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2 Things That Might Make You Overpay For That Flat Screen TV

There are many companies that make flat screen TVS: Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, Sharp, Vizio, etc. Vizio is a newer company (started in 2002). The other companies have been around for a while, have great name recognition. Vizio is starting to have great name recognition too.

The advantage Vizio has over brand names, say Samsung (till a short while ago the company that sold the most flat screen TVS) has to do with pricing positioning. Vizio aims to be the least expensive maker of flat screen TVS in the mid- to high range price, specifically LCD HDTV’s. It succeeds too. You can get a 47” Vizio LCD TV for the price of a 37” LCD TV from one of the brand name companies. And they seem to be comparable in quality. Just go online and read reviews, lots of people are happy with their Vizio, Vizio 42” TVs seemingly are the most popular.

Since they are many, there’s fierce competition. They are continuously coming up with something new. Often is something that is good for the consumer, sometimes it sounds like it’s good but in reality it makes no difference or makes the consumer’s experience worse (sometimes without the consumer being aware how or why).

1. Lately TV makers have come up with TVs with lots of Hertz (Hz), 120 to 240. The reason, to reduce blurriness in fast action scenes. But this comes with a price: you get to see too well. If you’re watching sports and you get to see each grass blade, it’s okay. If you’re watching a movie and you get to see that the stones and boulders or the cactus and other desert plants in the background are made of plastic (look like they are), it kind of ruins the movie for you.

So make sure that the high Hertz is an optional features, you turn it on when you watch a game, you turn it off when you watch a move.

2. The other thing to know has to do with calibrating your fine HDTV (Vizio or other). They come with a lot of features that you not only do not need but work against you getting the highest pleasure out of your HDTV. Some of these features have to do with the image modes (Vivid, Sports, Dynamic); they do make colors brighter. The questions are: Do you need colors that are brighter than real life? Should you pay extra for what you do not need?. Don’t let unnecessary features make you pay more for a HDTV.

Here are the five things you need to play with to get the best picture (the other features can be turned off):

Black level (usually found in Brightness)
White level (usually found in Contrast and Picture)
Sharpness (usually found in Detail)
Color saturation (also known as Color, Chroma)
Color tinge (usually found in Hue).

One other thing you might want to check out is Backlight Settings. The default mode usually is “brightest”. That is hard on the eyes if you watch TV a long time. Besides, it reduces the life-span of your LCD TV. Set it on “Normal”. If you watch TV in a dimly lit room, go for Low Power or Power Saver, if available.

Obviously, it’s your money, you spend it on whatever TV you want. I’d go with a Vizio 42” HDTV if I were in the market right now. Next year, who know? Maybe Samsung will figure out a way to get me. Maybe a new company will come out of nowhere and start winking at me. But they will not make me pay extra for things I do not need.

See if you can apply, click on these links: http://www.squidoo.com/Vizio_XVT_42_LCD_HDTV_Deals and http://www.squidoo.com/Samsung-Flat-TVs

About the Author

Marketer, writer, husaband, father.

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