The Ultimate Guide To Buying A TV

Guide To Buying A TV

Last 5-7 years have been the most dynamic and eventful phase in the history of Television as a product category in India. After the transition from CRT TV to flat panel screens, TV has been on constant evolution from Plasma to LCD to LED to its more sophisticated versions coming up every year. Brands are fighting each other on technology, viewing experience and pricing in this fiercely competitive category.

Whereas a customer is confronted with a plethora of choices. From TV types like regular HD TV to ultra modern 4K HD TVs to an insane amount of smart features. It’s enough to send any ones’ head for a spin to decide on which one to buy. This Ultimate Guide to buying the right Television by Homeyantra makes the process of buying right product simpler.

Know what Television best suits your home and family. To begin with, some key features that should be considered while buying a TV.

Screen Size

In the case of TVs, big is almost always better. You need to consider the below parameters to zero in on the ideal screen size for you.

• Budget – Refer to the below table to get an idea of TV costing

Screen Size (in Inches)	Standard HD LED TV (in INR)
30 & Below	10,000 to 20,000
31 to 40	20,000 to 40,000
41 to 49	30,000 to 55,000
50 & Above	40,000 to 12 Lacs

• Viewing Distance – There is an optimum viewing distance for every TV. If you are too close the images appear pixelated, and if you are too far you won’t get optimum details. You have to be at a distance of 1.6 times the diagonal length of the TV.

Type of Resolution

• 4K Ultra HD
  • Also known as UHD TVs, this is at present the newest and best resolution available in the marketplace. They provide about 4 times the resolution of HD TVs and produce stunningly clear, crisp and detailed images. Another advantage of UHD TVs is HDR (High Dynamic Range). This enhances the contrast and colour of the existing pixels of the TV to create more lifelike images.
• HD Resolution
  • 1080p – This supports a resolution of up to 1080 (typical resolution 1920 x 1080). This is by far the highest selling HDTV at the moment. This would allow you to watch full HD content and all TV programs at the highest resolution.
  • 720p – This is for budget buyers. You would get quality resolution for your DVDs and TV shows. This is the most economical of the 3.

Image showing clarity of picture at various resolutions

Type of Screen

• Plasma – Plasma TV by far has the best contrast and gives the best picture quality in a dark room. However, now LED technology is catching up and gives the same picture at a lesser price. We don’t see much of Plasma TVs in the market now.
• LCD – These TV set use Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to produce images. These TVs were successful in replacing the CRT televisions, however, they are neither power efficient nor the picture quality is as rich as LED TVs.
• LED – The most widely used TV at the moment are LED TVs. They are energy efficient, thin and light weight. These TVs make for very bright images. They come in 2 types, namely
  • Backlit LED
  • Edge LED
• OLED – OLED or Organic LEDs is the latest and the best display technology at the moment. Unlike other technologies, OLEDs produces the true blacks with bright highlights. OLED displays are extremely thin and super light weight. The only draw back they are still new in the market and very expensive.

Features

• Smart TV – A TV that could connect to various devices (laptop/phone) through technologies like Miracast are know termed as Smart TVs. Smart TVs can connect to the internet as well and supports Apps like YouTube, Netflix, Hotstar etc.
• 3D TV – TVs which can play 3D content, which is quite prevalent nowadays, are known as 3D TV.
  • Passive 3D – Shows 2 different images simultaneously. The design of the glass is such that each eye can see only 1 image. Passive 3D glasses do not require a battery.
  • Active 3D – Active 3D alternates images between both eyes. These glasses are expensive and require a battery change.

Connectivity

• HDMI – HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) is by far the best and the most efficient connection available for HD TVs. It can stream media players, Blu-Ray players, A/V receivers, gaming consoles and much more. HDMI carries both picture and sound in one cable which makes setting up a simple task and it is much cleaner.
• USB – There are countless devices that can be connected to the TV like pen drives, digital camera, internet dongles etc. However, not all file formats are supported by the TV. Please check the catalogue to get an idea about the supported files.
• Optical – This is a little old school option for connecting CD/DVD players. The TV is connected with an optical cable. This type of connection is used for audio equipment only. Although this technology exists, HDMI is a better option.
• VGA – This option is used for connecting computers/laptops to the TV. This is an old technology and hardly seen in modern TVs.
• Ethernet – Ethernet cable helps the TV to connect to the home internet so that the smart features could be used.
• WiFi – This helps the TV to connect to the home network without any wirelessly. Once WiFi is connected you could use streaming technology like Miracast to view content from other devices which are connected to the same network.

With this ultimate guide, one can take an informed buying decision, with the right choice of the television that suits ones need the best. For quicker product discovery, Homeyantra‘s Smart Decision Tool helps you choose the right TV from a wide range of products.