How to buy a TV? TV Guide 2019

Want to buy a TV? Don’t worry we got you covered. In this blog we are going to tell some of the major things you should consider before buying a TV. So before we get started if you are stuck anywhere to follow or bored to read the full article feel free to check the video below.

Screen Size

First thing and very important thing you need to consider it how big you want the TV. Actually this depends on two factors. One how far you are going to sit from the TV in your house and another what resolution you want. The bigger the TV gets, the higher the resolution you need to select. Check the table below for an idea. This is table isn't the ideal case you need to consider. Techno Brainiac made this assumption table based few real time checks and other research. This may work every single time but this isn’t an ideal one.

S.No	Viewing Distance(Feet)	Size(Inches)	Resolution
1	3-5	24"	HD Ready
2	5-9	32" - 43"	HD Ready (Upto 32") Full HD (After 32")
3	7-12	49" - 55"	FULL HD or 4K (UHD)
4	10 - 14 or Above	65" or Higher	4K(UHD)

Resolution

 To make it simple, Resolution is nothing but the number of pixel on the display (Width x Height). More the pixels more the clarity of the picture and colour sharpness. So, earlier we talked about HD ready and all we will see them now one by one.

• HD Ready - We get 1280 x 720 pixels. We also call it 720p. These are not actual HD TVs, they play HD content but they can’t display the actual HD Clarity.
• FULL HD - We get 1920 x 1080 pixels. We also call it 1080p. These are actual HD TVs, they play and can display the actual HD Clarity.
• UHD - We get 3820 x 2160 pixels. We also call it 4K. Their clarity of the picture is best in the market now.

💡Myth Buster: HD Ready ≠ Real HD. 4K Ready ≠ Real 4K.

💡Suggestion: The future is 4K, so consider buying a 4K TV, so that you don’t have to change for a long time.

Connectivity

Connectivity is another important aspect you should consider before buying a TV. Long story short, Just make sure you have maximum number of ports to the TV you want to buy. Because whatever external devices you may want to connect in future, will have to be connected via these ports. If in case you have 2 ports and there are occupied and if you want to connected another device there you go....you can't!!!

So lets see what type of ports the TV must have.

• HDMI
• USB
• Ethernet 
• 3.5 mm Audio Jack 

And you might have to check these connectivity features too. Since they can’t provide 10s and 100s of ports and these wires make a mess. So now a days everything comes wireless. So better check your TV has:

• Wi-fi
• Bluetooth 

Display

 There are different factors in displays to consider. Lets see Display Types first. These are the types:

• LED
• QLED
• OLED

LEDS are cheaper than OLED/QLEDS. Will talk about QLED and OLED later, since that goes way far from the topic. 

IPS: Another thing to consider in displays is whether TV has IPS Panel or not. Don’t take too much in head, IPS panels just help you to see the TV clearly if you are viewing from sides. So depending upon how you see your TV chose IPS panel. If you watch straight to the TV you can opt out the IPS panel.

Refresh Rate: Simply explaining, it is nothing but no. of time the image is changed for one second on the screen. Higher the RR more smooth the picture and less blur. Consider taking a TV with maximum refresh rate in the market available if you want to play some gaming on the TV. For normal tv user with no gaming and other activities this will be the least factor you have to consider.

Contrast Ratio: This ratio tells how clear your image will be in dark scenes. So higher the CR, more clarity to the pictures in dark scenes. 

💡Suggestion: One of the major reasons OLED TVs are costly is that they have infinite CR. So if you are looking for best picture quality with no compromises consider buying an OLED TV.

HDR: High Dynamic Range is a way to produce rich colours to the image. So consider buying a TV with Dolby vision on HDR 10 (HDR Pro).

💡Myth Buster: HDR Ready ≠ HDR

💡Suggestion: QLED TVs produce best colour tone to the images. So if you are more of a colours person, consider buying a QLED.

Smart TV

This is the era of internet. In this digital adopted world without internet we aren't making progress anywhere. Even in entertainment we need internet, so that we never run out of content to watch. TVs these days comes with internal memory and RAM and OS like any other phones or computers. And these Operating Systems provide some smart Features making the TV a Smart TV. So TVs without these smart features can be obtained via amazon fire stick or other external connections. By why a tail if you can get it inbuilt.

These are the OS available in the market right now:

• Web OS - By LG & only for LG TVs.
• Tizen - By Samsung & only for Samsung TVs.
• Android - By google & many companies use.
• Android based - Upon Android TV OS, few companies add their touching and make it look like a totally different OS.

Whatever you may choose, but check if all the apps you want/required like Netflix , Hot star, Amazon Prime etc., are pre-installed or available in the App store. Few TVs doesn’t provide some apps, better check if the TV you are going to buy will have the required apps.

And check the Remote. Many people ignore remote but it the only way you navigate your TV. Whatever feature your TV may have if you want to use it, you have to have a good remote. Now a days remotes are also becoming smart. And check if you can control the TV with phone app also.

Sound

Sound is a very very important aspect for a good viewing experience. Imagine you have the best TV in market but the sound isn’t good or enough. Totally spoils your viewing experience. Few TVs come with decent speakers and are good enough for smaller rooms. But mostly TVs are thinner and getting more thinner these days so sound isn’t enough from these thin frames. So better buy an external sound bar or sound system.

Summary 

TV buying isn’t a rocket science, these guides are just to make you aware of few important things so that the money you put on a TV is worth. You don’t buy a TV every now and then. Once you buy one you will keep for 7-10 years. So even it costs more now, try to invest it so that your TV is ready for future requirements, we buy 5"6" mobile with what 40K-50K+ these days. Why not put the same or more than that for a 50"-60"+ TVs!!!.