Buying An HDTV: What Do Gamers Need To Know?
Dean Takahashi, 10:00 AM in Dean Takahashi, Gaming
Ambilight20full20surround_lr_1 (there's bonus material in this story, compared to the paper's version)
It used to be that the Super Bowl was the big event driving high-definition TV sales. But this holiday season, the debut of new video game consoles as well as falling prices are giving a broader group of consumers a reason to buy the newfangled TVs.
Digital TVs can turn your living room into a home theater. If you hook up a video-game console like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 to a fashionable flat-panel TV, you may become the coolest person on your block. I've blasted a lot of bad guys on several new digital TV sets to find out. Others may prefer to play sports and action games in high-definition. Either way, it's a fun way to show off your investment in expensive game hardware.
Mid-sized TVs with LCD (liquid crystal display) screens are looking like a pretty good bet now for those who are playing games without an insane budget. I'd agree with the hype that says once you have played games in HD, it's painful to go back to standard TV.
Unfortunately, it can be as confusing to buy a TV these days as it is to buy a computer.
The types of TVs have multiplied as well as the ways for connecting them to set-top boxes or
game machines. Prices vary not only based on screen size, but on the quality of images and
other features.
Digital versus Standard
High-definition (or HD) TVs are digital sets with wider screens and more dots on a screen
than standard analog TV, making for crisper images and vivid colors. Standard TV has 480 lines
per screen. Those lines are interlaced, meaning every other line of information is sent when
the TV displays a frame.
HDTVs have a 16:9 aspect ratio, meaning the widescreen's shape is 16 rectangles wide and 9
rectangles high. They also progressively scan (all lines at the same time) at least 720 lines
per picture frame. With more dots, we get better images. Progressive is better than
interlaced, but not necessarily faster.
Digital programming
If you want to hang on to your standard TV forever, you may be out of luck. Analog TV
programming will be cut off on Feb. 17, 2009, and you'll be stuck with a big paperweight. But
it's no fun having an HDTV without digital programming. More than 1,500 TV stations are
broadcasting free HD programming over the air waves now, and both HD cable and HD satellite
programs are available for extra monthly fees.
Many TVs are advertised as "HD Ready.'' That means they need a separate box known as a
tuner in order to pull digital TV signals from the air waves. "HD built-in'' means that the
tuner is already in the TV. Prices on real HDTVs have fallen so much that it no longer makes
much sense to buy an EDTV (enhanced definition), a widescreen TV which displays images at
480P, or 480 lines per picture frame. If you have a cable or satellite set-top, odds are you aren't going to need that built-in tuner.
Flat panel or Rear projection?
