Tyler H answer is good but not compete.
Pretty well all modern televisions (except the cheap stuff – see below) will show “full HD”, so don’t worry about that.
Also note that all broadcast HD (terrestrial, Sky or cable) is in either 1080i or 720p scanning standard. There are no plans for 1080p off-air.
There is no choice for you, that is the inernational HD standard.
The choice of which scan system to use is made by the broadcaster and the television set adjusts itself. You don’t really have much say in the matter. On any (decent – see below) television smaller than about 47″ you will not see any difference between a 720p, 1080i or 1080p picture. The technology sees to that.
So you don’t have to worry about that either – unless you buy a cheap tv.
The only 1080p video available is from games consoles and some (but certainly not all) Blu-ray discs. So unless you are into HD games or Blu-ray, you don’t need to worry about that.
As a good rule, if you want a quality television then avoid the supermarket “own brands” like the plague. They may look ok on display, have lots of sockets etc. and be low priced, but they’re crap.
The contrast ratio will be relatively low; the viewing angle will be realtively low; the sound will be “indifferent”; the tuner will not be very sensitive and the reliability will be awful. They often fail just out of guarnatee and spares are hard to get.
This forum is normally full of people complaining about failures with their cheap tv sets – never a complaint about a Sony or Panasonic or Philips or LG.
Whether you are in Europe or the USA the same rule applies:Buy cheap – Buy twice!
Buy the best that you can afford – not the cheapest that you can get. Stick to a known good brand (i.e. a tv maker not a household appliance maker or shop own-brand).
In practice this really limits you to Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Toshiba, LG, B&O, Lowe, Samsung.
Avoid Goodmans, Bush, M&S, Tecknica or any other local (wherever you are) minor label – however cheap it is.
Remember that you will also need a good outdoor aerial for digital tv. Indoor ones and booster amplifiers are also very bad value (boosters are a waste of money for 90% of users).
Full HD basically refers to a 1080p HDTV. 1080p resolution tvs are currently the way to go, although it also depends on the size of the tv. For instance a 32″ or smaller 720p tv will have pretty much equivalent quality to a 1080p. But once you reach higher sizes 1080p starts to make a decent difference. When looking for a lcd you will also want to make sure you get one with a high contrast ratio. I’d recommend ATLEAST 1500:1, but generally the higher the better. Also stick to well known brands. Many people make the mistake of purchasing random brand tvs thinking “hey its 1080p and its 50% cheaper” but that money doesn’t make much of a difference when it breaks down in less than a year does it?
Are you talking about “HD Ready” vs other?
“HD ready” is a TV without a antenna input or a channel changer. This is for people who always use cable or sat as your source of HDTV.
This was so in the early days when the exact details of the antenna signals were in doubt so TV makers sold TV’s without tuners with the idea the customer would add a external tuner later. These are available at Best Buy.
But some people bought these and felt cheated so they made it a law that these televisions had to be labeled “HD Ready”.
QUALITY TV
Go to the library and get last months “Sound and Vision” where the reviewers summarize the best gear from last year. The current issue of Consumer Reports is out listing BEST TV’s as the cover story.
Personally – Sound and Vision or Home Theater magazines are better sources than consumer reports but go see what they say.
November 14th, 2009 - 17:25
Tyler H answer is good but not compete.
Pretty well all modern televisions (except the cheap stuff – see below) will show “full HD”, so don’t worry about that.
Also note that all broadcast HD (terrestrial, Sky or cable) is in either 1080i or 720p scanning standard. There are no plans for 1080p off-air.
There is no choice for you, that is the inernational HD standard.
The choice of which scan system to use is made by the broadcaster and the television set adjusts itself. You don’t really have much say in the matter. On any (decent – see below) television smaller than about 47″ you will not see any difference between a 720p, 1080i or 1080p picture. The technology sees to that.
So you don’t have to worry about that either – unless you buy a cheap tv.
The only 1080p video available is from games consoles and some (but certainly not all) Blu-ray discs. So unless you are into HD games or Blu-ray, you don’t need to worry about that.
As a good rule, if you want a quality television then avoid the supermarket “own brands” like the plague. They may look ok on display, have lots of sockets etc. and be low priced, but they’re crap.
The contrast ratio will be relatively low; the viewing angle will be realtively low; the sound will be “indifferent”; the tuner will not be very sensitive and the reliability will be awful. They often fail just out of guarnatee and spares are hard to get.
This forum is normally full of people complaining about failures with their cheap tv sets – never a complaint about a Sony or Panasonic or Philips or LG.
Whether you are in Europe or the USA the same rule applies:Buy cheap – Buy twice!
Buy the best that you can afford – not the cheapest that you can get. Stick to a known good brand (i.e. a tv maker not a household appliance maker or shop own-brand).
In practice this really limits you to Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Toshiba, LG, B&O, Lowe, Samsung.
Avoid Goodmans, Bush, M&S, Tecknica or any other local (wherever you are) minor label – however cheap it is.
Remember that you will also need a good outdoor aerial for digital tv. Indoor ones and booster amplifiers are also very bad value (boosters are a waste of money for 90% of users).
November 14th, 2009 - 17:59
Full HD basically refers to a 1080p HDTV. 1080p resolution tvs are currently the way to go, although it also depends on the size of the tv. For instance a 32″ or smaller 720p tv will have pretty much equivalent quality to a 1080p. But once you reach higher sizes 1080p starts to make a decent difference. When looking for a lcd you will also want to make sure you get one with a high contrast ratio. I’d recommend ATLEAST 1500:1, but generally the higher the better. Also stick to well known brands. Many people make the mistake of purchasing random brand tvs thinking “hey its 1080p and its 50% cheaper” but that money doesn’t make much of a difference when it breaks down in less than a year does it?
November 14th, 2009 - 19:44
Are you talking about “HD Ready” vs other?
“HD ready” is a TV without a antenna input or a channel changer. This is for people who always use cable or sat as your source of HDTV.
This was so in the early days when the exact details of the antenna signals were in doubt so TV makers sold TV’s without tuners with the idea the customer would add a external tuner later. These are available at Best Buy.
But some people bought these and felt cheated so they made it a law that these televisions had to be labeled “HD Ready”.
QUALITY TV
Go to the library and get last months “Sound and Vision” where the reviewers summarize the best gear from last year. The current issue of Consumer Reports is out listing BEST TV’s as the cover story.
Personally – Sound and Vision or Home Theater magazines are better sources than consumer reports but go see what they say.