Love them or loathe them, televisions are here to stay and just about every household has one- and some have several.

For more about Risto Sampola and how he can help you - click here

They form the focal point of most living rooms, while some go to extraordinary lengths to set up dedicated TV rooms or so called ‘home cinemas’ or simply have an extra one in the bedroom, kid’s room, kitchen or games room. They inform us, entertain us and sometimes drive us to the point of wanting to throw something at them – but in the end, we’d probably find life tough going without one. Considering their importance and versatility, not forgetting cost, there is more to buying one than setting a budget and hitting the shops.

The very first thing you’ll obviously have to consider is the size of the screen as this will then dictate what models fall into your search criteria. And yes, it is possible to buy them too big! In the same way that you would not want to sit in the first row of most cinemas, buying a 56” screen only to watch it from six feet away will prove more of a distraction than enjoyment.

Our eyes can only focus on a small proportion of our ‘field of vision’, so a massive screen watched close up will only result in having to move your eyes around to follow the action as opposed to simply soaking it up. So no, bigger isn’t necessarily better! Before heading down to that electronics mega-mart, make a note of your intended position for your new TV and make sure you view your potential purchases from a similar distance away. In large stores there’s always the tendency to stand a little further back than you might be at your usual viewing position at home. As a general rule of thumb, take your viewing distance and half it to find your diagonal screen size.

Not that long ago most flat screen TV’s were simply referred to as ‘plasmas’, because that was the overwhelmingly dominant technology. Early LCD TV’s didn’t offer the brightness or contrast of plasma TV’s and also used to exhibit ‘ghosting’, which was most evident on fast moving materials, such as many sports broadcasts. This was due to the response time of the LCD screen, which was much slower than the plasma screens of a few years ago. However, as technology never stands still, the current generation of quality LCD screens have overcome these issues and now it is pretty fair to say the plasma advantage in this regard has been lost. 

In sales terms, around 2006, plasma TV’s lost their lead to LCD TV’s and now trail a long way behind. In most cases plasma TV’s are also more power hungry than their equivalent LCD counterparts, plus are only available in larger sizes, so if you’re looking at below around 40” screen sizes then plasmas are not really an option. You should still compare equivalent size plasma and LCD TV’s side by side as their pictures do have some differences. For example, some still argue that plasma screen offer deeper blacks than LCD, but if you’re planning on hooking up a computer to your TV on a regular basis then LCD usually offers far better picture quality.

If you’re buying a small flat screen TV for your bedroom then you might not absolutely need a full HD (High Definition) screen, but if you’re looking at a screen for your living room or home cinema then I would say full HD is pretty much a must. The ‘magic number’ to look for is 1080, which denotes the number of horizontal lines the picture is made up of – and all widescreen 1080 screens will in turn have 1920 vertical lines (1080 x 1920 pixels).

This is the highest TV screen resolution available and is unlikely to go any higher for several years to come as we are at the mercy of playback devices and broadcast resolutions. There are two different ways the screen is drawn – ‘progressive’ and ‘interlaced’, and are usually given as 1080p and 1080i respectively. In a nutshell, an interlaced screen will receive (and display) even lines first, followed by odd lines, which can cause subtle flicker and the bigger the screen the more noticeable this becomes. Progressively scanned displays show the entire screen (all lines) in one go, which results in a much smoother picture. For this reason I would definitely recommend a screen capable of 1080p – the best currently available and also the native format for Blu-Ray players.

Most flat screen TV’s offer a myriad of connections in the back panel and you need to make sure all that you’ll require is present and correct. HDMI is the most convenient way to connect HD equipment together as all audio and video information is channelled down a single cable – easy and tidy to connect with no cable-spaghetti kicking around, and again a standard connection for Blu-Ray players, most HD set top boxes and many new cable TV boxes. If you’re planning on hooking up a computer then a standard VGA connections offers great compatibility. While some computers offer S-Video and HDMI outputs they are nowhere near as commonplace as the humble old VGA. 

If you have an old DVD or VHS player you’ll need to check that these are also catered for, so as not to make your older gear obsolete just because you opted for a new TV. In an ideal world your new TV will have enough inputs to accommodate every piece of kit you own – or are about to purchase – to make sure you don’t have to go crawling around the back every time you want to switch from playing a VHS tape to playing a few games on the kids’ Xbox.

Travelling to the higher end of flat screen TV’s you’ll be greeted with jargon such as 24p and 200Hz refresh rates etc. Movies are usually shot at 24 frames per second, so if you have a TV with 24p compatibility and a playback device to match (Blu-Ray player with 24p) then this will get you as close to a cinema experience at home as possible. The refresh rate refers to how many times per second the screen is updated, so 200Hz means the screen is updated 200 times per second. Again this is there to help out with how smooth the image is, but some manufacturers are better at this than others, so again use your own eyes to judge their claims.

Carpenters often tell us to ‘measure twice and cut once’, so in that spirit I would encourage you to shop around very carefully and to consider every eventuality in the intended use to make sure you walk away with a winner. As always, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to leave one below and I’ll get back to you – as soon as the movie has finished...

KEY POINTS:

-How big? Bigger not always better – be realistic.
-Plasma TV’s used to dominate flat screen market, but not anymore
-LCD’s have improved a great deal and now offer advantages over plasma screens
-If it’s the main TV in the house, go full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
-‘Progressive scan’ usually offers better picture – look for 1080p
-Check the connectivity on offer – does it cater for everything you intend to use?
-24p equates to movie ‘frames per second’ for near cinema quality
-Higher refresh rates (if well done) can result in smoother motion

When asking Risto product specific questions please provide the brands and models of your equipment as this will allow him to respond with a more detailed reply.