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Buying an LCD Television
Intro
This is the latest in our guide to purchasing electrical / computer equipment. This is all about LCD (flat) TV screens.
I found some of this kind of advice online and in magazines and thought I'd compile all I'd learned into one place, to make it easy for others to learn from what I have learned through researching LCD TVs. I pray it helps people.
PLEASE NOTE - This is by no means a complete run-down or checklist. We cannot be held responsible for your actions on the basis of this information. This is signposting / opinion only. We are not responsible for external links.
Other Related Advice On This Site
- A look at buying an LCD / TFT monitor for your computer
- A look at buying a digital camera
- A look at buying a camcorder (and shooting home movies)
There are many other areas of advice around the site, feel free to take a look around.
LCD - explaining the technical terms
This is aimed at LCD screens, but much of this will apply to the commonly larger in size 'Plasma' screens. Be aware that the LCD (liquid crystal display) screen viewing experience is different to watching an old big (CRT - Cathode Ray Tube) TV.
Widescreen or Not / Aspect Ratio - Currently, your average sized TV box produces a picture in the UK which is 4 measurements across for every 3 vertically. This is known as an aspect ratio and has commonly has been described as 4:3. Most programmes (and all movies) are filmed in widescreen (though other sized versions are available). Widescreen commonly operates as 16:9 - this means a measurement of 16 horizontally and 9 vertically. It is advisable to get a widescreen TV. Where a programme is broadcast in a different ratio (eg 4:3), widescreen TVs nearly all either automatically adapt or have an 'Aspect' button to change the size of the picture on screen.
Size of screen - most commonly measured in inches in the UK (23" - 26" - 32" etc). This is measured diagonally across the screen (eg bottom left to top right) and NOT simply left to right. Remember that as most TV is now produced in widescreen, you may want to slightly increase the size screen you buy to compensate for the changed shape of the picture.
Contrast Ratio - This is the range / difference between the brightest white and the darkest black colours that your LCD TV displays. The colours should be accurate, without other colours 'bleeding' (getting into) other colours, especially the whites. Measured like this: 700:1 contrast ratio.
Pixels - Pixels are the little dots that make up your LCD screen. Commonly, you'll find something called WXGA which means 1280 x 768 pixels (or even 1368 x 768 pixels - an 'HD Ready' essential). The higher the amount of pixels, the more accurate and detailed your picture will be.
HD Ready - This is the next version of high quality TV signal into your television. To handle this in the UK, you will likely need a satellite connection (as the amount of 'bandwidth' or 'space') needed to transmit these signals into your home is high, and beyond the capabilities of your standard TV aerial! HD Ready will need special connections (as listed below, such as HDMI, DVI and certainly component cables) to be able to get the high quality signal into your TV. HD has 2 basic formats known as '720p' and '1080i'. 720p uses progressive scanning (see below), with 720 vertical lines. 1080i uses interlacing (again, see below under 'progressive scan'), with 1,080 lines.
Screen Brightness - The brightness levels your screen can handle. Ideally they should be as high as possible, but this doesn't necessarily mean a better picture as it's much more complex than that! Measured like this - 500cd/m2.
Viewing Angle - The angle at which you can still see the TV effectively. Most LCD TVs have a 'viewing arc' of around 170 degrees.
NTSC / PAL - Different systems used by the US (NTSC) and Europe (PAL) - except the French who have to be different, and have a system called SECAM. NTSC plays back at 29.97 fps (frames per second). PAL runs at 25fps.
Teletext - The most common form you'll find now is called 'fastext' which basically means you get teletext faster than before. Remember that currently, digital television doesn't support the traditional teletext, although it does offer much greater interactivity.
Freeview / Integrated Digital Television (IDTV) - You may have heard of something called the big switchover. This means that from 2012, all TV in the UK will be broadcast via digital signals, rather than analogue (down you aerial cable). This will mean you can receive more TV channels, get better quality TV and have interactive television. This is also known as 'Freeview'. Right now you can get a freeview box which will convert your TV signal from analogue to digital.
However, increasing amounts of LCD TVs have digital television built in - this is called IDTV - so the digital TV is 'integrated' into your TV. This means you won't need a Freeview box and saves space, time, clutter and cables! The TVs will still be able to receive anaolgue signals as long as it exists.
Take a look at the digital features - for example, does the television learn your favourite programmes / give you the opportunity to use an external unit (Video recorder / DVD recorder) to do timer recordings. Check out the digital features. Some LCD TVs offer interactive digital features, some do not. Some TVs (and many more external freeview boxes) give you the opportunity to 'time slip'. This is the ability to start watching a programme and 'rewind' it during playback. This neat trick is available on some TVs, and on boxes such as Sky+ (satellite only) or Telewest's 'teleport'. Both these things offer various other digital services too.
Cables - When buying a TV, you should look for high quality cables and interfaces. A cable is a way of getting information between say your TV and your DVD. An interface is the link physically on your TV, DVD etc.
Cables are worth investing in as they carry the signal between devices. When you send a signal down a cable, it can 'leak' information and actually have interference from outside sources 'get in' to the cable. Basically this means quality suffers. So pay for 'shielded' (protected) cables - especially ones with silver threading which 'shields' the signals very effectively. Gold is a good conductor but not the most important thing to look for in a lead.
Composite - The lowest quality of cable, although quality varies according to the amount you pay. These look like 'hi-fi' or 'RCA' leads and you find them split into 3 - Video (yellow), Right and Left audio (red and white).
Scart - These are the most common leads and once again vary massively in quality according to price. The one currently recommended by What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision magazine is the QED P2110 which retails for around £30. Cheaper recommended cables include the Hama 4345 (around £7) and the Philex 24681H (around £15).
Look for at least 2 (DVD player / Video Player), preferably 3 Scart (for a digital / Telewest box) inputs into your television. Scart works 'automatically' so when your VCR for example is connected to your TV and you put in a video and press play, it will display on your TV without you having to 'tune in' the video channel as in the old days!
RGB Scart - RGB is a way of transmitting information down a SCART lead that is higher quality than the normal way. Look for TVs with RGB Scart to increase picture quality.
S-Video (also called SVHS) - S-Video splits the video signal into 2 parts (called 'chrominance' and 'luminiance') although down one cable - and produces a better quality signal than composite. Good S-Video leads . Again, look for an S-Video connection in your LCD TV.
Component - a high quality way of transmitting video information, splitting it into 3 separate connections (referred to as Y,Cr,Cb, or Y,Pb,Pr) to keep signal loss and problems to a minimum. Again, look for shielding in these cables. If your DVD player has component cables and progressive scan, then using component cables will maximise your viewing experience, being better quality than Scart / S-Video / RGB Scart.
HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface. A high quality (digital) way of transmitting High Definition (HD) images. This will be essential in the future for some broadcasts via satellite. If you feel you will need this, look for the 'HD Ready' logo. Most LCD and Plasma TVs are now 'HD-Ready'.
DVI - Digital Video Interface. A high quality way of linking TVs, LCD displays etc. Many computers (especially Macs) have DVI as standard too. Some TVs will allow you to plug into the TV from your computer. DVI is one high quality way of doing this.
Progressive Scan - quite complex to present but basically it means that your image on screen will be higher quality.
If you want more detailed info- in the UK we use the PAL system. PAL broadcasts images on TV at a rate of 25fps. The 'fps' stands for frames per second. So what you see on TV is 25 still images put together - every second - creating the motion and movement.
In the old days when the TV aerial cable was created, the bandwidth (amount of 'space' in your aerial cable) wasn't big enough to handle complex signals, so the TV image was 'interlaced' This is still the case today. This means that every 50th of a second you'd see an image like below if you 'paused' the TV signal. (The same kind of effect can be seen when you 'capture' digital video (DV) into your computer):
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Then for the next 50th of a second you'd see:
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Progressive Scan puts these 2 signals back together to make 25 complete frames per second:
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Other Things To Look Out For | TOP
Warranty - Extended warranties in the UK can be a complete rip-off. I have seen some companies advertising 3 year warranties for TVs for £299. Remember, you get a Manufacturer's Warranty for 1 Year. When you buy an extended warranty, it includes this year. So a 3 Year Warranty includes the 1 Year Manufacturer's Warranty - plus 2 more years.
Not every company is out to make great sums of money off you - so shop around if you feel you need a warranty (bear in mind LCD / electronic equipment is now pretty reliable and is more likely to break down well beyond the end of your warranty). So shop about - some companies that don't have the cheapest prices offer the cheapest warranties. If it's off the internet, find out what kind of warranty it is - eg. do you pay to have it sent to the company by courier if it breaks, or is that covered? Do they come to you? If it breaks and they can't fix, what then?
There are also warranty companies around that will save you money. Do a search under extended LCD TV warranty uk' on google and shop around. www.domgen.com and www.warrantydirect.co.uk are the 2 that pop up most commonly. I'm sure there are others..
Colour and image quality - on your TV, have a look at how it displays colour. Are the colours accurate / rich / vivid / lifelike. Not every LCD TV displays colur well, so often it's best to read advice and go and look at TVs.
Noise / Image Artefacts - sometimes you get some funny images on TVs. These can be due to the way the TV handles the signal. Look out for jagged movements, noise, artefacts (things on screen that shouldn't be there). Also look out for what's called 'ghosting' which is when an image on screen (say for example a person) moves and there is a residual image after they've moved. So for example, when the person moves, they appear to leave a 'trail' after they move. This isn't good.
FM Radio - some TVs have FM radio built in, you may find this useful.
VGA - A method of connecting computers to monitors. Some TVs have a VGA socket. If you think you'll need this or fancy hooking up your computer games to your TV for example, get a TV that has this - or better still, DVI and HDMI.
Audio - What kinds of audio connectivity does your TV have. The TVs have in-built sound controls. Some have NICAM which produces a stereo sound (left and right and everything in between). Other TVs simulate Dolby, which is a surround sound (the kind of sound you'd get in the movie theatres). To take full advantage of surround sound, you'll need to set up a home cinema, with extra speakers surrounding where you would sit to watch TV.
Audio quality varies massively between TVs. Look for a rich sound, with a really good and deep bass - nice treble and a clear, 'un'muddy' sound - and good clarity on vocals.
Response - How fast does your LCD TV respond to you pressing buttons on it, or on your remote? Some LCD TVs react very slowly to changes you make (changing channel etc. especially). This may be a factor for you.
FINALLY - Be absolutely sure to test a potential LCD TV watching terrestrial and/or digital TV in a shop, rather than settling for just watching a DVD. Why? Because LCD TVs will show their true colours by being able to handle poor quality signals well. A professional DVD is made to very high standards and will be great quality. So choose to assess based on the weakest as well as the strongest point. This goes with buying anything. Otherwise, make sure you buy magazines from the shop that will help guide you in the right direction.
All the best and God bless.
