My family recently bought a new HDTV, upgrading from a 32″ to a 47″, and I love our new TV. When we bought our first one, we didn’t do any research. It was a total impulse buy with some extra money we had at the time a couple years ago. This time I did quite a lot of research beforehand and ended up with an HDTV that I’m very satisfied with and that I feel is a significant upgrade from my first one. Oh, and it cost a lot less than the average cost of an HDTV of its size. I’m just going to impart the few important things I learned about HDTV-on-a-budget in as little words as possible.

Listen: if you are buying less than 50″, and you can save a few or even a couple hundred bucks doing it, you will probably be very happy with a 720p HDTV. Especially if you primarily just watch TV. Most HD cable broadcast is in 720p or 1080i. There are some 1080p broadcasts, but they are in the minority. I’m sure that will change in the coming years though. If you are buying 50″ or bigger, I would strongly suggest getting 1080p though (that’s if they even make bigger ones in 720p).

The one HDTV spec that I was most confused by when I bought an HDTV last was Hz. A 60Hz HDTV is likely to show some blurring during fast motion, which you might notice if you watch a lot of sports programs and action movies. You may or may not be sensitive to something like that, but it is a factor. A 120Hz LCD HDTV is much more seamless. But a decent Plasma HDTV should be 600Hz, so it’s obviously far superior in that aspect. So if your household watches a lot of sports programs and action movies (anything where there is frequent fast motion), then you probably want to go the extra bit and spring for a 120Hz LCD or a Plasma. But if your family primarily watches TV dramas and non-action movies, getting a 60Hz HDTV would be a good way to save some money without noticeable loss in quality.

LCD vs. Plasma life. This one’s easy. You will hear that one or the other lasts longer, but that information is outdated. LCDs and Plasmas that you buy new these days will last the same amount of time. There hasn’t been an inequality in the longevity of the two technologies in a couple years.

If you’re just looking to upgrade your tube TV to an entry level 32″ or even 42″ HDTV, all HD cable broadcast, Blu-rays and DVDs won’t look noticeably better to most people on a $1000 1080p HDTV than on a $500 or $600 720p HDTV, not at this size – so save money here!

Now there is LED, and it’s supposed to be superior to all, but I’m not pretending to know anything about that…well, not this month anyway. Maybe next time I’ll share what I’ve learned about LEDs.