The good old CRT (cathode ray tube) television sets are slowly but steadily on their way to becoming relics of history. Not because they lack in quality, but because of their sheer weight and volume. The amount of prime space they occupy in the best corner of any living room, has ensured their ouster in times when slim in everything is in and fat in everything, is out. The amount of black soot they generate becomes almost a tangible proof of their crime against the environment and is what has tilted the scale in favour of slimmer, lighter, flatter and cleaner LCD and plama televisions.
LCD panels were initially developed for smaller displays like watches, calculators etc but as technology evolved, they were found to be useful for other devices like laptop-screens and small television sets. Plasma panels were usually reserved for big television sets which were used in commercial establishments and hotels. The real breakthrough came recently when Korean consumer durable giant LG launched Small Wonder ? a 32-inch plasma TV 32PC5RV, priced very affordably (by present day standards) at Rs 40,000. This gave skeptics a cue for debate, LCD or plasma? Though the jury is still out on it, plasma has a slight edge over LCD as it reproduces real RGB like good old CRT and hence gives richer blacks, making it possible for images to stand out. On the other hand LCD reproduces virtual colours that are close to natural but just so. As the LCD technology produces image through back-lighting of the panel which comprises two layers of transparent material filled with liquid crystal, there are weaker blacks or rather dark grays for blacks and hence slightly weaker contrast. Also, LCD panels have a comparatively narrow viewing angle which is not quite suitable for families.
LG?s Small Wonder Plasma TV is a gorgeous piece of equipment. Finished in glossy piano black and measuring 32.3X23.6X10.2? the front bezel of this TV is dominated by a 32? plasma display. Just under the screen is a white LG logo and a fine grill concealing two speakers. Rated at 10 watts RMS each, these speakers create an aura of being surrounded by sound but shy away from real bass. The Formula One race on the circuit was thrilling, both the image and sound effect. The cars ran at high speeds across the track without any traces of image jitters or blurs.
Small Wonder runs on XD engine and 100Hz True Motion technology which makes it very suitable for watching movies from high-quality sources such as DVDs without eye fatigue. With a 0.001 ms response time, it can keep pace with the fastest moving action movies and sporting events.
Though this TV weights 15.8kg without the stand, it can still be hung on the wall like a picture frame (you have to buy the wall mount separately). With a wide display screen (aspect ratio of 16:9) it?s ideal for watching digital movies full frame without cropping. The little wonder also boasts of a variety of other viewing aspect ratios options such as Spectacle, Original, 4:3, 14:9, 16:9, Zoom-1 and Zoom-2.
All the interface sockets including an assortment of digital audio and video in/out, 2 HDMI sockets, 1 VGA socket (to connect it to your PC) 2 DVD-in and off course RF antenna-in, are placed in an indented slot on the back of the TV. Here the designers at the LG goofed up. If the TV is mounted on a wall it will not only be impossible but too dangerous to connect or disconnect the output devices like DVD player, PC etc. Another goof-up in design are the missing lifting handles or the holding grips. The full-function remote again has been ignored by the LG design team, it?s rather bland and resembles a foot scrub with dots of different shapes and sizes to apply accupressure on the sole of the feet.The charcoal black remote has 49 keys in all and most of them are black in colour except six.
Such glitches apart, watching TV on this plasma panel is a visual feast, the images are formed with the sharpest possible realism and all the colours fall in place without any trace of bleeding or fluttering even in the sweeping motion.