Before you waltz into your local electronics store to buy an HD TV make sure you know what you are getting yourself into. First, what exactly is an "HD ready TV"?
What is HD Ready TV? Is it the same as HDTV?
HD Ready TV means a television which has the capability to receive and play images at high definition. The difference between HDTV and HD Ready TV is that the HDTV has a high definition tuner built into it, while the HD Ready TV must be connected to a digital or analog set-top box which will function as its HD tuner.
The standard resolutions for HD and HD ready TVs are 720 and 1080, followed by a suffix of either "p" or "i". These suffixes designate whether or not the television is capable of progressive scan or interlaced viewing.
Progressive scan is the preference for those who do not wish to compromise picture quality or clarity in the least. The numbers 720 and 1080 represent the maximum resolution that the television can play, with 720 signifying 1280x720 and 1080 representing 1920x1080.
The Advantage of HD Ready TV
HD ready TV has several advantages over the standard broadcast quality television which is prevalent today. First, is the extremely crisp and true to life colors which an HD ready television is capable of reproducing.
Standard definition televisions simply do not have the capacity or number of pixels needed to display such fine details and color differences. Not only that, but standard televisions are incapable of displaying the contrast ratio necessary to produce life like images; which clearly sets it apart from HD ready TVs.
Selecting Your TV
Now that you've been briefed as to the nuts and bolts of HD TVs you can occupy yourself with the more entertaining part of the process, actually selecting your TV. When creating a list of criteria you want your TV to employ, it is important to take into consideration such things as: the amount of space you have for your television, the average light level of the room the television will be placed in, the amount of television you expect to watch and what you will be using the television primarily for.
The first consideration is space. Just how big of an area do you have for your HD ready TV? Make sure you take the depth and height of the television into consideration, and not just the screen size.
If you find that the room you are going to place your television in has a high level of ambient light, it will be important to get a television which has a high contrast ratio, ideally around 5000:1.
An alternative solution would be to invest in some heavy drapes to block the sunlight from washing out your television screen and prevent glare. If you are not planning on watching much television, you can opt for a lower contrast ratio and save yourself some money.
For those who are planning on using the television for gaming, you'll want to ensure that you have a relatively high refresh rate. The refresh rate is the speed at which the television updates the screen, or the maximum amount of frames it is capable of displaying in a second.
For games which require split second decisions, a higher refresh rate can be the difference between life and death.
Now that you're armed with the information necessary to make a sound and worthwhile decision; go out, have fun and get your TV!
Matthew Kerridge is an expert within the television industry. If you are looking for a cheap HD ready TV please visit http://www.ebuyer.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Richard_Kerridge
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