Here’s What to Know before Buying a TV

Here's What to Know before Buying a TV

Although we have always repaired televisions at Target PC Inc, we only recently posted the service itself to our website. So it seemed like a good time to talk about what to know before buying a TV.

Sure, if you already have a TV and it needs repairing, call us at (440) 725-0642.

But if you happen to be in the market for a new TV, you should know that they are not all created equal.

What to Know before Buying a TV

For some people, aspects such as resolution and display type don’t matter all that much. It might be as simple for them as going to their local department store and choosing the least expensive TV that will fit in their living room.

But for the rest of us, it’s a good idea to explore a few different options. After all, different TVs exist to suit different tastes and needs.

Display Types

Plasma: Best for cinematic viewing, and ideal when purchasing a relatively large TV. Excellent color quality, high contrast ratio, and a wide viewing angle. Tend to lack brightness.

LCD: Generally the least expensive option. Energy efficient and fair color quality. Not a great choice for gaming. Also suffers from limited viewing angles.

LED: Usually refers to an LCD TV that uses LED lights for backlighting. A little more expensive than an LCD TV, but more energy efficient. Tends to also boast an improved contrast ratio.

OLED: A true LED TV tend to be bright with a high quality image. Ideal for daytime TV watching. Not inexpensive, and some viewing angle problems.

Contrast Ratio

This term refers to the range of colors between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites. The bigger this ratio is, the better. As the term suggests, it is expressed as a ratio, such as 5,000:1.

Manufacturers have been known to overstate this figure. It is a good idea to do a search online to get a true sense of the contrast ratio on any given TV before purchasing it.

Color Reproduction

Sometimes referred to as color depth, this essentially refers to the number of colors the TV is able to create. What to know before buying a TV is that it should have a bit depth of at least 8 bits per channel.

This will guarantee that the TV is able to create enough colors to display photo quality images.

Aspect Ratio

This term refers to the ratio between the TV’s width versus its height. For example, older more box-style TVs tend to have a more ‘square’ shape with a 4:3 viewing ratio. On the other hand, newer TVs are almost exclusively made with a 16:9 viewing ratio.

If, however, you intend to exclusively watch widescreen Hollywood movies, you may wish to consider a ratio of 2.4:1. This ratio will be harder to find and more expensive than 16:9.

Refresh Rate

Finally, let’s take a look at what is known as refresh rate. This value is measured in hertz (Hz), and it refers to the number of times the image is refreshed each second.

In most cases, you will be choosing between 60 Hz or 120 Hz. Although more expensive, a TV with a refresh rate of 120 Hz will display smoother transitions between images and reduce motion blur.

This is especially helpful if you watch a lot of action movies or play a lot of video games. If you intend to primarily watch the evening news, 60 Hz will be more than adequate.

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What’s the most important feature you look for when purchasing a new TV?

Let us know with a comment below.