You don’t buy a television every day, so it’s important that you make your decision carefully. You may be thinking, what’s so difficult about choosing a TV? Just go to the nearest electronics store, watch TV, and take it home. Well, it’s not that easy with so many new technologies, making the decision even more difficult.
The formula for buying a TV is still basic. All you have to do is find the perfect size according to the size of your room and get the one with the thinnest frames; every TV now has hardly any bezels until you’re out there for a CRT TV. But now comes the real problem when you get baffled by these terms, like HDR4K, Dolby VisionOLED, QLED and more.
Well, don’t worry, because today we’re going to walk you through the process, explaining what you need to look for when buying a new TV for your home.
Find a perfect size
Finding the perfect size is the first challenge. Sometimes the TV can be a little bigger than what you expected or smaller than what you saw in the store. Because TVs are held in such a way that they appear larger than life and your room may be different in size, so there are chances of buying a TV that may or may not fit your room perfectly.
There isn’t much to think about. All you need to do is choose a TV between 55-inch and 65-inch, which is a sweet spot if you have a moderately large room. Usually, a 55-inch TV is perfect for any room size as long as it’s not a villa.
What is the difference between LCD, LED, QLED and OLED
LCD, LED, QLED, and OLED are some of the more common terms you’ll hear while looking for a TV.
OLED TVs are usually priced higher and if you are looking for a TV in that price territory, you should go for OLED as it offers the best viewing experience. Otherwise, you can also get QLED TVs, also with a higher price tag, but it’s a trivial decision as it offers a wider color gamut, brightness, and a much better experience than LED or LCD TVs.
Then there are LCD and LED TVs in the budget or mid-price segment. So there are two types of LCD panels: IPS and VA (vertical alignment) and compared to IPS LCDs, VA panels offer a much better contrast range, meaning black will appear black but not gray. Also, you should check how the panel is illuminated and avoid TVs with edge-lit panels. Also, if you are buying an LED TV, check if it has local dimming zones or not because local dimming zone panels provide better contrast.
What is the perfect screen resolution? HD, 4K or 8K?
There are 8K TVs on the market, but there isn’t enough 8K content to make them a viable option. So there are mainly two options to choose from: HD and 4K (UHD). HD TVs have a resolution of 1920×1080 while 4K equates to 3840×2160 pixels which means 4K TVs have four times the pixels of HD TVs.
The logic is simple; if you are looking for a TV larger than 50 inches, you should get yourself a 4K TV. Also, even if you are looking for a budget TV and have decided what kind of panel you want, you should try to get a 4K TV if your budget allows, as you will be able to experience much higher quality than HD TVs. Also, avoid buying HD ready TVs as they are 720P panels, not 1080P. Also, look for TVs with resolution upscaling technologies. Also, look for a TV that offers a 60Hz refresh rate.
How many doors do you need?
You mainly need an HDMI and USB port on your TV. But in addition to the number of ports, they need to be easily accessible to check first if you can easily reach these ports. Also, find a TV with HDMI 2.0 or HDMI 2.1 instead of HDMI 1.4 for greater compatibility. Additionally, HDMI 2.0 and later offer higher resolution and faster frame rates. A couple of USB-A ports can be useful when you want to connect an external media device. Additionally, an ethernet port and an optical port can be added bonus.
HDR, Dolby Vision and more
You may have heard these terms a lot, but what do they mean? For starters, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, which means your TV will offer better brightness and contrast. Also, your TV will support a wider color spectrum, which means a better viewing experience.
HDR and HDR10 + are industry standards, and most TVs support HDR. Then we have HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), designed for HDR broadcasts and available on many TVs.
Dolby Vision is also an HDR technology designed by Dolby, but it uses dynamic metadata, which means it defines what each frame will look like on your TV, which is similar to how it should look in the real world. So a TV with Dolby Vision would show you the content the way the creative minds behind it intended, but not many TVs come with Dolby Vision support aside from a few OLEDs.
Sound is important
Sound quality is just as important as picture quality when it comes to TVs. Without good sound, you cannot experience everything you are looking at completely. So, what you need to do is look for the speaker configuration. If it reads 2.1, it means there are two speakers and one bass unit. Trying to find a TV with a subwoofer bass unit offers better sound quality. And shooting head-on provides a healthy experience.
Dolby Atmos and DTS doesn’t mean the TV has great speakers. Sometimes instead of these certifications, the sound quality could be very disappointing. So instead of looking for the Dolby Atmos tag, you should get yourself a TV with a couple of good stereo speakers, and a subwoofer would be the icing on the cake.
Every TV is smart, but which one is the smartest
Almost all TVs today claim to be smart, but which one is really the smartest. There are basically three platforms – Android TV, TizenOS and WebOS. Good, Android TV is Android for TV as the name suggests while TizenOS is found on Samsung TVs while WebOS is a Linux based OS for LG TVs.
All three offer all the apps you would need on your TV, but Android TV has wider compatibility nonetheless. Also, look for TVs with the clean version of Android TV and check the brand’s reputation for providing timely updates.
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