How to Buy a TV

Series Summary

High-definition television, or HDTV, is a digital television broadcasting system with greater resolution than traditional television systems. HDTV is digitally broadcast because digital television requires less bandwidth, if sufficient video compression is used. HDTV technology was introduced in the United States in the 1990s by the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance, a group of television companies, and MIT. While HDTV is an exciting new option for television buyers, it is far from the only choice facing consumers. Plasma screen and digital light projection screens are also viable options for quality television viewing. In this free video series on television buying and DVD burning, find out how to pick the right television for one's budget and watching requirements. Also, learn how to transfer old home movies on VHS to DVD and how to remove scratches from CDs and DVDs.

Video Transcript

"Rokosz, your digital lifestyle expert, here with some advice on how to buy a TV. Now, this is an exciting time. It's time for a new television set. Where do I go? Well, the first thing that you have to ask yourself is: "What's my budget?" Now, some advice -- if you look at things like your automobile, you may pay a few hundred dollars a month on that, and you'll use it for a few years, and you use it maybe half an hour or an hour to work and back. But your average television set, you can use anywhere from three to... well, if your day's off, from eight to ten hours a day. If you're using it to watch... use it to watch your computer or play video games and things like that. So maybe something that you invest a little bit in, but whatever your personal budget will determine which direction to go, all right? Because monitors, your television sets, will go from anywhere from a few hundred dollars, well, up to 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars, depending on your needs. All right, the other thing you have to ask yourself is: Where is the television going? You may want 100-inch projection TV, but if you're living in a one-bedroom apartment, that's just not a reality, okay? So how far am I going to be sitting away from it? The trick is, if you're sitting closer to the television, you can buy a smaller monitor and have it appear like a larger monitor. I... and from there, your primary use. Am I going to be using it to... for watching movies, broadcast television, play video games? Each one of those will lead you down and narrow the selection. Your basic selections are this: whether you want to go standard definition or SD TV, or high definition or HD TV. And then from there, if you want high definition, which I highly recommend, you've got to decide whether you want an LCD television, like the one that I'm standing next to, a DLP or a digital light projection television, or a plasma, all right? And each of them have better uses. Some of them are better in high light situations like the LCD, some are better for playing video games like the DLP, all right? Plasma and DLP being the highest, and you're going to pay the highest price. There's also rear projection televisions, which I like a lot. You can get yourself a very large television in rear projection in high definition and save a few dollars. So remember, how much do I have to spend? What am I using it? Where is it going from? With a little bit of research and kicking some tires... No, don't. Don't kick the monitors, but you know what I mean. Do some window shopping and a little bit more research, and you'll find the best TV monitor for you. I'm Rokosz, your digital lifestyle expert, saying, "Stream you later.""