Flat Screen TV and the Goodmans LD4260HDFT LCD TV - Quality TV at a Good Price.

From Black and White and mere halftones to Liquid Crystal Display /Flat Screen TV and Plasma Screens, TV has certainly changed dramatically over the last 80 years. Television has now entered into the very fabric of most people lives that they can't live without it.

Very few people if asked directly would be able to explain entirely how a television works or the process of television broadcasting works yet most would claim to understand the process, or so they say? The term television can actually be quite confusing because it can quite easily be used to refer specifically to a television set, programming or television transmission.

The one aspect of modern day television that if the truth be known completely confuses most people (yet most would try not to 'let on') is the amazing array of technical jargon that surrounds the everyday television set.

Perhaps it would be best now to move on to the latest developments within the industry and concentrate our coverage upon digital television, what it actually means; formats, bandwidth and an explanation of the technical jargon and terminology used.

So an accurate definition of Digital TV is what? Digital television is much more flexible and efficient than conventional analogue television and digital signals provide a much clearer picture, much better sound quality and a far greater choice and availability of programming.

So what is it exactly that we have to look out for with a Digital TV? Using one of the newer LCD TV's available will help us actually go through what all of this terminology actually means.

The LCD TV that we shall use for our illustrative purposes here is the Goodmans LD4260HDFT LCD Flat Screen TV.

The following items of information have to be understood before you can make a proper valued judgement regarding your new Digital TV?

The first item we need to consider is the Screen Resolution of the TV Here we refer to the exact number of pixels that can be displayed in each dimension.

Whether the TV is Hi-Definition Ready would be the next thing to look at. Hi Definition TV essentially makes a TV picture in a quality format that is at least four times better than conventionally available at present.

The next item that we would need to look at is what types of connectors are used between the peripherals used alongside the main Digital TV?

In this case we mean SCART Plugs and sockets and their usage. Here the definition of SCART refers to 'Syndicat francais des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radio et Television (SCART).

Lastly on the technical side we would need to look at what types and what numbers of High-Definition Multimedia Interfaces (HDMI) are being used. The High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a licensable audio/video connector interface for transmitting uncompressed digital streams between digital audio/video sources such as set-top box, HD DVD Player etc.

The LD4260HDFT is a 42in LCD TV and the prices for these would be in the region of 900 pounds sterling or 1800 US dollars. The resolution of the screen is 1366 X 768 and with regards to being HD Ready the answer is yes. The Goodmans has 2 (1 RGB) scarts and the type and number of Multimedia interfaces the LD4260HDFT uses is HDMI and 1. The type of Tuner for this TV is Analogue and Digital and the Goodmans is available from limited outlets only.

So given this information, what would be our view of the Goodmans LD4260HDFT?

First up, we would look at the picture quality and our score here would be 6, and for the sound quality we would rate it at 6. Taking a look at the number of relevant connections and their availability, our score would be 6. With regards to the overall level of features, our view would be 6 if we then take a look at the ease of use and overall value for money then our scores would be, 10 and 8 respectively.

The overall verdict would be Given the relatively cheap price tag (everything is relative) surrounding this TV, the quality is quite good - at least for the price.

Remember that all the prices we use in these reviews are very much designed for illustration purposes only and in some cases you may well find the actual price cheaper but also in some cases, more expensive.

Stephen Morgan writes quite regularly on the Internet about TV and Home Entertainment issues and more on the above can be found at sony flat screen tv and also at http://bestflatscreentv.biz