Judging TV Picture Quality on the Sales Floor

When shopping for a new television, you walk into the electronics store and are instantly confronted by a bank of televisions all showing the same signal that has been split multiple times. It is hard to judge the quality of the picture while staring at all of those images. In addition, the stores set the televisions to attract you, often giving the televisions that they want to sell the brightest settings, and dimming other less expensive models. So what exactly should you look for when trying to judge the picture quality at the store? Here are some tips. First of … Continue reading →

Plasma Burn-in

Yes, screen burn-in is a reality with Plasma televisions. Here is what you need to know to protect your investment. What is burn-in? If an image is left on a television screen for too long, that image can become permanently “burned in” to the screen. You will see it as a ghost image whenever you watch television, even if the program doesn’t have that image as part of its show. In some cases, it only take a few hours to cause burn-in. What are some things that cause burn-in? If you watch 4:3 video on a widescreen display, you’ll get … Continue reading →

HDTV Super Bowl News

Are you all ready for the Super Bowl tomorrow? Do you have your chips, dips wings and things? Is your HDTV all ready to go? Even if you do have your big screen TV ready to go, you still might not be able to watch the big game in high definition format. No HDTV on Cable? Comcast cable subscribers may be surprised to know that the service provider, known for its push to its customers for digital cable and high definition programming, will not be delivering the Super Bowl in high definition format. This is because Comcast could not reach … Continue reading →

Explaining the Upcoming Digital TV Conversion

Worried that your television won’t work? Do you need to buy expensive new digital equipment? Let’s weed through the confusion to explain exactly what the conversion is, how you will be affected and what you need. First of all, let’s talk about what the digital conversion is. Starting on February 18th, 2009, all full-power television broadcasters in the United States will turn off their old analog signals and broadcast in digital format only. This will potentially leave millions of television sets across the country cut off from programming. Turn on the television and get nothing but snow. How will this … Continue reading →

HDTV FAQ

Wondering if you should upgrade your television to a high definition unit? Here are the most common questions I have gotten about the HDTV technology. How much better is HDTV? Perhaps you mean how much sharper? Regular television is called analog TV. it is the stuff that we have been watching since the 1950s. The resolution on an analog television broadcast is 640 x 480 pixels, much smaller than most computer monitors these days. A HGTV program comes through at a resolution of up to 1920 x 1080 pixels, about six times as sharp. You can see an obvious difference … Continue reading →

Philips New Eco HDTV

One of the shining performers at the Consumer electronics show was a new HDTV that promises to sip power instead of guzzle it. Dubbed the Eco TV, the 42-inch, flat-panel LCD television, this new model has plenty of energy-saving features. Among these features are the ability to dim the backlight as a response to the program being watched, or as a response to room lighting. This is similar to the “local dimming” featured on the Samsung LED HGTV, but in this case with Philips, the backlight can be dimmed up to five times the brightness of its normal high peak. … Continue reading →

Flat Screen TVs Go Wireless

If you haven’t yet purchased that flat screen television, here is another reason to wait. It seems that technology is catching up with our dreams, ditching the ugly cords and allowing us to have flat screen televisions that are wireless. Cords and wires have always looked out of place when combined with flat screen TVs. Here you have this nice, slim, wall-mounted piece of furniture that is aesthetically pleasing. That is until you take a look at the cords running down from it. The television industry has been struggling with wireless technology for a few years. Up until this point, … Continue reading →

Down and Dirty Guide to TV Types

Trying to decide between a plasma television and a flat screen television? Or wait, a plasma television does have a flat screen, doesn’t it? Choosing among the various television types can be very confusing. That is why I created this down and dirty guide to the different television technology. You’ll learn what it all means, as well as the pros and the cons. CRT The CRT is the traditional Cathode-ray tube television, the analog TV that we have all grown up with. There are some newer CRTs that are digital, and some even include high definition viewing (HDTV). The pro … Continue reading →

Do You Download Movies?

Movies and television shows have started to become more and more available to download and watch on our computers. How many of you actually download movies? I have actually been pretty reluctant to jump on the movie download wagon. There is a RedBox at the store around the corer where I can rent movies for $1 a day, so the convenience of downloading a movie rather than renting it is pretty nominal for me. In fact, even at the typical $2 download fee I would be spending double the amount to download a movie rather than actually rent it. Last … Continue reading →

Slingbox: Watch Your Home TV Anywhere In the World!

Have you ever gone on vacation, and wanted to watch your local news back home? I have started traveling quite a bit, and always run into situations where I wish I could watch the channels I know back home. I’ve become quite addicted to our local public television and a few of the shows I like are only broadcast to our local area, so when I miss them, I really miss them. Not anymore. I recently found out about the product Slingbox from a friend of mine, and plan on investing in one before my next big trip. The Slingbox … Continue reading →