Buying the Right Television - Part 1 - Techno-Jargon Revealed

Your options in electronics have exploded over the past decade. Home entertainment stores are so full of acronyms--CD, CRT, DLP, DVD, HDTV, LCD--you might think it was an office building full of government agencies! Once, buying TV sets was simple: How big a TV can I afford? Size does matter, price does matter, but they are not alone anymore. Television choices are more complex, but for their troubles, consumers get better TVs and a wider variety of pricing models.

Do I really need a new television?

If your current TV was built before March 2007, it may not be designed to receive the new digital television (DTV). All sets sold after March '07 must be DTV compatible. Also, like everything, TVs wear out. There's great new programming, much of it as HD television or on HD DVDs and wide screen format, coming online almost daily and you really don't want to miss a pixel of it.

What you need to know

Unless you're a television repairman or electronics engineer, you don't really care that the microscopic tilting mirrors have light wheels or that the plasma is neon-xenon gas excited by an electrical charge. (Though you may be fairly surprised that neon-xenon gas ever gets excited.) You care that the magic box makes pretty pictures, and that said box fits your room and your budget. Constantly changing TV technology means that, much as you may not care about the technicalities, you need a passing acquaintance with some techno-jargon so you know what is available to you.

Television terminology

Television vs. Monitor

Televisions are stand-alone devices; they can receive audio and video signals; process them and project them to screen. Monitors only work as components of a larger audio-video system--they project signals to screen, but must be connected to another component (a computer, cable box, etc.) which receives and processes the signals.

NTSC

"National Television Systems Committee"; the government guys who, back in the 1940s, chose the analogue system American TV sets would use; a 525-line/60Hz projection, meaning the television set has 525 lines and shows 60 frames per second.

ATSC

"Advanced Television Systems Committee"; an international group whose members include ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CEA, IEEE, NAB, SBE, SCTE, SMPTE and EIEIO (just kidding). Back in the 1980s, they defined digital television--SDTV, EDTV and DTV, which, BTW, are compatible with both NTSC TV and HDTV, if that's OK with you, LOL.

Pixel

Short for 'picture element', it's the individual points of color making up a TV picture; pixel count determines resolution, described as the number of pixels forming the picture (1920x1080, for example) or as the number of horizontal lines of pixels (480, 720 or 1080).

Interlace

The projection system in which the TV set lights half of its lines in each scan--abbreviated 480i, 720i or 1080i. Interlace shows less blur in fast moving images by scanning twice as often, but actually projects only about 30 complete frames per second.

Progressive

The projection system in which the TV set lights every line in each scan--abbreviated 480p, 720p or 1080p. Progressive scan shows greater detail by using every available pixel all the time, creating up to 60 frames every second.

Analogue

The television system that used radio waves to transmit pictures and sound the same way some radio stations still broadcast.

SDTV

Standard Definition Television, the backward compatible system--480i resolution plus analogue audio.

EDTV

Enhanced Definition Television, the in-between compromise--480p resolution plus digital audio.

HDTV

High Definition Television--720i, 720p, 1080i or 1080p resolution plus digital audio.

DTV

Digital Television signals will replace all analogue signals on February 17, 2009. Many stations are already broadcasting DTV.

Coaxial or RF, component video, composite video, DVI, HDMI, RCA, SCART, S-Video and VGA

There are numerous types of audio/video cables used to hook together home theater components. You don't need to know what the acronyms mean; you just need to be sure you get the right wires. Read your owner's manual and you'll be fine.

Heard of PAL and SECAM? They are the European equivalents of NTSC. The systems are not compatible. This is only a problem if you buy DVDs from Europe--so don't do that, unless you live there.

For more information:

The Federal Communications Commission (http://www.fcc.gov) oversees the public airways on behalf of the American people.

The FCC's Digital Television website (http://dtv.gov) should be able to answer your DTV questions.

The Consumer Electronics Association (http://ce.org) is a trade group for manufacturers, retailers and others involved with home electronics.

Phoenix Roberts has been a journalist, freelance writer and desktop publisher for over 10 years. Presently, he is an SEO Content Writer for Internet discount retailer Overstock.com (http://www.overstock.com).
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