What to Look for When Buying A TV
Buying a TV is one of the exciting purchases that you will make for your home, bedroom, or even place of business. With the advancement of technology, television sets are not what they used to be. There are now tons of options to choose from which may be intimidating when trying to figure out just the right one to purchase. Here are some tips to consider before purchasing your new television set.
Size
This is probably the most important for many people, and certainly one of the first things other people will notice when watching your TV. When trying to choose the perfect size TV, it’s important to consider the area in which the TV will be placed. A big TV might be the most appealing for some, but that may not be the case for say someone putting their TV in a small room that doesn’t call for a large screen. Consider the space you’ll set up your TV and consider your budget. Screen size also depends on how close you sit to the TV. Basically, if you can see the individual pixels of the screen, you're too close. A good rule of thumb is that you should sit at a distance from the TV that is three times more than the height of the screen for HD and just 1.5 times the screen height for 4K Ultra HD. In other words, you can sit twice as close to a 4K UHD TV.
Resolution
Remember how fuzzy old black and white box TV sets were? Well technology has come a long way. The resolution of your TV describes the sharpness of the TV picture, usually in terms of horizontal lines of pixels. TV manufacturers are rapidly shifting from HDTVs to Ultra HD sets (also called 4K). These 4K models have four times the number of pixels as current HDTV screens.
HDMI and Connections
When shopping for your new TV don’t forget to check the connections in the back or on the side of the TV. Consider the number of devices you'll want to connect, and make sure your TV has at least that many HDMI ports. Nearly every new 4K TV has enough robust HDMI connections to work with a range of the latest 4K and HDR gear.
Smart TV’s
Most TV’s these days are smart TV’s with access to online apps. If you decide to not purchase a smart TV you can always connect an inexpensive HDMI stick or box to any TV and you’ll receive the same smart TV features including access to Netflix, Amazon Instant and more.
Warranty
With most purchases it is usually advised to get a warranty. One of the biggest revenue generators is the extended warranty. Surprisingly, they are rarely needed when purchasing a TV, especially for a flat-panel LCD set. Most of the components in an HDTV are remarkably resilient; even the LEDs used to light the picture are virtually shockproof.