For many people, the purchase of a television is serious stuff. The vast majority of people have at least one high-definition television in their home, and many of those people have multiple high-definition televisions.
To many people, TVs are a key part to their home. If you’re reading this, chances are you have own a television. Think about how much you do on your television. Because of TV, you can watch shows (obviously), sporting events, movies, Presidential debates—you name it, and you can do it on your television. This leads to the first point:
A television is an investment.
Again, a TV is a key part to a home. So before deciding to just go ahead and buy a television think about it. Strolling into Best Buy or Walmart with your mind set on buying a television is not a good idea. First, you should do some research.
For a very long time, plasma televisions were king. They gave the best picture by far, especially brands like Panasonic. With the emergence of 4K televisions, plasmas died in 2014 when Panasonic, LG, and Samsung ended their plasma television production.
Now, OLED (organic light-emitting diode) television is the unquestioned king. The picture quality of OLEDs is more realistic than LCD and LED, which is all you can ask for in picture in a television. The blacks (black color) is essentially a true black in an OLED, as the pixels actually shut off. If you want the best picture available, go with OLED.
Also, because buying a television is an investment, it is important to buy one that will not become outdated in a short time. OLEDs that support both HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Dolby Vision are the safest purchase right now.
HDR10 and Dolby Vision are two formats of High Dynamic Range. It’s similar to the battle from a few years ago between HD DVD and Blu-ray, which of course Blu-ray won. People that bought HD DVD players made a bad investment. A television is a much bigger purchase than a media player, so you will really not want to make the wrong decision.
In summation, unless you buy a TV that supports both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, it’s best to just wait it out. Of course, a television that supports both will cost more, which brings us to the next point:
You get what you pay for.
This is true in most cases.
Now, you might think a 60 inch television for a few hundred dollars is too good to pass up…well it is something you should pass on if you’re worried about picture quality.
Some people aren’t worried about picture quality, and that’s fine. However, the difference in quality between higher priced televisions and cheaper televisions is extremely noticeable—and worth the extra money.
There are certainly some exceptions when a low priced television exceeds its price in quality, and where a highly priced television is not worth the money. This goes back to research; check reviews for pros and cons of certain televisions.
If money is no object and you want a new television, just stop reading and go purchase the LG Signature OLED 4K Smart TV. It supports both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and has the best picture quality available, and LG recently came out with a “Wallpaper TV,” which goes right up on the wall and is about as thin as a house key.
For the rest of us that don’t have $7-$20K laying around for the LG Signature OLED, it’s probably best to wait if you want the best picture quality possible. Besides some shows on Amazon and Netflix, and 4K Blu-ray, there are not many things available in 4K anyway. The benefit of these superb 4K television is not yet felt in cable or satellite television. Some channels and events are offered in 4K, but for most people, things they want to watch are not available to watch in 4K yet.
If you watch a lot of movies on Blu-ray, you might find it worth buying a 4K television now. Just remember, 4K is going to get cheaper as more companies can get picture quality closer to LG’s.
Also keep in mind that Xbox’s Project Scorpio will be released in a little over a year, which will offer full 4K gaming. Some people may want a 4K TV for that. My suggestion is to still wait until closer to that time to buy a 4K television.
Another key component of buying a new TV:
Compare prices.
This is an obvious thing to do, but you’d be surprised about the amount of people that don’t properly vet all options before buying a television.
First, you should find a few televisions with comparable quality that you’d be happy with. Then, simply use Google Shopping and type in each model and compare the prices. Just do a quick analysis of the prices; if one TV is a lot cheaper somewhere, and you don’t mind the slight difference in picture quality, that might be a huge benefit and save a few hundred dollars.
Bigger is not always better.
This goes back to research. An 80 inch television may seem like it’s automatically going to be an awesome television, but that’s just not true.
As stated earlier, an offer for an 80 inch TV for under $1,000 may seem too good to be true—because it is. You get what you pay for and the picture quality of that TV will not even be close to superior televisions. It’d be better to wait another few months or a year and buy a television with great picture quality with a comparable size.
Summary
A TV is an investment, and you get what you pay for. When someone says that there is no difference in picture quality between televisions, and cheaper televisions are just as good as highly priced televisions, they are wrong. For some people that don’t watch much television, they may not care. For people that watch a lot of television, love movies, and want the best home entertainment available: it’s worth the investment.