What to look for when buying a TV on the Internet.
What Size?
Work out what size you need before you start – buying a TV is often a family decision so ensure you are not looking at a Matt Black model when your partner may prefer a Piano Black. Check that the size of TV you are looking for will fit the room in which you intend to use it. Also important is the optimal viewing distance. This differs depending on whether standard defintion or high definition media is being watched. A 32" TV is best viewed at 8ft for standard definition, 4 ft for high definition, A 37" TV's viewing distance is 12ft and 6ft respectively.
Your Aerial
If you are unsure of your TV aerial on your house now is the time to have a local aerial engineer check it out for you. The TV will only provide you with an image as good as the signal it receives. £100 spent fixing the aerial that’s been there since the 70’s will greatly enhance your TV image in preparation for the new digital LCDTV.
The Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd is a company who provide consumer protection against rogue traders. By selecting an aerial installer from their web site http://www.cai.org.uk (opens in a new window) the customer will get industry protection and an assurance that the installer is regulated.
Freeview or not Freeview ?
If you do not have SKY or Cable and you rely on the terrestrial signal (the TV aerial on your roof) then you should select a TV with a Digital Tuner built in. You will be able to spot this by the Freeview logo or the Digital Tick logo appearing near to or next to the image of the TV. If you are unsure then check the specification list. The list should include the phrase DVB-T or Digital Tuner included. As a direct comparison the Digital Tuner models should be a little more expensive than the models with only Analogue Tuners
LCD Panel
Two massive Korean companies make 83% of all LCDTV panels – LG Philips and Samsung. So not all expensively branded TV’s are actually what they seem. One huge manufacturer in Turkey makes 27% of all the LCDTV’s in Europe and they do not produce any TV products with their own logo on. You may recognize Hitachi, Toshiba and Grundig though so it is always worth considering which LCD panel your TV has. Sharp actually manufacture around 10% of panels globally and their TV’s are one of very few brands that carry all the makers’ parts as manufactured by them. Generally speaking LG Philips and Samsung have the best LCD products in the world.
Check it out
A number of buying guides and Hi-Fi publications regularly run Reviews on the latest LCDTV products and many point buyers to insignificant details like the number of HDMI inputs an LCDTV may or may not have. The most important part of your LCDTV is the panel. Check the Contrast Ratio – the newer panels from LG and Samsung have 5,000:1 ratios as a minimum. The higher the contrast ratio of a television the deeper and richer the picture will be. This is the measurement of the difference in light intensity between the brightest possible white and the darkest possible black.Check the Response Time – this should be 5m/s – this will give you a clearly defined image even in fast moving sequences. Check the resolution – for an LCDTV to be HD Ready it must have a minimum resolution of 1366x768 and have a digital input – HDMI or DVI that supports HDCP – Content Protection
The following logo is allowed to be displayed on the product and printed on the box.
How it works
The best general indicator of TV picture quality is screen resolution. The resolution is made up of lines of pixels that display the picture. The greater the resolution the higher the picture detail will be. The resolution of a standard definition broadcasts is 576i (576 lines of 720 pixels each). HDTV for the time being will be broadcast in 2 different formats; 1080i and 720p.
1080i uses an ‘interlaced’ system which breaks the image into 2 fields and displays ‘odd’ and ‘even’ fields alternatively. 720p uses a ‘progressive’ system which displays each frame of the image as a whole.Both of these formats are displayed in widescreen.
What you need
You’ll also need a HD receiver. Sky have launched their High Definition service and offer the widest range of HD programmes in the UK. The Sky HD box includes Sky functionality that allows you to record 2 channels at the same time and lets you pause and rewind live TV.
1080p
A growing number of televisions are also 1080p or True HD compatible. 1080p is the purest form of high definition that a television can display. This leads to a smoother, more film-like image, which will satisfy sports and movie lovers alike. With a 1080p signal, the information that makes up an image is displayed “progressively” or all at once, rather than in an “interlaced” fashion. Some televisions will take a standard definition signal from a DVD player or the built-in digital tuner, and give it a 1080p “makeover”. While this does make the picture better, the benefit of 1080p is appreciated fully when used in conjunction with a compatible 1080p source such as a Blu-ray/HD DVD player.
The main difference between 1080p Full HD and 1080i HD Ready TV’s is the resolution – the former uses a higher 1920x1080 and the latter the normal 1366x768
Inputs
Check the inputs – do you want to use your screen with your Laptop? – then you must have a PC Input, 2 Scarts is normal and at least 1 HDMI is standard - HDMI is a Digital ‘Scart’ and carries the HD picture image and sound from your input device to the TV.
Warranty
Check warranty – after sale service is very important – check if the warranty can be upgraded. Check the after sales service you will receive from the Internet Company you are buying from.
Price
Check the price – take a balanced view between all the specification and the price – cheap and high quality are two phrases that as with most markets do not happen together in the LCDTV sector. Good value is common but check the service you may or may not receive once you have bought and suddenly the value does not appear as good as it once did.
Good Advice
Use a company like The Big TV Shop for advice. We have on-line advice and we have telephone help lines. We do not always expect you to buy from us – we are happy to advise you with your purchase even if you decide to buy elsewhere.