Terms to Know Before you Buy a Television. TV Buying Guide 2017

Buying a  TV is not an easy task today. There are so many options with so many features that everyone gets confused. Retailers don't want to simplify this either as they use huge words to attract customers to buy a feature rich television. The terms they use are not difficult enough but a naive user takes them as if this is the only TV he/she needed.

Online buyers are still less confused as far as they know the terms used by TV brands to showcase their ability to entertain your house.

The design of every TV today is almost similar but the difference is in the technology used and the screens. Here we are discussing some of the terminologies used in 2017 Market.

1080p

Here's the most important thing for you to know about 1080p TVs: they're just about obsolete. Also called HD or high-definition, 1080p (and 1080i) was the latest and greatest tech 10 years ago. Today, though your cable company still only broadcasts in high definition (and not in 4K), you don't want to buy a 1080p TV — unless you're working with a very small budget. 4K is here, and unless you're on a shoestring budget, it's worth buying a TV set capable of displaying it.

4K

Also known as ultra high-definition, 4K is the next big thing in broadcast and streaming content — which is why now is the time to buy a 4K set. A resolution with four times the pixel density of high definition video, 4K offers a brighter picture and more detail than HD.

But what is 4K, exactly? Imagine that your TV screen is made of stacked rows of lights. High definition televisions have 1,080 rows of those lights, while 4K screens have 2,160 rows, all packed into a screen that's the same size. More rows in the same space means a better ability to render finer detail.

Backlighting

Literally behind the scenes technology, backlighting sits behind the screen to make the image brighter and more colorful. There are different methods of backlighting (covered below) that television manufacturers use to improve quality or reduce cost

Bezel

The technical term for the frame around your television's screens, the bezel is getting a lot of attention these days as manufacturers try to make their products (and not just the displays) more attractive to buyers. Big, chunky plastic bezels are a thing of the past. Now thinner, piano black or metal bezels are popular with consumers. And high-end TVs are practically bezel-free, with slick, glass slabs bringing living rooms into the future.

Contrast Ratio

Forget resolution and refresh rates — this is the spec that matters most. A number that shows the difference between the a television's brightest bright and blackest black, the contrast ratio describes how varied a television's image can be. So, the bigger the ratio, the better the TV (typically) looks. And the smaller that first number is, the more likely you are to have a washed out display.