Buying a TV can be a daunting task. Which technologies should you go for? Which screen size? What connectivity options? What price should you expect to pay? Read our TV buyers guide for 2023 to find the answers!
Quick Reference
- Measure the space where you’ll be putting the TV. There’s no point getting a huge TV if it’ll be too close to view properly. Panasonic have a handy size calculator.
- How will you get content? Do you need Freeview or input from a Satellite dish?
- Go for 4K resolution. It’s too early for 8K and you’ll probably regret less than 4K.
- For gaming and sports, go for a 120Hz refresh rate.
- Consider budgeting for sound. Will you use headphones or an external sound bar or surround system? Built in TV speakers are weak.
- Consider how many HDMI ports you need. A sound bar and a game console or two can eat them up!
TV Size
Choosing the right sized TV is going to be one of your top considerations
Input
Make sure you check the TV has the right inputs for the signal you will be using. For example, if you have a satellite dish and want to use Freesat, you’ll need a Sat input on the TV. You also need to check how many HDMI and other ports are on the TV. You can connect a Soundbar using optical, or certain types of HDMI, and things like games consoles and other external devices use HDMI, so make sure the TV has enough of what you need.
Resolution
A TV buyers guide wouldn’t be complete without talking resolution! The TV resolution is the number of pixels on the display. A pixel is a single ‘dot’ on the screen and can be controlled independently, so the more dots there are, the more detailed and smooth the image will be. The following image illustrates this by showing versions of it with an increasing pixel density.
The following images show the comparative resolutions as sizes. For example 1080p HD is around a quarter of 4K UHD. That is, if you were watching 1080p content on a 4K screen, then this is the relative size. TV’s get around this difference by ‘upscaling’ the image, where the number of pixels is increased to match the resolution of the screen, rather than either switching the screen to a lower resolution, or displaying a smaller image.
Refresh rate
TV refresh rates range from 60, 120 and 240Hz. Basically this is the number of times the image is updated per second. This comes into play when you’re watching sports, or playing games. In these cases, a higher refresh rate is better and you’ll probably want to go with a 120Hz refresh rate.