The service contract question?

I know anybody who goes into a store and looks or buys new technology is always faced with one question during the sale. They are going to offer a service contract of some kind. A few questions come into play here. If you live in a large metropolitan area chances are you still have access to repair service. The consumer repair business has been on the decline since the mid-90's and shows no chance of recovering. So if your set does have a problem what will you do? That question has a lot to do with what the cost of the unit was. If the set cost more than $1000.00 then the choice to add a service contract becomes a choice you have to make. Keep in mind the average failure rate manufacturers expect is somewhere in the area of 7% failure rate. From working in various sectors of consumer electroncs I've seen good things happen and bad things happen even with the purchase of a extended warranty. So if your considering adding an extended warranty plan, be sure and ask what all it covers and if the set's repair cost exceeds the value of the set, will they replace it? If you have more question Consumer Reports offers advice regarding the subject.

The truth about all the technical mumbo-jumbo

If your in the market for a new tv then your sure to be hit with some of these technical terms and figures. Some are important and others value is overstated in my mind. 1. You'll hear a lot about resolution or the amount of scan lines used to make up the picture you watch. Keep in mind these figures are based on the total capability of your set and not neccessarily how good the actual picture is. It's like saying the odometer goes up to 150 mph. But in reality no one really drives that fast. Yes the resolution of broadcast equipment has come a long way but still you will have a wide variation in actual picture quality. For instance if "I love Lucy" comes on even thought it is being broadcast digitally, the program is not in high definition. At this point most HD signals coming from tv stations are based on 720 lines of resolution. I guarantee you if you take a set with 1080 specs and one with 720 specs and just show the picture very few if any would really be able to tell you which set is which. And after all at some point how clear is clear. You eyes can only see an image so good, beyond that you would have to have robotic eyes to distinguish the different. 2. 60hz, 120hz 240hz. In the lcd,led technology pixelating or freezing of images in motion is common. You can tell that simply by the fact they keep coming out with sets with higher numbers. Plasma on the other hands doesn't have that problem because it uses a phosphor screen like your old crt tv. Those sets also run at 600hz. Most people in the know prefer plasma simply for that reason. 3. Probably the most laughable spec is the contrast ration. First of all there is no uniform way of measuring it and second, the contrast ratio will very from program to program depending upon what you watch. I guarantee you if you take a set home and watch it in the store mode or demo mode, you will soon develop a serious headache. Those setting are designed to catch your attention from far away and not intended to watch on a daily basis. I hope some of this information is helpful, because more times than not the sales person at the store doesn't know much more about the sets than you do. They only know what they've learned thru the compaies e-learning courses.

Don't forget about off the air local channels

Most people either subscrible to cable, satelite or service thru phone companies. Keep in mind tv stations still broadcast digital channels over the airwaves. In fact most of the channel that broadcast also offer sub-channels which most national services won't included in your market area. For very little money you can add a local antenna to your set and take advantage of these broadcasts. For instance in our market the local CBS affiliate broadcast one main channel and two sub channels one of which is a 24 hour weather channel, which is not included in our satelite package. So if you haven't already, take the time to check into the broadcast of totally free local channels in your area.

Keep up with the lastest tv news at tvtechnology.com

What you put in is what you get out

When you go to stores and look at different HDTV's the sales person will want to tell you all about the 1080p resolution and contrast ratio. The problem with that is unless your viewing either a blue-ray disc or an actual HD program the picture you get will vary greatly. Probably the most over rated spec is the contrast ratio. That's like saying this car can do 140 mph. The problem with that is you'll get a headache if you watch some of these sets at maximum settings. When you ran everything at maximum settings your really doing yourself a disservice. Ask any movie producer and they will explain why most movies are subdued. It brings out the delicate colors and looks the way the producer intended. Most of the higher setting are great for sporting events. So next time you watch a hi-def movie try setting your contrast levels back and see the difference it makes.

CES 2014

3D has been around for a long time.  But it seems the public still hasn't warmed up to the idea of 3D.
Personnally I'm perfertly happy with my Panasonic Plasma with 1080.

http://www.cesweb.org/home   This is the link to the 2014 Consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.
previewing all the new technology coming your way

Immediate improvement in picture quality

Even if you keep your old set and add a converter box, you will see an immediate improvement in picture quality. Since the signal is digital, there are no ghost, color shifts or fading out. The digital signal is either on or off, which means if you can receive a good signal the picture will be very clear, if your signal is weak the picture won't appear on the screen, there will be no snowy pictures or ignition noise. So everyone will benefit from the change.