How to buy a TV

Think back to the last time you bought a TV. How did you research and decide on what to buy?



If you went into a big box retail store, I'll bet you went to the "wall of TVs" where you were able to look at dozens or hundreds of different TVs side-by-side. You probably looked for the screen that looked the brightest or most colorful.



Or, you looked at the specs (especially if you bought the TV online), and chose based on what looked like they had the best numbers.



Or, you may have asked the sales associate for help.



All of these are good starting places, but they also all have some pitfalls that you need to be aware of so that you can make the best decision for your specific needs.



Narrowing the choices

Given so many choices in TVs these days, you really need to weed out the obvious non-starters. The first thing most people do is to settle on the size. I talked about screen size in my last blog entry. Once you've done that, you still have a formidable array of choices. So the next logical step is to decide on your budget. Now you probably have a dozen or two screens to choose from.

The next step most people want to take is to decide between plasma and LCD. That's a pretty good decision point, provided you choose for the right reasons. Look back at my blog on Plasma vs. LCD to get some tips on that.

So now you've cut out about half of the remaining choices, and you're ready to get down to business.



Big Box Stores - the Wall of TVs

First, let's talk about the "Wall of TVs". Every big-box store that sells TVs has one of these. Acres of video displays all trying to catch your eye and get you to take them home. But how do you decide which one is right for you?



At this point, most people compare the screens side by side (or as close as they can, given the layout of the store). They look for brightness, color saturation, black levels, and motion blur effects. Sometimes they'll consider how the TV sounds, if they're not going to hook it up to a sound system.



But remember, this is a big-box retailer we're talking about. These guys are masters at showing off the most profitable TVs, while leaving the less profitable ones hanging in the wings.



So the first thing you need to know is that these TVs all have the brightness and color saturation cranked up to the maximum. Just like a shiny car or piece of candy, the brighter and more colorful an object, the more it will catch your eye. (Some manufacturers even go so far as to engineer the TVs for maximum brightness and color saturation, just for this reason.) Also, remember that you're viewing these TVs under the store lights. Generally, they're metal halide lights, which are very different than your lights at home, causing the picture to look different.



Black levels are harder to disguise, but remember that when the brightness is cranked up, the blacks will naturally wash out a little bit.



And then there's motion blur and smoothness of the picture. Remember that these stores connect all of the TVs to a single source device. This means the signal is split and split again many times, and that process can degrade the picture quality. So the TVs that look better may very well have fewer splits, resulting in a better picture through no fault of the TV. Of course, some stores will go so far as to have completely different source material designed to make a TV look its best for the TVs they want to push.



Online comparisons - overwhelmed by numbers

If you're shopping or comparing on the Internet, you obviously can't look at the choices directly. So you compare based on specs, right? Of course, whenever I look at specs for TVs, I see as many as 50-75 different specs listed. And not every TV lists the same specs. And many of the specs mean something different between different TVs. Other specs make you think that more (or less) is better, but that's not necessarily true.



For example, you may look at the refresh rate for an LCD TV, listed at 60 Hz, 120 Hz, or 240 Hz, or even 480 Hz. I was comparing specs for a client the other day, and had to really dig to find the refresh rate for one of the TVs she was interested in. But is the higher number really better? There's too much information on this topic to go over in detail here, so I'll do a blog in the future about this whole refresh rate subject. So let me just say that once you get to 120 Hz, there's really no need to go any higher, because the TV can accurately display all source material correctly.



Oh, and Plasma manufacturers don't want to be left out of the Hz game, so they have their own spec for that, called "subfield drive" usually quoted as 600 Hz. but this has nothing to do with refresh rate, and really isn't useful in comparisons.



Contrast ratio is another comparison factor that has very little basis in reality. Every manufacturer measures it differently, and there's no way to compare them.



There are literally dozens of specs that can really overwhelm you when comparing TVs online.



Sales Associates - how do they know?

So let's say you've decided to ask the nearest sales associate for some help in comparing. One of the things I've noticed in a big-box store is that most of the time when I ask for help, they simply go to the display and look up the specs, which you probably did already.



Another thing I've noticed is that sometimes the associate is knowledgable, but sometimes they come from the household appliance department. Or they're really new.



Most big-box stores have programs to train the associates in the products they're selling. Usually, it's manufacturer-driven training. Some brands are more agressive than others, and will fill the trainees' heads with lots of (dubiously useful) information - I know, I've sat through a lot of these classes.



Finally, remember that the sales associate may be on a "spif" program. This means if he/she can get credit for selling a certain brand or model, they get a cash bonus, often from the manufacturer. So they're incentivized to recommend the models that give them the best spifs.



Is there any good news?

Wow, that's a lot of doom and gloom! I'm not usually a negative kind of person, but I see so many friends and clients getting bad advice on what to buy that I really want to make sure they understand how the information they're getting can be tainted.



So how do you cut through this morass? I won't pretend there's a perfect alternative.



I will say, though, that when I do find a truly knowledgable person in any field, I tend to hit them up again and again for advice on what to do.



Like most custom installers, we spend a lot of time not just comparing specs, but looking at different TVs in real-life situations. We also spend a lot of time in training such as ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) classes to understand exactly how video and film pictures are created and distributed, and how that impacts picture quality. And of course, we try to understand what things most people will actually notice on their TVs. After all, a spec is completely irrelevant if you can't see a difference on the screen!



So my advice is to find a custom installer that you can trust, and work with him or her to figure out what's best for you. Of course, we'd love to be that advisor, so call us at 847.471.4420 or visit our web page. But even if we're not, we know that most of the people in this industry are very knowledgable.



Thanks -

Rob

Technology keeps changing, so I need to keep revisiting old questions! The last time I addressed screen size recommendations was in 2007. Do you think the answer has changed?

Well, actually, I think the basic sizing recommendations still hold. But there are a few things that have changed, given the changes in technology and the way people use their TVs these days.
Before we get to the specific recommendations, there are some things we try to take into consideration when consulting with our clients.

The first thing to consider is your budget. Larger screens cost more, which seems only normal. But of course, larger screens are much less expensive today than a couple of years ago. For example, in 2006 a 58” 720p plasma display ran about $4,800. Today, you can get a top-of-the-line 65” 1080p plasma from Panasonic for about the same price. Or, you could get an ultra-slim 55” LCD Samsung display, again at 1080p, with a 240 Hz refresh rate, Internet connectivity, LED backlighting, and a host of other features for even a bit less. Smaller screens have come down even more.

So if your budget allows for the larger screen, you may want to opt for that. But you may also decide that some of the other features are more important, and you can live with a slightly smaller screen.

You also need to balance the screen with the rest of the furnishings, and it needs to physically fit in the space - if you're mounting a flat-panel over the fireplace, you may have limitations because of the ceiling, mantle, fireplace opening, and other built-in elements of the room.
On the other hand, you may want to be totally immersed in the video. In that case, a larger screen size will fill in your peripheral vision with more movie, sports, or video game action, making you part of the action. Of course, if you feel overwhelmed by watching larger-than-life TV, a smaller screen will let you feel "outside looking in."

A couple of years ago, I would have recommended a rear-projection TV if you want a big screen on a limited budget. Today, the prices of flat panels, the limitations of rear-projection TVs, combined with their very limited availability make those units a much poorer choice.

Then there are the many budget-minded flat panel TVs that cost less money than the name brands. I'd caution, though, against getting caught up in the "cheap panel TV" sales hype that you'll see this holiday season. You really do get what you pay for, and you don't want to be stuck with a picture that's even worse than your old TV!

One more factor to consider is power consumption. Larger screens simply use more power, and plasmas usually consume more power than LCDs (especially those with LED backlighting). While calibration can help, you still probably want to take that into consideration.

So what are my recommendations for screen sizes? Usually you want your seating distance to be 1 ½ to 2 times the diagonal size of the screen for a front projection system, and 2 to 2 ½ times the diagonal screen size for a panel TV. Opt for a larger screen size for a more immersive experience, or a smaller screen size if you want more features at the same price point or you don’t want to be overwhelmed by the TV.

As always, if you're still confused about all of the options out there, give us a call, and we'll be glad to give you a free consultation!

Thanks -
Rob