Having a big screen TV is indeed great! You feel like you’re at the movies with a big, sharp picture and surround sound plus the neighbors turn green every time they come over. But you should put your plans to buy that 60-inch Plasma on hold, unless you have a nice, big living room. If you’re in a one bedroom condo, you might want a 42-inch, or even a 36".

How large is the space where the TV will be set up? Is there room around the TV for ventilation and Surround Sound speakers? How far away will the viewers be sitting? Will your Home Theater System still fit in the room? Would you have more space if you install a wall mount or a TV-stand? Pick the correct size Plasma screen by measuring the room to see if the TV, mount or stand and video equipment will fit. Make sure that there is plenty of viewing space.

The best distance for viewing your Plasma will increase as the size of the Plasma screen increases. A 42-inch Plasma is best viewed from 7-8 feet away, a 50-inch Plasma from 10 to 12 feet. A 60-inch screen should be viewed from 10-12 feet away. If the viewer is too close to the screen, he or she begins to see the pixels. In the end, only you can decide what size Plasma TV you want to buy for your family.

Also remember that you shouldn’t buy a plasma TV to play video games. Don’t let me mislead you. Advancements in Plasma technology have almost eliminated the chance that you will experience screen burn in. You’ll notice I said almost; the chance of screen burn in has been greatly reduced, but not eliminated. For years Plasma TV owners have suffered from screen burn in. Static images can burn permanently into the screen, ruining your expensive TV. Computer programs, video game score boxes, stock tickers, station logos and merchandise displays are the most common culprits.

It may take hours to burn out the pixels in your Plasma, but once that happens those pixels won’t change color properly, and the image is burned in permanently into your display screen. LCD and DLP TVs experience no screen burn-in at all. If you want to display video games, watch stock tickers all day or hook up your TV as a computer display, you should consider purchasing one of these. If your thing is action movies, you might want to steer clear of LCD TVs. They are prone to image ghosting, where fast action on the screen tends to blur. Plasmas have no problem displaying fast action. Plasmas also have better contrast, black level, brightness and color accuracy.

By: Francis David