Features

Features can help to ensure your satisfaction with a TV long after you park it in your living room. Many features, such as the inputs and outputs, are common to all TV types, while some are relevant only to a particular type of TV; that's indicated below. Here are some of the more important TV features to consider.

Connections

One of the most critical considerations with any TV is the number and type of inputs it has for hooking up devices to your TV. Most new TVs have two component-video and at least two HDMI inputs, which should be adequate for most current uses; you might want more of those HD-capable inputs to future-proof your set. Both types are capable of carrying high-definition signals from devices such as cable and satellite boxes and DVRs. You can use the RF (antenna/cable) input to feed high-def TV signals, either from an off-air antenna to a set with an ATSC tuner or from a cable to a set with a QAM tuner. S-video and composite-video inputs are generally used for connecting older gear such as a VCR or sometimes a DVD player. If you want to hook up a videogame system or digital camcorder occasionally, look for a TV with front- or side-panel inputs, which are more accessible than those on the rear of the set. (See Video connections for more information.)

Aspect-ratio adjustments

Most widescreen (16:9) sets have stretch and zoom modes that expand or compress an image to fill the screen better. That helps to reduce or eliminate the dark bands that can appear on the sides or top and bottom of images if you watch content that isn't formatted for a wide screen, including most standard-definition TV programs and even some HD content. The tradeoff is that the picture is distorted or cut off a bit in the process of being stretched or zoomed.

Film-mode

This improves the appearance of movies converted from film to video. That includes most theatrical releases on DVD and many movies shown on TV. This feature (also called 3:2 pull-down, motion compensation, or brand-specific names such as CineMotion and Film Mode) helps to compensate for the difference in frame rates between film (24 frames per second) and video (30 frames per second), which can create jerkiness and jagged edges on moving images. Since most TVs and progressive-scan DVD players also have a film-mode feature, experiment to see which device does the best job of making the images look smoother.

TV settings and modes

All TVs have menus with settings that enable you to adjust the picture, sound, and more. Since most TVs are sold with their settings optimized for retail showrooms rather than homes, we suggest adjusting the TV's settings once you get home to get the best viewing experience. Many TVs have pre-set picture modes that are already optimized for certain types of content (such as movies, sports, or games); other TVs require you to make adjustments one by one. With more sources for video available all the time, it's handy to have a feature that allows you to customize settings for each input, such as the one you routinely use for your cable box or the DVD player. For example, you might want sharpness set to its lowest level when watching high-quality DVDs routed through the HDMI input, but a higher sharpness setting to improve the appearance of standard-definition programs coming in through the component-video input. (For more information, see Fine-tuning your HDTV.)

CableCard slots

Available on a small number of TVs, a CableCard slot lets you use a card, rented to you by the cable company for a few dollars a month, instead of a cable box. When the card is inserted, the TV can receive scrambled digital-cable content, including high-definition programming. That eliminates the need for an extra piece of equipment and cables, but there is a downside: Most current CableCards are one-way, so they don't provide an interactive program guide or video-on-demand, and pay-per-view ordering via the remote control. The first two-way cards are starting to show up on a few sets.

Picture-in-picture (PIP)

This lets you watch two channels at once--one in a small window, the other as a full-screen image. It's useful if you want to browse the onscreen guide while keeping an eye on the program you're watching or keep track of a sports event while another program is playing. A single-tuner TV requires another device, such as a DVD recorder, DVR or cable box, to display two programs at once; dual-tuner TV models are able to display two programs simultaneously on their own. On some TVs, PIP is disabled when the HDMI input is used.

Illuminated remote

Some remotes use some type of illumination--either backlighted keys or glow-in-the dark keys--to make it easier to use in a darkened room. Backlighting is preferred, since glow-in-the-dark keys fade quickly. In some cases, only a few of the most-used keys are illuminated.

Speakers

Most TVs include built-in speakers; monitors, which don't include an ATSC tuner (see below), often don't come with speakers. Front projectors generally don't include speakers either. On most sets, speakers are built-in at the bottom of a TV, along the sides, or occasionally on the rear of the set. Some models have detachable speakers, allowing you to remove them and place them elsewhere. The location of the speakers can affect the width of the set and could determine whether it will fit into a niche in an entertainment center. A recent trend with flat-panel TVs has been toward "invisible" speakers that are integrated within the screen bezel and barely visible to the eye. Some TVs have audio outputs that will allow you to connect external speakers or a powered subwoofer.

Digital tuner

Since March 2007, all new TVs imported into the U.S. (or shipped across state lines) have been required to include a digital (ATSC) tuner. That enables them to receive free digital TV signals, including high-def programming, via an over-the-air antenna. You'll need such a tuner to receive any broadcast TV, because all broadcasts since June 12, 2009, no longer support transmission of analog signals.

120Hz and 240Hz technology

This helps to reduce a problem that affects most LCD TVs: a tendency to blur during scenes with fast motion, such as sports programs. That's because LCD response times (how long it takes for the TV to "refresh" its picture) have typically been slower than that of other TV technologies. To address this, some new sets display double the number of frames per second--120 or 240 rather than the typical 60--by inserting additional video frames (or black frames). Because there is less time between frames, motion appears smoother. Many companies are giving this technology proprietary names; Sony, for example, calls it Motionflow and JVC's is dubbed Clear Motion Drive.

Anti-glare screens (plasma)

Screen reflectivity and burn-in have been two issues affecting plasma TVs. Like old-fashioned picture-tube TVs, which have reflective glass screens, most plasma TVs have shiny screens that show reflections from windows and lamps, most noticeably in brightly lighted rooms. A few LCD TVs have shiny screens too. If you weren't bothered by reflections on a tube set, this shouldn't be a major issue for you. Some plasma sets have screens with anti-glare surfaces, which can help to reduce reflectivity.

Anti-burn-in features (plasma)

Many plasma TVs now also come with features to prevent burn-in, such as screensavers and motion-adaptive (also called pixel-shifting) technology, which shifts the picture almost imperceptibly every few seconds. This helps prevent static images such as a station logo or the bars on the sides of an image from permanently etching into the TV's phosphor coating, leaving faint but persistent, ghostlike images on the screen. Burn-in might have been more of a problem with earlier plasma sets. We haven't seen any evidence of burn-in when testing TVs in our labs for a few months, and we have heard no anecdotal reports of permanent burn-in from staffers or readers who have used plasma TVs long-term at home. Temporary image sticking is more likely to occur. In this case, static images that remain on the screen for a matter of hours--or on a few sets we've seen, in minutes--may leave a subtle impression that's noticeable on a black screen, though hard to detect with typical video. These impressions disappear when you play random video scenes. Some models include a feature that essentially blasts the screen with a white image for a period of time to remove ghosting images.

Keystone correction (front projectors)

Front projectors, which project an image onto a screen or wall, also have some unique features. One, called keystone correction, helps the image retain its proper geometry when you tilt the projector up or down to raise or lower the image on the screen. Though this can help you center the image, tilting the projector can cause the sides of the image to angle away from 90 degrees, resulting in keystoning, or an image that looks like a trapezoid rather than a rectangle. Most projectors have some form of keystone correction--vertical, horizontal, or both--that can correct for this distortion. But using this feature can cause resolution to suffer, depending on the amount of correction applied to the image.

Lens-shift mechanism (front projectors)

To avoid having to use a keystone adjustment, many projectors include an optical lens-shift mechanism, which lets you move the image horizontally or vertically without tilting the projector so you can get a straight, geometrically correct picture even if the projector can't be centered directly in front of the screen. Some projectors have a vertical lens shift, others have both vertical and horizontal lens shift, and still others--primarily lower-cost DLP models--don't have any lens shift at all, which can make projector placement more difficult.

Manual or dynamic iris (front projectors)

To help improve the depth of black levels, many projectors include a manual or dynamic iris, which acts as a brightness adjustment by varying (typically reducing) the amount of light sent to the lens. While a manual iris lets you reduce overall light output to improve black-level performance, it applies that light reduction across the entire picture, so whites won't be quite as bright. A dynamic iris, which is controlled by a motor, has circuitry that closes the iris during darker scenes and opens it up again for brighter scenes, effectively boosting contrast. It must be able to react accurately and quickly or the process will be noticeable, an effect known as "breathing", in which you become aware that the feature is active as you see the image brightening and dimming on scenes.

See also:

Blu-ray & DVD players

Digital video recorders

TV Service Providers

Special Section:
Digital TV switchover