How to Choose an HDTV
with
Jonathon E. Stewart
If you're still watching your TV from the last millennium, there's a whole new world of digital television awaiting you. Check out the high definition basics before you hit the store.
Transcript: How to Choose an HDTV
Choosing a high definition television can be a little overwhelming, especially if your last TV came with rabbit ears and knobs you turned to change the channels. But with the digital TV transition behind us, HDTVs are now the most common televisions sold in the United States. Time for an upgrade?Simply put, high definition television boasts a far superior image quality than analog or standard definition TV, especially as the size of your screen increases. Where "regular" TVs typically have at most 480 visible lines of resolution, HDTVs have either 720 or 1080, resulting in a sharper, more vivid, picture.
It's important to remember that regardless of what kind of HDTV you buy, the only way to view television in high definition is to have an HD signal coming into your house. Be sure to check with your cable or satellite provider to make sure you have access to HD programming before making your purchase.
High definition DVD and Blu-Ray players will allow you to view movies and other recorded programs in high def, too -- as long as you're also playing HD DVDs or Blu-Ray discs.
Unfortunately, standard definition TV signals and standard DVDs are not magically upgraded just because you have an HDTV. In fact, if your HDTV is larger than your old set, you might find that standard def shows actually look a little fuzzy in comparison.
There are four basic kinds of TVs you can buy, which typically escalate in price as we go: direct view or cathode ray tube TVs, liquid crystal displays or LCDs, plasma TVs, rear and front projection TVs.
The important thing to remember here is that CRTs and LCDs, while less expensive, don't provide nearly as good color or motion clarity as a plasma or rear projection TVs. But even so, a low-end hi def LCD is going to look significantly better than your bulky old CRT.
You'll also want to mind your new set's resolution and screen aspect ratio. Resolution is most commonly found at 720p, 1080i, and 1080p -- the numbers refer to the number of visible lines (the more the better) and the letters as to whether or not it utilizes the smoother progressive-scan format (denoted with a 'p'). The aspect ratio of your screen will either be the boxy 4:3 or the widescreen 16:9.
Pick your poison on this one: since HD signals broadcast primarily in 16:9, you may have to deal with vertical black bars on the sides of your image when watching standard def programming on your 16:9 HDTV. And likewise, if you choose a 4:3 screen, your HD programming will likely be masked by horizontal black bars.
When you're in the store, the best way to truly evaluate the picture is to bring in an HD DVD or Blu-Ray disc that you're familiar with to see how it plays on the different screens. Also, don't allow yourself to be dazzled by bright screens -- be sure to adjust the displays to less bright settings and try out alternate picture modes to see the TVs true range.
Buying an HDTV is certainly an investment, but given the major changes in digital television that have just taken place, it's not likely you'll need to upgrade again for quite some time. That is, until you decide you want one of these in every room of the house.
I'm Jonathon Stewart, with About.com.