Is There A "Spoiling Effect" With LCD TV's?

If you've ever owned a big-screen television set, then you know about the spoiling effect: after the initial novelty wears off, you grow used to the idea of a giant TV in your home and eventually, you don't even think about the quality and size of your screen. Other people who aren't used to big-screen TVs might marvel at yours, but you're so used to it that you hardly notice any more.

Does this also happen with LCD TVs?

We know HD television is already becoming popular. We also know that in the U.S., some 47 million television sets are HD-capable, which means a large section of the population is growing "used" to a higher quality picture. So what does this mean for the world in general, and what does it mean for the world of LCD TVs, where clearer picture and high resolutions are simply making a better picture quality the new "normal"?

Newsflash: Novelty wears off

No matter how great your television set is, the novelty will eventually wear off. It doesn't matter if you're buying the best LCD TVs out there: eventually, your mind will grow accustomed to the specific stimulation it's getting from a specific product. Does this mean that you forget the HD quality, or that you stop enjoying the better picture? Of course not. You may watch someone else's television set for a while. If they're getting a standard cable picture, you might not even notice the difference. But when you snap that HD television set back on, you will once again feel it right away. It might not be as dramatic as the first time you saw high-definition television, but you'll still remember: "This is why I bought an LCD TV."

The novelty, of course, wears off. But that doesn't mean the effects do. Even as you grow accustomed to a better type of television, you will still notice the differences between your television and another type of television as long as there are differences to notice. It is exactly this difference - this contrast, to use a television term - that makes our initial "novelty" so special in the first place. If you've never even seen high-definition television, there's a greater chance you'll be amazed by it.

Keeping Old TVs Around

Of course, you might not need to venture to a friend's house in order to see an older-style television: you may simply have to go into your own basement, where a standard television set is waiting to be watched. If you travel quickly through the same rooms, you'll be able to instantly tell the difference between standard television and high definition television. There's a good chance that if you live with a large family, you fill find yourselves fighting for the "rights" to the high definition television for movies, television shows, and video games.

Keeping the old TV around doesn't just give you an extra screen and an extra option, it keeps this "contrast" effect in order to draw a comparison between your LCD TV and the standard TV. You'll come to appreciate the quality of that LCD television set over time, realizing that you frequently go to it when you're looking to enjoy a program with better picture quality.

Getting Spoiled by Technology

Quite simply, you will get spoiled by technology sometimes. But this doesn't always mean that you'll be totally disconnected from the old models of electronics. It is the contrast between what we're used to and what we're seeing that makes an LCD appear even sharper in the beginning. The truth is, the LCD TV is always the same - it's your brain that changes.