When Buying A High Definition TV, Don't Believe What You See In Showrooms

By: Vincent Teoh

As more people buy on the web, most people thinking about getting a high definition TV would rather visit a brick-and-mortar store than buy it through a web merchant. This is perfectly understandable, because you get the chance of seeing the high definition television with your own eyes, or getting help from a salesperson before parting with your money.

But things may not be what they seem... here I will give you a few reasons why your judgment of a high definition TV in showrooms may be inaccurate.

First of all, most high definition TVs on display are configured in what is termed in the industry as "dynamic mode". By this I mean that contrast is artificially inflated and the colors are deliberately over-saturated on the high definition television, as these manipulations have been proven to boost sales.

A HDTV that is displaying in "dynamic mode" gives an impression of "brightness" and "colorfulness", usually mistaken as the telltale signs of a good TV even though the picture is ? in fact ? incorrect. Usually it is only when you bring the TV back home that you realize the picture is not right.

Also, in a typical shop with quite a few HD TVs on show, the signal is shared among all these televisions. As a result each high definition television gets a weaker signal, which will result in a lot of artifacts like sparkles and horizontal lines, and perhaps blurriness and loss of detail.

To compound the problem, most stores will very likely use inferior connection cables (because these are much cheaper, and the stores likely have more than their fair share lying around over time) to pass on the signal. In an ideal situation one should use a HDMI, component, VGA or DVI connection because these deliver the best quality, and can fulfill all the potential of the high definition television for you to make an accurate judgment... yet you rarely see these used in normal demos unless requested.

Another issue with your average brick-and-mortar showroom is the excessive amount of ambient lighting, not only from in-store lights and the sun, but also from competing high definition TV unitson show. This will cause glare (especially on glossy televisions) and degrade the picture contrast on the HDTV you're looking at, leading to a washed out image. Most high definition TVs perform better in the home environment where there's better ambient light control.

To conclude, there are certain shortfalls when judging HDTVs in a shop ? you're looking at uncalibrated display sets with weak signals in an overly bright environment. For correct judgment of a high definition TV's true potential, you can either visit a dedicated shop with the proper setup designed to eliminate these issues, listen to the views of existing owners on public forums, or read reviews that are carried out properly under strict conditions.