LCD vs HDTV
High Definition TV is the next step for the ageing SDTV standard that has been in place for decades. It gives considerably better images, especially with bigger displays, by using a higher resolution if the video signal is also compatible. Liquid Crystal Displays are a class of screens that offers significant advantages over the older cathode ray tubes that were predominanly in use with TV sets.
LCDs developed separately from HDTV and achieved mainstream acceptance way ahead of the HDTV technology did. LCDs gained early prominence in handheld devices and mobile phones where CRT technology is simply not an option. The development of colored and bigger LCD screens made it a viable replacement for CRT monitors in computers.
In TVs, the application of LCDs was greatly hampered by a few technological limitations like the size and inherent defects. LCDs tended to be very small or very expensive at first due to the high cost of manufacturing the screens themselves. It also suffered from dead or stuck pixels, a problem that is unique to LCDs. But as the technology developed and production costs went down, LCDs appeared as a good option even for TV applications due to the high native resolutions that it can achieve.
With that said, HDTVs are not exclusively tied in with LCDs, there are also other display technologies in use with HDTV. One of these is plasma, which is excellent for larger displays where the use of LCDs is simply not practical or possible. Screens of over 40 inches are usually the territory of plasma technology as building LCD screens of this size is not only expensive but also very difficult to do, although advances in technology means that LCDs are already beginning to get bigger and bigger. LCDs are still the best choice for HDTV viewing when you can afford it. It doesn’t suffer from burn-ins which is the most prominent problem with plasma. Most of the larger LCD screens already have a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 which is also the resolution needed for 1080i and 1080p HD signals.
Summary:
1. HDTV is a standard for TV displays regardless whether the screen is an LCD or not
2. LCDs are in use not only with television sets but also in computer, mobile phones, and many others
3. LCDs are excellent for HDTV due to its high native resolution
4. There are also other HDTV sets that do not use LCD
5. Most HDTVs that are below 40 inches use LCD screens