Things You Need To Know Before You Buy Your HDTV
If you are in the market for a HDTV you probably are somewhat
confused by all of the terminology used in the industry, but
actually it doesn't take too long to learn your way around, and
be an educated television consumer.
When looking for a HDTV, you will no doubt run into a couple of
terms that you will need to understand very well. You will see a
TV labeled as "HDTV Enabled", and then you may see others
labeled "HDTV Ready" or "HDTV Integrated". There is not usually
much difference between the "Ready" set and the "Integrated"
set. They both are ways of saying that the TV has a HDTV tuner
already installed in it and is capable of receiving and
displaying high definition broadcasts right away with just an
antenna.
The "Enabled" sets on the other hand do not have the tuner built
into the TV and so must rely on an external receiver or tuner to
be able to receive and display high definition programming. What
does this mean for you? Well, if you mainly tune into local
broadcasts using an antenna, you probably want the tuner already
built into the TV. On the other hand, if you are a cable or
satellite subscriber, which many viewers are, you can just buy
the set that doesn't have the tuner built in and use the one
provided by your programming provider instead.
As far as audio is concerned, the HDTV standard includes the
capability to present sound in Dolby 5.1 surround sound format.
If you plan on taking full advantage of that with a surround
sound system you will need plenty of connectors on the TV to get
the job done, so look carefully on the back and see how many
connectors are provided and then match that up with the speaker
system that you plan to buy. Basically, the more connector ports
you can get, the better.
If you like to play video games, you will certainly enjoy the
enhanced capabilities of high definition since it will also
enhance all games played on Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. So
check to make sure that there are appropriate connectors on the
front or rear of the TV to enable you to connect up your video
game system too.
And don't forget the surge protector. It would really be a shame
to get all of this great television equipment and then damage it
due to an unexpected electrical surge. It's actually cheap
insurance for your HDTV.
Hopefully, this article has helped you learn about some of the
terms used and the options that you have when buying your next
high definition television set.