Television screens are getting better and better they are thinner flat cost less and provide excellent quality for both movies and computer data. LCD screens are the new winner after the big plasma buzz.

A few years ago if you wanted a flat television screen the only option that you had was buying a plasma screen. Today you can choose between plasma and LCD and in the very near future you would have another option called OLED.

LCD screens prices went down significantly in the last years and now big LCD screens are commonly affordable. LCD screens provide a richer color experience than plasma screens. LCD screens utilize a liquid crystal sandwiched between two layers of glass in order to create pixels. Because of the physical characteristics of that crystal LCD screens can achieve much smaller pixels than plasma which translates to denser and higher resolution screens. LCD screens can easily support 1080 rows which is what is needed to enjoy high definition video to the fullest. They can support 1080 rows even in smaller screen sizes like the ln37a550p 37 inches screen.

LCD screens used to have a contrast problem. Because if their inability to display the black color as well as plasma screens they provided inferior contrast for darker pictures. Modern LCD screens overcome this problem with sophisticated technology and today LCD screens like the ln37a550p achieve very high contrast ratios of up to one to thirty thousands.

Some plasma screen fans would tell you that LCD screens viewing angle is not as wide as plasma screen. This is not true anymore and in fact LCD screens like the ln37a550p can provide excellent viewing quality at angles as wide as 178 degrees.

New LCD screens are not just television sets. They can serve a dual purpose of both a television set and a computer screen. Because of their high resolution and high contrast they can display computer generated text and graphics that is easy to read and view. Most new LCD screens like the ln37a550p come with a large number of inputs to accommodate for the many options for using the screen. In addition to the tradition video inputs they also support standard computer VGA video inputs. Some screens like the ln37a550p also provide a USB connection and can directly read files off of a USB storage device such as a digital camera or a digital camcorder and display the images of video clips directly on the screen.

So what is expected in the near future? New technologies for flat screens are developed and the most promising one is called OLED. OLED allows the building of flat screens that are less than one millimeter thick and provide excellent image quality which consuming less energy. OLED screens are not expected in the market until late 2009 and when they do reach the market they will have a high price tag for the first few years of commercial deployment. When OLED prices go down however the competition LCD and plasma screens prices will drop down significantly too which will provide a great buying opportunity.