Monthly Archives: December 2012

LCD vs PLASMA

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It used to be that if you wanted a television large enough to sit all your friends around to watch the latest TV show of the century, your only choice was a bulky rear projection monstrosity that was about 60 inches.  That was in the days when you would have invited friends over to watch the finale of the original DALLAS TV show, or to find out Who Shot J.R. or maybe for Superbowl XXV.

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES

LCD-TVToday TV’s have taken off like all other technologies out there and the choices can be mind numbing.  There are a few questions you can ask yourself to make the options easier.

  • What is the lighting of the room?
  • How much space do you have?
  • Will it be viewed from all angles or mostly straight on?
  • How much do you feel comfortable spending?

There are LCD TV’s, LCD with LED backlights,  and Plasma TV’s.  By now, all of them are flat screen and most of them are High Definition.  The newest kid on the block are here as well, the 3D TV’s but they are currently priced high enough to make them inaccessible to the average television owner unless one wants to start at the low end.

3D HDTV

3dglassThe least expensive 3D HDTV will run you in the neighborhood of $700 and that is absolute base model. For that same amount of cash, you wold not have to go base model for LCD TV.

Why LCD instead of Plasma or vice versa? Really except for price most folks opt for the plasma if all else is equal, the notable exception being if you are planning on watching your television in a very bright room. In bright rooms, LCD TV’s are the better option.

Also LCD TV’s can be viewed from angles better than plasma TV’s can.  Plasma TV’s because of how they are lit tend to be better suited to straight on viewing.  LCD TV’s come in nearly every size, as small as 19 inches and all the way up to 60 or 65 inches.  These TV’s were originally priced in the multiple thousands of dollars when they first hit the general marketplace and they were considered the lower priced alternative to the plasma TV’s then. In fact, most pundits predicted the demise of LCD TV’s when plasma became even remotely affordable.

 COST CONSIDERATIONS

Obviously they were wrong, LCD TV’s still outsell plasma TV’s to this day.  LCD TV’s can be purchased for as little as $300 now for a 32 inch model. Strange how 32 inches doesn’t seem that big anymore, but television sizes have exponentially increased in the past several years.

CORNER TV CABINETS

One outgrowth business of the availability of televisions of any shape and size is the popularity of different TV cabinets and stands to hold them. A whole new industry standard had to develop to hold televisions of 60 and 65 inches and still close or still be an aesthetically pleasing furniture piece. Cabinets for TV can now even be designed to fit into the corners of the main room, so the large size will allow for other focuses.

From cabinets that hide TV’s inside and seem like an innocuous chest of drawers until a button is pushed on a remote and a TV pops up to elaborately reinforced entertainment centers that take up an entire wall, there is no end to the options to hold televisions of any shape and size.

plasma-TVFinally, if your room is dark and you don’t mind the extra energy consumption, plasma TV’s offer an amazing viewing experience especially as the screens get larger and larger.

DECORATING CORNERS

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Corner-ShelfFURNITURE TO FIT IN CORNERS

Corners are the most oft overlooked parts of a home when it comes to decorating.  Many times this is because they can be small or awkwardly shaped.  But in the last 20 years there has been a serious push in the interior design world to make the most of every part of the home, from the smallest of corners to the narrowest of mantles.

It used to be that if one thought of a corner decorating idea at all, it meant putting a side chair or a decorated basket up against the wall. Maybe a small circular table or a tall floor piece of art.  These days all sorts of furniture is being made to accommodate corner spaces:

  • Corner Bookshelves
  • Corner Knick Knack holders
  • Corner Desks
  • Corner TV Cabinets

DESIGN QUESTIONS

When decorating there are two main ways to go about tackling a particular room. The first question you want to ask yourself is “Do I want to draw guest’s attention to a particular point in the room?” The second question to ask yourself is “Am I just trying to fill a blank space (an unused corner) so that this part of the room does not look bare and forgotten?”

The answers to those questions will go a long way towards deciding how to decorate a particular area of the room.  Does the rest of your furniture face a corner and therefore you need to have it stand out? If this is the case and you are going to have a television in the room, consider a corner TV cabinet.  They can be plain, just a shelving unit for the TV and the various accessories like the DVR and the DVD player. Or they can be intricate, with lots of extra storage space or with detailed woodworking.

ART OR UTILITY?

Corner-BookcaseDo you want utilitarian or do you want a piece of art holding your television?  It is not necessary to match your décor of all your furniture items, but if you are including variation, make it a deliberate choice and don’t just select something because it meets the specs of the Television you need to hold.  There are far too many options out there for corner cabinets that you should never “settle” for one that is not your first choice.

Your corner can be decorated with a very utilitarian piece of furniture that most people often put up against walls or facing TV’s and that is a plush chair and ottoman.  Consider that combo as a focal point all its own. With a distinguished lamp, and a cozy throw, that could easily become your favorite part of the house.

CORNER TV CABINETS

Many designers are hiding their TV’s in cabinets that allow the television to pop up, like end of the bed pop up TV’s or storage unit TV’s. For these folks, corners of living rooms can be small oasis in the home, allowing for a quiet reflective mood as opposed to the Hang on the Wall 50 inch mounted flat screen TV’s that tend to make it look like the owner is preparing for a Superbowl party at any moment.

Corner-Wall-ShelfDesigners are savvy to the creative use of corner spaces, find your style and put that space to use for you in your home decorating plan.