Five Simple Things To Look For Then Choosing A HD TV
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Posted On :
Aug-27-2011
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Article Word Count :
1274
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LCD TV Prices, Reviews, and information on all of the Top Brand Names. Including Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba and more.
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To test the quality of an HDTV, our test centre uses a lot of sophisticated gear which includes both software and hardware. For hardware, we have the DataColor Sypder3Elite calibrator and profiler and on the software front we use the tried and proven DisplayMate. We also use test patterns, HD and SD movies and a gamut of games to test these panels, but the normal customer will not have access to such equipment, or, in the rare event that they do, the person might not be qualified to interpret what the results mean. Still, there are some basic things one can look for, and things that one can guard against. There are also unnecessary jargon and misleading purple prose that manufacturers spew out that should be girded against. And many times, the sets that are on display on the shelves aren't always properly tuned. Here are a few simple things to keep in mind:
Contrast Ratio
The contrast ratio is the one of the most important thing to look for any display. But it’s important that you’re not mislead by the highlighted and much advertised term dynamic contrast ratio. We’ve been screaming this out for years. While people might like the idea of large numbers such as 5,00,000:1 and 1,00,00,000:1, these numbers are highly overstated, and such displays are most often not even able to reach a fraction of the mentioned contrast ratio, even in the manufacturers’ test laboratories. In short, this is purely a marketing gimmick. What you can do, in order to evaluate the contrast is to check out the blacks. It is very difficult to measure contrast ratio outside of a laboratory or without test equipment but not totally impossible. And any testing is better than no testing, right?
Remember that a contrast ratio isn’t just a measure of how bright the whites are, and how dark the blacks are. It’s also a measure of the variations in grey that a display can produce. The most obvious way of discerning how good the contrast ratio is is simply by looking at the display. But this only works if you are watching a dim scene with some brighter highlights.
The best TV channels to look at are HD ones, Discovery and National Geographic will do the trick. Lets assume a scene of a video shot inside a cave. Obviously there will be some lighting from natural sources as well as the lights used by the videographer. This works best in a dark room. Check the display for the areas where the light falls on dark objects, like sections of the wall and roof. Do you see those regions clearly, or are there bands of dark and light regions. If there is dappled light, this works better.
Another example would be a night scene with light falling on some objects. Also underwater videos. Does the water look natural, or is there bands of alternating light and dark colours, that might look like bands of noise? All this is evidence of banding, and this happens when the display cannot produce subtle variations in a shade. For a display with a good contrast ratio, you will see a natural transition from darker to lighter regions. Usually plasma displays have been better at producing darker blacks but these days LED’s backlit television are catching up fast.
Another way is possible if you are carrying a notebook with you. There are display patterns available for quickly judging the contrast ratio. Basically you need to look for a pattern with grey squares of varying intensity (brightness) on a black background.
Angle of View
This is a very simple test to perform. To do this just stand in the centre of the TV and then move off to the left or the right. Now what you should look for is how quickly do the colours change into unnatural or majorly lose saturation? If the colours shift or fade quickly, then you are bound to face problems. Also does the hue or saturation change? Does the image take on a purple tinge? It’s also a good idea to do this test for vertical viewing angles too, especially if you intend to sit on the floor while watching something. Align your head at a higher point than the display and watch for any changes. Then, watching the display, slowly lower your head by squatting till your viewing angle is lower than the display, all the watching for any changes.
What you need is a LCD TVs with the widest viewing angle possible, which means that you want the picture to look as good as far off to the side as possible. LCDs television tend to have this problem more than the plasma in this regard even the costlier LED-backlit LCDs are known to have reduced viewing angles. However, plasma displays typically have reflective panels, something to watch out for.
Connectivity
When choosing a display, connectivity has to be kept in mind too. This is especially important since a display is not something one is likely to change for at least 4-5 years, perhaps more. As the years go by, people’s usage patterns expand outwards. While one HDMI port might have been enough for you a year back, two years down the line, you might well find three ports too little. The typical urban household will have an HDTV hooked up to at least a DVD/Blu-Ray player, in addition to a Tata Sky connection. Throw in an HTPC and a PS3 and you have four HDMI ports in use. Basically, the most important connect to look for is the number of HDMI ports. Ideally, there should be at least three of them. USB ports are also useful, if you wish to play divX movies on your TV directly via a USB drive. Older Component and Composite video connects are not as useful; one of each will suffice. Every display will have auxilary outputs, so that audio can be routed to speakers. This is very important, since HDTV speakers are tyically weak. One set of RCA audio out ports should be sufficient.
Motion Resolution
In a good quality LCD TVs the Motion resolution matters a lot if you're a sports or action movie fan. It's also pretty easy to evaluate, just ask the showroom to put on a football match or an action movie with a car chase if possible. How smooth is the motion of the players when they are running, how smooth is the text on the boundaries. On a good quality television you wouldn’t miss these details and there would be minimal blurring. Again plasma TV’s score higher in this matter but nowadays televisions with a refresh rate of 120 Hz or above have been able to catch up to that quality.
Overall Impression
This is probably the most one of the most subjective ways of evaluating what you eventually want to buy. What matters in the end is do you like what you see? On a high end good quality TV set, the picture will be crisp, and the colours will be vibrant and saturated(rich). Is it appealing to the eyes? Or do the colours look washed out and unrealistic and dull. The best way to evaluate this is by looking at faces. Do they look realistic, with natural colours, coupled with smooth transitions from lighter to darker areas, or is there a sudden shift from a darker area to a lighter area? So you should definitely go for what looks the best and most importantly it should fit in your budget
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Five Simple Things To Look For Then Choosing A HD TV_77381.aspx
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Author Resource :
Robert Blume is a well known author and has written articles on LCD TVs, nokia n9 price in india, Sony Ericsson Mobile, nokia c2-02 price in india and many other subjects.
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Keywords :
lcd tv, lcd tv prices, lcd tv price in india,
Category :
Product Reviews
:
Consumer Electronics
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