Going digital was a welcome shock for the country. For one, it has been on the planning stage for so long that it’s impossible to miss. For another, satellite TV has been on HDTV for a long, long time. And for another, the transmission quality of analog video had never reflected the capability of bringing good quality entertainment to the home screen.
And now that the digital video has become the standard, the next question is what size video do you need?
For HDTV, the minimum recommended size TV is a 32 inch lcd tv. Anything less than that and you might as well be viewing analog video. When viewing high definition video at 1080p there is remarkable difference between a 32 inch LCD TV and a smaller screen. Viewing HDTV becomes a good investment when you can see the returns your hard-earned money bought.
This is the reason why a 32 inch is the most common size for HDTV. At this size and price, LCD screens are affordable. High definition is not a luxury item at this price point. This is specially true for LCD screens, which are significantly cheaper than comparable sized plasma TV. Additionally, the cost of 32 inch CRT TV starts to become prohibitively expensive.
Technology wise, LCD and plasma lasts almost as long as each other, without any video degradation. In contrast, CRT tubes start to show ghosts almost as soon as you use them. Also, LCD is more energy efficient than plasma or CRT, and produces less heat while in operation. Plasma’s advantages become significant at larger screen sizes and this makes it not a good choice for entry level TV sizes.