Television Buyer Guide

Frequently Asked Questions ? ?

We're sure you have a lot of questions, we have outlined the most Frequently Asked Questions here. If you have any more questions or would like to speak to a specialist, feel free to call 1-866-898-1089.

Pick Your Size

For a bedroom, kitchen, or office, where you'll probably be pretty close to the TV, you can go with a relatively small screen: 32" or even 26". But for the main TV in your living room or home theater, we recommend getting the largest screen that fits your budget and room. That's based on our own experiences and on feedback from our customers.

Sitting too far away from a smallish screen will reduce the impact and immediacy of the viewing experience. On the other hand, if you're too close to a large screen, you may be distracted by the screen's "pixel structure" — the grid of tiny picture elements that form the TV image. Compared to conventional tube TVs, digital HDTVs have higher-resolution screens (and more space-efficient cabinets) that let you put a larger set in your room and/or sit much closer.

High-quality video material like DVDs and HDTV programs look amazing on these new TVs. But some people also find that noise and distortion in lower-quality analog signals (like standard broadcast and cable) are exposed and magnified. That's why our viewing distance chart (below) offers a range for each screen size. If most of your viewing is DVD-quality or better, you'll see more details by sitting closer. If you watch more lower-quality video sources, sit farther back for a smoother picture.

Current Display Technology

LCD Technology

Basically, LCD panels are made of two layers of transparent material, which are polarized, and are "glued" together. One of the layers is coated with a special polymer that holds the individual liquid crystals. Current is then passed through individual crystals, which allow the crystals to pass or block light to create images. LCD crystals do not produce their own light, so an external light source, such as florescent bulb is needed for the image created by the LCD to become visible to the viewer.

Unlike standard CRT and Plasma televisions, since there are no phosphors that light up, less power is needed for operation and the light source in an LCD television generates less heat than a Plasma or traditional television. Also, because of the nature of LCD technology, there is no radiation emitted from the screen itself.

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Plasma Technology

Plasma television technology is based loosely on the fluorescent light bulb. The display itself consists of cells. Within each cell two glass panels are separated by a narrow gap in which neon-xenon gas is injected and sealed in plasma form during the manufacturing process. The gas is electrically charged at specific intervals when the Plasma set is in use. The charged gas then strikes red, green, and blue phosphors, thus creating a television image. Each group of red, green, and blue phosphors is called a pixel (picture element).

Although Plasma television technology eliminate the need for the bulky picture tube and electron beam scanning of traditional televisions, because it still employs the burning of phosphors to generate an image, Plasma televisions still suffer from some of the drawbacks of traditional televisions, such as heat generation and screen-burn of static images.

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LED Technology

One type of LED backlighting is referred to as Edge Lighting. In this method, a series LED backlights are placed along the outside edges of the screen. The light is then dispersed across the screen. The advantage of this method is that the LED/LCD TV can be made very thin. On the other hand, the disadvantage of Edge lighting is that black levels are not as deep and the edge area of the screen has a tendency to be brighter than the center area of the screen.

The other type of LED backlighting is referred to as Full-Array. In this method, several rows of LEDs are placed behind the entire surface of the screen. The advantage is that these sets can employ "local dimming". Local dimming means that each LED or a specific group of LEDs can be turned on and off independently within certain areas of the screen, thus providing more control of the brightness and darkness for each those areas, depending on the source material being displayed. On the other hand, LCD TVs that employ full array backlighting are thicker than LCD TVs that employ an Edge-lit LED light source.

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DLP Television Technology

The remaining heir to the rear-projection television option in use today is the DLP (Digital Light Processing) rear-projection television. Like LCD, the actual image is displayed on a chip, however, the chip used in a DLP projection television is different. The chip in a DLP 0 projection television is referred to as a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device). In essence, every pixel on a DMD chip is a reflective mirror.

The video image is displayed on the DMD chip. The micromirrors on the chip (remember: each micromirror represents one pixel) then tilt very rapidly as the image changes. This process produces the grayscale foundation for the image. Then, color is added as light passes through a high-speed color wheel and is reflected off of the micromirrors on the DLP chip as they rapidly tilt towards or away from the light source. The degree of tilt of each micromirror coupled with the rapidly spinning color wheel determines the color structure of the projected image. As the amplified light bounces off the micromirrors, it is sent through the lens, reflected off a large single mirror, and onto the screen.

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Energy Efficiency

If all televisions sold in the United States met the new ENERGY STAR requirements, Americans would save $2.5 billion annually in energy costs while reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the emissions from about 3 million cars.

TVs that carry the ENERGY STAR label are about 40% more efficient than conventional models. You can find the ENERGY STAR on everything from standard TVs, to HD-ready TVs, to the largest flat-screen plasma TVs.

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Wireless Connectivity

The best place for your TV isn't always near the cable. Wireless 1080p Connectivity lets you cut loose from messy wires and still get a stunning Full HD picture anywhere you put the TV. Now you can give your beautiful new HDTV more breathing room. With a wireless Media Box, stunning Full HD 1080p images are transmitted to your HDTV remotely--with no wires between the box and the TV.

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Web Connectivity / Internet "Ready" TV's

What is an internet ready TV? The answer is pretty simple. Many manufacturing companies join hands with the famous web outlets and provide rich internet content for their customers. This content is limited to few websites only; one cannot browse any website he/she wants to. There is no need to connect your PC to the television set. Usually all the widely day-to-day used websites have partnered with the well known television manufacturing brands.

Some of the TV brands which are into this internet ready TV business are Sony Bravia, Samsung, LG, Sharp, Panasonic and many more. Samsung internet ready TV's are providing Yahoo and Flicker while you have Sony Bravia offering you to browse You Tube website along with Amazon- video on Demand. Companies keep on trying to join a partnership with various websites to increase the internet content and thus get more customers.We also have Netflix and Blockbuster who are offering movies over the internet, and many TV Manufacturers are integrating there software in the new model TV's. Along with the usual TV watching experience one can enjoy net surfing without any hassle. You are just a click away from viewing the list of contents of internet browsing on your television screen. This new trend has succeeded and is going to bring a new era to the world of television viewing and internet browsing.

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3D

3D-ready TV sets are those that can operate in 3D mode (in addition to regular 2D mode), in conjunction with a set-top-box and LCD shutter glasses, where the TV tells the glasses which eye should see the image being exhibited at the moment, creating a stereoscopic image. These TV sets usually support HDMI 1.4 and a minimum (input and output) refresh rate of 120 Hz; glasses may be sold separately.

Although there are companies working on 3D television technology that does not require glasses, the systems that are coming out now use glasses.

Another thing slowing the adoption of 3D TV is the fact that content is scarce, but there are those who believe that will change in the next three to four years.

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Laser Video Display

A laser video display, or laser TV, is a rear-projection television that replaces the conventional high-intensity discharge lamps with three colored lasers. The image on the screen is produced like a conventional rear projection system, by scanning the light source across the screen using optoelectronics.

Current televisions are capable of displaying only 40% of the color gamut that humans can potentially perceive. In contrast, proponents of Laser TV technology claim that the standard will be able to reproduce about 90% of the colors visible to the human eye.

Laser TV harnesses the power of the world's purest light source to deliver two times the color of many of today's HDTVs, at approximately on-third to one-fourth the operating power of similar-sized flat panel.

Since this is new technology, you will be paying a price until the market is flooded with these beauties.

Mitsubishi L75A91– one of today’s hottest laser TV’s
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Aspect Ratio

Screen Aspect Ratio is basically a measure of the horizontal length of a screen, in relation to its vertical height. In other words, a traditional screen has an Aspect Ratio of 4x3. This means that a traditional television has a screen that is four units long for every three units in height. Converting these units into inches would result in measurements of 4-inches by 3-inches or 8-inches by 6-inches, and on-and-on.

By the same token, on widescreen television (such as today's HDTVs), the Screen Aspect Ratio is 16 units long for every 9 units in height, or 16-inches by 9-inches, 32-inches by 18-inches, etc... A 16x9 screen aspect ratio thus results in a wider image display that a 4x3 aspect ratio. This wider image display allows both movies originally filmed in widescreen and new, widescreen television programming, to be displayed more accurately.

The Increasing Need For 16x9 Televisions

As the impact of DVD, DTV, and HDTV (especially flat panel LCD and Plasma TVs) becoming more of a factor in TV purchases, the consumer now needs to decide between purchasing a television with a traditional 4x3 aspect ratio (mostly tube-type), or the new DTV widescreen televisions with a 16x9 screen aspect ratio (most flat panel LCD and Plasma, or LCD and DLP rear projection sets).

Televisions with a 16x9 screen aspect ratio is more suited to the increasing amount of 16x9 and other widescreen programming available on DVD and HDTV broadcasts. However, consumers are used to the traditional 4x3-shaped screen.

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Resolution

If you're shopping for an HDTV, you've probably seen terms like "720p" and "1080p", or "1366 x 768 pixels" used to describe a television's resolution. But what exactly do those numbers mean, and what do they say about a TV's performance?

Here's a quick breakdown of each resolution type:

480i : Basic cable, satellite and DVD signals have a 480i resolution, which means the signal is separated into two fields containing 240 rows. DVD has a higher horizontal resolution (more columns of pixels) than cable and satellite SDTV signals, so it has better overall detail. DVD resolution is 720 x 480, for a total of 345,600 pixels.

720p : Broadcasters like ABC, Fox and ESPN transmit their HD signals in the 720p format. Many early HDTVs and a number of today's entry-level models have a 720p resolution. The exact resolution of these TVs is often 1,280 x 720, or 921,600 pixels

1080i : Broadcasters like CBS, NBC and the CW transmit their HD signals in the 1080i format, which means the signal is separated into two fields containing 540 rows. We should note that, when the two fields are stitched together properly, a 1080i signal has the same resolution as a 1080p signal: 1,920 x 1,080, or 2,073,600 pixels. However, there's a greater chance of motion artifacts and other processing errors when dealing with 1080i.

1080p : This is currently the highest resolution available for most consumer HDTVs and source devices. A majority of new HDTVs, especially the more expensive ones, have a 1080p resolution. The exact resolution is 1,920 x 1,080, or 2,073,600 pixels. Blu-ray discs generally have a 1080p resolution. No broadcasters currently transmit TV signals in the 1080p format; however, satellite and cable providers occasionally make on-demand movies available at a 1080p resolution.

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Refresh Rate

You've probably seen the numbers while reading HDTV product details – 60Hz, 120Hz and 240Hz. These numbers represent the total number of scans performed on the screen within one second of time. How these scans impact you is in the quality of the on-screen image.

More scans means more detail, less blur on-screen. As a result, moving images should be considerably clearer on a 120Hz TV in comparison to a 60Hz TV.

The downside of a faster refresh rate is a higher purchase price. You will have to decide if that improvement is visible to you and if it is, are you willing to pay the additional dollars.

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Inputs and Outputs

Input
Cable
Name and Use
Level of Quality
RF

aka radio frequency; antenna;
cable; screw type; F-pin

Used For:
Antennae, VCRs, cable and satellite
boxes

Lowest
Component Video

aka component; Y, Pb, Pr; Y, Cb, Cr;
broadband component; 1080i; 720p; HDTV

Used For: HD and DVD Video and Consoles. Blu-Ray, Other Sources

High
HDMI

aka High-Definition Multimedia
Interface

HD cable and satellite boxes, DVD players, HDTV tuners, Blu-ray and HD DVD players, game consoles, computers, other HD sources

Highest
DVI-D with HDCP

aka DVI-D; Digital Visual Interface;
High-bandwidth Digital Content
Protection.

Used For: Computers; older HD cable and satellite boxes, HDTV tuners and DVD players

Highest
FireWire

aka IEEE 1394; iLink

Used For:
Some HDTV tuners, D-VHS VCRs

Lowest
RGB

Connections can also be made through
RCA or BNC-type connectors, and
adapters are available between all of them.

aka PC, computer, VGA; 15-pin D-sub; RGB-HV

Used For:
Computers, video processors

Medium
S-Video

aka DIN 4

Used For:
Cable and satellite boxes, S-VHS VCRs, DVD players, game consoles

Medium
Composite Video

aka yellow video; video; A/V (when combined with audio jacks)

Used For:
Cable and satellite boxes, VCRs, DVD players, game consoles

Medium
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Contrast Ratio

What is Contrast Ratio

Contrast Ratio is the difference between the whitest white and the darkest black colors that the display can show. Generally speaking, the greater the contrast the better the screen and the subtlety of colors it can display.

Contrast ratio is often used when describing TVs. A high contrast ratio, such as 4000:1, signifies a better color representation (bright images will appear better against a darker background) than a lower contrast ratio, such as 2500:1. A 3000:1 contrast means 3000 times brighter than black. Typically, you want to purchase a projector or flat-panel TV with a high contrast ratio. Below are examples of different contrast ratio's.

Low Contrast

When contrast is low, images appear washed out. Parts of the image may become difficult to see clearly. Projectors with contrast ratios of less than 500:1 typically provide low contrast.

Simulated image of low contrast
Medium Contrast

When a projector provides good contrast, images are clear and attractive. Projectors with contrast ratios ranging from 500:1 to 1200:1 typically provide medium contrast.

Simulated image of low contrast
High Contrast

With high contrast, images are ultra crisp with vibrant colors. Projectors with contrast ratios exceeding 1200:1 typically provide high contrast. DLP TM (DDR) technology projectors currently offer these high contrast ratios. Additionally, some LCD projectors are able to offer high contrast ratios as well.

Simulated image of low contrast
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Extended Service

The final question you'll be asked when buying a TV is generally, "Would you like a service plan with that?" In this section we previously advocated a few aspects of extended service plans, mainly because of the relatively untested nature of new HDTV technologies. Most buyers should Consider the extended warranty as in the long run it will end up saving you a a great deal of time and money, and in most HDTV cases it will save you from purchasing an entire new unit. The overwhelming majority of HDTVs usually do not need repairs during the standard 1 year manufacturer warranty period. However, they do tend to need repairs within thier total usage time. Rear-projection HDTVs do exhibit a higher rate of failure due to the fact that they work with a BULB, which will eventually die out (normally within the first 2-3 years of usage). Plasma Tvs tend to leave a ghost effect over time and eventually run out of gas. LCD Tvs have been found to exhibit the longest life usage, however they are most likely to aquire burned out pixles within the usage. Dead pixles are Formed Dots going across the LCD screen that can easily disrupt the picture. They appear to be small particles on the screen, and can have a significant adverse effect on ones viewing. So you may still be asking yourself, "what are my benefits when purchasing an extended service plan?".

  • In-Home Coverage – The Television will not have to leave your location. An authorized repair facility will send one of thier highly trained technicians to your location, to assess the issue. They will then order the required parts, and service your television on site. There is no shipping to be done on your part, and you do not have the worry of bringing a cumbersome TV into a repair facility.
  • Extended Service plans Coverage VS. Manufacturer coverage – These service plans cover the units in the EXACT SAME way the manufacturers do. They cover everything except physical damage to the unit itself, caused by the consumer. So your total coverage time is the Manufacturer Service period + Extended Service period, with the same coverage throughout.
  • Repair/Replace Coverage – One of the most important things to consider while purchasing an extended service plan is what will happen in the even that a technician cannot repair your unit. In this case, they will replace your unit with the same exact model that you purchased. With the constant evolution of HDTV technology, within the span of your extended service plan, the TV you initially purchased will become unavailable. The good news is that in that event, your unit will be replaced by a newer model that meets or exceeds the specifications of your current model. This is due to the fact that as time goes by, the technology gets rounded, and ultimately more inexpensive to produce. This results in you getting a better unit, becuase it will be produced for a similar price as the unit you already owned. You will never be replaced with a lower end unit. This is a great benefit.
  • Zero Deductible – Getting your unit serviced/replaced comes to you with no out of pocket expenses. You are fully covered for everything that is entailed in the process. You just sit back, and your unit gets fixed.
  • Cost of getting an HDTV repaired with NO service plan – The cost of getting one of these units repaired is exhorbant amount of money. Aside from the trouble of taking a unit into a service center (which if you have a 50 inch TV or above, is very difficult), or shipping the unit to such a facility (which would cost hundreds of dollars), the cost of repairing such a unit is so expensive that you might as well just buy a new unit. Some reports have stated that it can cost between 40-70 percent of the units total price. Buying a service plan at a fraction of the price of your unit cost will save a huge amount of money and hassle. These plans are worry free.
  • Authorized Expert Service – These service plans actually utilize the exact same Authorized Technicians as the manufacturers themselves. If something goes wrong with your unit within the Manufacturer Warranty period, they will send out a technician from one of thier authorized centers. They do not send out technicians from thier "factory", but an expertly trained facility which they allow to do repairs under thier banner. The extended service contract utilizes the exact same professional, highly trained techs as all of the big Manufacturers. You can rest assured that your unit is in good hands.. Again after spending Hundreds to Thousands of your hard-earned dollars, we have found that it is definetly worth purchasing an extended warranty and is defenitly in the consumers Benefit. You will sleep good knowing that you are covered in the event that something goes wrong with your expensive TV. Most people do not make such a huge purchase like this often, so it is good to be assured that your purchase will last.
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