Normal analog TVs, as opposed to digital TVs, have just a few factors that affect picture quality. When shopping for a TV, look for these features or characteristics and disregard other features that sound good on the surface but in reality are just marketing ploys.
- Comb filter. If a television does not have a comb filter, its resolution will be limited to about half the full potential of DVD. Most sets with comb filters can provide all of the resolution of DVD. The types of comb filters you’ll see advertised, in order of lower to higher quality, include two-line, three-line, digital, and 3D YC varieties. They provide incremental improvements in performance, especially in reducing rainbows that can appear in fine detail, such as a talking head’s suit coat. Comb filters affect only composite-video or RF connections.
- Color-temperature settings. Many televisions have presets for color temperature, which is basically the color of gray. A neutral gray is ideal, but most TVs have an extremely blue gray to make the picture brighter in the store. TVs with color-emperature presets allow you to choose the color of gray; generally, you’ll want the reddest or lowest setting available.
- Color decoder. Most TVs’ color decoders are set to be too red to counteract the blue color temperature described above. TV makers don’t advertise accurate color decoders, so you’ll have to judge for yourself or trust a reviewer. In the store, look for pale skin tones that don’t appear too flushed and reds that don’t bleed into other colors or otherwise seem more intense than the rest of the palette.
- Geometry and convergence. Most TVs get bumped around in shipping, so it pays to check convergence before you take yours home—or at least before the warranty expires. Look toward the edges of the screen, preferably with graphics or other straight lines (CNN’s crawling ticker works great), and see if the lines are actually straight. To check convergence, look at the corners with white material, preferably lines again, and see if faint halos of color surround the white—ideally they shouldn’t.
