Today is all about BIG screen televisions.

We had to start looking for a new TV. My first thought was “really now–when we are in the midst of Christmas shopping”.

I began doing research to determine what we needed to be looking for.

We  wanted a 40″ for our bedroom.

I was shocked as I looked for televisions to find that most 42″ were better priced than 40″.  Not always but many times.  Go to Amazon and type in 40″ LED 1080p 120hz then look up the same brands with 42″.

Every year technology gets better and better so I did some research to find out what we wanted in a television.

 

LED-LCD-HDTV-PLASMA-3D…

Here is what I determined from my research:
Plasma TVs have come a long way. You get some great color, they are the lowest priced but they run the hottest of all the TVs–this one is out for us. We live in Florida and yes we have air and it is on most of the year but you want to keep rooms as cool as possible. (Even if we were back in the Midwest I would still not want a TV that is running hot in the summer months.)

LCD TVs use fluorescent tubes to light the screen. As a result, LCDs don’t have great color when it comes to BLACKS . Why– because fluorescent tubes are always on, and light leaks through to the front of the display. The color saturation is limited. Basically the LCD does not look as sharp. They run cooler than the PLASMA but still run warm.

LED TVs are LCD TVs that uses LEDs to illuminate the display. There are two things to look at with LEDs. Some place the LED lighting across the entire back of the display, others place them around the perimeter (called “edge lit” display). The LED is the coolest TV. I don’t mean cool in terms of “hip” but in the heat that is emitted by the television. Edge lit tend to be extremely thin and are less expensive. The back lit LEDs have BLACK blacks because of the lighting technique.

 

{HERE} is some info to look at about the different kinds of TVs.

For us–we were looking at LEDs.

If going with an LED you want to get one that has 1080p not the 720p. All other things being equal, more pixels will produce a better, sharper image. Many people find that the best way to enjoy the benefits of a 1080p television and show off the full potential is to purchase a Blu-ray DVD player. (Blu-ray disks are formatted in the full 1080p resolution.)

The next thing you need to look at is 60hz or 120hz. If you have gaming systems or plan to watch any sports you want the 120hz. A 60hz can not keep up with the speed of action. The best way I can describe it is this–if you are watching a football game and the quarterback throws the ball. The picture can be jerky with a 60hz TV. When the quarterback throws the ball a 60hz TV can not keep up with the speed and the picture can be jerky because it can not keep up with the speed of motion. You want a 120hz so your picture is smooth. There are 240hz TVs but from all the research we did–in our opinion it really isn’t worth the money. Most people-including those who review TVs-can not even tell a difference between the 120hz and the 240hz. I would recommend that you save your money here–get the best 120hz you can find.

3D is another feature and if you want that feature you will pay more for it.  You can turn off the 3D option but when it is on everyone needs to be ready to wear the 3D glasses.  This was not a feature we were looking at for a bedroom TV.

There will be personal preference in the design.

Something some people do not think about when they go into a store and see a bunch of TVs is the sound. Most people look at the quality of the picture and make their decision based on that alone. Some TVs have great sound while others can sound like a tin can. This can be overcome if you install speakers. If the TV is that good of a deal and you plan to install surround sound or already have that then I would recommend getting the deal. If you purchase through a local retailer you can always return if you are not happy with your purchase.

One thing we found is a lot of stores have products on line but they do not carry them in their stores. It makes it difficult to evaluate the quality of picture. Once again if you find a good deal and want to give it a try, and are not happy with your purchase, check to make sure that you can return it the store. This brings up another thing–those stores, that allow return to their stores, from online purchases, will usually carry those items at a sizable discount (lower than the price online) because they want to get it off of their floor. You need to grab those deals up right away because it may not be there if you go home to think about it.  Craigslist is another great place to look for deals.  Sometimes you find those people who just want the newest thing on the market and they will sell their pieces at a large discount so they can purchase something new.

Typically in January older models go on sale because the new TVs will be coming out and stores want them out of the store before they order new product. They start discounting them because 1–it is harder and harder to sell them once the newer models have come out and 2–they need the space for the new models that will be coming in.

 

Good luck shopping.