Here I am talking about one of the most difficult job which everyone faces while planning to buy new TV to your home. Of course, this is most difficult job which require some investigation and technical knowledge about the TV and the key specification. This TV buying guide helps to solve all the confusion created to people who new to TV technology and looking to buy TV. Let we discuss the TV buying guides which cover key things to consider while buying TV.
Budget
Deciding Budget first will solve half of your confusion. There are TVs available in market from cheapest to costliest in more pricing range. So, decide the price which you can afford to buy the TV in key factor in TV buying guide. Thing is more price give great TVs which advanced feature, less price obviously you can get the feature worth for that. It better to choose with moderate price range, neither too high nor too low. Make sure the TV which comes under the price range you decide have following recommended features.
TV Screen Size
Larger the size, greater the viewing experience and you get more satisfaction. So, decide the larger screen which you can afford in your budget. My recommendation is 55 or above.
Also, to decide on TV size, you should know the distance between your sofa and the TV placement.
Check the following Table which guides the recommended viewing distance based on TV screen size and TV type (HD and 4K Ultra HD).
TV Buying Guide: Viewing Distance vs Screen size
| Screen size | Viewing Distance HD TV | Viewing Distance 4K Ultra HD TV |
| 40” | 5.0 to 8.3 feet | 3.3 to 5.0 feet |
| 43” | 5.4 to 9 feet | 3.6 to 5.4 feet |
| 50” | 6.3 to 10.4 feet | 4.2 to 6.3 feet |
| 55” | 6.9 to 11.5 feet | 4.6 to 6.9 feet |
| 60” | 7.5 to 12.5 feet | 5.0 to 7.5 feet |
| 65” | 8.1 to 13.5 feet | 5.4 to 8.1 feet |
| 70” | 8.75 to 14.6 feet | 5.8 to 8.75 feet |
| 75” | 9.4 to 15.6 feet | 6.3 to 9.4 feet |
| 80” | 10.0 to 16.7 feet | 6.7 to 10 feet |
| 85” | 10.6 to 17.7 feet | 7.1 to 10.6 feet |
TV buying guide recommended viewing distance will give the best viewing experience.
Tip: If you have choice of going with 55- or 65-inch TV, then go with 65-inch without any hesitation. This will give happiness to you always, even though 55-inch TV offers more feature set than 65-inch TV.
TV Technology
If it comes to the technology OLED, QLED and LED are currently available in market. Each has their own pros and cons. Here I am summarizing it.
TV Buying Guide: Comparison between OLED vs QLED vs LED
1. OLED TV
- Technology used Organic Light Emitting Diode.
- This is latest technology.
- Do not use LED back-lighting.
Pros:
- Greater Picture Quality
- Latest Technology.
Cons:
- Costlier.
2. QLED TV
- Technology used Quantum-dot Light Emitting Diode
- Used same LED LCD backlighting technology.
- Additionally, this using Quantum-dots to produce the better picture quality. Quantum-dots do not make its own light instead using same LED blacklights.
Pros:
- Better Picture quality.
- Cheaper than OLED.
Cons:
- Not offer greater picture quality compared to OLED.
- Sony and LG do not provide TVs in using this Technology.
- Samsung is known brand to adapt this.
3. LED TV
- Technology used Light Emitting Diode.
- Older and More familiar Technology.
Pros:
- Decent Picture Quality.
- Cheaper than others.
- Reliable.
Cons:
- Picture Quality not best compared to other two.
So, if you no concerns about spending more money, just go for OLED technology. QLED is intermediate between OLED and LED. QLED gives better picture quality than LED but could not match with OLED. OLED always win the competition with QLED.
There is no competition between LED and OLED. If you are looking for budget TV, you can go for LED without any doubt, this will never disappoint you with their picture quality.
Screen Resolution
You heard about HD, Full HD, 4K Ultra HD, and 8K TVs. These are talking about the screen resolutions which is number of pixels(dots) present in the TV screen.
| HD or High Definition | 1280*720 (called as 720p) |
| Full HD | 1920*1080 (called as 1080p) |
| UHD or 4K | 3840*2160 |
| 8K | 7680*4320 |
Its recommended to go 4K UHD TVs, which will be available in budgeted range to costlier. Prefer above 50-inch, if you plan to go 4K UHD. Because you do not find any difference between 4K and HD TV in screen size below 50-inch.
HD TVs are available in very cheaper models.
Do not go for 8K TV now.
Operation System
Android TV, WebOS, Tizen, Firefox OS and Ruku TV are the commonly available TV OS in the market. Each has their own Pros and Cons. I have written separate article which explains TV OS.
Just summarizing here,
People who looks for rich view and UI is important, then go with WebOS or Tizen. Both are equally best, choice either of one is wise decision. If you have Samsung smart devices at home (smart phones, and smart watches), then go with Tizen. But if you are depending on number of Apps and games, then Android TV is best, they offer ‘n’ number of apps which allows you use like Android Mobile.
TV Brand
Here the best TV brands available in the market.
If you want to go premium brands and have decent budget to go with Sony or Samsung or LG or Panasonic. Else you find lots of budgeted brands like Vu, TCL, Hisense, MI, Micromax, Oneplus available in the market.
HDR Compatible
HDR is a new feature of 4K Ultra HD sets and it stands for high dynamic range, a reference to its ability to deliver more colors, more contrast levels and increased brightness.
There continues to be some HDR confusion with different brands by the way they call or naming it. Every HDR-enabled set on the market is currently HDR10 compatible, but Dolby Vision is only found on sets that both meet Dolby’s technical standards and pay licensing fees for the standard. Nonetheless, Dolby Vision has quickly become the industry standard for HDR content
Dolby Vision is a more demanding version of HDR. Samsung uses the term HDR10+ which its own premium HDR format, which is same as HDR10. Some brand calls it as Ultra HD Premium or HDR 10 Pro.
So, its recommended to go with HDR compatible TV. Dolby Version is additional benefits but some costlier.
HDMI Port
Its recommended to go with 3 to 4 HDMI ports. Also, HDMI 2.0 compatibility will be good.
HDMI 2.1 only preferred if you are Gamer and connect the TV with play station to play high end games. Else HDMI 2.0 will be great enough to watch TV.
Refresh Rate
The standard refresh rate is 60 times per second, or 60 Hz. Samsung calls it Motion rate. Sony calls it Motion Flow XR
High-Frame Rate (HFR) support, which means that they have both a higher refresh rate and added support for content with higher than 60 Hz frame rates.
Effective refresh rate which means the actual frame rate is half the stated rate (e.g., a “120 Hz effective refresh rate” is a referred as 60 Hz refresh rate).
50 Hz and above will be ideal to watch. Higher the number will be benefited to watch live motion videos.
Panel Type
IPS and VA are the available panel technology. IPS used by LG and Panasonic, on the other hand VA used by Samsung and Sony. Both has their own pros and cons.
TV Buying Guide: Comparison between IPS vs VA Panels
IPS – Gives wider viewing angle, which is ideal for brighter room. If you preferred to watch TV in daytime, and room has more sun light, also your want to get better view while watching from wider angle, go with IPS panel.
VA – which is best for color contrast and darker room. So, you will get best color contrast while watching movies in dark room or night. Viewing angle is not best compared to IPS.
Connectivity
Keep in mind to check your selected TV model have following useful ports to connect to other external things.
- HDMI Port
- USB Port
- Audio Jack
- AV Ports
- Bluetooth
Its up to your need, decide based on what you are going to use. If you never going to use Audio Jack or Bluetooth feature do not look for it.
Speaker
Most of the modern TVs are comes with 20W speaker output. It will be ideal for thin LED panel and modern stylish design. Do not look beyond 20W output. If you require better sound, you should opt for the external sound system or home theater system.
Model Year
Check out which year model that TV produced. You can identify the TV released year using TV model number. Each brand follows their own way.
TV Model Number Explained with Example
| Brand | Model Number | Explanation |
| LG | 65SM8600 | 65 – Inch (TV size) S – Nanocell (TV Type, If it is U, then Ultra HD) M – 2019 (Year of Made, if it is K, then 2018 model) 8600 – Series Number. Higher the number, more feature sets. |
| Samsung | 65RU7100 | 65 – Inch (TV size) R – 2019 Model (T – 2020, N – 2018, M – 2017) |
I just given this example to give some ideas. You can just look for more specific in google to identify it.
Contrast Ratio
Higher the value will be recommended.
Placement
Make sure Wall Mount stand and Tabletop stand coming with your selected model. All the TV come with Tabletop, but some TV models not come with Wall Mount support. Some people prefer at tabletop, but most people use to place the TV at wall mount, this will use less space.
Also, while placing TV at wall mounted, make sure height from floor to center of wall mounted TV will match your seated eye angle from sitting in sofa.
Native Apps
Most commonly used apps are
- Netflix
- Amazon Prime
- Hotstar
- Youtube
Check out your decided model supports the Apps which used by you. Most of the popular brands are supported with these apps.
Conclusion:
I have covered all the key things which will be considered in TV buying guide. I hope it will help to people who have confused to make decision on buying TV. Thanks for reading.
I have already shared another article which explains the common mistake people do while buying TV, please reads that too once you completed reading TV buying guide article.
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