I have just purchased a 37-inch (94cm) LCD TV, and I am not so sure of its audio sound quality. It's advertised as “Full Stereo,” but I’m not getting a “full stereo” sound from its own speakers. However, when I do output to a separate sound system, the sound is great. How can I tell if in fact the sound on its own is Full Stereo? Please help, as I need this info so I can proove my complaint officially.-- Paul
Hello Paul,
The built-in speakers of LCD TVs and similar-sized flat panels are very close together, typically separated by 24 inches or less. So to hear the stereo effect, you'd have to sit very close to the screen--a couple of feet away at most. Try that and you'll likely hear a modest stereo effect. This arrangement is an inherent compromise of all TVs with built-in speakers. With smaller screens, the speakers are sometimes in a thin panel below the screen, with barely 12 inches between them. When you view the screen from a normal distance, you hear it as a single source of sound, hence no stereo effect. For the stereo effect to work well, the speakers need to be separated by 5 or 6 feet or more, which is why you hear great stereo when you output the signal to your separate sound system. There is nothing wrong with your LCD set other than the dubious advertising claims. Some large screen projection sets (50 inches or more) put the speakers on the side to help enhance the stereo effect, but it doesn't work nearly as well as using a separate amplifier and speakers that you can separate properly. – A.L.
