What specs should I look for on a new tv?

Question

What does it mean if it's "plasma"

What does it mean if it's "liquid crystal"?

What contrast ratio should I look for?

What hook ups do I need?

What do I need to play Blu-Ray?

What are the other factors to consider?

Answer 1

Plasma and Liquid Crystal (LCD) are just to ways of producing an image on a display.  Both have their benefits:

LCD's are cheaper in the smaller sizes, Plasma are usually not produced in sizes less than about 40".

Plasma's have higher refresh rates which produces images with less motion blur.  LCDs can have this technology as well but only in sets with image processors running at 120Hz.

Other than that, they produce very similar images.

Contrast ratio is the difference between the whitest "white" and the blackest "black" that a TV can produce.  The higher the ratio, the better and brighter the image is supposed to be.  The only trouble is there is no industry standard for measuring contrast ratios; each company makes up their own numbers and you just have to take their word for it.

Needed hookups really depend on the devices you wish to hook up to the TV.  However, as a rule of thumb, make sure your TV has at least 3 HDMI ports if the TV is going to be the center of your entertainment setup.  Older connections won't hurt either such as composite and component for older equipment like VCRs, if you have them!

To play Blu-Ray, you need a TV with an HDMI or component inputs, though HDMI is better and supports higher resolutions.

An important question to ask is "What will you be doing with your TV"

I can tell you right now that if you plan on watching Blu-Ray movies, you want a TV with 1080P resolution, buy what your budget can afford.  I recommend the Samsung TVs and the Sharp Aquos TVs with Samsung having the better sets.  LCDs with 120Hz or Plasmas are the way to go.  Again, buy the best your budget can spare with these minimums.