TV Glossary of Terms

• Contrast Ratio – a ratio resembling 1:1 or 10,000:1, illustrating the difference between the brightest whiteand the darkest black colors the screen can display. A TV that has a higher ratio means it has better contrast.
  
  
• Refresh Rate – refers to how often the display hardware will redraw or “refresh” the image on the screen. Videos are made of “frames,” and these framessdf are flashed on screen multiple times per frame because the Refresh Rate is faster than the Frame rate. In other words, you’ll watch the same frame multiple times in a single second, because the refresh is so incredibly fast. Refresh rates are measured in Hz, or cycles per second. The higher the refresh rate, the better your picture will be, affecting the way fast-moving images appear, reducing blurring and improving clarity. Plasma displays usually have a much higher refresh rate, with thee typical screen having a 600hz refresh rate, but LCD or LED TVs have been catching up with 60, 120, 240, or even some 480hz refresh rates available.
  
  
• Pixel Response Time: Similar to refresh rate, Pixel response time is the number of milliseconds the individual pixels take to react to a refreshed image. While Refresh rate deals with the time it takes the hardware to refresh the image, response time refers to how quickly the individual pixels change colorfrom white to black or red or green. The lower the time, the better. Better response times will also create less blurry pictures for fast moving images.
  
  
• CRT: Acronym for Cathode Ray Tube, the oldest commercial model of televisions and computer monitors. Cathode Ray Tubes are not preferred by modern consumers, despite excellent picture quality, because they necessarily huge, bulky, and heavy.
  
  
• LCD: An acronym for Liquid Crystal Display, an extremely common model of display, found in laptops and TVs, as well as displays on alarm clocks and microwaves. LCD is a very energy efficient way of creating color displays compared to CRT.
  
  
• LED: Stands for Light Emitting Diode, a simple circuit that emits light. LED is the newer addition to the HDTV bestiary, and is the new, hip product to push on consumers.
  
  
• Plasma: Plasmas use the same technology that the Fluorescent lights over your head use to light televisions. Plasma screens were the Rolls Royce of television screens for years, with LED displays only recently being pushed into the forefront.
• Rear Projection: Also called RPTV, rear projection TVs are effectively projectors casting high-resolution images on the back of large screens, similar to movie theater projectors, except contained in a television unit.
  
  
• Composite: The yellow video cable that connects old-fashioned analog signal into televisions. Composite connections are only low-resolution, and are not ideal for HDTVs.
  
  
• Component: A cable connection splitting video into three signals, allowing for HD signal.
  
  
• HDMI: The standard for digital input, HDMI is a digital connection for devices to televisions, capable of output of high-def video and audio.
  
  
• DVI: The PC input counterpart for HDMI, How-To Geek has already explained the differences between HDMI and DVI.

If you found our TV glossary of terms useful, call us and we can also help you with wall mounted TV installation or TV aerial concerns.