I recently purchased a townhouse and my top priority is setting up my game systems, but the one thing I need most is a TV! In order to find the TV of my dreams, I first had to create a plan of action:
1. Define what criteria I want in a gaming TV.
2. Visit retail stores to get an idea of what TVs are out on the market today.
3. Research TV styles, brands, and reviews to find the best fit.
4. Make the big purchase!


Step 1 – Defining my needs in a gaming TV
From years of gaming and a strong background in big-screen TVs, I knew that I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a 50” screen to game on. I also wanted a TV that wouldn’t suffer from image burn-out as so many of the Plasma screen TVs did back in the day. Finally, I wanted a high refresh rate and response time for the best possible game performance.


Step 2 – Visit retail stores to see what’s on the market
This was easily the toughest step of my journey because I wanted everything I saw (for the most part). There are so many brands and styles of TVs that it’s hard to walk into a store and figure out what you like! I knew a few brand names stuck out to me (Sharp, Samsung, and Sony) as I walked through the stores, and almost immediately I could tell that the size of the screen was going to be the breaking point for my budget - There is easily a $500 jump on most TVs from 55” to 60”. Not only that, it’s a little difficult to wade through the four major types of High-Def TVs: LED, LCD, Plasma, and DLP. I knew that to make the best choice I’d have to consult the mother of all knowledge – the internet.


Step 3 – Research TV styles, brands and reviews
Let’s begin by breaking down the big points of a High-Def TV:
1. Screen Size
2. Display Type
3. Resolution
4. Refresh Rate
5. Response Time


Screen Size
My goal was to get a 60” screen size, however after looking online and at retail stores, I quickly found that the price jump for most of the TVs from 55” to 60” was around $500, and in some cases the screen size jump meant spending over $700 MORE just for the size increase! This means that if 50” was just too small for me to game on, and 60” was way too expensive, then 55” would be just right!


Display Type
I looked at four display types for TVs, and here’s what I found:
DLP (Digital Light Processing) – This is a projection screen TV where the system uses a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) to turn micromirrors toward or away from the light source to create light and dark pixels on the screen. The image on the screen is colored as the light filters through a color wheel, and the color wheel and micromirrors can turn several thousands of times per second.

Plasma – This TV screen consists of thousands of pixel cells, each producing light through an electric charge in the correct balance of red, blue, and green to display the correct color hue on the screen. Traditionally, Plasma TVs perform better in black level and contrast, however there are known issues and concerns about image burn-in.

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) – The LCD screen produces an image by using a number of Fluorescent lamps as a backlight to emit light through color-filtered shutters. The pixels on the screen are created by a matrix of liquid-crystal-filled cells pressed between two sheets of glass, and through an electric charge they untwist to block out certain color wavelengths, letting only the right color through.

LED (Light-Emitting Diode) – This screen functions the exact same way that an LCD screen does, except the fluorescent lamps are replaced with LEDs. In comparison to the traditional LCD, this means that there is less energy consumption, greater dynamic contrast, and offers a wider color gamut.


Resolution
High-Definition TVs typically come one of two resolutions: 1,280x720 pixels (720p) or 1,920x1,080 pixels (1080i/1080p). The P stands for Progressive (one field where the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence) and the I stands for Interlaced (two fields where the odd lines of one field create part of the frame, while the even lines of the other field complete the frame). The higher the resolution (meaning more pixels), the better the definition will look on the TV.


Refresh Rate
The refresh rate simply measures how fast your TV hardware can create the data on screen. This is separate from a frame rate in that the refresh rate includes the repeated creation of identical frames. Simply put, the higher the refresh rate is, the smoother the image on screen will appear.


Response Time
I didn’t realize how important this metric was for high-performance TVs, but it’s key in gaming to have the lowest possible response time. The response time measures how long it takes for one pixel to go from on/active (black) to off/inactive (white) then back to on/active (white) again. The response time is measure in milliseconds, and although it is an important feature for video gamers, it is one of the hardest measurements to find on TVs.


Step 4 – Make the purchase!
After hours of learning about TVs and comparing sizes, speeds, types, reviews, and prices, I finally found a good fit for me:

So…anyone wanna game? :D


Love and Peace,
Sabre


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