- Flat-panel TVs are sleek sets that are no more than three or four inches thick. They can be hung on a wall and are available in many sizes, from 17 inches to 70 inches. These sets are either LCD or plasma technology. LCD is more cost-effective and doesn't have the "burn-in" effect that can happen on a plasma set (a ghost image may be burned into the pixels on a plasma set if a single image is left on the screen too long). LCDs also work better at higher altitudes, because the gas inside a plasma set expands and causes a buzzing. However, plasma generally has a better picture.
- Until fairly recently, most tube TV sets consisted of a slightly rounded screen in front of the cathode ray tube. However, in the late 1990s, electronics manufacturers developed flat-screen tube TVs. Before the decreasing costs of flat-panel sets, flat-screen CRTs were very popular and could be purchased in sizes as large as 36 inches.
- Because HDTV dictates a 16:9 aspect ratio, virtually all flat-panel sets are widescreen sets, though some small LCD sets (smaller than 17 inches) have a 4:3 aspect ratio. Almost all flat-screen CRT sets were 4:3, but with the advent of HDTV, some companies made widescreen flat-screen CRT HDTVs as big as 40 inches.
- Flat-screen CRT sets suffer obvious disadvantages in size, bulk and weight compared with flat-panel sets. CRT sets are heavy and are much deeper than flat-panel sets, so they dominate a lot more of a room. Flat-panel sets can also be made much bigger than single CRT sets. However, rear-projection CRT sets, which used three small CRTs, one for each color, that projected the image on a flat screen, could rival the size of the biggest flat-panel sets.
- Despite obvious disadvantages, CRT flat-screen sets do have better color accuracy, better contrast and better off-axis viewing than flat-panel sets. However, consumers seem to prefer the size and weight of flat-panel sets to CRT flat-screens, despite the better picture quality of a CRT.
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