The Practical HT Guide Update, Issue #026- What's New

The Practical HT Guide Update brings you the latest additions in a series of informative home theater design articles, unbiased system reviews, practical guidelines and free advice.

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Sanus Univeral pedestal-type plasma/LCD TV mount

Surely, one of the greatest features of flat panel LCD TV sets and plasma televisions is their slim footprint - with most displays being no more than 3.5 to 4 inches thick.

It is this peculiarity that opens new mounting options - through the use of appropriate LCD mounts - otherwise impossible with bulkier CRT and rear projection TVs - like hanging your LCD HDTV set on the wall like a picture, or even go for a ceiling mount in the case of a bedroom installation. At the same time, you can still opt for a standard table-stand or a stylish column style floor-stand.

It is also this slim footprint that renders a flat panel TV, the television display of choice when it comes to wanting a large screen size without sacrificing floor space: use a wall-type LCD mount and your high definition LCD television will simply take zero floor space!

On the other hand, even if you were to opt for one of the latest slim-styled rear projection TVs, you would still require at least 16" by 40" of floor area for a 42-inch unit.

This 'wall mountable' characteristic makes LCD TVs true space-savers - an aspect so important for those with small living areas. It is also this same characteristic that renders them so cool and versatile, and therefore, easily integrated within any room decor.

Further more, thanks to the different LCD mounts, installing an LCD TV is a relatively straightforward job that can be carried out by the end-user under most circumstances, but...

Of course, an LCD TV is not just a picture. Hence, all these mounting options are accompanied by a number of constraints that one has to be aware of when placing and mounting an LCD television. In other words, installing an LCD TV may not be as easy as it seems.

If you would like to discover more on this subject - including the identification of an optimum placement for your LCD TV, installation issues, hiding and running cables, safety considerations, etc., please check out the following LCD TV installation guides on our site:

The reality is that if you are after a medium size direct-view TV your choice is between, either a relatively heavy and bulky CRT TV set, or one of the latest slim flat screen LCD TVs. Plasma does not come into the equation as collision between flat-panel displays and tube-based TVs occurs only at up to 36".

In fact, while up to recent past, CRT-based television sets were readily available at screen sizes up to 40", it seems that manufactures have pulled out completely from the market for tube-based sets for anything greater than 36-inch.

And even at 36-inch, CRT television sets are becoming an exception.

This is no surprise in that to many, people are just getting tired of them - CRT TV sets have simply lost their appeal with the consequence that many are now turning towards the latest LCD and plasma televisions.

Given the rate of improvement in flat screen display technology and reduced pricing, many are beginning to wonder if the conventional tube-based television has had its day.

Manufacturing companies acknowledge that the CRT business is out of its growth phase, but...

The truth is that despite their weight and bulkier size, CRTs still enjoy a few advantages over other competing display technologies when it comes to price and image quality. Further more, new developments in CRT technology are leading to slimmer TV sets that are challenging flat-panel display technologies at their most appealing characteristic - being slim.

As already stated earlier on, people are just getting tired of the good old bulky tube television set. Instead, many are just looking at the emerging slim-styled flat-panel display technologies despite the fact that the latter are substantially more expensive.

Samsung's approach was to reduce the overall depth of a CRT by as much as 30% over conventional tube TVs, and make the CRT TV look like one of those stylish flat-panel LCD TVs from the front.

It simply worked! Samsung had managed to revitalize the sales of CRT TVs at a time when most major tube manufactures are pulling off the market. The first Samsung SlimFit CRT TVs have been out for over a year and people simply love them - to the extend that Samsung's best selling SlimFit TVs have managed to capture over 40% of the CRT TV market share.

Samsung has now enhanced its SlimFit^TM category of CRT TVs for 2006 with the introduction of two new 27" CRT TVs and one 30" model; these sets promise breathtaking picture quality, and seamless multimedia integration - thanks to a full compliment of connectivity options, tucked into a stylish sleek design that is one-third slimmer than conventional CRT TV sets.

Hope you will enjoy and profit from these additions to our site. More new content will follow soon, so...

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