You are ready for a great viewing experience but want to shop for a television set that suits your budget, tastes and circumstances. Yet, with so many different types and brands of TV sets out there, how do you decide the best one to buy this year?

Well, to help you decide, this article will look at the types of TV, different sizes, your sitting distance from the TV, resolutions, refresh rates, and other matters which include the smart TV, 3D TVs, connecting with HDMI and where to shop conveniently online.

Types of TV

There are 4 types of television sets on the market: LCD, LED, Plasma, and OLED.

These words don't mean anything or much to you?

Don't worry. Buying the best TV in 2015 should be as much fun as watching it. The choice should not be difficult because of technical details that you don't understand. So this article will restrict such details to only what you need to guide your decision as to which television set to buy.

  • LCD TVs: LCD means Liquid-Crystal Display. These TVs are often very affordable yet give you quality HD performance. Displaying bright colors, they offer the best viewing experience in well-lit rooms.
  • LED TVs: LED stands for Light-Emitting Diode. LED TVs have excellent overall picture quality. They are thin and can therefore be placed in any viewing space. Although good for well-lit rooms, LED TVs fit all lighting conditions.
  • Plasma TVs: They are good for you if you need superb pictures, rich vibrant colors and deep blacks. They are capable of handling fast-moving action without producing much blurring. If your room is dark or low-lit, Plasma TVs will work best for you. Another advantage: they allow wider viewing angles than most LED or LCD TVs.
  • OLED TVs: OLED signifies Organic Light-Emitting Diode. Extraordinarily thin screen TVs, they are ideal if you are looking for extremely high degree of color accuracy, great contrast, wide viewing angles and a virtually blur-free picture. OLED TVs also give you viewing pleasure with true blacks and a brilliant range of colors.

Now that you know which type of TV to choose, let's consider the size to go with it.

Sizes of TV

There are also 4 general sizes: 32″ class and smaller, 33″- 49″ class, 50″- 64″ class, and 65″-64″ class.

  • 32″ and smaller size class: This is the right size for you if you are buying the TV to view in a bedroom, dorm, kitchen, or a casual viewing area.
  • 33″-49″ class: This size is considered versatile, since the TVs can be placed in an average-sized living room as well as in many bedrooms.
  • 50″-64″ class: Do you need great visual impact within any room, including big living rooms? Then choose this size.
  • 65″-90″ class: These behemoths are indicated for media rooms. But they are also good for viewers seeking true immersive experience with movies and sports.

So, as you have seen, the choice of the size of the TV depends on the size of your room, the type of experience you wish for yourself, but also on how far away you will be sitting from the TV, which is what we are going to look at next.

The sitting distances from the TV

The general recommendations about how far you can sit from your TV screen to enjoy the picture most are of 2 types: minimum viewing distance and maximum viewing distance.

  • Minimum viewing distance: To determine the size of the TV set which is ideal for your circumstance, simply divide the minimum distance at which you will be sitting from your TV screen by 1.5. So, for a 90″ (7.5′) viewing distance, the ideal TV is a 60″ class. (N.B.: For a 4K Ultra HD TV, you can sit much closer than that and still have a clear picture.)
  • Maximum viewing distance: Simply double the minimum viewing distance. So for a 60″ class TV with a 90″ minimum viewing distance, the maximum would be 90″ x 2 or 180″ (15′).

With the minimum and maximum viewing distances, one can also easily decide which TV to buy for a home with people with different eye conditions (long or short vision).

TV resolutions

The TV resolution determines the quality (how clear, sharp, detailed) of the TV picture.

There are 3 TV resolutions: 720p (HD, 1080p (Full HD), and 2160p (4K Ultra HD).

– 720p (HD): This resolution is commonly available with smaller TVs which are often sold at very affordable prices. 720 p (HD) offers you a quality HD picture for TV shows and DVD movies.

– 1080p (Full HD): The most common HDTV resolution found nowadays, 1080p (Full HD) TVs enable you to watch Blu-ray movies, Full HD content and all TV programming at their highest level of detail.

– 2160p (4K Ultra HD): 4K, UHD, Ultra HD, or 4K Ultra HD TVs are the latest and the best resolutions on the TV market today. Capable of multiplying up to four times the resolution of 1080p (Full HD) TVs, itis not surprising that they deliver exceptionally clear, detailed images. So you can sit very close to the screen for a full immersive experience. 2160p (4K Ultra HD) TVs can also upscale current high-definition content to produce even sharper images

If a sharp, detailed or clear TV image is a pleasure to view, a TV's ability to handle fast actions can enhance or mar your experience. This is what the refresh rate is about.

TV Refresh Rates

The TV refresh rate determines how smooth your TV picture appears in fast action scenes.

There are 3 TV refresh rates expressed as 60HZ (Hertz), 120Hz, and 240HZ.

What do these refresh rates mean for picture quality and performance in LED and LCD TVs?

A TV Hertz refresh rate is the number of times a TV set totally rebuilds its picture in a second. The higher the hertz, the smoother the picture. This means that the more frequently the screen is refreshed, the smoother the images you will see.

A TV with a 60Hz (hertz) refresh rate will totally rebuild its picture 60 times in a second; that with 120Hz (hertz) refresh rate will do so 120 times in a second; and the 240Hz (hertz) 240 times in a second.

This explains why with some 60Hz TVs, viewers may observe a slight motion blur during fast-action scenes; 120Hz TVs have very minimal blur, and 240Hz TV pictures look crisp and smooth.

However other TV technologies can take care of fast motion action and produce a smooth picture. That is why although plasma TVs have a 600Hz refresh rate, they hardly have issues with motion blur. This doesn't mean that the 600Hz can be directly compared to LED and LCD TV refresh rates. Plasma TVs create their picture in a very different way.

Other considerations

Smart TVs

Should you buy a smart TV? Yes, if you are looking for connectivity and streaming entertainment.

-Connectivity: Smart TVs enable you to connect your products and share content with your tablet or smartphone. This way you can watch what you want and where you want. You can also use voice, hand motion, a mobile device, or keyboard to control the TV and get content recommendations depending on the movies and TV shows you watch.

– Streaming entertainment: Connecting your smart TV to your home network can make you stream lots of movies, videos, and music from your favourite services like Net flix, Hulu Plus (N.B.: subscription is required), Pandora and YouTube. If you buy a smart TV with a full Web browser, you can surf the Web right on your TV screen. However, if your HDTV isn't “smart,” what you can do to stream content to your screen is to use smart Blu-ray players, streaming players, specialized USB devices as well as other smart products.

However, you can't use a smart TV without internet connection, but which internet connection?

High Speed Internet Connection

Without high speed internet connection, your HD movies and videos will not stream properly on your smart TV. Buffering will make these media stop and start continuously.

For your smart TV to function well, you will need a wireless-N router or wireless-N plus router and a download speed of at least 5Mbps. However connecting multiple devices could require twice that speed.

3 DTVs

3 DTVs are high-quality HDTVs with which you can follow special 3D content, such as select 3D Blu-ray movies, 3D TV programming and 3D video games. They come with 3D glasses. To build a complete 3D home theater system, a 3D Blu-ray player, high-speed HDMI cable and an A/V receiver that is compatible with 3D products are also recommended.

Connecting with HDMI

HDMI is an all-digital cable for HDMI-ready TVs, Blu-ray players, A/V receivers, gaming consoles, etc. It can carry both picture and sound and make your home theater setup much simpler and cleaner.

Shop Online Conveniently

Amazon offers you a huge collection of TVs, with countless models to choose from. The best TV to buy in 2015 should be the one which injects life into your home entertainment vision.



Source by Akoli Penoukou