Question on Home Entertainment:

I am thinking of buying a LCD TV. In terms of usage, I'll likely use the TV for: viewing free-to-air programs (50%), playing games on my PS3 (30%) and viewing DVD movies (20%).

Since I have a mixture of input quality from SD to HD, should I get a full-HD or a HD-ready LCD TV?

Submitted by Reader

Answer:

For your case, an HD-ready LCD TV is fine for your requirements since 70 percent of your usage is based on standard-definition material. In addition, some of the PS3 games are 720p-encoded as well, so you're not losing out in terms of visual details for these titles.

Having said that, you'll probably be limited to mainly 32-inchers since most TV manufacturers favor full-HD panels in their midrange to high-end models. A workaround is to consider a 42-inch plasma TV. These HD-compatible panels have even lower XGA resolution, though this is still more than sufficient for rendering TV broadcasts and DVDs.

Check out our How to Select a HDTV series for your current options in the market.