by Tom Samiljan, posted Nov 25th 2008 at 2:08PM
So you want to buy an HDTV? Well, if you’re lucky enough to have the
cash, then we have some good news. Faced with a glut of unsold
televisions, manufacturers and retailers are slashing prices of TVs
to previously unheard of levels. This means you can get a perfectly
decent flat-panel — that’s right, the sexy thin kind — for less than
$1,000. Of course, more money will still get you thinner, bigger, and
better models, but for the first time ever, flat-panel HDTVs are within
reach of most folks. The best part is, no matter how much you pay for
your new HDTV, you can rest assured that it will be compatible with the
digital TV signals that are going to be the norm once the FCC-mandated analog-to-digital switchover
takes place early next year. Nevertheless, you’ll need to consider a
few things before you shell out any cash for a new TV, so take a look
at our Five Things to Consider Before Buying an HDTV, which starts by
clicking Next below.
1. How much are you willing to spend?
Despite the continuing drop of flat-panel televisions, HDTVs are still
a bit more expensive than the average analog TV of old (in other words,
gone are the days of $150, 13-inch televisions, at least for now). This
means you’ll need to set aside at least $350-$600 for some kind of HDTV, though your options for size, quality, and other features go up significantly above $600. In general, if you want anything bigger than, say, 42-inches, you’ll likely have to spend more than $1,000, though you can find the occasional 50-inch-plus televisions right around a grand.
Keep in mind that you get more bang-for-your-buck in terms of screen size if you go for a projection LCD or DLP TV and video quality if you go for a CRT (tube) television,
but these also tend to be bulkier, heavier, and are gradually being
phased out by TV manufacturers in favor of space-saving, attractive LCD and plasma flat-panel models.
2. Room and TV Size: Where Will This Thing Go?
Gone are the days when 13-inch TVs were the norm and 15-20-inches was
considered big. Nowadays, your TV won’t get the full advantage of crisp
and clear HD images unless it’s at least 32-inches or bigger. Though
some of us would prefer to keep our televisions small — and for those
folks there are plenty of models in the 15-20-inch
range that look nice on a kitchen counter or small bedroom — others,
including this writer, are of the bigger-is-better school of TV
watching (we’re talking to you, sports and action movie fans).
That
said, you don’t want to go so big that you can’t see the whole screen,
or that your eyes get irritated from light emitting out of the TV, or
that you can actually see the pixels on the screen. (The good news, for
that last problem, is that HDTV resolution, particularly of the 1080p
variety, can be good enough for you to sit pretty close to the TV).
Generally, you shouldn’t sit much closer than 5 or7 feet from the
screen, but check out this chart to calculate the ideal tv sizes for different distances.
Also,
remember that you’ll need a place to put this TV, so
appropriately-sized furniture or strong wall mounts also need to be
considered. In the case of DLP or CRT TVs, consider how big and bulky
these things can be, so make sure you’ve got the space and that it will
match well with your other furniture.
3. TV Types: LCD vs Plasma vs Projection vs CRT? (Say That 10 Times Fast)
Since most of us are looking to replace our bulky old television with
one a sleek new flat-panel, the main choice will be between LCD or
Plasma technology. Without getting too much into the nitty-gritty of
how each of these display technologies work, we’ll give you the
quick-and-dirty run-down. If you’re looking for anything under
42-inches, you’ll have to go with an LCD TV, since plasmas are only
available in sizes of 42-inches or bigger. Since there are more LCD-TVs
out there, the technology offers a greater choice of sizes, features
and, most importantly, price ranges. In other words, if you’re looking
for a decent $650 television, you’ll have to go with LCD.
That
said, LCDs tend to get considerably more expensive in the bigger sizes,
which is where they start to compete with plasma displays. In the
larger sizes, we prefer plasma screens since, in our experience, they
just look better — colors are more accurate, blacks are deeper, and
they can handle fast-motion scenes (and sports) without any of that
pixel distortion you sometimes see on lesser TVs. Also, LCDs can be
more irritating on the eye, particularly in dark rooms, because they
generally give off more light.
One more thing to consider: LCDs tend to use less energy
than power-hungry plasmas, though the latter type is improving in this
respect. As for Projection (DLP, LCD) and CRT (tube), the long and the
short of it on these types of TVs is that they offer more
bang-for-the-buck than LCD or Plasma — DLP and LCD Projection give you
bigger screen sizes for less, while CRT gives you top quality HDTV
display for a fraction of the price of a comparable LCD or plasma.
4. Connecting your TV to all your stuff: What kinds of connections do you need?
Make sure that the television you buy has an HDMI input. This is the one-stop-shop cable that gives you both high-quality HD video and
digital stereo and surround sound, making for a better quality home
theater experience, not to mention less cable clutter. This is likely
not an issue in most new models, but it could be if you’re buying a
used TV. HDMI also enables certain TV features such as video upscaling
(a feature on televisions and A/V receivers that upgrades standard TV
quality to HD quality). Unless you have an A/V receiver with its own
HDMI inputs, you’ll want as many HDMI inputs as possible on your TV so
that you can plug in all your state-of-the-art components, from cable
boxes and DVD or Blu-ray players to video game consoles and, say, Apple TV or Vudu.
Also,
make sure you get a television with “HDMI 1.3,’ which is the most
up-to-date version and can enable your TV to play the latest video
technologies such as Deep Color and audio processing formats such as
DTS Master Audio or Dolby HD (of course, you’ll also need a television
that’s capable of showing this stuff and a surround sound home-theater
setup to maximize HDMI 1.3). Now, to complicate matters further, not
all versions of HDMI 1.3 are created equal, which is why even the HDMI
association recommends looking for features — Deep Color, DTS Master
Audio, etc — rather than HDMI version number (see next slide for
information on these “features”).
Alternatively, you can connect these various devices via component video
connections, but it’s not always the same quality and it means you
still have to find a way to connect the audio (via optical, digital
audio, or traditional red-and-white cord audio connections). For
anything older, such as that VCR you’re still using, you’ll likely
connect via composite or the slightly better S-Video
connections, both of which are also on most TVs today (though you might
have to look a little harder for S-Video). Lastly, having PC or VGA inputs is handy if you’re going to use your TV as a computer monitor, too, though many new PCs come with HDMI outputs as well.
5. Other Specs
We could write volumes on what
all the various logos and acronyms and trademarked technologies that
are listed on the various Sunday fliers, price tags, and stickers on
TVs, so we’re just going to tell you what to look for. On LCD-TVs,
you’re going to want to look for a 120GHz refresh rate, which just
means your TV can handle fast action scenes and sports games without
any distortion. It costs more money, but you’ll be happy to see that
final touchdown in real-time without the risk of getting pixelated
players onscreen. The latest technology for color-reproduction comes in
the form of Deep Color, which you’ll pay a premium for, but we’re
assuming most videophiles will want as real-looking a display as
possible.
In terms of hardware features, there’s the matter
of built-in TV speakers. While these are important if your TV is going
in a small room or kitchen, they don’t matter is much on the bigger
TVs. Why? Because if you’re getting a big fat TV to watch movies or
sports, then you should also invest in a home-theater set up,
because otherwise you’re only getting half the experience, which, in
all honesty, is starting to rival the surround sound dazzle of the
movie theater.
Okay, so hopefully all that mumbo-jumbo didn’t fully confuse you, but
if we can reiterate anything, it’s that your future HDTV should have at
least one HDMI input, at least one component video input, and, to truly
enjoy HDTV, should be capable of displaying in at least 720p
resolution, which is the minimum HD resolution (and the one that
broadcast channels use). With that small bit of knowledge, you’ll get
something that’ll at least let you see Oprah up-close-and-personal, not to mention other folks in all their high-res HD glory. Happy TV hunting!