will certainly make a huge impact!

The tv itself is supported on an attractive four-legged chrome stand and stands at 83cm high. The front colour is brushed titanium with a finish that will really bring a modern edge to your living room.

In terms of connectivity, the 3D LED TV features one component in, one a/v in, an optical audio out, a DVI audio in, four HDMI ports, two USB ports and two SCART ports. It also features Dolby Digital Plus sound and SRS TheaterSound for that true home cinema experience.

The next thing that hits you is the 3D. The Samsung offers an immersive viewing experience by moving away from the old two dimensional tv into the realms of 3D, providing fantastic picture quality via the 3D HyperReal engine at the full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080.

As far as performance goes, the Samsung was certainly one of the most convincing 3D tv’s I’ve seen so far, rivaling the Sony Bravia KDL-52HX903 or LG 55LX9900. While I did notice an occasional ghostly outline between the two layers of the 3D image, this was rare and overall the 3D looked great.

The tv also has a built in 3D converter, allowing you to convert your 2D movies into 3D. By in large it didn’t really affect most of the movies I tried on it, but it was much more noticeable when playing racing games on my Xbox 360.

The tv had to perform with 2D viewing too and it did a great job, with a fantastic image quality, rich colors, sharp details and deep black levels. I did find people to be a little off colour however, but this was quickly fixed with a colour correction through the on-screen menu.

The Samsung also comes packed with features including the Internet@TV platform, providing you with music, video and social networking including access to LoveFilm, iPlayer, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and other simple wireless content right through your tv. While I would have preferred to have a keyboard, it was great to be able to access all those sites from the comfort of my sofa with no need to boot up a pc.

Another feature is the built in freeview HD tuner, allowing you to enjoy hours of free HD tv. You can even plug your own USB or hard disk into it and use it as a personal video recorder, which was a feature I know I would get a lot of use out of.

The tv comes in just under £2700 or $3150 – a hefty price but for the size and feature set, its extremely competitive in today’s market. So get out there and give it a try.

Many of the new TV’s out there go by the name LED TV, but they’re actually not an LED TV as such – they’re actually an TV LCD with an LED backlight, and can cost almost twice as much as their LCD TV or plasma TV counterparts.

So why have a LCD TV with an LED backlight? Until now LCD TV’s used florescent tubes to light the screen. As these tubes are always on, some light would always leak through and so the TV had trouble producing deep blacks, which affected the perceived sharpness. The tubes also lacked a wide range of colours, meaning the colour saturation of the image could be limited.

An LED TV uses light emitting diode’s to illuminate the display by mounting tiny lights in rows either behind the display or around the edge of the display (known as ‘edge-lit’ displays).

It’s difficult to say which method is better as both have their own pros and cons. Edge-lit LED TV’s can be made ultra thin as the LED’s are on the side of the display. As they have fewer light emitting diodes in them they’re also less expensive than their backlit alternatives.

Backlit displays on the other hand can create deeper blacks by using ‘local dimming’, shutting off LED’s in dark areas of the image and preventing unwanted light shining through. Of course, these additional LED’s come at a price as backlit LED’s tend to be more expensive.

So backlit is better, right? Well not necessarily. The additional LED’s on backlit tv’s can’t be shut off individually and needed to be shut off in larger groups. This means that light areas that are next to dark areas can be darkened when they should stay light. The opposite is true too – by counteracting this darkening affect by lightening the image can cause blacks to be lighter in areas surrounded by lighter images.

A tv screen with every LED lit separately would be a true LED TV which, while possible, would be very expensive and currently only used for very large billboards.

But some there are some clear advantages of LED TV’s over LCD TV’s and plasmas. LED TV’s use less power than their LCD or plasma counterparts and do not use mercury, so are better for the environment. They also have more balanced colour contrast and stronger colours, making images sharper and more vivid.

At the end of the day the choice is really up to you and as with any big purchase it’s important to research it fully before you buy. Take a visit to your local retailer and compare the different tv’s against your budget. Make sure you choose one you loved watching and that meets your requirements – and once you’ve got it go home and enjoy it!

The first aspect is the viewing angle. If you often have friends over to watch TV, you’re going to want a wide viewing angle so everyone can see. Many TV LCDs suffer when being watched at wide angle – blacks tend to lighten and colours fade. Some, such as the Samsung LCD TV do better than others depending on the panel, so look out for those with In-Plane Switching panels, which help to reduce these effects.

Next is motion resolution. If you’re a big sports fan, you’ll want to find a tv that can handle fast sports action with minimal motion blur. The higher the motion resolution, the less blurring you’ll see on the tv.

Although plasma screens tend to deliver better motion resolution when compared to LCDs, there are plenty of TV LCD’s on the market that you’ll be very happy with. Many have motion-compensated frame interpolations up to 200Hz which come very close to plasmas with minimal artifacts; and with their slimmer size and lower power consumption, offer a much more rounded purchase.

Next up is built in HD freeview tuners. There are many free HD channels to enjoy now, including ITV HD and BBC HD and all you need is an aerial to enjoy them – no satellite dish needed!

Another important factor is the screen size. It’s always tempting to buy the largest TV you can afford, but consider your room size first. Sit too close and you’ll notice undesired video artifacts – sit too far away and you’ll lose the detail. Having too large a screen can also cause headaches and promote poor posture – having too small a screen can cause headaches.

Large screens, such as those larger than a 32 inch lcd tv, also weigh more and are more difficult to move if required. For added flexibility, consider investing in tv wall mounts. Professional tv wall mounts can support your TV with ease and allow a range of movement where required.

The resolution what you’re watching can also affect the viewing distance. Lower resolution programmes will need you to sit further away to avoid seeing compression and scaling artifacts. However, these effects are being lessened by today’s upscalers, which are doing a much better job than those a few years ago.

Conversely, higher resolutions will allow you to sit closer and enjoy the great detail that is HD TV. For detailed information on recommended viewing distances for your TV LCD, read our viewing distance post here.

Whichever TV LCD you choose, make sure it meets your requirements before purchasing. Take a trip to a local retailer and have a sit in front of a store TV at the same distance you would when at home, it’ll give you a great idea of which one works for you. Once you’ve found it, have a shop around, get it ordered, and start enjoying your new TV.

The most common type of ‘liquid’ crystal used in LCD TVs is twisted nematic – a naturally twisted crystal that reacts to electric currents by untwisting to various extents according to the voltage being passed through it.

By pressing this crystal between parallel panes of polarized glass, it’s possible to manipulate the intensity of light that passes through it, and change the display from light states (where the crystals are fully twisted) to dark states (where the crystals are fully untwisted), and grey states in-between.

A TV LCD display such as a Samsung LCD TV then, consists of thousands of arrays of tiny crystals called ‘pixels’, that are manipulated together to form images on the screen. The process of manipulating these crystals is called ‘addressing’, where each pixel is individually turned on or off to create a image for the viewer.

The light for the TV LCD is created with an array of florescent bulbs or (more recently) LED’s (light emitting diodes) that emit light through the polarized glass behind the liquid crystal, backlighting the display. As the crystals allow all wavelengths of light to pass through, the full spectrum of colour can be harnessed and manipulated to create the images required.

To display different colours, each pixel is divided into three sub-pixels – red, green and blue – that work together to achieve the hue. With each sub-pixel able to create up to 256 colours, the use of all three sub-pixels means a single pixel can produce up to an amazing 16.8 million colours – amazing!

So why choose a TV LCD?

With each pixel on an LCD display having it’s own transistor electrode, TV LCD’s can feature smooth, wide, saturated and evenly lit images with none of the lines that older projection TV’s used to suffer from, even on a 32 inch lcd tv or larger.

With all that light and so many pixels, it’s no surprise then that flat panel TV LCD displays also tend to be significantly brighter and have higher contrast ratios than the older CRT displays. This means that a TV LCD won’t wash out in brightly lit rooms, glare under direct light, or flicker, which can cause eye strain.

TV LCD’s also support wide viewing angles of up to 160°, allowing the display to be viewed from almost anywhere in the room. They’re also significantly thinner than older projection TV’s, allowing them to be mounted wherever they’re needed using tv wall mounts.

And last but not least, the average lifespan of a tv lcd display is around 60,000 hours – that 2500 days of constant watching or almost 7 years – so find some good lcd tv deals online and get yourself one!

Historically this would mean a piece of potentially unattractive furniture to sit the TV on, but with the rise in built in TV brackets, TV stands are becoming increasingly stylish and versatile ways to mount your TV.

TV stands

As TV’s become bigger and flatter, TV stands have seen a move in how they present and support displays. TV’s don’t just sit on top of stands – many stands now support full ‘H’ or ‘T’ shaped flat screen tv wall mounts allowing the TV to be raised, lowered, swivelled and tilted to the same extent as a wall mounted bracket.

Most stands offer a range of additional functionality over flat panel tv wall mounts, including shelving, drawers and even built in speakers and amplifiers. Most stands will feature backboards too, hiding wiring or allowing cables to be run through the pillars holding the TV bracket.

TV stands can be built from a range of materials, from relatively inexpensive plastic to wood, oak, chrome and even reinforced glass. They’re generally more expensive than their lcd TV wall mounts counterparts due to the additional materials used and unsurprisingly, spending more will generally get you a better build quality.

They are often very stylish, providing fantastic clean lines and attractive designs. They also provide a mounting solution that allows repositioning around the room should the need require.

Prices

It’s difficult to put a price on TV stands as the price will be dependant on a range of options including the quality, style and size of stand required.

Simple glass stands can be relatively inexpensive, with costs starting around $75. Of course, the larger and heavier your TV is, the larger and more capable a stand it will require. Clear glass stands for TV’s up to 50″ may cost double that or more.

Stands with pillars and mounting brackets may cost considerably more, from $250 upwards. Stands allowing the brackets to be raised, lowered, swivelled and tilted will cost even more, ranging from $350 and up.

There’s really no limit to how much you can spend on a TV stand and of course, more functionality will cost you even more. If you’re looking for a stand that includes 5-way built in speakers and an amplifier you may be working from a minimum $500 budget all the way up to $3000.

The verdict

The ‘right’ stand for you will probably be limited by your budget. You may have spent a lot on your TV already, so budget may be an issue. If that’s the case, or if you have limited room available, you may want to consider lcd or plasma TV wall mounts. They are generally less expensive and will become completely invisible behind your TV.

On the other hand, if you have a little more to spend, more space available, a need for shelves and drawers, or need to move your TV around the room regularly, you may find a TV stand works for you. As stands will be prominently displayed in your room, consider the best style for your room. If you live in a rustic cottage, consider a wooden stand. If you live in an ultra modern flat, why not go all out with a sleek black glass stand and really make a statement.

The final decision is up to you, but one thing can be assured; your new TV will look better with a professional stand or mount and prices will vary, so shop around first!

Entertainment Centers
Choose from many different types and styles of Entertainment Stands for your home theatre system.

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From sports bars to catalogue stores to airport terminals, a ceiling mount can provide a dynamic channel for displaying important information for customers and keeping that information out of arms reach, including appointment information in waiting lounges, queue updates in busy retail stores and train times at railway stations.

Introducing the ceiling mount

As the name suggests, ceiling mounts are hung from the ceiling, so need to be very tough and malleable to support their own and the tv’s weight. They tend to be made from aluminium metal, a more expensive metal than that used for standard tv wall mounts but known for its strength and rigidity.

Being hung from the ceiling, their range of movement is much more flexible than flat screen tv wall mounts, allowing raising and lowering from the ceiling, tilting and full 360 degree rotation. This allows a much wider range of viewing angles and room layout options – so if you’re the type of person who likes to move their furniture around a lot, a ceiling mount could be thing for you.

Types of ceiling mount

The bracket used on a ceiling mount tends to follow those used for flat planel tv wall mounts – rectangular for widescreens tv’s and square for square tv’s.

While most ceiling mounts are made for single displays, some can hold two or more tv’s at once and even provide an additional fixing for a projector ceiling mount, allowing a whole array of displays to be hung from a single point on the ceiling. Of course, the more tv’s you have, the more they will weigh and the more demand they will put on your ceiling, so as with any plasma or lcd tv wall mounts, you should always consider the size and weight of your displays and the strength of the surface you will be attaching them to before choosing your mounting solution.

Mounting a ceiling bracket

Most ceiling mounts will come with a kit to help you install the ceiling mount safely to your ceiling. Once installed, the ceiling mount will need locking in place to prevent it from spinning on its own. These locks will need to be undone to adjust the position of the tv, but some ceiling mounts are equipped with accessories to allow for minor adjustments without the need to unlock them entirely.

Price

Unsurprisingly, all this added capability comes at a cost. Ceiling mounts are generally more expensive than their tv wall mounts counterparts, but if you can afford them, it’s worth it.

Taiwan & China Manufacturer Directory
B2BManufactures.com aims at offering a user-friendly online platform for global buyers to locate pre-qualified suppliers through its comprehensive database of manufacturers in Taiwan and China.

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One major consideration you should have when considering your tv and tv wall mounts is the optimal viewing distance.

Many of you will remember growing up with small TV’s when you were kids. I remember when my family were huddled around an ‘enormous’ 12 inch screen watching old black and white TV shows together. The screen was so small we had it about 3 feet away – and we were still squinting!

Today’s TV’s are getting bigger and bigger, and with the latest flat screen tv wall mounts, can be placed in any location imaginable.

But despite the massive range of flat panel tv wall mounts available, many people still sit unnecessarily close to their TV’s – especially gamers, who love to be completely immersed by their TV screens. Sitting too close can be harmful. Many studies argue that sitting too close to TV’s can damage your eyes, cause short-sightedness and myopia.

While some of these studies are heavily disputed, some of the undeniable side effects of sitting too close are headaches and pains from bad posture caused by excessive hours sat down on furniture that provides no back support.

So how far back should you be?

There have been many studies on optimal viewing distance and the reality is there’s no hard and fast rule. However, there are guidelines and calculators out there that will give you a good idea of the optimal distance to sit at.

A good starting point for widescreen TV’s is to take the screen size in inches and divide by four to find the optimal viewing distance in feet. For examples, see the table below.

As you can see, you should be sitting around 11.5 feet away from a 46″ TV screen – meaning at 11.5 feet you’ll be able to see the whole of your TV comfortably without pixilation.

That may be a disappointment for some people as their room may not be big enough to sit that far away, but remember, comfortable viewing is much more important than screen size – and an overly large TV in a small room will not suit the room well, so choose your TV and plasma or lcd tv wall mounts carefully.

More information

Of course, the ‘divide by four’ theory is a rough estimate and there are other factors that will determine the optimal viewing distance including the width of the TV, viewing angle and resolution. For example, higher resolution TV allow for closer viewing as pixels that make up the image are smaller / more numerous. Custom TV wall mounts can also offer a range of mounting options that can affect the distance too.

For more information, try searching for ‘viewing distance calculator’ in Google and have a closer look at the results.

Conclusion

There’s no definitive optimal viewing distance calculator as every person is different. To find out the optimal viewing distance for you, use the ‘divide by four’ rule as an estimate then visit your local audio/video store. Stand in front of the TV’s and measure how far away you are to view them comfortably. If you haven’t already bought the TV, base the size of TV you buy on the size of your room and the viewing distance. A little bit of extra research now will make the TV you buy a great investment that you’ll enjoy for years to come.

For more information on choosing the right wall mount for you, click tv wall mounts.

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VESA flat screen tv wall mounts follow a specific hole pattern of the back of the display, with four screws arranged in a square with the horizontal and vertical distances varying according to display size:

• For smaller and medium flat panels, VESA screws are located 75 x 75 mm or 100 x 100 mm apart
• For larger monitors VESA screws are located 200mm x 100mm or 200mm x 200mm apart.
• Larger screens have varied hole patterns in 200 mm increments, such as 400mm x 200mm, or 800mm x 400mm.

The screw holes have an M4 thread and are vary in depth according to the flat panel tv wall mounts size. Fasteners will often be supplied with the wall mount, but are easily available from hardware stores.

What does this means for consumers?

If you’ve bought VESA compatible wall mounts  you can be safe in the knowledge that no matter what type of television you have, you’ll be able to safely secure it on your wall as almost all VESA mounts are universally compatible.

In addition to mounting-hole patterns, the VESA standard also specifies requirements for the location of cable exits, so you’ll be able to reply on cable holes and tracks to run your cables through, keeping them safe and out of sight.

Finding a VESA mount

Most TV stores will have tv wall mounts but the most affordable ones are from specialists online, who’ll be able to offer you equivalent tv wall mounts for significantly less than that charged in stores.

Most online stores will also provide a search program to look up your make and model number, tell you whether you have a VESA compatible display, and find a selection of lcd or plasma tv wall mounts to fit; but if in doubt check your user manual or have a look at the back of your TV. Alternatively visit your manufacturers website, which should contain the information you need in their ‘Support’ section.

For more information, visit LCD TV Wall Mounts Guide.

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