When you want a new TV then there is some new technology on the market you really need to consider, and the sizes are still increasing too, both those things can make it really hard to choose your next model. One good thing I have noticed is that the plasma TV is a dying breed, the war between that and LCD is finally over, and LCD looks like it is the clear winner. There are still a few plasmas on the market which are trying to grab your money, but the LCD is firmly in control now so think long and hard before you go against the trend.
Below you will find two TV technologies you need to think about when you go shopping again:
3D TV is coming out: That’s right, the first wave of 3D televisions have started to trickle onto the market and tempt consumers, with more to surely follow, but are they worth buying? The big problem with anything 3D at the moment is the glasses that you have to wear if you want to experience it. The current ones use ‘active shutter’ technology which means each lens has a shutter on it that opens and closes faster than you can notice, so each eye receives a slightly different image. They look a lot better than the red and green lens glasses we had when I was a kid, and I wouldn’t mind watching them once a week with a good film, but watching the news in them? No thank you.
So I think we should wait a few years before we decide to invest in a 3D TV, by then hopefully the technology will have matured and we can see if they manage to get rid of the glasses or not. Also by then the price will have come way down, the bugs have been ironed out, and a clear market leader will have emerged.
LED backlighting is available: I see these TVs referred to as LED televisions sometimes, and that is wrong, they are in fact LCD TVs with an LED backlight. This technology means they have taken the CCFL backlighting that is in every other LCD TV, and is a little bulky, and they have replaced it with ultra small and light LEDs instead. The end result is a TV with ultra slim sides and with its thickest point being just 2 inches, but is it worth paying more for that when LCD TVs are pretty slim already?
I do think this is a positive step forward, it makes them lighter and thinner, and I will get one at some point, but I don’t think they are worth the massive extra premium they have at the moment while the technology is still new and being hyped up. Have a look in a year or so when the hype has died down, and if they are just 10% more than the non-LED range then they are probably worth getting, otherwise I would stick with a normal one.
Another thing you need to think about is the size, if you are stuck with a 32 LCD TV then you might want to consider upgrading to a 42 incher, but the 55 inch TV is too big for a normal family to enjoy comfortably.