Top tips on choosing a small HD television

Think HD TV and you probably think of a monster flatscreen for the lounge, but there are other rooms that’ll benefit from a little LCD love. Follow our top tips for choosing the perfect bedroom, kitchen, or study TV.

Step 1: Look to LCD, and hunt for HD
For a TVs around 30 inches and under, you should look exclusively at LCD models. Plasma is just too pricey in these sizes, as well as adding extra bulk where it’s not needed.

You should also be careful when choosing a TV that claims to be “HD ready”. There are plenty carrying this badge that only support pictures in 720p. That’s HD, but not full HD. Instead, use PriceRunner’s filtering to sift out screens by resolution.

Click this link and you’ll see screens that support pictures in 1080, that’re also around 30 inches in size, so they’ll work with full HD sources, like games consoles and Blu-Ray players, without sacrificing quality.

If you’re after a really small screen that still squeezes in full HD, check out this Samsung SM242MP. It’s 24 inches across, but just as high quality as larger versions.

Step 2: Insist on Freeview
You’re choosing a small TV for a confined space, right? So you can’t afford to clutter it up further with set top boxes just to get digital channels. Instead, choose a TV with Freeview built in. If you’re really keen to be future-proofed, choose one with a HD-capable TV tuner built in, and you’ll be all set to receive better quality broadcasts when they go live across Britain in 2012

Step 3: 24p for perfect movies
If you’re planning to watch movies on your new HD TV you should also invest in a Blu-Ray player, but at the same time as doing that, make sure your TV supports pictures in 24p. They’re only found on Blu-Ray discs, and are filmed in the same 24 frames-per-second format as films at the cinema. That means your 24p telly will serve them up with increased smoothness. Who said tiny tellies weren’t feature packed?

Must-have accessories
Blu-Ray player – There’s no point spending money on a HD TV if you’re only going to feed it with a standard definition source. Instead, splash out on a Blu-Ray player and see beautiful pictures on your brand new screen.

Media streamer – Cut down on clutter with a media streamer for your TV. It’ll serve up any music, videos or photos from a Windows XP Media Centre, or Windows Vista PC using your wireless network.

Get chatting about HD televisions over at the PriceRunner Forum

Related Articles:

1. How to stream movies from your PC to Xbox 360Once you’ve squirreled your movie collection on your PC you’ll want to reap the benefits. What better way than to exploit the powers of your next-gen Xbox 360 to stream an endless flow of flicks to your telly. Here’s how… Step 1: Get networking To stream movies from your PC to Xbox 360 they’ll both need to be [...]...
2. How to understand the latest telly terminologyThe latest TVs seem awash with code words and gibberish acronyms. But they don’t have to be baffling and you don’t need an Enigma machine to crack their secrets. Follow our simple guide to avoid the most common telly confusions, and never get bamboozled again. Step 1: 720? 1080i? 1080p? It’s a numbers game Most TVs on sale [...]...
3. Ask the expert: Xbox 360 media streaming queries answeredQ. I read your tutorial on how to stream movies from Xbox to PC, but what’s the best way to encode my movies and is there a simple way to manage them all? A. The Xbox 360 makes a fantastic movie machine. Not only does it do a good job of upscaling DVDs to HDTVs, but [...]...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Rate this article