Top 5 Things NOT To Look for in A New HDTV

Since everyone is so fond of doing a ‘top 5’ or ‘top 10’ list I thought I would do my own list: The Top 5 Things NOT To Look For In A New HDTV.

1. Forget about all other connections besides HDMI. HDMI is going to be the ‘defacto’ standard for high-definition programming in the future so you mine as well get use to it. HDMI uses a copy protection scheme called HDCP which means that eventually both your source (like a DVD player) and your viewing device (like your new plasma HDTV) need to have HDMI to work properly.

2. You don’t need a comb filter. Since you are using HDMI as your connection, and it’s all digital, you don’t need a comb filter in your new HDTV. A comb filter does exactly what you think it does – it filters out all sorts of distortions/colors etc. to make the picture look better. But it only works for composite video like standard TV but you’re not really going to watch standard TV on a high-def TV are you?

3. It doesn’t matter if has progressive scan or not. You can read my previous post about progressive vs interlaced video but basically most video sources (TV and DVD) are interlaced sources and you use ‘progressive scan’ to get a smoother and more stable image. A lot of new TV’s do their own progressive scanning but so far most progressive scan DVD players are much better. Plus, for some TV’s based upon your video connection, will actually take your analog signal, convert it to digital for deinterlacing, and then covert back to analog – so you may be doing extra conversions that will drop some quality.

4. Only look at the native resolution. The native resolution of a fixed display panel (ie plasma, lcd, rear-projection) HDTV is the resolution that you will always see on the TV no matter if it’s standard TV, from a DVD, or high-def programming. The HDTV will convert, scale, slice and dice the source video to fit it’s native resolution. For example, if you buy a new plasma TV with a native resolution of 1024x768 and give it a HD signal (say your favorite HBO show) in 720p (which has a resolution of 1280x720) then you will lose some picture quality on your new plasma even thought it upconverts the image. It’s tough to say what resolution to go with because some HD programming is in 720p and some is in 1080i – and 1080p is on it’s way. Check out this CNET article for more on HDTV resolutions.

5. Don’t buy a HDTV based upon just one thing. Just like anything in life, buying a HDTV shouldn’t be based upon one variable like screen size or resolution. Make sure you can connect your HDTV to your existing home theater and more importantly that you like the way that it looks because in the end that’s what’s going to matter the most.