Buying LCD TV: Full HD or HD Ready LCD TV

Hi Folks,

Have you thought of buying a LCD TV recently? Did the consideration of whether to buy a Full HD or a HD Ready LCD TV cross your mind?

Well, I did buy a LCD TV recently for my Dad and the notion of whether I should buy a Full HD or a HD Ready LCD TV did not cross my mind.

Why? Cos my dad just wanted a Full HD LCD TV (to replace an aging Toshiba CRT whose colors have gone haywire) and why should it even cross my mind … it’s the era of Full HD, isn’t it?

So The Story Goes

What my dad needed was pretty basic … he just wanted a 40 inch full hd LCD TV.

There is no need of 3D TV or Internet TV (some call them SMART TV) or even LED LCD TV (the difference in cost is just too great to justify them financially) … so I settled for a basic model – a Sharp LC-40L500M Full HD LCD TV – for S$699 at Best Denki.

Once it was delivered and setup, I asked my dad if the TV was ok and he commented … “ok, but how come the plasmas look nicer than the new LCD?”.

He has another older Panasonic HD Ready Plasma TV bought 3 years ago and he finds that Channel 5 and Channel 8 programs look nicer on the HD Ready Plasma than the Full HD LCD TV.

When The Content Does Not Match The TV

It stuck me only then that my dad has no content on Full HD … most free to air channels are Standard Definition (SD, up to 768×576), his Starhub and MIO delivers mostly SD channels, his favorite movie collections are mostly VCD format and some DVD’s (all below Full HD resolution) … which still manages to appear ok on a HD Ready panel (1280×720).

But when SD contents are displayed on a even higher resolution Full HD display (1920×1080) it becomes blur … it’s like every pixel is exaggerated and you can’t help but notice the boxy pixels.

The thing is … once you put on a Full HD content such as a Blu-Ray movie or when HD5 is screening a show in HD … it’s gorgeous. If not, it feels like we just downgraded.

Sound like I’m doing Singaporeans favorite past time – complaining, right? No, not really.

Deciding Which To Get : Full HD or HD Ready LCD TV

So why am I sharing this?

I am sharing this so you folks who are planning to get a new big screen … you might want to consider this before deciding which shiny new panel to get:

1) What contents do you watch most of the time? SD or HD Content.

2) What collections do you own … VCDs, DVDs or Blu-Ray Discs?

3) Will you be moving to HD soon … i.e. subscribing to more HD Contents on MIO or StarHub or switching your collections to Blu-Rays.

4) Do you play games on your TV such as Xbox 360, Playstation 3, etc where the games are in HD.

If you watch mostly on SD and don’t plan to move into HD … a HD Ready TV might give you more enjoyment and cost much less.

If you plan to move into HD territory or play games on your TV … a Full HD TV certainly will be the most exciting addition to your living room.

Moving On

It’s about choosing the right choice to suit your lifestyle needs … not about which technology is better.

Oh … just in case you are wondering how we are going to move forward? Well … it’s about time to move into Blu-Ray (it’s time to hunt for a S$50 Blu-Ray Player)

Cheers,
James