The best bet

10 checkpoints to bounce off your TV salesman before choosing up your plasma, LCD or HDTV.

Dr. Jean Shahdadpuri, Director, Nikai Group of Companies, offers pointers on options you need to be sure of before replacing your conventional television set with the latest on offer.

1. Let's hang it
LCDs and plasmas are slim, which means they are perfect where space is limited, as well as where style is important. Most models feature a stand for use on flat surfaces but they can also be mounted on (or recessed into) the wall or even hung from the ceiling.

2. Is it HD ready?
High-Definition Television (HDTV) is the new standard in television technology, and its main benefits are wide-screen picture quality (similar to 35mm film) coupled with compact disc (CD) sound quality. High-Definition Television (HDTV) designates the highest-quality display formats defined in the Digital Television (DTV) standard. And it's not just about the sharper picture, many HDTV programmes contain six-channel (5.1) Dolby Digital surround sound to provide an immersive audio experience.

3. The brightness quotient
The brightness of LCD TVs varies considerably and is an important factor to examine when considering a purchase. LCD screens don't perform as well when used in bright lighting conditions. A screen's brightness is often expressed in Cd/m_. Cd is an abbreviation for candela, a unit of measurement of the intensity of light. The higher the number, the better the screen.

4. Screen resolution
The resolution of a TV screen is important. Check the pixel specification before making the purchase.

5. Contrasts
This is a measure of how many times brighter the white tones produced by an image are than the black tones. The more contrast a LCD TV can produce the better, as it means the image will be crisper, cleaner and sharper.

6. Minimal strain
The viewing angle may well be the most important consideration to make when thinking about your purchase. make sure you can view the picture from any angle. Check the viewing angle specifications to see how wide it is. Most LCD TVs offer a horizontal viewing angle between 150 and 170 degrees.

7. Response time
An LCD TVs response time refers to the amount of time it takes for the LCD pixels to switch totally from black to white and back again. It is measured in thousandths of a second (milliseconds or ms) and is an important factor in determining how well an LCD TV will handle swiftly changing images. If the response time is not fast enough (especially on larger screens), scenes that feature lots of fast movement (eg: car chases) will appear blurred. The smaller the response time the better.

8. Does it have surround?
LCD TVs are generally equipped with built-in speakers and are sometimes able to provide surround sound audio. This can be an attractive option for budget users, but users interested in building a complete home theatre system may want to look into a separate speaker system.

9. Can I connect?
Make sure you can connect your video recorder, DVD player, game console and other equipment to your TV. Look for at least one SCART socket (preferably two and ideally with RGB input for superior picture quality), s-video and component inputs as well as a standard aerial socket. It's also worth looking out for a PC monitor connection to connect your PC/laptop.

10. Check the lifespan
An LCD TV's backlight, as with any light bulb, has a limited lifespan. Depending on the manufacturer, this is likely to be between 20,000-50,000 hours of continuous operation. Assuming an average of 4 hours of viewing per day this equates to somewhere between 13 to 24 years of operation.

DR. JEAN's CARE TIPS FOR YOUR TV

- Always clean the TV screen with a slightly damp soft cloth. Avoid using any abrasive solvents as they may damage the TV screen coating layer.

- If you aren't getting the picture on your TV, then check if the aerial is connected properly and the plugs connecting to the aerial socket. Another possibility is that the aerial cable may be damaged.

- If your TV remote control is not working, the most common causes could be weak batteries, an obstruction between the remote control and the sensor, or that the remote control is beyond its operating range. Solutions to these problems are to insert new batteries, remove the obstruction between the remote and the sensor and operate the remote control in the stated range.

- In case of no colour or excessive colours, the possible cause could be poor signal connection. Check the respective video source, recheck cable connection.

- If you are getting horizontal streaks in TV or video signals
or in all the input signals, then place the input signal source (DVD, video) on the side or behind the display/screen. Utilise only high-quality input signal cable with greater screen damping for LCDs and plasmas.