The purchase of a flatscreen TV is something that you don't want to rush in to. Getting the right size and features is important if you want to enjoy your purchase. It is better to do a bit of research then you can hold your own when talking to the sales person.
Flatscreen TVs take up less space so are usually a few feet back from where the old CRT set used to be, allowing you to go to a bigger screen size than your old set. The new High Definition pictures also mean that the viewing range is greater, as even up close there will be very little noise meaning sharp pictures no matter how near or far you sit.
As a rule of thumb 3 to 4 times the height of the TV is an ideal viewing distance.
Screen Size |
Standard |
High Definition |
||
Min |
Max |
Min |
Max |
|
| 17 inch | 1.5 metres |
2.5 metres |
1.5 metres |
2.0 metres |
| 20 inch | 2.0 metres |
3.0 metres |
1.5 metres |
2.0 metres |
| 26 inch | 2.5 metres |
4.0 metres |
2.0 metres |
2.5 metres |
| 32 inch | 3.0 metres |
5.0 metres |
2.5 metres |
3.0 metres |
| 37 inch | 4.0 metres |
5.5 metres |
3.0 metres |
4.0 metres |
| 42 inch | 4.5 metres |
6.5 metres |
3.0 metres |
4.0 metres |
| 50 inch | 5.0 metres |
7.5 metres |
4.0 metres |
5.0 metres |
| 60 inch | 6.0 metres |
9.0 metres |
4.5 metres |
6.0 metres |
| 70 inch | 7.0 metres |
11.0 metres |
5.0 metres |
7.0 metres |
Make sure your purchase has all the features you expect.
Is it HD ready, look for the HD ready logo. If you want full HD which means it has 1080 lines, make sure it is a 1080P set
Slowly but surely the analogue signal is been turned off, if you don't have satellite or cable then you will probably benefit from a digital tuner.
Some sets have a USB input making it easy to show still images taken from a pc or camera.