- Not sure what to buy?
- Features
- Important features
- Complete features glossary
- Repairs & reliability
- How to choose
- HDTV types
ELECTRONICS FORUMS  Get real-world advice from others about choosing a new TV, digital camera, computer or cell phone. |
Important features Picture tube TVs
Many new TVs have a flat-front-screen CRT, which reduces reflection and glare but doesn't necessarily improve picture quality. Adjustable color temperature lets you shade the picture toward the blue range ("cooler" is better for images with outdoor light) or the red ("warmer" is preferred for movie-theater realism). Some sets can memorize custom picture settings for each video input, a useful features because signal qualities often differ when you switch video sources, say, from a DVD player to a cable box or antenna.
Picture-in-picture (PIP) lets you watch two channels at once, one in a small picture alongside the full-screen image. A single-tuner TV requires another device with a tuner, such as a VCR or cable box, to display two programs at once; dual-tuner models can display two programs simultaneously on their own. Some sets have a memory-card slot. This enables you to view still photos or videos from a digital camera. You can connect a camera or camcorder directly to the TV if it has a USB or IEEE 1394/Firewire input.
Stereo sound is standard on sets 27 inches or larger, but you'll generally hear little stereo separation from a TV's built-in speakers. Ambient sound is often termed "surround sound," but it isn't like that from a multispeaker home-theater system. It's an effect created by special audio processing. You can turn it off if you don't like it. For a better stereo effect or true surround sound, route the signals to a sound system. An automatic volume leveler compensates for the volume jumps that often accompany commercials or changes in channel.
HD sets may have a film-mode feature, sometimes referred to as 3:2 pull-down compensation or by brand names like CineMotion. This can make moving images that were converted from film to video have less jaggedness around the edges of objects. Look for this feature if you watch many movies with your DVD player in nonprogressive-scan mode. On 16:9 sets, stretch and zoom modes will expand or compress an image to fill the screen shape better. This helps to reduce the dark bands that can appear on the sides or top and bottom of images if you watch content formatted for a screen shape other than 16:9. (The picture might be distorted or cut off a bit in the process of stretching or zooming.)
See our latest Ratings of and related information (available to subscribers).
Many new TVs have a flat-front-screen CRT, which reduces reflection and glare but doesn't necessarily improve picture quality. Adjustable color temperature lets you shade the picture toward the blue range ("cooler" is better for images with outdoor light) or the red ("warmer" is preferred for movie-theater realism). Some sets can memorize custom picture settings for each video input, a useful features because signal qualities often differ when you switch video sources, say, from a DVD player to a cable box or antenna.
Picture-in-picture (PIP) lets you watch two channels at once, one in a small picture alongside the full-screen image. A single-tuner TV requires another device with a tuner, such as a VCR or cable box, to display two programs at once; dual-tuner models can display two programs simultaneously on their own. Some sets have a memory-card slot. This enables you to view still photos or videos from a digital camera. You can connect a camera or camcorder directly to the TV if it has a USB or IEEE 1394/Firewire input.
Stereo sound is standard on sets 27 inches or larger, but you'll generally hear little stereo separation from a TV's built-in speakers. Ambient sound is often termed "surround sound," but it isn't like that from a multispeaker home-theater system. It's an effect created by special audio processing. You can turn it off if you don't like it. For a better stereo effect or true surround sound, route the signals to a sound system. An automatic volume leveler compensates for the volume jumps that often accompany commercials or changes in channel.
HD sets may have a film-mode feature, sometimes referred to as 3:2 pull-down compensation or by brand names like CineMotion. This can make moving images that were converted from film to video have less jaggedness around the edges of objects. Look for this feature if you watch many movies with your DVD player in nonprogressive-scan mode. On 16:9 sets, stretch and zoom modes will expand or compress an image to fill the screen shape better. This helps to reduce the dark bands that can appear on the sides or top and bottom of images if you watch content formatted for a screen shape other than 16:9. (The picture might be distorted or cut off a bit in the process of stretching or zooming.)
See our latest Ratings of and related information (available to subscribers).
