Buyers Guide to Televisions (Buyers Guide: Televisions)

Member Name: chinieng

Product:	Buyers Guide: Televisions
Date:	26/10/01 (5669 review reads)
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What to look for when buying a new television. Screen format, SCART, NICAM, NTSC, extended warranties...

I recently had to buy a new TV, when my Hitachi gave up the ghost. You'll have your own criteria for deciding what to go for - here were my main considerations.


-- Widescreen (16:9) v Standard (4:3)

Widescreen is the future, according to the industry. The truth, it seems, is that the broadcasters have to catch up. Terrestrial broadcasts are not available in widescreen unless you have cable or satellite. A lot of the other cable-only channels are broadcast in 4:3 only, meaning you have to watch with black bars at the side if you want to preserve the aspect ratio of the picture. DVD buffs though will make the most of the extra width, making the premium on the price of a widescreen worth ist.

A possible compromise for those who are perhaps building up a DVD collection, but watch mainly 4:3 programmes is to buy a traditional TV with a widescreen mode. This will allow you to watch widescreen DVDs without sacrificing resolution; without the widescreen mode, your DVD player will letterbox the picture so that it can be displayed correctly. The black bars at the top and bottom will obviously be bigger on a traditional TV than on a widescreen but you'll be able to watch standard broadcasts at full screen.

It's worth bearing in mind that a widescreen picture on a traditional TV with a 16:9 mode is 0.9 times its size. For example, a 28 inch traditional TV will give a widescreen picture of about 26 inches. However, a widescreen TV gives a 4:3 picture 0.8 times its size. So your 28 inch widescreen will give a 4:3 picture equivalent to a 23 inch traditional TV. You'll have to decide which compromise is more acceptable to you. Widescreens are falling in price - unbeatable.co.uk have a 28 inch Philips widescreen for 320 pounds with no cabinet. A friend of mine bought it, and I can say it has a very good picture and
a remarkably flat screen and DVDs look great.


-- Connections

SCART is a standard for connecting up audio-video equipment. It comes in RGB and Composite (S-video) flavours. Of the two, RGB (where the red, green and blue channels are sent separately) is supposed to give the best performance for DVD. Audio outputs may be available for connection to your hi-fi. 'Front AV in' refers to input sockets on the front of the television that allow easy connection to games consoles for example, and may include an S-video input for camcorder users. You need to have enough of the right sockets to attach your DVD player, VCR, set-top box and whatever else you may have.


-- Sound

NICAM stereo is a digital audio compression method that, unlike widescreen broadcasts, is available on analogue terrestrial TV. Apparently, it gives good audio reception even when your picture is suffering, and is standard on most stereo TV sets. I've experienced Dolby Pro-logic at home and was impressed with it. It gives 4 channels of audio - a front left, centre, front right and rear. However, this has now been superseded by Dolby Digital 5.1 and Digital Theatre Systems (DTS). Instead of a single rear channel, there is a rear left and rear right giving more control over the sound stage plus a dedicated channel for a sub-woofer for thumping bass. These two sound formats are currently only available on DVD, if your player is suitably equipped. This is now in home cinema territory and beyond the scope of this opinion. Some mid-range TVs come with 'Virtual Surround' or some variant, that simulate the effect of surround. I've not listened to one myself; perhaps someone else would like to comment? If you have a hi-fi that you want to connect to, check that it has the correct jacks.


-- Other features

I've never known the sleep timer or child lock to be used on a TV, but then I have an alarm clock and no kids. Other f
eatures include teletext and fastext, autotuning, picture zoom if you really can't stand those black bars, and NTSC playback. NTSC signals come from American or Japanese sources, so consider this if you intend to buy DVDs from the States. PAL is the system used in the UK. If you need a Euro-compatible TV, then your TV should accept the Secam signal. More expensive machines have features for controlling the picture such as noise reduction or enhanced blacks.


-- Warranty

Most TVs come with a 1 year manufacturer's guarantee. Should you buy an extended warranty? After the problem with my Hitachi, I thought it would be worth getting one. They are, however, expensive. A 5-year warranty costs from 65 to 90 pounds for a 200 pound television. They are generally considered to be poor value. For more info take a look at the following site;

http://www.thisismoney.com/undated/in606.html

If you do want one, you don't have to buy from the vendor. Shop around. Your credit card company may well provide cover if you pay with plastic. I think this is the case for Barclaycard holders. I'd be interested to know what others think about extended warranties.


-- Reviews

If you like to gauge opinions before making your choice, opinions from the consumer mags can be found at the following sites;

http://www.whatvideotv.com
http://www.homecinemachoice.com


-- Where to buy

Those looking to buy high-end machines should get themselves a copy of one of the above magazines. If you're looking for sub-28 inch traditional TV, then the high street and the Internet are the places to start.

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