An important flat-panel factor

RE “The Lowdown on Flat-Panels” [March 15]: Having purchased a 46-inch LCD flat-panel TV, I can tell you that you omitted a critical factor: How does the set display standard definition pictures?

My biggest disappointment in the flat-panel I bought was that at $3,500, the set cannot come close to the quality of the $400 cathode ray tube TV it replaced when I’m watching standard-definition broadcasts. And lest anyone be deceived by the clarity of the “sweat beads on some jock’s face” on the stunning store HD displays, it is no accident that they are always high-definition.

When you take a large screen with a small amount of picture information (a standard-definition broadcast), you have a recipe for smeared pictures. In short, when advising someone on buying a flat-panel TV, I tell them to check out standard-def pictures.

RICHARD CASSEL

Calabasas

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