We are at a point where you can watch TV online legally and for free Yes, you can watch TV online legally and for free Yes, you can watch TV online legally and for free Everyone knows that there are many illegal ways to watch your favorite shows online, but there are also many perfectly legal (and free) ways. Here are some of the best... Read More The TV still has a place in your home, and in fact, there are several places where your PC monitor hasn't caught up.
When you're out shopping for a new TV, you might be a little confused by the many options available, all the features they have, and the jargon you need to get into. So here's your cheat sheet for some of the common terms in TV technology today.
The first thing you need to know is the difference between 4:3, 16:9, and 21:9 aspect ratios. These numbers correspond to the ratio of the horizontal and vertical length of your screen. So 4:3 is an older square screen CRT TV and is not generally available today. The most common is 16:9, which is the widescreen you're likely to see everywhere. The less commonly used 21:9 is available on certain models and is promoted as a "Cinema" display because the aspect ratio is what you would see in a movie theater.
Image by Wikimedia user Landen99.
The resolution of a screen is the number of pixels it has, usually denoted by the number of pixels on a horizontal line multiplied by the number of pixels on a vertical line. So the common one you've probably seen is 1920 × 1080. A short glossary of resolutions:
Ultra HD is the term you're most likely to hear if you walk into a showroom. Ultra HD includes 4K and 8K resolutions. Of these, 4K is what you can get on high-end TVs right now, and 8K isn't common unless you're going for a TV larger than 80 inches.
The advantage of Ultra HD is that you get a higher resolution, which translates to better clarity. The downside is that most content isn't available in 4K resolution right now, so your TV will be artificially upscaled, and that's not really taking advantage of 4K technology.
Do you need 4K? Matt Smith will help you decide if he should buy an Ultra HD TV. Should You Buy a 4K/Ultra HD TV? Should You Buy a 4K/Ultra HD TV? About a decade ago, manufacturers began selling what is now widely known as an HDTV. But now HD is old news, so the industry has decided to push another new technology; Ultra HD, also known… Read more .
Some televisions will indicate either "1080i" or "1080p" resolution - for your reference, the latter is the best. The “i” stands for interlaced and the “p” for progressive. In basic terms, interlaced video shows every alternate horizontal line while progressive video shows every horizontal line. Naturally, TVs with 1080p resolution will produce better picture quality.
Some televisions will claim to come with “Intelligent Scaling” or “True Scaling” and it is important to know what that means. DVD movies or even some of the older TV shows available as Blu-rays include content that was not originally produced in FullHD resolution. So how can your best FullHD TV show? Smart software inside your TV takes the low-resolution content from those DVDs or TV shows and analyzes it. It then inserts new "padding" pixels into the content as it plays, making the image look better on a high-resolution TV. In effect, it is "faking" better resolution.
These are different types of display technologies, so here's what you need to know about each one.
This was quite common a few years ago and you can still find some great plasma TVs for cheaper than comparative LCD, LED or OLED TVs. Colors are truer than LCDs, black levels are deeper, and viewing angles are better. But despite these benefits, buying a plasma TV is not recommended. Plasma has little pockets of gases behind the panel to show the colors on your TV, and over time it will burn into your panel to show you that image even when the TV is off. For example, the logo of a channel you visit most often. If this has already happened to you, Joel Lee has some tips for fixing burnout. Why are images burned on plasma and LCD screens, and how to fix it? Why are images burned on plasma and LCD screens, and how to fix it? Did the video game pause, then quit, only to find the image burned onto the screen upon its return? Why did this happened? And is there a way to fix it? Read more . They are also not as energy efficient as other panels. But the main reason is that it's a dying technology, so if something goes wrong, fixing a plasma TV will be difficult, expensive, or both.
The LCD screen is still popular and much cheaper than LED and plasma televisions. Image quality is outclassed when it comes to contrast ratio and viewing angles, but it excels at displaying good images in bright environments. This is due to the Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL) it uses to illuminate the screen. If you're considering an LCD TV, try to buy one with a refresh rate of at least 100Hz, as moving objects (such as athletes) tend to blur if it's lower.
LED TVs are actually LCD TVs with a different lighting technology; instead of CCFL, they used light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. There are two types of these TVs:edge-lit LED and Full Array LEDs . We have a detailed explanation What is the difference between an LCD screen and an LED backlit LCD screen? What is the difference between an LCD screen and an LED-backlit LCD screen? This topic is complex because it is simple. The differences between LCD and LED are subtle, which can make it difficult to understand the difference. It's an important distinction though, as it can significantly impact the picture... Read More that a series of LEDs have them behind the main screen. The latter is a much higher quality display and is often referred to as “full LED” or “true LED”. The former is cheaper, available on thinner TVs, and more energy efficient.
In general, the picture quality of a bright-edge LED TV won't be any better than a regular CCFL LCD TV, so don't pay much more for that. A full-array LED is significantly different from both LCD and edge LED TVs, and well worth the extra sound.
This stands for Organic LED and it is better than full-array, full-edge LED TVs because they are able to create the colors (or rather, the light) without the need for a separate backlight technology like gas plasma, CCFLs of LCD or LEDs. The result is image quality that is the best in current display technology and black levels are the deepest.
You'll hear a lot of talk about Hz (Hertz), with some TVs running over 600 Hz and watching TVs with only 60 Hz staring you in the face. Hertz refers to the TV's refresh rate, which indicates how many times the displayed image is refreshed. in a second. Therefore, a refresh rate of 60 Hz means that an image is displayed 60 times in a second. The faster the refresh rate, the more easily your brain will be tricked into thinking these images are moving.
In general, you won't notice many issues on 50Hz or 60Hz TVs unless you watch a lot of sports or play a lot of video games, in which case "ghosting" or the motion blur you see is the cause of a low refresh rate. If that bothers you, buying a TV with 100Hz or 120Hz refresh rates will make more sense. There are also TVs with 240Hz refresh rates and while they're great for gaming and sports, they struggle when it comes to movies.
These high update rates are achieved by creating and inserting new frames in one second. It's a bit of copying existing frames and a bit of clever technology adding your own “between” to two frames. However, the technology isn't that smart yet. The result is something commonly known as the “soap opera effect”, where the image appears as it does with the production quality of a television set. The good news is that you can turn this off but you'll need to know how to do it, so find out before you buy the TV.
James Bruce has thoroughly explained the difference between passive 3D, active 3D and 3D lenticular televisions:what are they, how do they work and what can they show in 3D? [MakeUseOf Explains] 3D TVs:What are they, how do they work, and what can they show in 3D? [MakeUseOf Explains] If you're in the market for a new TV, it's probably 3D, not because you particularly want one that can do 3D, but simply because 3D TVs tend to have better screens... Read More Read that article if you are really interested in technology. Here is the basic version of what you need to know:
active 3D It is the best quality, but the glasses are expensive and need to be recharged. This isn't what you want if you have a large group coming to see the big game, but it's perfect for one or two people watching a movie.
passive 3D it will not look as good as active television and is the technology used in most movie theaters. These use simple polarized filters on the glasses, so you get a 3D effect, but it's not really 3D. Still, for a large group and a few hours of fun, it gets the job done.
Lenticular It's a glasses-free 3D TV, and right now it's nowhere near working well. No matter what the seller says, don't buy this.
Technologists love to throw out the word. “intelligent” and has lost all meaning now. What is a smart TV? What is a smart TV? 6 of the best on the market today What is a Smart TV? 6 of the best on the market today Most of the TVs you look at right now are smart TVs, but what is a smart TV and which ones are the best on the market right now? Read more ? It's basically a TV that gives you some of the things your smartphone or computer can do, like view photos and movies directly from a USB device, browse the Internet and watch YouTube videos, or control your TV with gestures or voice.
All of these features can be replicated by buying third-party products, which can sometimes be much better, like the Roku. Right now, for my money, I'd rather buy a Roku Roku 3 Review and Giveaway Roku 3 Review and Giveaway As more content becomes available online, the need for a traditional TV subscription may not be enough to justify the costs. If you're already a subscriber to services like Netflix or Hulu Plus, you can now... Read More Hardware that is rapidly becoming obsolete.
Now that you're armed with all this knowledge about the different terms you need to know when shopping for a TV, you're ready to go shopping. But hey, it's not that easy. Are there any showroom tricks to trick you into buying a new TV or PC? Avoid showroom gimmicks that cost you money Buying a new TV or PC? Avoid Showroom Tricks That Cost You Money Over the years I've become more and more resistant to their tactics and approaches, thanks mainly, I think, to the realization that they haven't been entirely honest with me. Read more about what you should take into account..
Also, since we're just coming out of CES, the TV market will change rapidly over the next month or two as manufacturers who showcased their latest TVs at the convention offer them for sale. If you have recently picked up a new TV or are looking at one, which models are you looking at? It's helpful to ask our smart readers for suggestions in the comments below.
