Hunt It Down & Bring It Home
By now you should have a basic idea of what you're shopping for, or at least have the field narrowed down. But before you load your money gun and make a dash for the superstore, be sure you're ready for the big adventure. Here are a few tips to make the hunt more successful.
Rely on your eye. Everyone sees things a little differently, and HDTV is no exception. For instance, some viewers see distortion effects in certain types of monitors, such as unwanted "rainbows" at the edge of vision, or a visible grid of black lines, known as the "screen door" effect. Part of this has to do with the product you're looking at (older models have more problems), and how close you're sitting (maybe too close), but it's also an individual thing: some people see it, others don’t. The point is, there's no way of knowing until you take a look for yourself. Monitors also differ greatly in their field of view - in other words, how far you can deviate from the "recommended" viewing position, either horizontally or vertically, before the picture degrades. Again, this is something you should really judge for yourself. The internet can serve up a lot of great information on a product, but at some point you’re going to want to have a look-see in person.
Make sure it's HDTV. Just because it's a flat screen doesn't mean it's an HDTV. Lower resolution sets, sometimes marketed as "EDTV" models, are better than standard TV, but not by all that much. When you're evaluating different machines, keep your eye on the vertical resolution capability. It may be expressed as a single value (e.g. 720p or 1080i), or as the second number of a pair (e.g. 1280 x 720 or 1920 x 1080). But in either case, unless the vertical resolution is 720 or higher, it's not really an HDTV.
Make a scouting trip. Unless you have an exceptionally clear idea of what you're buying, forget about getting this done with a single trip to the store. Your first trip should be all about gathering info, and especially about getting some serious eye-time with the candidates. Take notes, especially the model numbers of any sets you like, but leave the credit cards in your wallet.
Use the Internet for what it's good for. While you can't judge picture quality over the Web, you can still get a wealth of information. So after you're previewed a few sets, take your notes home and do a little online research. A good place to start is by simply entering the model number into your favorite search engine. This should yield not only manufacturer info but reviews, user comments, and so on. For more detailed information on a particular TV, you can drill down as deep as you like on C|Net or Yahoo!Shopping. Both of these sites include useful product-comparison and price-comparison tools.
Talk to the cable guy. Before you decide what kind of built-in tuner you need (if any), check out what your current TV provider has to offer. For a lot of cable subscribers, it's a simple box-swap and a small monthly rate increase to step up to HD programming. But you need to check this out before you go shopping! You want to make sure your set has the right input connector types for the set-top box you'll be getting, and you don't want to pay extra for any built-in tuner options that you won't be using.
Set a budget (but don't be a slave to it). Of course it's a good idea to set a price range before you go in the store, but be open to the idea that you might spend a little more than you had planned. If you find yourself giving up forward-compatibility to save a few dollars, like buying a model without an HDMI input, you might want to rethink your decision. It's no bargain if you wind up having to replace it in a few years because it doesn't communicate with the rest of your system.
Read the fine print. If you're paying for delivery, exactly what does that mean? Curbside drop-off, or will someone actually haul it into the house and plug it in? And if you buy into one of those extended service contracts, does it include house calls, or do they expect you to drag your big-screen down to a service center?
Protect your investment. The first thing you can do to extend the life of your new HDTV is to turn down the brightness and contrast settings. Most sets are shipped from the factory dialed up to "showroom" levels: too loud, too bright, too much. Reducing the default settings to reality levels - typically about half the presets - will get you closer to what the studio had in mind, and make your set last longer. It might even be good for your health: watching a too-bright TV in a too-dark room gives some people headaches. And finally, if you bought a rear-projection or front-projection model, you should think about having a certified HDTV technician come over and calibrate it after 100 or so viewing hours. Things frequently get banged around during delivery and set-up, and a professional tune-up will not only make it look better, but last longer as well.