HDTV sets are here to stay. With prices anywhere from a few hundred dollars up into the thousands, it is important to do your analysis and find a fair review. Although the sales rep at your local radio shack is perhaps a good guy, you can regularly find some outstanding HDTV deals online as well if you know what to look for. You want to know stuff like the type of HDTV you want, which resolution you want, what inputs the TV has, the right viewing angle, and the best contrast ratio to get. If all that makes you confused don't let it. I am here to assist in making sense of all of the tech language and find the right television for you.

Most likely you are a digital cable television or satellite subscriber. Either way, the first thing you need to do is discover what kind of HD channel lineup your provider delivers. Nearly all major digital cable service suppliers like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter, and Cox have great high definition channel packages with some great specials and discounts for new subscribers. Dish Network and DirecTV have the satellite picture covered through equally robust HD tiers. Your digital TV company should have just about every HD channel currently broadcast on hand, but confirm just in case before you get a new HDTV.

Once you have gotten a great high definition channel package from you cable or satellite provider, you'll need to judge whether you want to go with LCD, LED, plasma, or projection. Rear-projection based HDTV's are primarily based on the oldest technology and often have lower resolutions, contrast proportions and viewing angles. I usually advocate staying away from rear-projection HDTV's, but if price is an enormous hurdle you'll find some superb deals on rear-projection televisions and you can at least step in the high-def world. If your budget is not as proscribed, most HDTV's produced today are LCD based. There's wide range of LCD HDTV's out there but for the best picture focus on TV's with a 1080p resolution and keep away from 720p screens. These numbers refer to the screen resolution and determine how clear your picture will be. 1080p is what you should go for and suggested for nearly everyone. You'll find some HDTV's that sport a 1080i resolution. While it's typically a better picture than 720p, the "i" in 1080i implies that it is an "interlaced" resolution which isn't as smooth or clear as a 1080p "progressive-scan" picture. if you find a great promotion on a 1080i HDTV, the price difference may be worth the slightly lower picture quality. Plasma screen HDTV's were the first high resolution TVs that really made everybody see what a difference an HD picture made. The first plasma screens that came out, though, were prohibitively expensive costing thousands of dollars. Presently, with competition from LCD HDTV's, the costs have come down significantly. Both plasma and LCD screens have advantages and drawbacks over one another and usually it comes down to personal preference. LED HDTV's are the newest technology in the market. LED screens are LCD's that make use of LED back-lighting to raise color range and contrast ratio while reducing power usage. Naturally they cost more than standard LCD HDTV's and are targeted to those attempting to find the latest and best. For TV connoisseurs, though, LED's offer the best picture and the narrowest profiles you can currently buy.

After you've concluded which HDTV format is right for you it is time to examine the tiny features and make sure the television you're pondering purchasing has what you want. Ensure the HDTV's you're looking at has all the connections you want. These include audio and video input/outputs and computer connections. Next, read the fine print for the TV's maximum viewing angle. This is how far you can be from the side of a television and still see a clear picture. The bigger the viewing angle the better the HDTV and the more places in your living room you can enjoy the picture other than in front of it. Lastly, take a look at the HDTV's contrast ratio. This is a gauge of how bright the color range is. Ideally you would like a high contrast ratio, but because each manufacturer may use a different system for figuring out the ratio you often have to decide for yourself by taking a look at the picture. Avoid screens that produce blacks that appear grey or whites that are lifeless and lack "pop".

Even with all of the confusing marketing hype the base line is HDTV is fantastic. Costs have come down seriously during the last few years and now you can get a huge TV and easily stay under the $1500 price mark. But if you do not know what to look for you can get burned with a low resolution picture with washed out colors. I hope my article has helped you know precisely what to go looking for when you head online or to the electronics store for a new TV. When you get the right HDTV it will forever change how you watch television.