BUYING A NEW TV?
LEARN THESE WORDS BEFORE YOU BUY.

TV JARGON

TV has come a long way in the last few years and each new year the TV makers introduce new and confusing marketing terms.
This glossary gives you a basic understanding of the terms you need to understand before making a purchase.
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1080p - 1,920 horizontal pixels and 1,080 vertical pixels comprising the TV display. About 2 million pixels total. The p means progressive scan. 60 frames per second video.

720p - 1,280 horizontal pixels and 720 vertical pixels comprising the TV display. About 1 million pixels total.
Most 720p TV displays are actually 1366 by 768 pixels which is the native resolution of the TV.
720p TV displays will scale incoming signals such as 1080p to their native resolution.

4K - 3,840 horizontal pixels and 2,160 vertical pixels comprising the TV display. About 8 million pixels total.

8K - 7,680 horizonal pixels and 4,320 vertical pixels comprising the TV display. About 33 million pixels total.

ARC - Audio Return Channel uses the HDMI cable to connect the TV to a home theater system for digital audio and eliminates an optical digital audio cable connection.

ASPECT RATIO - the ratio of width to height for tv display screen. The old analog NTSC TV standard used a 4 to 3 aspect ratio while the ATSC digital TV standard uses 16 to 9 widescreen.

ATSC - Advanced Television Systems Committee is a digital TV standards group including many companies interested in standard practices, rules and technology.

HDMI - high definition multimedia interface, an audio video digital connection standard for devices such as high definition tv and devices supplying source signals.
Digital TVs today almost always have HDMI inputs for high definition signals.
The cables carry both audio and video.

HDR - High Dynamic Range. better contrast, deeper blacks and brighter whites.

High Definition - 720p, 1080p, 4K and 8K are all high definition HDTV, with 4K and 8K often called Ultra High Definition UHD.

INPUT SIGNAL - TVs have built-in tuners for over the air broadcasts but for cable TV, satellite TV or other signals, an external signal source is required.

LCD - liquid crystal display TV uses a fluorescent backlight and a panel of liquid crystals sandwiched between control layers. CCFL cold cathode fluorescent backlight.

LED - light emitting diode TV uses an array of LEDs to backlight instead of a fluorescent light, reducing the thickness of the display and providing longer life and using less power than fluorescent.

NATIVE RESOLUTION - the actual physical number of pixels in the TV display

OLED - organic light emitting diode. TV displays using OLED technology are very thin and can even be flexible.
The OLED technology does not use a backlight as do the LCD TV displays.
Instead the OLED display is capable of producing light from applied current with the advantage being that the
current can be shut off entirely to a pixel so that it appears completely black. This yields a better contrast and picture.
LCD displays came before LED displays which came before OLED. OLED displays use less power than LCD TVs

PIXEL - the tiny dots that make up the TV display screen. The smallest bit of data in a video image.
Short for Picture element that can show red, green and blue color information. A 32 inch 1080p TV has the same number of pixels as a 55 inch 1080p TV.

Progressive scan -

QLED - Samsung TV display technology. Quantum Dot LED is a filter of tiny crystal semiconductor particles for improved contrast, color and brightness. Rival to OLED.

REFRESH RATE - the number of times the TV image is redrawn per second expressed in Hz

RESOLUTION - TV displays with a fixed pixel array height x width defined. The amount of detail in a video image.

SCALE or Scaler - a digital video processor with memory to match the incoming signals to the fixed display of the TV. Conversion can be up-conversion or down-conversion.

SMART-TV - A TV with Internet access and built-in software for accessing internet content. Wi-Fi, wireless or ethernet port physical cable connection built-in to TV.

Standard Definition - TVs and other devices with 480p resolution 640 pixels by 480 pixels. About 300,000 pixels total. Not High Definition.

USB - port for connecting external devices to the TV such as a digital camera.

VESA Wall Mount - Standard for mounting TV to a wall. Brackets and predrilled holes on rear of TV for compatible wall mounting.

WIDE SCREEN - the 16 to 9 aspect ratio of high def TV

Wi-Fi - Wireless Fidelity is a radio communication technology standard which allows digital devices to communicate wirelessly within a few hundred feet.