HDTV Holiday Gift Guide - Technical Specs Untangled

HDTV Holiday Gift Guide - Technical Specs Untangled
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Brian_McLaughlin]Brian McLaughlin

Many people head out to buy a new HDTV, but have no idea what all of the technical specs mean, and get overwhelmed while shopping. Different sales people give different opinions, and in the end, a lot just end up leaving confused. What do all these specs mean? Here's a rundown of some of the big specs and what you should look for.

First off, before we get into the details, let's talk about technical specs versus "marketing speak". Technical specs are those aspects of an HDTV (or other consumer electronic product) that are easily verifiable with industry standard tests. Something like contrast ratio can actually be verified with a standard test, while marketing speak is something designed to try and help sell the product and can often times not be easily, if at all, verified. These usually come in the form of something that sounds impressive, but can't be quantified easily. For example, if the box for the HDTV proclaims something like "Intellicolor Advanced II for improved picture clarity", that is just a term marketing came up with to try and make their product sound impressive. Sure enough, if you look at another manufacturer's HDTV box, you won't find that same "feature" listed. That's because their marketing department will have come up with some other impressive sounding feature that will make their product sound better.

Now, this isn't to say that these marketing terms aren't based on something real, like some function in the HDTV's hardware or software, but often times if you try and find out exactly what that means by asking a salesperson or checking the manufacturers website, you won't be able to get a clear answer. And sometimes a lower priced TV from the same manufacturer will have the same feature, but they won't list it on the box because they want the higher priced TV to sound more impressive. My advice, for the most part, is to just ignore these terms. If it sounds flashy and fancy and vague, its just marketing speak.

On to the actual technical specs and what they mean. We'll go over the biggies, let you know what they mean, and what you should look for when shopping for your HDTV.

Resolution

This is the first thing you should look for when shopping for an HDTV. Commonly you'll see terms like 720P, 1080i or 1080P. This comes from how TVs display their images. Each image on your HDTV is made up of tiny little dots called pixels, and each pixel shows one tiny dot of the picture. For example, a TV specified as 720P is actually showing 720 rows of pixels on your TV, and 1280 columns of pixels. If you were to draw it out, it would look like a table with 720 rows and 1280 columns, and each little square in the table would be one pixel. That means a 720P HDTV actually contains 720x1280=921,000 pixels.

A 1080P TV is actually 1080x1920=2,073,600 pixels. That means that a 1080P picture is actually made up of over 2 million little dots and will give you a much clearer picture than a 720P HDTV. If you see a TV marketed as an HDTV with a resolution other than one of these two, stay away from it, as it won't be able to display the image without scaling it it larger or smaller, and it won't give you the best picture.

It's also important to note that a 1080P HDTV and can display a 720P image and will just scale it up to fit the whole screen, while a 720P TV can typically display a 1080P image but it will scale it down (and you'll lose resolution in the process).

My recommendation is to get a 1080P TV, it will give you the best resolution image overall, and as you watch HD content on your new TV, you'll know you're watching the best possible resolution. Now, as for the difference between 1080i and 1080p, this is a difference in how the image is displayed on the TV. Most people will never be able to notice the difference, but if you want to know, the best is 1080p, but if the 1080i TV is more affordable to you, and the picture looks great to you, rest assured, you're still getting a fine TV.

Contrast Ratio

The contrast ratio of a TV is how black the blacks get, versus how white the whites get. Early LCD TVs had really bad contrast ratios, such that blacks in a scene never really looked black, and the whites never looked very bright. This became a problem when you would watch a movie, and there'd be a scene where the character was walking around a dimly lit alley, for example. The TV would not be able to discern the difference between all those dark colors, and everything would look like a muddy black mess and you'd lose a lot of the picture detail simply because the TV was unable to show the subtle variations in color actually present in the picture.

The good news is the technology has improved vastly now, and most TVs on the market do a much better job with this. If you're looking at the numbers, a higher contrast ratio gives you a better picture. So an HDTV with a contrast ratio of 1000:1 would be much worse than one with a contrast ratio of 80,000:1. The bigger the number, the better it is for you.

Refresh Rate

Lately, this has become a big selling point for HDTVs. You'll see this specified as 60Hz, 120 Hz, and now, 240Hz. What is it and which is best? In short, it has to do with how fast each individual pixel can change color, and the higher the Hz, the better. Older LCD HDTVs were not very good at changing colors quickly, so in programs with lots of quick motion, you could see a blurring effect on the image. To some people, it's not that noticeable, but once you know what to look for, its much easier to see and be distracted by it. If you're shopping for an HDTV, look for one that has a refresh rate of at least 120 Hz. You may be tempted to go for one with 240 Hz, and if you do, just make sure it's "real" 240 Hz, as some companies will try and fool you into thinking their TV offers 240Hz, but it's only actually giving you 120 Hz. Look for terms like "performance comparable to 240 Hz". If you see something like that, it's most likely a 120 Hz HDTV. There are many more 120 Hz TVs on the market right now than 240 Hz, so you should be able to find a 120 Hz TV easily and affordably.

Connection Type

You'll see this listed as things like 1 composite video, 1 component video, 1 S-video and 2 HDMI video inputs. What do these mean? Lets look at them from worst to best.

Composite video - the worst looking of all the inputs, you'll need this if you have an old VCR or a really old DVD player you intend to hook up to the TV. Typically you'll find it on the back of your VCR or DVD player and the connection will be a yellow color. Only good for Standard Definition video signals (ie, the old analogue signal we've used for years).
S video - a decent DVD player will have at least an S-video output. This will typically be labeled as such and looks like a circular connector with smaller connections inside it. You can see what one looks like rel=nofollow [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Close-up_of_S-video_female_connector.jpg]here. Only good for standard definition pictures, but gives better video quality than composite video.
Component Video - Often referred to RGB connection, as it separates the video signal into the three colors Red, Blue and Green. This is a way to transfer an analogue video signal in standard def and HiDef. You'll see these three connectors on the back of most modern DVD players, cable boxes, etc.
HDMI - An all digital connection to your HDTV that gives the best signal quality. Hi Def Bluray players, video game machines like XBox 360 and PS3 and some cable and satellite boxes will have this type of connection. Quickly becoming the HiDef standard, so the more of these the better.

You'll also want to look for things like coaxial inputs, which you might need for old cable TV systems, or inputs like VGA or DVI if you are hoping to hook your computer up to the TV and use it as your PC's display.

Final Notes

Other niceties you might want to look for are USB ports for hooking up cameras to the TV to display pictures, video, etc or even media card readers so you can load your flash cards right into the TV to look at your latest family pictures, etc. These aren't necessities, but might help you make the final decision as to which TV is going to give you the best bang for your buck.

In the end, a big factor in your decision will be price and overall video quality. If you like the picture and price, and the specs are good, then go for it and enjoy your new purchase. Good luck!

I hope you've found this article helpful and if you are looking for some great hi tech gift suggestions, you can check out my recommendations [http://ireviewhq.com/2009/12/top-10-tech-gifts-for-christmas-2009/]HERE. Happy Holidays!

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?HDTV-Holiday-Gift-Guide---Technical-Specs-Untangled&id=3413212] HDTV Holiday Gift Guide - Technical Specs Untangled