HDTV Buying Guide

This HDTV buying guide is intended to give you an overview of the things you should know before going out there and starting to look for a TV. This guide does not go into detail on any specific topic, aiming more at giving you a bird’s eye view on the subject. If you are interested in finding out more on a specific topic presented in this buying guide, in the HDTV Guides section of this site you can find focused in-depth guides on some of the topics discussed here. This is a two part guide, so make sure that after you finish reading this, you also read the second part HDTV Buying Guide Important Stuff that focuses more on mistakes, misconceptions and common questions of the buyers.

How to Choose the Best Model

Buying the best HDTV is not just a matter of buying a top of the line product but also knowing what you need or don’t need. You have to pick the correct size for your room, choose the resolution that is best for you (720p vs 1080p) and of course the type of HDTV (plasma or LCD). You also shouldn’t forget to pay attention to connectivity options if you plan to buy more equipment in order to build your own home cinema system. Unless you have unlimited budget, you will have to make trade-offs. For example, the best HDTV size for you could be 60 inch, but a high quality model of this size may be too expensive for you. In this case you will have to think what you prefer more – large size and high amount of detail or very good picture quality. This is something that only you can decide upon.

Figure Out What Is the Best HDTV Size for You

What will be the distance between you and the HDTV? Starting from this you will choose the HDTV size and resolution. Using the table below see which distance is closer to your own and from there see the corresponding screen size and resolution. For a more in-depth guide on why it is important to have the right size, read the HDTV Screen Size and Viewing Distance guide.

Screen Size	Content Resolution
	1080i/1080p 1080i TV broadcasts and 1080p Blu Ray Disk Movies	720p 720p TV broadcasts – most sports channels	480i/480p SDTV broadcasts and regular DVD movies
32"	4.2 feet	6.2 feet	11.5 feet
40"	5.2 feet	7.8 feet	14.3 feet
42"	5.5 feet	8.2 feet	15 feet
46"	6 feet	9 feet	16.5 feet
50"	6.5 feet	9.8 feet	17.9 feet
52"	6.8 feet	10 feet	18.6 feet
55"	7.2 feet	10.7 feet	19.7 feet
58"	7.5 feet	11.3 feet	20.8 feet
60"	7.8 feet	11.7 feet	21.5 feet
63"	8.2 feet	12.3 feet	22.6 feet
65"	8.5 feet	12.7 feet	23.3 feet

720p vs 1080p

For most room sizes, if you buy a HDTV under or equal to 50″ having 1080p native resolution makes a difference only if you sit close enough to see the extra detail. For most people and for the average room size, at this screen size 720p is enough and you don’t see a better quality from 1080p. If you buy a HDTV above 50″ you could get an advantage from 1080p. Best is to use the table above and see what sizes and resolution match the viewing distance that is closest to your own. You might have two matches for the same distance – a smaller screen size with 720p and a larger screen size with 1080p. From here it all depends on your budget and what you intend to watch. If you don’t even watch HDTV content, 1080p is a big waste of money. If you are all about watching high definition Blu Ray movies, then by all means go for 1080p. As I said before, your budget is also important because the larger the screen and the higher the resolution the more you will have to pay. One final note I want to make is that 720p doesn’t look bad at all. Actually it looks great and between 720p and 1080p isn’t big difference. For an in-depth guide on this topic, read the four part 720p vs 1080p guide.

Plasma vs LCD – Which Is Best?

Both plasma and LCD HDTVs have cons and pros and in order to choose one you must think at how you will use them and in what lighting conditions. Without going into much detail I will tell you the brief pros and cons of each and for what they are recommended.

Plasma TV

• Generally offers better overall picture quality and black levels making it great for watching movies
• Better picture quality in dim lighting environments than LCD HDTV. Models without anti-glare (anti-reflection) coating might reflect sunlight or powerful light from light bulbs and be unpleasant to watch in a very well lit room.
• Less recommended than LCD TVs for very bright environments.
• Has faster response time than LCD so fast moving images appear crisper. This recommends it for sports, action movies and games (if you are not a hardcore gamer). LCD TVs with under 5ms response time have similar performances, though.
• Not recommended to be used as computer monitor or for playing computer games frequently and for very long periods (more than 2-6 hours in a row), especially if regular content (movies, TV) is not viewed in a comparable amount. This is because they can develop burn-in (which by the way happens much harder than with older models). If you intend to play games all day long you might want to consider LCDs instead.
• Some models make a buzzing noise at high altitudes. They work fine under these altitudes (reported to sea level) – Pioneer: 7,500 feet, Panasonic: 7,800 feet, NEC: 9,180 and for any other manufacturer 6,000 feet is a safe bet.
• Great viewing angle, colors being maintained accurate no matter what angle you watch from. Great for big families or large groups when some sit more on the side than in front of the HDTV.

LCD TV

• Better picture quality in well lit environments. Less susceptible to reflect light and produce glare.
• Inferior black levels compared to plasma making it less recommended for movie enthusiasts or those seeking great picture quality.
• Highly recommended to be used as computer monitors because LCD TVs don’t get burn-in. You can play games on them as much as you wish.
• They have no problems operating at high altitudes.
• Generally inferior to plasma for fast moving scenes like sports and action movies (image edges get blurry). If response time is under 5ms they have close to plasma TV performance in this area.
• The viewing angle is narrower than for plasma TVs and colors get altered when watching from a side (under a wide angle). This is the biggest problem that LCD manufacturers weren’t able to address yet. Even some of the most expensive high-end LCD TVs suffer from this problem.

Note that you should avoid comparing LCD and plasma HDTV models at a general level. Read reviews and analyze HDTV models in a specific way, because each type of HDTV has models that don’t fall within the general characteristics of that technology. For example there are plasma TVs that perform great in well lit environments and some even resist burn-in extremely well (e.g. Pioneer and Panasonic). There are also LCD TVs with fast response times that are able to display crisp images just as plasma TVs. As a rule of thumb, the more expensive a HDTV is, the higher the chances to perform well in all areas.

HDTV Connectivity Needs

If you intend to buy additional equipment in order to build a home theater setup, make sure that you have the connectors you need, both on the HDTV as well as on the connected devices (DVD players, DVRs, audio system, etc.). Most HDTVs have enough connectivity options to suit most general needs but it is important to keep this in mind, because if you end up having to rely on converter cables, you might not get the best quality from your HDTV anymore.

Accessories

Do you need a tuner?

Not all HDTVs have built-in tuners. Make sure that if your plasma or LCD TV doesn’t have a built-in tuner you buy it, or you won’t be able to watch TV. Many of them have a built-in tuner and others have a separate tuner recommended by the manufacturer (which still you have to pay for). Usually HDTV models without a tuner are labeled as “monitor” instead of “TV”. For example Pioneer has plasma TV models in their Elite line that are either TVs (e.g. Pioneer Kuro Elite PRO-111FD) or monitors (e.g. Pioneer Kuro Elite PRO-101FD).

Wall Mounts & Stands

If you want to mount your HDTV on a wall you will need a wall mount. Make sure the wall mount you buy can sustain the weight of your HDTV and also that it works with your HDTV size. If you don’t want to mount it on a wall, you may want to buy a HDTV stand for your nice screen and if you want to buy additional equipment for your home theater, you might also want to consider an equipment rack. Installing your HDTV is easy if you don’t need the wires hidden and if you just want it to sit on a stand. However in the case of wall mounting or other types of setups, you will probably appreciate the help of a specialist if you don’t feel you can do it yourself. There are companies out there specialized in setting up home theaters and installing HDTVs.

Better Audio

Though most of the plasma and LCD HDTV models come with integrated speakers, if you want the best audio quality, you might want to buy a separate home theater audio system. They are both more powerful and have better sound quality than any integrated speakers. Also, these home theater audio systems that have a subwoofer and satellites (5.1, 7.1, etc.) not only give you more powerful and higher quality audio, but also a spatial sensation of the sound when watching movies that support this (e.g. Blu Ray & DVD movies).

Blu Ray Player

For the best possible movie experience a Blu Ray disk player is the best you can get. They have 1080p resolution and that is more detail than any TV channel. Even if your HDTV doesn’t have 1080p native resolution either the TV or the DVD player will downconvert the movie to your TVs native HDTV resolution. There is a chance of incompatibility here, so make sure you read the specs. Most modern HDTV models and Blu Ray players are compatible though.

Cleaning Products

You should not clean your HDTV screen with strong chemical products or water. Best is to use a special purpose HDTV screen cleaning kit. They usually contain a special cleaning solution and a soft cloth that doesn’t scratch the sensible surface of the plasma or LCD screen. This is a cheap and useful thing you should buy with your HDTV. The least damaging method is to just use a soft cloth or microfiber tissues, without using any liquid solution. Just softly dust off without applying pressure.

Calibration DVD Disk

Not many think at this, but I consider it important because if you want the best from your HDTV you will want to calibrate it. You could calibrate it without a calibration DVD, but it is very hard and the results are not too great either. So buy a calibration DVD disk with your HDTV because it’s quite cheap and it will help you get the best out of your plasma or LCD. Note that not all HDTV models require calibration, some of the high-end ones coming with perfect picture out of the box. Usually you can find if a specific TV requires calibration from in-depth reviews or HDTV forums.

That’s all for the first part of the HDTV buying guide. Continue by reading HDTV Buying Guide – Important Stuff. In this second part, we are discussing about some mistakes you can make, answer some common questions and address misconceptions that buyers have.