in today’s world selecting a big screen TV can seem a bit overwhelming.
many sizes, many brands, new technical words to learn…
This is my quick guide to picking a TV.
1. decide on the top price you can afford, or justify to wife.
put this number aside, don’t think about it again till the end.
2. decide between LCD and plasma.
LCD is often cheaper and better in “un-controlled” lighting.
plasma will give blacker blacks and brighter brights, but looks best in controlled lighting.
* LED back-lit gives best of both world but at a very high price.
3. select size, 40″ or 42″ is what most people go for, you need a very big room for a 50″, above 60″ and you should be looking at a projector.
4. decide if you want / need 1080P or will you be happy with 720i
I would strongly recommend full 1080P, this is where most HD content is being made. but 1080P will cost more than 720i.
5.0 select brand, this often comes down to personal choice and price.
5.1 ask to see the remote control, usability of the remote is a big factor.
5.2 check number of inputs, some have lots of HDMI and few AV inputs.
some have good number of AV inputs and few HDMI’s.
it depends on what you are going to have as inputs.
5.3 ask to play your own content, get them to play a movie you know very well.
6. at this stage you should have it down to only one or two.
at this point it often comes down to price.
7. cut a deal with the shop, most shops will give as much as 10% discount if you push them a but.
8. are you under the price from step 1???
if not then repeat from step 2.
9. always ask for free delivery right at the end.
Definitions of the technical stuff:
HDMI
the new standard of getting content into your TV, this is both the name of the connector and the cable, it takes digital video and audio.
DVI
much the same as HDMI but with out the sound, this standard only transmits video. (you can get DVI to HDMI converters)
1080p / 1080i / 720p / 720i
This is the resolution of the video, The number 1080 represents 1,080 lines of vertical resolution. while the letter p stands for progressive scan. or the i means interlaced. so 720i maens 720 lines of interlaced video.
Progressive vs Interlaced.
Progressive scanning is the method for displayingvideo in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence. This is in contrast to the interlacing used in traditional television systems where only the odd lines, then the even lines of each frame are drawn alternately.
