Thinking of Buying a New TV?

Around this time, all the department stores and electricals shops start advertising their Christmas deals. With all the advertising, it’s tempting to think that everyone is going to buy a television at some point this year. If you are thinking of buying a new TV this year, you might want to wait. We’ll tell you why below. And if you can’t or don’t want to wait, well, we’ll show you what to look for in a new TV.

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Thinking of buying a new TV now? Don’t.

In the run-up to the holidays, sellers know that you will have family around and that you want to impress them want a fancy new TV when you are enjoying the Christmas specials together. Because they know how much you want a new TV, they know they can charge more for it and people will pay without questioning it much. In fact, the closer you get to Christmas, the more they will charge often.

On Boxing Day, the prices start to go down immediately. Retailers want to move the stock that didn’t go in the days before Christmas. Still, even Boxing Day isn’t the very best time to buy.

According to Which?, January is the best time to get a new TV. In January, television manufacturers announce their new models, so retailers want to move their old stock before the new ones come in.

The new models tend to come into the shops in March and April, so you can often find a good deal on an older model as the shops try to make room for the new stock.

Finally, the middle of summer, like July, can be good, too, as people are more concerned with their holidays and enjoying the weather than they are with getting a brand new TV.

Essentially, you can get a good deal every couple of months, so long as those months aren’t November or December. Still, if that hasn’t dissuaded you from getting a new TV, then you should know what to look for.

Still thinking of buying a new TV anyway? What to look for

These days, manufacturers seem to be focusing on getting production costs down whilst maintaining quality, so not much has changed since the early days of flat-screen TVs. Despite this, there are a few things you should consider.

Plasma, LCD or LED

There are some Very Important technical differences in all of these technologies, but what it boils down to is this:

Plasma TVs tend to have deeper blacks, more natural colours and less problems with blurry action shots. Plasma TVs are cheaper to make larger, too, so if you want a big screen without a big price tag, you should go for a plasma telly.

LCD TVs have dominated the market for a long time, as they can come in a wide variety of sizes, all the way down to a tiny 10-inch screen. The picture can get blurry during action shots, but because LCDs are generally cheaper to produce, you can get more fancy features that can compensate for  shortcomings, often for the same price as a bare-bones LED television.

LED televisions are starting to replace LCD models in a lot of manufacturers’ line-ups, however. LED TVs use less power than LCDs but create better images. The actual sets are usually thinner than plasmas or LCDs, and really high end LED TVs can control tiny patches of the screen, so tiny sections can in effect be turned down or off to create more contrast in the picture. This contrast means LED screens are best if you want a 3D television, as the goggles can have a dimming effect.

Size of the screen

The size of your screen shouldn’t be determined by the amount of space you have, and it shouldn’t be the size of your neighbour’s set plus a bit. Instead, measure how far away from the TV you normally sit. That is your viewing distance.

Generally, your viewing distance will be four to six times the height of a standard TV’s screen or three to four times the height of an HD television’s screen.

A 42-inch screen is 20.59 inches high. So you should be sitting between 6 and 10 feet away from a standard 42-inch set, or between 5 and 6 feet away from a high definition set.

3D or Smart TV?

If you have seen a 3D film, you know what a 3D television will be like. Certain shows will be shot in the special digital process, and when you watch it, you wear goggles that make the images pop out. Some people love 3D, and some hate it, so it is entirely a personal preference.

Smart TVs are able to connect to the internet. That means you can watch shows and videos using apps like iPlayer, Netflix or even YouTube. Some smart TVs will also hook up to your social media profiles, will show you the latest news headlines and more. You can also use your television’s internet connection to play video games, though most consoles can connect to the internet now too. The ability for your television to connect to the internet seems like the sort of thing they will all just have  in the future, especially if Apple does indeed start producing TVs. So you may as well get it now.

Other things to think about

There are plenty of things to think about when buying a television, and a few of them even have to do with how well the thing actually works as a television. If you have the chance to see a television work in real life, like in a shop, then look at the following things, which can help you judge its performance.

The images should have good contrast. This means whites are white and blacks are black. These colours can often take on green, blue or pink hues in cheaper sets, so pay attention to that. The images should also have crisp, solid colours. That means the fields of colours don’t look like a collection of dots, and skin should look natural, especially in darker scenes.

Look at the details in the image, too. On HD televisions, you should almost be able to see individual blades of grass on a football pitch. Since just about every TV on the market has high definition capabilities, the one you’re considering should have this.

Play around with the TV’s picture settings. The default setting is rarely the best one for everyday viewing, so check out all the settings individually to make sure they all look good.

Now listen to the television. The bass should boom, but it shouldn’t make the speakers rattle. Actors’ voices should be clear and rich, not tinny, and the sound should match up perfectly with the actors’ mouth movements. It can be irritatingly distracting if the vocals are off. Finally, the sound should come out from the TV at all angles, so walk around the set to make sure the sound projects nicely.

 

If you do all of these things, you should get the best set for your money, whenever you decide to buy.

So, are you still thinking of buying a new TV now?