Guide to Buying the Perfect TV for Your Home

IN THIS POST
– Types of TV Screens
– TV Screen Size
– TV Screen Resolution
– Refresher Rate
– Ports and Connections
– Smart TVs
– Prices of TV in Pakistan

Shopping for a new television has become rather complicated. With a range of different options available in the market, choosing which TV to buy can be rather overwhelming for regular buyers. There are also quite a lot of things to consider when buying a new TV, such as its brand, screen size, resolution, and refresher rate, among other things. If you are a quest on buying the best TV for your home, there is a huge possibility that all the technical jargon and advanced specifications have left you confused and uncertain about what could be the most suitable choice for your space. 

Meanwhile, the upside to this situation is that you now have more choices than ever before. Owing to the growing competition between different brands and technologies, even buyers with small budgets have the liberty to choose between several options.

To simplify the process of buying a TV in Pakistan, we are bringing you a comprehensive guide on the topic. It will answer all of your pressing questions about the latest specifications, TV prices in Pakistan, and more importantly, what to look for when buying a TV

Here’s our TV buying guide for 2020.

Different Types of TV Screens

‘What type of TV are you looking for?’ is probably the first questions shopkeepers ask when you visit an outlet to buy a television set. The screen technology is constantly evolving. Therefore, the types of TV screen users choose can have a major impact on the picture quality, and subsequently their overall viewing experience. 

Here is a brief description of the main types of television screens currently available in the market.

LCD TVs

Before the development of LED TVs, the LCD TVs were all the rage. These television sets utilized large fluorescent lamps behind the screen that shone through a matrix of coloured cells known as the Liquid Crystal Display, or LCD.

There are two main types of LED TVs: back-lit and edge-lit. While back-lit models have LED lights placed across the back of the screen, the edge-lit models only have LED lights around the edges of the screen. The edge-lit LED TVs are considerably thinner but the back-lit sets have better light consistency.

Since LCD TVs are no longer in demand, their prices have fallen rather significantly. 

LED TVs

When it comes to buying flat-screen televisions in Pakistan, nothing beats the LED TV. Currently the most popular and commonly used type of TV across the country, these sets comprise thousands of tiny fluorescent LED lights spread behind the screen. Although LED TVs are technically a type of LCD TV, their picture quality is much better than their predecessor.

LED TV screens not only produce more vibrant images, but they are also thinner than LED ones. Moreover, these sets are relatively more energy efficient and available in bigger screen sizes compared to Plasma and LCD. 

If you are looking to buy the best TV for your home without breaking the bank, consider purchasing an LED model.

OLED TVs

While LED is the present of flat-screen TVs, OLED is the future. Standing for Organic Light-Emitting Diode, it is one of the latest types of TV screens in the market. OLED TVs use smart pixels that create light themselves, preventing it from spreading to other areas of the screen and giving you the most vibrant and brightest colours. Since these newly-introduced TVs do not require LED lights behind the screen, they are ultra-thin with curved screens, which add to the overall viewing experience. Their viewing angles are also brilliant. That means the viewers get the most perfect display regardless of where they are sitting.

OLED TVs are only available in bigger sizes, making them an ideal option for those with large living rooms. Though considered the best TV in 2020, the only major downside to buying these sets is that they are slightly costly.

QLED TVs

QLED TVs were developed to give competition to OLED. While OLED TV has pixels that create lights individually, QLED TV has a quantum dot layer that improves the picture quality and delivers the brightest, boldest and precise colours on the screen. Technically, QLED TVs are just an advanced and more durable version of the regular LED TVs.

Introduced by Samsung, these TVs have the biggest screens. They are also quite pricey. However, the viewing experience they provide is truly unparalleled. 

How to Choose the Perfect TV Screen Size?

When it comes to buying the best TV for your home, the size of the screen is probably the biggest factor that affects your decision. Of course, a lot of people use ‘the bigger, the better’ approach while picking which TV to buy. However, it is not always the best course of action. 

Choosing the best TV screen size for your family is not an easy task. Apart from considering the size of the room, you also need to keep your budget in mind because the larger the screen size, the more it will cost. If you have a big family that likes to watch TV at the same time, you should consider buying the largest screen size that fits into your space and does not go over your budget. 

For example, if you are planning to place your TV in the bedroom, you can opt for a 32 to 40-inch TV, depending on the size of the room. However, for a TV lounge of average size, you can choose a 50 to 65-inch TV if it fits your budget.

Moreover, all TV sets come with recommendations of how far you should sit while watching them. A good rule of thumb is to sit at a distance that is thrice the height of the set for the best viewing experience. 

Here is the breakdown of ideal viewing distance depending on the size of your TV, according to experts.

On a side note, if you are thinking about sprucing up your place, take a look at our trendy yet practical TV lounge design ideas.

TV Screen Resolution

Resolution is one of the most important things to consider when buying a new TV.

The resolution of the TV means the numbers of pixels that create the picture on screen by arranging themselves in horizontal rows and vertical columns. The higher the number of pixels results in sharper picture quality. 

For several years, Full HD TV was considered an ideal option with its 1920×1080 resolution. In fact, it is still the standard resolution in Pakistan. However, it is slowly being replaced with Ultra HD TV sets with 3840 x 2160 resolution. Also known as 4K, these TV sets have a sharper picture quality and display even the smallest objects on the screen in fine detail. 

The 8K TV sets are also available in the market, though experts recommend to skip them from now for two main reasons: They are very expensive and 8K content (such as shows and movies) isn’t available as of yet.

Furthermore, if you are buying a TV for your home, opt for an HDR-compatible set. These TVs deliver better contract levels, increased brightness and enhanced colours. HDR, which stands for High Dynamic Range, is basically an upgrade of the 4K format. 

The TV Refresher Rate

The refresh rate is also something you must take into account when buying a TV for your home. Expressed in Hertz (Hz), the TV refresher rate can be defined as the number of times a picture is refreshed on the screen per second. 

The standard refresh rates are 60 and 120 Hz. While the former is good, the latter is definitely better as it provides smoother motion for movies and shows with fast-changing screens.

Number of Ports and Connections

Always pay attention to the number of USB and HDMI ports the TV set has. Some manufacturers reduce the number of inputs to reduce the cost. Though it may not seem important at the time, it is recommended to buy a TV with at least four ports.

Moreover, if you are buying an OLED or getting a 4K Ultra HD, purchase a TV set that supports HDMI 2.0 to accommodate the latest consoles and sound systems etc.

What is Smart TV?

To keep up with the contemporary needs of the users, manufacturers have started upgrading traditional TV sets with an interactive feature that allows them to connect to the WiFi. Also known as a connected TV, these sets work just like a smartphone and allow users to run different apps.

Almost all new LED and OLED TVs can access the internet. So, if you are looking to buy the best TV for your home, you should consider investing in one of these.

Of course, this has opened up a wide range of entertainment options. Now, users not only use their television sets to watch movies and shows on different online video streaming services in Pakistan, but also use them to play games, check social media platforms, and connect to other compatible devices and smart household gadgets.  

Needless to say, TV sets with this feature are slightly more expensive than others. 

Prices of TV in Pakistan

Now that we have discussed how to choose the best TV in Pakistan, it’s time to discuss their prices. Since LED TVs offer the biggest range of options and are commonly available, we have listed their starting prices to give you an idea of how much it would cost to buy a new set.

Here are the starting prices of LED TVs in Pakistan.

This brings us to the end of our TV buying guide for 2020. If you have any more questions or concerns about buying the best TV for your home, feel free to get in touch with us blog@zameen.com. 

Meanwhile, don’t forget to take a look at our guides to buy the best inverter AC and the perfect air cooler for your home. If interested, you can also check out our pick of smart gadgets for homes in Pakistan.

For more information about different household appliances and products, stay connected to Zameen Blog – your best source of all property-related matters in Pakistan. You can also subscribe to the Zameen Newsletter and Facebook page for the latest updates about the construction and real estate industries.

Disclaimer: Please note that the prices mentioned above have been extracted from the official website of popular electronic manufacturers as well as local vendors. Therefore, the TV prices in Pakistan are subject to change at the discretion of the manufacturing company.