AN EVERGREEN TV BUYERS GUIDE FOR DUMMIES:

Here is some less complicated advice about things to keep in mind when you plan to buy a new television. All that is required is to match your desires with some basic tv-facts and blend it into a great result by mixing in your budget.

The basic items to consider:

Over the years, so many of my customers have asked me, what Tv should they buy. Unfortunately there is no short honest answer to this. Following are the things that experience has taught me:

1. Size is always important. Is bigger always better?

2. Number of connection points helps to future proof your purchase.

3. Is this Tv going to be used mostly for sport, kiddies or movie fanatics?

4. Will the users be able to notice the difference between HD and Std Def?

5. Will they ever be screening anything in 4K or higher?

6. What does the budget have to say about all of this?

7. Will internet Smart/WiFi connection be a something often used?

By keeping the following things in mind, one can not only save money, but buy a tv that will be practical and useful for a long time. A tv can last at least 10 years and we want to make sure that we do not have to buy twice.

First make a list of the tv’s purpose.

If the Tv is for Granny, or a 9 year old that mostly play video games, would it justify an expensive model?
Is there a possibility that in the near future the tv may be used to access on-line services.
Will the size really matter and what would justify it. A32 or 40 inch is mostly big enough for a standard size bedroom. A larger main bedroom can surely justify a 50 or 55 inch model.
Will we need enough connector points for possible devices that can be connected to the Tv at the same time. HDMI connectors do not last long if they are constantly plugged and unplugged.
Of course, if one is buying a tv for your main entertainment area, the choices would be different, and you would also justifiably spend more money on it as well.

Some Fatherly advice:

The purpose of this article is help you to make a few better choices in this process. I am deliberately not including here any technical jargon that usually just confuses more that it helps to get to a decision.
There are plenty of Home entertainment “GURUS” that will be keen to give you hordes of all kinds of technical specifications, including all the jargon that will make your head spin.
Remember that most of us just want to go and sit in front of out television and relax with our favorite program. We do not intend to analyze each dot on the screen.
The more bells and whistles, the more thing there are that can go wrong, with the relative cost to repairs.
When your budget is not limited, one can splash out and really treat yourself to the best option available, but the rest of us will need to compromise somewhat.
Know that the sales person could have an agenda to sell you the model upon which he gets the most commission, or the one the company wants to move of the floor quickly.
It is also common knowledge that Africa and South Africa seem to be the dumping ground for many inferior models that manufacturers cannot get sold among the more consumers savvy public in other countries.
So, buyer beware!

Yes, but what about quality?

As with motor cars, the competition nowadays between different manufacturers, is so great that they cannot afford to have a product on the market that does not have very much the same features and quality as their competitors.
There is of course always some brands that are new and trying to penetrate the market, that I easily leave to others to experiment with. Rather stay with the tried and tested familiar brands that have proven themselves. It can be expensive to buy cheap!
A good person to always speak to is your local Tv repair man. He knows which models are the ones most on his repair bench, and which ones he never sees. He can also give you an good indication of the availability of spare-parts.
Many Tv breakdowns happen because of a failed power-supply. Get a model with an external power supply, then you can swap it yourself.

Here is a short list of the things to lookout for:

A short description will follow this list below.

1. You get, what you pay for!

2. Get a Smart Tv, only if you have the need to steam from the internet.

3. Internal or external power-supply?

4. Smaller Tv’s has a good looking picture even if it is only a standard HD.

5. Larger Tv should have a better “screen resolution”.

6. A Smart Tv works much better, if it includes a Qwerty keyboard.

7. Also consider a model that just looks good on the outside.

8. Curved or Flat? Unimportant to picture. Be guided by personal taste.

9. LCD, LED, UHD, OLED, or QLED ?

10. ~~Contrast ratio~~. is an unreliable and unimportant spec.

11. HDMI connectors to be minimum 3 or more.

12. Refresh rate, minimum 60 Hertz. Preferably more for sport & games.

13. High Dynamic Range.- HDR has better colours that SDR. (Standard)

14. HDMI output (ARC), to feed audio to your HiFi or soundbar.

In short what the above 14 points mean:

Rather buy a slightly smaller tv with better quality, than a big low quality one. You can always upgrade in the future when your income has increased and use this tv in a bedroom or guestroom.
If you happened to have bought a “non smart Tv” in the past, do not throw it out. There are plug-in devices now available that will lift any old Tv’s IQ to become “Smart”.
If possible, an external power supply can save you money in the future, replacing it yourself, without having to take the Tv in to a repair shop. Unfortunately only a few models have this feature.
The Pixels are spread over a larger area on a bigger Tv. Therefor the bigger the Tv, the higher the Screen resolution should be. CURRENT SCREEN-RESOLUTIONS STANDARDS: LCD, LED, UHD, OLED and QLED.
- DVD = 720 x 480 pixels.
- HD-720 = 1280 x 720 pixels.
- HD-1080 = 1920 x 1080 pixels.
- UHD-4K = 3840 x 2160 pixels.
All Tv’s are clearly indicated with these numbers. You will notice that you can easily get a 32 inch Tv of 720 x 480 and the picture will be very sharp, but you need more pixels if the television is large and you want to watch during daytime, with lots of sunlight in the room.
It is not so easy to navigate the menu’s on the internet with a standard remote, so a keyboard is very handy.
You have to walk past your Tv every day. Choose one that appeals to you.
There are no concrete evidence that proves that a curved screen has a better picture that a flat one. It could even be just a gimmick to be different, and sell more units?
LED to QLED makes a large difference in price. Let your budget be the guide.
With different brands having their own standards. Comparing contrast ratio between them, only makes for an inaccurate judgement. Rather ignore this specification.
HDMI connectors – the more the better. It is easy to fill them up with *game boxes, **decoders, ***security cameras and ****media players.
A standard refresh rate is 60 Herz, which is good enough for most viewing. If you however are a “gamer” or sports fanatic, with lots of high speed movement on screen, you might want to consider looking at an 120 Herz or higher.
If you happen to be an art or nature lover you should consider a model with the better colors that HDR can provide, if it is in your budget. It is also true that very few people have the inherent ability to appreciate that extra quality in color or even sound. So you be the judge.
With the slim design of today’s flat-screen Tv’s there is not enough internal space for high performance speakers. If you are a sound connoisseur, make sure that the model you buy has an optical (fiber) output or an HDMI output (ARC) to connect to your surround sound HiFi, or Soundbar.

Television size basics guidelines:

The higher the resolution of the Tv, the closer you can sit to it.
You need a brighter screen for daylight viewing.
Recommended minimum distance seated from the Tv:
Size Std HD 4K
42″ 2m 1,5m
50″ 3m 1,8m
65″ 3,5m 2m
75″ 4m 2.3m

Conclusion:

There are limited 4K and hardly any 8K viewing material on the market.
Even 4K is extremely Data hungry, so you need an uncapped IP Service.
It is possible to upgrade your older Tv to have more HDMI inputs, by installing an external HDMI switch.
Remember to protect your new purchase against power surges.
You can upgrade your older Tv to have “Smart” capability by installing a small Media Box/ Steaming device.
Some may even consider getting a projector to do the work of the Tv. Projectors can do the job just as good and even have 4K and Smart ability.
Most people will only be buying a television about four times in their lifespan, so enjoy the experience and have fun doing so. Happy bargain hunting.