How To Buy a Big Screen TV

The home theater craze has caught on, but when buying your big screen TV, there are many options and companies open to you that you'll need to carefully consider. Follow these steps and guidelines, and you'll be on the fast track to making a smart purchase that fits your home theater needs!

1. Screen Size -- It may seem like a fairly obvious first issue, but the size of the screen you are picking plays a big role in your home theater. First and foremost, if you plan on placing your big screen TV in any sort of case or area that has limited room, you need to make sure you can fit it. There will be nothing worse than buying a TV that doesn't fit into your room!

   Also, size depends on how far away you'll be sitting from the TV. If the room is not long or big enough, you'll be sitting much too close to the tv screen, and begin to see pixelated details that will make for uncomfortable viewing. You'll want to have at least three times the viewing distance as the size of the screen. Twice if you are watching only HDTV... however, most shows and movies are still not available in this format.

2. Depth of the Television -- The depth of the television really factors into the cost. The thinner you go, the harder it is to make a television with the same HD quality. Therefore it becomes very expensive. Flat panels look great, and fit well into a room, but unless you have a lot of money to drop, you may not want to purchase one.
3. Widescreen or Letterbox -- Traditionally, women prefer letterbox tv's, and men widescreen. All movies are shot in widescreen format these days, yet TV shows are still mostly in the letterbox format. It really comes down to preference. The widescreen is a superior format which allows for more than one focus on a screen and nice scenic shots, which is why it is the choice of movie directors. In the future widescreen may be the new standard, so you may want to think long term, but really, it all comes down to preference.
4. CRT, DLP, LCD, and HD! -- That is quite the load of technical terms, but the first three refer to what exactly creates the image of your screen, and High Definition means exactly what it says, how high the definition can go.
   • CRT is the old technology probably in your regular TVs at home. These represent the original big screens. Big, bulky, sometimes not the best viewing from odd angles, but the selling factor behind it is price. These big screens will be significantly cheaper, but you pay for what you get. The DLP and LCD are more expensive, but overall better options.

   • The difference between DLP and LCD are once again mainly price. At extreme viewing angles DLP tends to get dimmer, but the quality of the picture is excellent. The only downside to DLP and LCD are that bulbs burn out and are expensive to replace, which adds additional cost.
   • Finally, high definition options are available for all three. However, getting a non high-def TV will be much cheaper, and once again it depends on what you want. The regular DVD quality will still look good, but HD will look amazing on a high def TV. The only issue is that HD is still not a standard, but in the long run it is a very smart purchase as we see everything begin to be shot in High Definition.

There are many options you need to consider when buying a big screen tv, and most come down to price. In the long run, even though certain aspects of expensive TVs are not standard, they will be in the future. If you have the money to spare, buying an HD TV will definitely be worth it, and you will begin to receive the advantage as we make the move from DVD format, to HD-DVD. Shop around, look for quality, but overall pick the TV that you think fits your budget and is right for you.