Buying an LCD TV – What to keep in mind

Following are two primary considerations for buying an LCD TV for all purposes.

An LCD TV's contrast ratio is the factor determining how bright will a frame be, and how much of a contrast can it deliver at the maximum. The rating is based on the luminance of the brightest colour, i.e., white, compared to the same of the darkest colour, black. So, an LCD TV having a contrast ration of 500:1 would mean that the colour white on the screen would look 500 times as bright as black. One must be more concerned about the dynamic contrast ratio, and not the static contrast one, since the former represents a real time picture, while the latter is the measure of a single frame. The best ratio for all kinds of homes is 5000:1, while rooms that do not have much lighting can also do well with a 1000:1 ratio.

The display resolution is another important aspect to be kept in mind. It is a common fact that a majority of the LCD TVs have HD capabilities, but not all are equal in their performance. One needs to be familiar with 4 basic resolutions. There are two categories, -i and -p. A TV with 1080p resolution will display a picture at 1920 x 1080, and use progressive scan to improve the quality, while a TV with 1080i resolution will do the same using an interlaced video codec. The former is a better choice in this case.