subject: Bigger screens make TVs even more the centre of the home [print this page] If it was possible to travel back in time 30, or even 20 years, many people would be amazed at how much televisions have changed in such a relatively short time. In the 1980s, the television was still a product which was very much confined to the living room, and families up and down the land would have been horrified at the thought that in every room in the house there could be a TV screen, offering family members of all ages instant access to all the programmes they want to watch.
And as for only having three or four channels that truly does show how, in television terms, the 1980s are so far in the past. The arguments will go on forever about whether all the extra TV stations now in existence mean that what people watch is actually any better than in those days, but it is plain that everything we see looks so much better than it used to, and television in general is produced to higher standards.
These improved production standards are part of the reason why we feel more comfortable watching television on much larger screens than we ever would have in the past. And of course, the switch from recording on film to using digital media has been the single biggest factor which has enhanced the viewing experience.
Without the capabilities of digital formats, large-screen TVs simply would not have the same appeal. No one would have thought of enhancing an analogue TV picture because it would simply have highlighted its flaws, and been very difficult to watch for any period of time.
Digital pictures, though, are so true to life that many simply cry out to be given the complete cinematic treatment. Producers and directors rub their hands with glee at the thought of being able to capture the most minute details on their digital cameras, and them being capable of being faithfully reproduced in everyone's living room even if some of them aren't suitable for viewing over tea.
Even looking at our own photographs is a far more engaging experience than it ever used to be, because, with the help of a card reader built in to many of the latest flat-screen TVs they can be seen in startling detail, making another one-time household favourite, the slide projector, obsolete. Size isn't everything, and if larger screen TVs simply let us watch our favourite programmes in life-like proportions, they might be nothing more than a novelty. But the fact that they bring so much more viewing pleasure has made them a real household essential.
Larger-screen, LED TVs have truly transformed our expectations from our viewing. And the difference which plasma TVs have made to what we can watch has meant that television-watching is a far more exciting experience.
Bigger screens make TVs even more the centre of the home
