HDTV Buying Guide

Having helped and guide my friend Alan Walrond through the process of buying an HDTV I thought it would be an idea to post about the factors involved in getting one for your home.

The first step in getting an HDTV is choosing the approximate size you want. I strongly suggest getting either 37" to 42", primarily because these are the only ones I’ve looked at. Hell if I know much about other sizes. Of course there is also some science to my recommendation. You see, HDTV has a 16:9 aspect ratio while regular tv is 4:3. Aspect ratio is the width of the screen divided by the height. If you watch hdtv sources such as a dvd movie on your regular tv, the picture is either stretched or it’s letterboxed. Letterboxing results in the black bands above and below the movie. Stretching just stretches the picture vertically so the movie fills the whole screen. Now suppose you have your new hdtv and you are watching standard tv channels which still dominate cable/satellite tv systems. The picture will either need to be stretched horizontally or letterboxed with black bands going down the sides. No-one wants stretching so you are stuck with shrinking your viewing size. How much shrinking will happen? Check out my handy-dandy aspect ratio spreadsheet which shows you that you need at least a 40" HDTV if you want to see your regular tv shows as big as your old 32" tv.

The next thing you need to decide is whether you want an LCD or plasma tv. Each type have their pros and cons. LCDs appear sharper, more vibrant and have anti-glare screens. Plasmas deal with darker shades better, are less expensive in sizes greater than 42", and have good off-axis viewing. LCD’s can have more problems with dark areas, while plasmas can have problems with reflections from the screen. For the most part I recommend an LCD, but make sure you test the picture by judging dark areas. Cheaper LCD tvs have dark shades turn black with no details in the shadows. If you’re going bigger than 42" you’ll definitely want to look at rear projection dlp. These tvs have pretty good pictures, are relatively thin and bring the cost down considerably.

As far as features go, I think even the most basic tvs have everything you need. Any HDTV you look at should have 480i/480p/720p/1080i capabilities. Higher end tvs will also support 1080p, which corresponds to hd-dvd and blu-ray. 1080p adds extra cost to the tv and probably has limited benefit considering that most people have neither high def dvd players nor hd dvds. Maybe you’d like to plan for the future in case everyone will love hd-dvd or blu-ray a few years from now. Other forgetable features include built-in hd tuners and built-in dvd players. Everyone I know uses cable or satellite for their tv stations so I don’t know how usefull a built-in hd tuner for OTA (over the air, ie - antennae) HDTV will be. But if your area has, or anticipates having, a lot of OTA hd channels you may want this feature.

Combining all of the above, I have some recommendations for you that cover a range of costs.

Rear Projection Sony 42" Wega KF42E200A can be found for $1499. Sony 46" Wega KDF46E2000 can be found for $1699. I’ve seen it on sale for a further $100-$200 off.

LCD HP 37" LC3760, $1699. Pretty good picture and I’ve seen it on sale for $1200. Good deal at the cheaper price. Toshiba 37" 37HL66. Good picture, can be found for $1700. Sharp 37" LC37D90U. This tv is 1080p and costs around $2200 if you can find one in stock.

Plasma Akai 42" PDP4273M $1300 at Costco. I was really impressed with this tv and would like to see it side-by-side with one of the lcds mentioned above.

Once you get the tv you’ll want some of the goodies to make your new baby sing. First order of business is to get an HD convertor/tuner for your cable or satellite service. Without this you’re dead in the water. Secondly, you should strongly consider upgrading your converter to a PVR system. These let you record your tv onto a hardrive. It’s like a VCR/DVD suped up for recording. They’re a bit pricey though, costing something like $600. You’ll also want a set of HDMI cables. You can round the system out with an Xbox360 or Playstation 3. Oh, don’t forget upgrading your audio setup to a nice home theatre 5.1 dolby digital system.