The holiday season is always a good time to take a look at the appliance that you always are taking a look at – your television. With (count 'em) 42 Bowl games including my favorite, the "GoBowling Bowl”, plus the College Football National Championship, the end of the NFL season and the playoffs/Super Bowl, there’s enough football to keep any sports fan red-eyed and couch-potatoed. And don’t get me started on all the streaming services with their new series and movies. Not to mention, if you’re brave enough, keeping up with current events. So, perhaps it’s time to buy a new television. If you have not been TV shopping lately, you’re likely in for a rather confusing trip into acronymland. So, let’s try to make sense of what you will find.
Size Matters
Basically, you should measure the space that you have available in the room where the set will go as well as the space available in your bank account. Try to get the largest TV that will fit both your room and budget. Note how television dimensions are measured. A 60-inch TV is not 60 inches long or wide. It’s the size of the screen diagonally, from one corner to the other. Once you’ve sized-up your size, you should decide how the television will be used. Will it just be used for cable/satellite/streaming viewing or do you watch movies from a Bluetooth video player? Do you have a gamer in your home? All of these need to be answered before the fun really begins. The most important thing is to use your eyes and those of the other people who will watch the TV. That’s why it’s really important to test the TV in-store, preferably in a realistic environment. While it may not mirror your home’s atmosphere, at least you’ll have some idea of how it looks before purchase.
Image Quality
Here come the acronyms. The first ones are SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) and HDR (High Dynamic Range). Those are the standards that deliver picture contrast. For the purposes of this blog, I’m going to only address HDR since, unless you are buying a cheaper TV for your in-laws, I would avoid SDR. HDR allows the most possible colors between black and white. As of December 2023, there are basically six different kinds of HDR. HDR10, HDR10+, Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG), Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision IQ and Technicolor. Unless you have a lot of money to burn, I’m going to suggest you stick with HDR10, HDR10+ (which optimizes lighting conditions) or Dolby Vision (which offers scene-by-scene and frame-by-frame adjustment).
Display Resolution
Next comes picture clarity. These days, most TVs come with 4K definition rather than older or cheaper ones that are 1080. 4K means 4,000 pixels fit on the television’s screen or display (as opposed to 1,080). More and more programming is being delivered in 4K, so if you can afford it, 4K is the way to go. It should be noted that there are now 8K TVs, but they are not only very costly but there is hardly any programming available. So, no 8K today. There are two types of 4K resolution TVs. One is simply called HDR and the other is called UHD (Ultra High Definition). There really isn’t a great deal of difference in viewing experience between the two standards but the technology behind them is different. Not to get too deep into the woods, but you can actually find TVs with both HDR and UHD built-in them. That’s a pretty good idea if you can afford it. If your budget doesn’t allow, it’s probably best to stick with HDR. But again, let your eyes be the judge.
Display Types
Back when High-Definition TV first started, there were basically two types. Plasma and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). Those days are long gone with Plasma having gone the way of the dinosaur. In the meantime, LCD morphed into LED (Light Emitting Diode). Pretty much every television you can buy today is some version of LED and uses liquid crystal technology. There are two different LED display types – OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) and QLED (Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode). OLED TVs tend to offer a better experience in darker rooms such as home theaters as they offer more contrast. They also tend to work better for gamers. QLEDs work better in lighter rooms. They also tend to be less expensive than OLEDs. While most so-called experts say that OLED beats QLED overall, once again, your setting, eyes and budget will help lead you to the right acronym.
TV Manufacturers
It used to be a simple question – "Are you a Zenith, RCA, Westinghouse, Magnavox or Sony person?" All but Sony were made in the USA. There was even a time when Zenith TVs were made in Melrose Park. Sadly, that plant closed in 1998. Today, unless you're purchasing a boutique brand, virtually every TV is made overseas. Yes, you can buy a Phillips Magnavox TV that says, "Made in USA”, but chances are, that will only be a projection set. So today’s question is, "Are you a Japan, South Korea or Chinese TV person?" I hate to say it, but these days, most are made in China. Even old American names such as RCA and Westinghouse were purchased by a Chinese company. So, if that kind of thing matters to you, check the box to see where it was manufactured.
The other big recent change is that pretty much every new TV is "Smart” with lots of applications built-in. However, different TVs get their brains (operating systems) from different companies. Some streaming box/stick companies such as Amazon (Fire TV) and Roku (Roku TV) are even coming out with TVs which use their own brand name and operating system. Don’t be confused though because Roku or Amazon Fire TVs are basically knock-offs of ones made by Hisense or TCL. It should also be noted that the Android operating system is available in several brands such as Sony and Vizio, while LG uses WebOS and Samsung has its own operating system, Tizen OS. Why is all this important? One word, "Compatibility”. For example, if you use a streaming service such as YouTube TV, having an Android TV gives you some important extras such as being able to change channels within YouTube TV by using your voice. Some people are reluctant to leave Cable TV because they can change channels that way. Having an Android TV (or a Chromecast) along with YouTube TV works just as well. It’s how I was able to cut the cord and save thousands of dollars a year on TV and Internet costs while still getting exactly what I wanted out of my experience.
Sound
Most TV sound is an after-thought. Let's not even go there. Instead, I invite you to read my blogs titled, "Bellying-Up To The Sound Bar" and "The (Sound) Bar Is Now Open!" for some sound advice.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve read this far and your brain has not exploded, I congratulate you. Simply put, buying a TV these days is not nearly as easy as it was even five years ago. That’s why it’s important to examine your entire setup before you buy a new TV and to think about how to best maximize your household’s experience. I’m happy to help guide you through this video puzzle but in the end, it's going to come down to four things – your budget, the room in which the TV will be watched, your eyes and actually viewing the TV before making your purchase.
Since I retired from Radio, I’ve spent my time researching TV, Internet and Cellular costs. Lower Tech Bills has been able to save households from hundreds to even thousands of dollars a year on their bills. My service also includes in-home training on your devices, should you need that. For a free, no obligation Tech Check of your bills, please email hmwellsradio@gmail.com or visit lowertechbills.com because you may not have the time to find all the savings and wander through the TV maze, but I do.
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