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The terms you’re most likely to find when shopping for a new TV

These days a TV is more like a smartphone than the boxes which occupied entire cabinets in the past.

Manufacturers are constantly upping the ante with TVs that are thinner, more feature rich and bigger than last year’s model. As such keeping up with the terms used by manufacturers to sell their TVs can be tricky, which is why we’ve broken down the terms you’re most likely to find while shopping for a TV.

We’ve broken the terms up into three sections so it’s easier to find the term you’re looking for.

Resolution

SD – A display with a native resolution of 640 pixels by 480 pixels.

HD – A display with a native resolution of 1280 pixels by 720 pixels

Full HD – A display with a native resolution of 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels

QHD – Also known as Quad HD as it has four times as many pixels as an HD display. QHD is used for displays with a native resolution of 2560 pixels by 1440 pixels. This resolution is also often referred to as 2K.

4K – A display with a native resolution of 4096 pixels by 2160 pixels.

UHD – A display with a native resolution of 3840 pixels and 2160 pixels. UHD and 4K are often used interchangeably despite having different pixel resolutions.

UHD Premium – A standard developed by the UHD Alliance that features a UHD resolution, 10-bit colour depth, BT.2020 colour space support and HDR support at a minimum.

8K – A display with a native resolution of 7680 pixels by 4320 pixels.

Display technology

LED – Light emitting diode. An LED display features hundreds of thousands of tiny LEDs that light up to produce a picture.

LCD – Liquid crystal display. Displays still using LCD technology will likely be using LEDs as a backlight source but it’s worth finding more information about the LCD display you are looking at and what light source it is using.

OLED – Organic Light Emitting Diode. Rather than individual LEDs, OLED makes use of a compound that emits light when met with an electric current. OLED displays use less power and boast a better image quality when compared to LED.

ULED – A display that uses LED technology but has over 20 enhancements such as an Ultra Wide Colour Gamut, Ultra Local Dimming, Ultra 4K Resolution and Ultra Smooth Motion Rate.

MicroLED – As the name suggests, Micro Light Emitting Diodes. Displays of this nature are incredibly sharp and boast colour contrast and control that can rival OLED. The trouble is that the technology is very expensive and rather new.

Quantum Dot – Much like OLED, Quantum Dot displays make use of a film that consists of semiconductor nanoparticles that emit light. Quantum Dot technology provides a wider colour gamut, better saturation and longer life compared to OLED.

Picture quality

HDR – Technology that is able to better showcase the contrast between the lightest and darkest areas of an image. Importantly, Dolby Vision is Dolby Laboratories solution for HDR.

Refresh Rate – The rate at which your display is able to display a new image per second. This is often expressed in Hertz (Hz) but can also sometimes be displayed as Frames Per Second or FPS. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother moving images will look.

Response Time – The time it takes for a display to shift from one colour to another. Unfortunately how this is measured is not standardised but it’s recommended that you look for a display with a low grey-to-grey response time. This is the time it takes to shift from black to white to black.

Contrast Ratio – The difference in luminance between the brightest and darkest shade the display is able to produce.

Nits – The measure of luminous intensity. 600 nits is considered standard for most TVs but as you go higher the better the image will be in brighter environments.

Local dimming – Areas of a display that can be dimmed independently even if there are bright images on screen as well. This tech is necessary for HDR displays.

Connectivity

HDMI – High-Definition Multimedia Interface with a variety of versions. The latest version is HDMI 2.1 which has been available since November 2017. It is important to check that your set top boxes and other equipment are able to support the HDMI version you are using.

HDCP – High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. This standard protects copyrighted content as it travels from your device to your TV. It is a requirement for streaming content from the likes of Netflix.

AV – A legacy port you may only find on older equipment identifiable by yellow, black and red jacks. AV ports receive audio and visual signals.

Displayport – A connector with a higher bandwidth than HDMI which makes it better for higher resolution displays. Displayport 2.0 supports 8K resolution at 60Hz with HDR support at a minimum

MHL – Mobile High-definition Link. A standard that allows for the connection of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to larger displays.

ARC – Audio Return Channel. This feature connects your TV and audio system via HDMI eliminating the need for an additional cable.

SPDIF – Sony/Philips Digital Interface is an audio connection that makes use of RCA connectors or TOSLink which makes use of a fibre optic connection to transmit audio.

3.5mm – A 3.5mm jack generally found on legacy audio equipment and headphones that allows for audio input or output.

OTA – Over the Air. Generally used to describe how updates are delivered. Over the Air means one can download an update wirelessly without having to physically plug in media containing the update.

VESA mounting – VESA is a standardisation organisation but in the context of a TV, VESA is often used as shorthand for the mounting support. VESA standards ensure that while shopping for a wall mount you choose the correct dimensions.

WiFi – WiFi can take a variety of forms that can be confusing but each standard increases the bandwidth and features of the connection.
– 802.11a – Up to 54Mbps
– 802.11g – up to 54Mbps
– 802.11n (WiFi 4) – Up to 600Mbps
– 802.11ac (WiFi 5 ) – Up to 6933Mbps
– 802.11ax (WiFi 6) – Up to 9608Mbps
– 802.11ax (WiFi 6e) – Up to 9608Mbps

Bluetooth – A wireless communication and connection standard. The latest standard is Bluetooth 5.0 which can transmit eight times more data than Bluetooth 4.2. Generally speaking so long as you have at least Bluetooth 4.0, you will be able to connect to most devices.

Operating system – The software that the TV runs on. The most popular of these is Android TV which has improved substantially in recent years but manufacturers often use their own proprietary software.

Whether you’re looking for a FHD TV or you’re upgrading your setup for 4K viewing, Hisense’s range of TVs will be sure to impress.

The Hisense ULED range of smart TVs is available in South Africa right now. To find out more, head to this link.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]

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