Plasma TVs-
Plasma HDTVs have over a million chambers which house one or a combination of gasses. When a voltage is applied to one of these chambers the gas ionizes and emits ultra-violet light. This light strikes red, green or blue phophors coated on the inside of the chamber and a pixel emits this color light.

Plasma displays are bright (1000 lux or higher for the module), have a wide color gamut, and a very high "dark-room" black level, creating the "perfect black" desirable for watching movies. Plasma screens have excellent off-axis viewing angles, often ranging from 160 to 170 degrees.

Plasma displays can be produced in fairly large sizes, up to 103" diagonally, though common sizes range from 42" to 65". The total thickness, including electronics, is less than 4" deep

The lifetime of the latest generation of plasma displays is estimated at a 60,000 hours (around 20 years at 8 hours of use per day) half life of the display, the point where the picture has degraded to half of its original brightness.

Brands: LG - Panasonic - Pioneer

Flat Panel LCD TVs-
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) flat panels are backlit digital televisions consisting of two polarizing transparent panels with a liquid crystal solution in between. This creates a fixed pixel structure, with each pixel having three sub-pixels of red, green and blue. Each sub-pixel has tiny crystals that create different levels of brightness by acting like a shutter when an electric current passes through the liquid. This current causes the crystals to align, either allowing the light to pass through or blocking the light. The pattern of transparent and dark crystals forms the image.

LCD flat panel televisions are just a few inches deep, relatively lightweight, and are available in a wide range of screen sizes starting at 15" and going up to 70". Generally all screen sizes are of the widescreen aspect ratio, though some smaller sizes are offered in both 4:3 and widescreen versions.

High-definition models come in several resolutions, depending on size. The smaller models are 1280 x 768 (15:9 aspect ratio) or 1280 x 720 (16:9). The largest LCD panels (37" and beyond) are 1920 X 1080 (16:9), the highest resolution standard.

Brands: LG - Magnavox - Mitsubishi - Olevia - RCA - Sharp - Sony - Toshiba - Zenith

Rear Projection DLP TVs-
DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology utilizes a small digital micromirror device (DMD) to tilt hundreds of thousands of tiny-hinged micromirrors, each less than the size of a human hair in width, toward or away from a white lamp inside the DLP television. In order to define color, there is a color wheel that spins between the lamp and the DLP chip and alternates the color of the light hitting the chip. The mirrors tilt away from or into the lens path based upon how much of each color is required for each pixel at any given moment in time. This activity modulates the light and produces the image that is projected onto the screen.

DLP® technology delivers crystal clear lifelike images with vibrant colors for the ultimate in picture quality. DLP® technology is capable of extremely high contrast ratios (up to 12,000:1), providing a stunning viewing experience - crisper whites, ultra-rich blacks and images that "pop" on-screen.

DLP® 1080p technology delivers over 2 million pixels on-screen with full 1920 x 1080 resolution, the highest available. Screen sizes range from 42" to 73" and the new generation of wide screen HDTV's featuring DLP® technology are as shallow as 10 inches.

The ultra-fast DLP® chip has an unparalleled 16 microsecond pixel response time. HDTVs powered by DLP® chip deliver a precise, razor-sharp picture, making it ideal for sports, action-packed or fast-moving scenes and gaming.

Brands: Mitsubishi

Front Projection SXRD (LCoS)-
Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) is a "micro-projection" or "micro-display" technology typically applied in projection televisions. Think of it as a hybrid between LCD and DLP, LCoS combines these two technologies. It is a reflective technology that uses liquid crystals instead of individual mirrors. In LCoS, liquid crystals are applied to a reflective mirror substrate. As the liquid crystals open and close, the light is either reflected from the mirror below, or blocked. This modulates the light and creates the image.

Due to the combination of an inherent high resolution and high fill factors (minimal space between pixels) on the chips, visible pixilation on an LCoS machine is nonexistent giving a LCoS images smoother, more natural look and feel. While delivering continuous red, green and blue simultaneously onto the screen results in rich, well saturated colors.

Sony rebranded its LCoS chip, choosing to call it SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display). LCoS technology can produce much higher resolution images using highly advanced silicon technology meaning all Sony SXRD have a native resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080). Available in Sony's BRAVIA SXRD Front Projectors producing pictures ranging from 40" to 300" (measured diagonally).

Brands: Sony

Front Projection LCD-
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) front projectors produce an image by passing a powerful light source through a filtering system, splitting the beam into red, green, and blue light streams. Each color then passes through a dedicated LCD chip, displaying the desired image, in which each pixel either blocks or allows the light from passing through. The three beams then recombine and are projected onto the screen.

LCD front projectors provide a bright picture, with high detail and natural color. You can expect to see an incredibly detailed picture with eye-popping colors. LCD front projectors deliver particularly impressive brightness levels and contrast.

Sony's LCD front projectors are capable of accepting 1080p signals for compatibility with today's latest technology, and internally converting those signals to the projectors native 720p (1280 x 720) resolution. Available in Sony's BRAVIA 3LCD Front Projectors producing pictures ranging from 40" to 200" (measured diagonally).

Brands: Sony

Blu-Ray Disc Players-
The Blu-ray format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK, and Thomson). More than 180 leading companies have since joined the Blu-ray Disc Association. Seven of eight major Hollywood studios (Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate, and MGM) are supporting the Blu-ray format with five of them releasing exclusively in the Blu-ray format.

The new format uses a blue-violet laser instead of the DVD standard red laser, hence the name Blu-ray. Using a blue-violet laser makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision then the previous red lasers. This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on a disc the same size as a CD/DVD. This provides Blu-ray Discs with five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs, with unprecedented storage capacity of 25 GB on a single-layer disc and 50 GB on a dual-layer disc.

The Blu-ray format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video as well as storing large amounts of data. Blu-ray Disc delivers full 1080p video resolution to provide pristine picture quality. Blu-ray Disc provides as many as 7.1 channels of native, uncompressed surround sound for crystal-clear audio entertainment, along with enhanced interactive capability, seamless menus navigation, integrated games, hi-def bonus and educational features, and network/Internet connectivity.

Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products are fully backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. Enabling you to continue to view and enjoy your existing DVD libraries, while delivering entertainment content in full high-definition quality, under a secure environment made possible through the most advanced copyright protection technology.

Brands: LG - Panasonic - Sony

Home Theater Control-
The most important part of your Home Theater system is your remote control. Every component in your system has it's own remote. By the time you add a Cable Box, A home theater receiver, a CD player, a DVD player, a VCR, a TIVO, and of course your big screen TV, that's 7 DIFFERENT remote controls. Which one controls what? What input do I have to be on to watch a DVD? Most often people get frustrated with electronics because they are difficult to operate.

At Schaefer's we go to great steps to offer the easiest control solutions for you and your budget. We offer simple Infrared solutions, Touch Screen Solutions for a cool custom feel, Radio Frequency Solutions for the ability to hide your components and control your system from around your house, and more. Each system is completely customized for you and your system. Stop by our showroom and see how we can integrate your control system today!

Brands: Niles Audio - Universal Remote Control