How Big is Your Room?

How big is the room your new TV will be in? If you're going to put your new TV in a smaller den or bedroom, keep in mind how much space is needed. Think not only about watching it, but how it will look in the space. Don't forget to include other components like speakers, home theater receiver, cable box, DVD player, etc.

What will you be watching?

The type of programming is important because a lot of TV is still not Hi Def. This type of programming is not going to look as good on your HDTV and the bigger the screen is the worse the imperfections will be. This applies to old TV shows and movies. Are you a big fan of the Turner Movie Channel or TVLand?

On the other hand, new TV shows and especially DVDs or BluRay discs are going to be fantastic on your big screen. Ditto sports, etc.

How far away will you be sitting?

If you're sitting too far from a small TV you aren't going to get the maximum advantage of the picture quality. This has always been the case from the beginning of TV time. A little TV is a little TV, Hi Def or not.

Today's picture quality has become so good that it can be a disadvantage to sit too close to a large TV. In the old days of cathode ray picture tubes, there was no such thing as a pixel. Now, your television picture is made up of tiny units called pixels. Because the quality of the TV picture is so good, these individual pixels can be seen when viewed closely. That's not a good thing. If you're sitting too close to a large TV, particularly a plasma TV, the individual pixels can become annoyingly distracting. This has been dubbed the "screen door effect" because it actually looks as though you're looking at the world through a screen door. That's not what you paid your hundreds or thousands of dollars to see.

Use the rule of 2 to 3 to determine the optimal size of your new TV. To do this, measure the distance from your viewing spot to where the TV screen will be. Measure in inches and keep in mind that a flat screen TV will probably be up against the wall. Now divide that distance by two. For example, if the distance was 70 inches, 70/2 = 35. Now divide that same number, 70, by three and you'll get 26.6 or 27 when you round it off. The optimal size for a TV when the viewing distance is 70 inches would be between 27 and 35 inches.

How will you be getting your new TV home?

Don't laugh. It's a good idea to check the size of your vehicle before trying to tote your new HDTV home. Have your ever seen someone with a mattress strapped to the top of his car? Don't be that guy.