| Before you waltz into your local electronics store to | | | | of HD TVs you can occupy yourself with the more |
| buy an HD TV make sure you know what you are | | | | entertaining part of the process, actually selecting your |
| getting yourself into. First, what exactly is an "HD ready | | | | TV. When creating a list of criteria you want your TV |
| TV"? | | | | to employ, it is important to take into consideration such |
| What is HD Ready TV? Is it the same as HDTV? | | | | things as: the amount of space you have for your |
| HD Ready TV means a television which has the | | | | television, the average light level of the room the |
| capability to receive and play images at high definition. | | | | television will be placed in, the amount of television you |
| The difference between HDTV and HD Ready TV is | | | | expect to watch and what you will be using the |
| that the HDTV has a high definition tuner built into it, | | | | television primarily for. |
| while the HD Ready TV must be connected to a | | | | The first consideration is space. Just how big of an |
| digital or analog set-top box which will function as its | | | | area do you have for your HD ready TV? Make sure |
| HD tuner. The standard resolutions for HD and HD | | | | you take the depth and height of the television into |
| ready TVs are 720 and 1080, followed by a suffix of | | | | consideration, and not just the screen size. If you find |
| either "p" or "i". These suffixes designate whether or | | | | that the room you are going to place your television in |
| not the television is capable of progressive scan or | | | | has a high level of ambient light, it will be important to |
| interlaced viewing. Progressive scan is the preference | | | | get a television which has a high contrast ratio, ideally |
| for those who do not wish to compromise picture | | | | around 5000:1. An alternative solution would be to |
| quality or clarity in the least. The numbers 720 and | | | | invest in some heavy drapes to block the sunlight from |
| 1080 represent the maximum resolution that the | | | | washing out your television screen and prevent glare. If |
| television can play, with 720 signifying 1280x720 and | | | | you are not planning on watching much television, you |
| 1080 representing 1920x1080. | | | | can opt for a lower contrast ratio and save yourself |
| The Advantage of HD Ready TV | | | | some money. |
| HD ready TV has several advantages over the | | | | For those who are planning on using the television for |
| standard broadcast quality television which is prevalent | | | | gaming, you'll want to ensure that you have a relatively |
| today. First, is the extremely crisp and true to life colors | | | | high refresh rate. The refresh rate is the speed at |
| which an HD ready television is capable of reproducing. | | | | which the television updates the screen, or the |
| Standard definition televisions simply do not have the | | | | maximum amount of frames it is capable of displaying |
| capacity or number of pixels needed to display such | | | | in a second. For games which require split second |
| fine details and color differences. Not only that, but | | | | decisions, a higher refresh rate can be the difference |
| standard televisions are incapable of displaying the | | | | between life and death. |
| contrast ratio necessary to produce life like images; | | | | Now that you're armed with the information necessary |
| which clearly sets it apart from HD ready TVs. | | | | to make a sound and worthwhile decision; go out, have |
| Selecting Your TV | | | | fun and get your TV! |
| Now that you've been briefed as to the nuts and bolts | | | | |