Introduction
Why you should upgrade
Size considerations, HDTV |
Connectivity options
Design issues
At the store |
Important design issues
If you plan on wall-mounting your new digital TV, the most important design facet to consider is the placement of the ports to the rear of the unit. If the ports aren't positioned in such a way that cables can be connected vertically from underneath the bezel, you'll run into difficulties should you plan on having the unit sitting flush against a wall.
For those who plan on regularly hooking up games consoles and DV cameras on an ad-hoc basis, look for a TV that's got some of its video ports conveniently located on the side or front of the panel.
Beware of glossy bezels, particularly if your TV is to be placed in a room with above-average levels of direct sunlight. Reflections off the shiny surface can become distracting, not to mention plain annoying.
It's not uncommon for manufacturers to spend significant amounts of money developing the design of the display itself, only to skimp on the remote design. Be sure to play with the remote in the store to ensure that it's comfortable to use, and all of the most used buttons are within easy reach using one hand. Another important remote-related feature is a backlight, which is virtually essential for darkened movie sessions.
Other important features
1. Picture-in-Picture (PIP)
Found primarily on more-expensive televisions, PIP lets you watch a second program in a little window. More-elaborate versions can resize the window, move it around the screen, create still or multiple still images, or simply divide the screen into two same-size pictures -- often called picture-outside-picture (POP).
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 PIP in action |
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2. Electronic Program Guide (EPG)
Some vendors are beginning to integrate an EPG into their TV sets. One recent example is LG with its DT-42PY10X 42" plasma. To our surprise, the EPG worked for all free-to-air channels, a feat that not even Foxtel can pull off (Foxtel's EPG is missing channels Seven and TEN). Granted, most integrated guides only show the current and next program, but it's still a handy feature nonetheless.
3. Universal Remote
Many TV sets are bundled with a remote that, in addition to the TV itself, is capable of controlling other electronics in your lounge room (e.g. a digital video recorder, A/V receiver or DVD player). This is a handy feature to look out for as it soon becomes frustrating having to reach around for three or four different remotes.
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Gregan Curteis
03/04/2006 10:29 AM
I think you should include advice such that no current televisions digital or otherwise will support connections for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD for HD content yet. As many computer users are aware, they'll be forcing us to upgrade all of our hardware if we want to watch a High-Definition version of any HD-DVD or Blu-ray, else the image will be a scaled down version (I've heard mention of 640x480 res?), all due to copy-protection restrictions. Also worth mentioning is that Foxtel digital doesn't support High-Definition, so if you're a Foxtel cusotmer there's little reason to upgrade to a HD-TV at this time. My advice to people would be either stick with their analogue sets for now, or if they *need* to buy a tv, to buy a cheapish (less than $1000) widescreen SD-TV and use either Foxtel digital or a SDTV set top box. At least then they'll be enjoying good picture and audio quality in widescreen. It'll be years yet before 1080i content will be widely available on free-to-air, and it's yet to be seen whether Foxtel will offer HD content at all. And the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD standards war is a good war to stay out of unless you wanna risk being on the losing side. Also if the regulations change and they allow multichannelling on free-to-air then there'll be no HD content whatsoever - you'll be buying your HDTV prematurely as it won't be displaying HD content free-to-air and won't have the copy-protected connections for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. Xbox 360 in HD can't be THAT good by itself... Best to stick to SD for now and save your money until everything HD is worked out. I'd stay out of the game for the next 5 years at least.
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bleh
11/04/2006 09:57 PM
sadly a HDTV IS required in order to experience the xbox 360 PROPERLY.... the resolution can be (depending on the games)heavily squashed on an SDTV.
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