Television Buyer Guide

With such a range of television styles, features, connectivity and sizes it's become somewhat a daunting experience when deciding to purchase a new TV. Whether its replacing an older model, preparing for the digital switch over, for a younger member of the family, something for the bedroom

Shop.co.uk is here to help you not only get the lowest price possible for your new TV, but also help you pick the correct TV for your needs.

Why are you buying a new TV?

Perhaps the most obvious question but maybe the most important as well. With all the new advances in technology and the cheaper and cheaper TVs sell for nowadays there are so many reasons for purchasing a new TV from;

• Replacing an older or broken TV set
• Upgrading for the digital switch over
• As an extra TV for another room (e.g. Bedroom, Kitchen, Reception)
• For a gaming or computer device
• To experience the best in home entertainment

Whatever the reason it's important to define exactly what you think you need, budget and any extras you may need to help turn your mammoth search into a finely sorted choice. Go through the questions below and by the end you will know exactly what TV is correct for you.

How much can you spend?

Not everyone has an unlimited amount to spend so it's important early to know how much you are willing to pay for your new TV as this can affect the style, size and features you'll be looking for. The great thing about setting a TV budget is that with the competing manufacturers and new technology changes happening so fast the price of a 32" LCD TV for example has been sliced into a third of its price 3 or 4 years ago so a high performing TV will be avalaible in most buyers budgets.

Size

Finding the correct size TV you need will help narrow your search quickly and will vary depending on the circumstances that you are buying a new TV. For instance a normal living room TV is normally used by all the family in a big room and will range from 26" - 50", which will greatly affect the price point.

However a TV for a childs room, kitchen or to be used as a computer monitor will probably be around the 15" - 22" range due to the compact space, weight and features that would not be needed.

Below is a guide of general TV sizes and where they are more commonly seen to help give you an idea of what you may be looking for:

• 15", 17", 19" TV's - Small / Kids Bedroom, Kitchen, Study, Computer Monitor, Gaming Monitor
• 22", 26" TV's - Bedroom, Computer Monitor, Gaming Monitor, Living Room TV
• 32", 37" TV's - Master Bedroom, Gaming Monitor, Living Room TV
• 40", 42", 46" TV's - Living Room TV, Home Cinema
• 50", 55", 60+" TV's - Home Cinema

Features

As well as being a great way to watch all the latest television shows modern day TV's are packed with a vast amount of features to connect multiple devices, provide extra TV channels, connect to the internet to deliver the lastest information as well as offering sound and visual playback to rival your local cinema!

If you have trouble understanding most technical TV jargon view our TV Glossary for more detailed information but below is a list of the more common features you will need to consider:

• HD Ready - Most current television sets will be able to reproduce HD images in a minimum of 720p and are classed as HD ready, however if you are really looking for a true High Definition experience then you should consider resolutions providing HD - 1080i or the most optimised display full HD in 1080p.
• Connection Points - Depending on what equipment you have already connected to your current TV, what you may want to connect and for future entertainment purposes you need to be sure that your TV includes every possible connection point you may need and in some cases enough of those connections points so you are not constantly fighting with wires when you want to use one of those entertainment devices. Its important to consider standard SCART / AV connection points, HDMI connections for new HD equipment like games consoles and Blu-Ray players and VGA connection points if you want to use your TV with a PC or laptop.
• Sound Settings - With home entertainment system sales on the rise and the advancement of Dolby 5.1 and 7.1 its important to consider if you want to watch your films and play your games with a true home cinema experience. Checking that your TV is compatible with the Dolby systems and has audio in and out connections are a must.
• Built in Freeview - With free to view channels providing a new wealth of free televised entertainment its another handy feature for a TV placed in the bedroom or kitchen and would save money of running extra connection wires, contracts and equipment. However if you will have a digital satellite recover connected to the TV then you may not see this as an important feature.
• Built in DVD player - As TV sets get smaller and smaller more gadgets seem to get placed inside on them. A built in DVD player is perfect for saving space and a valuable connection point. Ideal for TV's that will be placed in unconventional places or if you just need to save space, built in DVD players make your TV feel futuristic and really high tech. However remember that you will be paying a small extra price for this nice feature but normally its much lower than actually buying a DVD player.

TV Style

As menioned the advancmenet in television technology has been amazing, lighter, thinner and more powerful televisions are being developed all the time. As the chunky and heavy rear projecting screens are now replaced with lighter and thinner models in the current generations of TV's we have Plasma, LCD and the new LED TV ranges.

Each provides its own advantages and disadvantages and will affect the price range that they sell for so its wise to understand what exactly each range offers.

Plasma TV's

Plasmas happen to be the oldest of current TV technology although they certainly dont appear so when you look at performance. Plasma TV's were the first sets able to provide High Definition visuals in 720p and if you look at the current crop of Plasmas they produce an unrivaled contrast ratio of 1:1,000,000 which is 10x more than most current LCD TV's.

Plasmas really did set the way for modern day TV's as they where the first TV's to be slim and light enough to wall mount, whilst providing an amazing view range from the tightest of angles without losing picture quality.

The main advantages of having an Plasma TV are:

• Less energy is wasted per screen size comaped to over TV types
• Extremely high refresh rate allows for excellent display of fast moving images without blur, ideal for acting films or sport programmes
• Plasma TV's achieve the best and most acuurate colour reproduction
• Superior contrast ratio, producing deep, true blacks
• Wide viewing angles eliminate image degradation even from high angles

LCD TV's

The most popular current TV type due to its thin design, low price point and amazng performance. LCD TV technology should be thanked for the television boom as much as Apple's iPod created the MP3 player sale surge. The battle with Plasma TV's for price and performance really heated up during the mid 2000's allowing prices to drop, TV sizes to rapidly increase and the technology rapidly increase, bringing the mass market to the HD era.

With a wide array of connections for standard definition devices like DVD players, Video players, Video cameras and HD equipement including digital satellite recivers, games consoles, computers and Blu-Ray players an LCD can be the real hub of your home. Their lightweight and slim design makes LCD's easy to move and position around the house, on top of furniture, walls and in places a standard TV couldn't go due to size or weight.

The main advantages of having an LCD TV are:

• Thin, lightweight and much cheaper than any other TV type
• Deliver true full HD viewing at 1080p
• Can be used with a wide array of devices including computers and laptops
• Have a very high reliablity rate compared to standard televsions
• Combination of wide viewing angles and quick adjustablity allows for more viewers round the TV set

LED TV's

LED's are the new kids on the block when it comes to TV types. Seen as an advancement to the LCD TV, LED TV's are essentially built in a simialr way to an LCD TV but instead of using fluorescent lights LED lights are used instead. Currently LED's are far to big to represent each pixel in a standard television screen so LED lights are used for backlighting which creates high contrast colouring.

LED TV's have now replaced LCD's as the slimmest and lightest Television choice avalaible and are just as portable and versatily placed as LCD's. Although LED's are currently the most expensive choice at the moment, they deliver the best of both worlds in terms of picture performace and size.

The main advantages of having an LED TV are:

• Brighter images with greater contrast, a wider colour range and deeper blacks
• LED TV's are ultra slim and can be as thick as 25mm
• LED TV's consumer up to 40% less power than a similar sized LCD TV
• They turn on and off faster than an LCD TV and have a high refresh rate
• As well consuming less energy LED TV's also produce less enviromental pollution when dispposed of

Which TV set will you buy?

Hopefully this buying guide has helped answer any questions you may of had, now that you know what TV you need why not view our range of Television set;

• View our Plasma TV's
• View our LCD TV's
• View our LED TV's