More than 4 billion viewers will watch the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on television this Friday.

On Friday evening, around 8 billion eyes will be watching the Beijing Olympic Games on either a plasma or LCD Flat Panel Display (FPD) or traditional Cathode Ray Technology (CRT) television. 

Meanwhile, many families in western countries will also view the Games on additional televisions in either the bedroom, kitchen or study of their homes. 

As the Games approach for most ConnectedWomen, there will be a heightened desire to purchase or upgrade one of these products to take advantage of this special event. However, many will still be overwhelmed with the array of technology, discounted prices and special promotions on offer. But above all they will be asking “which is the best product for me and my family?” 

ConnectedWomen asked our resident techo Ms Connected to help us answer that question and others: 

Panasonic has placed a massive 103-inch plasma to provide a high-definition backdrop behind Channel 7’s flagship Sunrise breakfast show.

What is the difference between LCD and Plasma?
Liquid-crystal display televisions (LCD TV) use LCD technology to produce an image. The technology is generally thin flat transistor (TFT), because this allows for reduced size, especially depth reduction. Benefits also include lower weight and reduced energy consumption when compared to other display types. LCD televisions by nature can be and are often used as computer monitors. 

It had been widely believed that LCD technology was suited only to smaller sized FPD televisions at sizes of 40" or smaller. Early LCDs could not compete with plasma technology for screens larger than this because plasma held the edge in cost and performance. However, LCD TVs can now offer essentially the same performance. 

Plasma most common for large displays
A plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of FPD now commonly used for large television displays (typically above 37-inch or 940 mm). Many tiny cells located between two panels of glass hold an inert mixture of noble gases (neon and xenon). The gas in the cells is electrically turned into a plasma which then ‘excites’ phosphors to emit light. 

Until quite recently, the superior brightness, faster response time, greater color spectrum, and wider viewing angle of color plasma video displays, when compared with LCD televisions made them one of the most popular forms of display for HDTV.

The majority of Western families watch TV on more than one unit in the home.

What is HDTV?
High-definition television (HDTV) is a digital television broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (SDTV). HDTV is digitally broadcast because digital television (DTV) requires less bandwidth if sufficient video compression is used. 

What does 1080i, 1080p,480i and 480p mean?
1080i Refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 1,080 lines of pixels that are scanned in an interlacing manner in which every other line is scanned/illuminated before the skipped lines are scanned/illuminated. 

1080p refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 1080 lines of pixels that are scanned in a progressive manner in which each line is scanned one after the other. 

480i refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 480 lines of pixels that are scanned in an interlacing manner in which every other line is scanned/illuminated before the skipped lines are scanned/illuminated. 

480p Refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 480 lines of pixels that are scanned in a progressive manner in which each line is scanned one after the other.
 
Why should I buy an expensive FPD brand when there are a lot of cheap ones around?
While inexpensive brands offer an immediate saving there are some concerns with warranties and returns as the companies making these products often don’t have representation in Australia. 

The best option for ConnectedWomen is to hunt down some of the highly competitive deals available by the leading brands. We asked these manufacturers to give us their best offers:

Samsung is offering consumers a bonus of either Foxtel HD+ or a Samsung Blu-ray player with Samsung full HD LCD FPD purchases.

Samsung and Foxtel introduce more consumers to HD
Samsung’s senior product manager - visual Evan Manilas told us that Samsung and Foxtel have joined forces in a promotional partnership that will run through August. "We have put in place extremely attractive promotional campaigns coupled with competitive pricing.”

The campaign enables customers who purchase selected Samsung Series 5 and 6 LCD FPDs to choose a bonus Foxtel HD+ offer or a top of the range Samsung BD1500 Blu-ray player. The Foxtel HD+ offer includes full installation of the Foxtel iQ2 set-top-unit and three months subscription to the Foxtel HD+ service.

Sony delivers energy savings with sparkling range
Sony claims the new BRAVIA LCD FPD models, released in July offer among the industry's lowest standby power consumption levels. "Figures show BRAVIA LCD TV power consumption is at least 30% less than the published specifications of comparable plasma models in Australia," Sony’s senior marketing manager, visual displays, Noriyasu Yamada, said.

Panasonic’s biggest ever promotion – ‘Swim2Win’ – enables consumers can win a house full of Panasonic products worth over $25,000.

Panasonic promotion educates consumers on FPD benefits 
Panasonic’ interactive 'Swim2Win’ promotion to celebrate the Olympic Games will run until August 24. With a total prize pool of more than $3 million, this is the company's largest ever promotion. Consumers can win 5000 instant Panasonic products including Blu-ray players, portable DVD players and SD Card camcorders and 70 daily major prize packages of Panasonic product valued at more than $25,000 each.

Warranty promotions at Palsonic
Palsonic sales and marketing manager, Mark Lee, told us that the company intends to continue offering a three-year warranty on its collection of 12 new LCD FPDs and two HD plasmas. Lee said a significant point of difference for the company was that it was 100% Australian owned and a family business approaching 50 years in the industry.

LG is offering consumers a pre-paid VISA with up to $300 with the purchase of selected LCD FPDs and AV products.

LG’s pre-paid VISA card promotion
Consumers who purchase certain LG LCD FPD models and audio visual products are being offered a pre-paid VISA card valued at up to $300 during a special promotion until August 24.

To be eligible for the pre-paid VISA card, consumers must purchase a LG Full HD LCD FPD or audio visual product from the participating range from an authorised LG distributor in Australia. 

One in five homes have HD LCD TV  Sony is a leader in LCD technology it's recent High Definition Benchmark Report for the first three months of 2008 revealed that one in five Australian households now have access to a HD LCD TV.  During the quarter, HD LCD TV category recorded its second highest quarterly figure with 286,952 models sold, outselling HD plasma TVs by almost three to one.  This result represented a 65% annual increase for the same time last year. The report also found LCD HD TVs made up 61% of total spending on HD hardware products.