There are many different factors that come into play with regards to HDTV picture quality. I will go over a few of the things to look for when you are researching Flat Screen TV's. Of course there is the price issue. This should be your first criterion when searching for an HDTV.

Most people think BIG, when they think of Flat Panel HDTV. If you are more concerned with screen size than picture quality then perform a product search on a shopping search engine for HDTV's at 50+. Then sort the results by price. If you see several Flat Panel TV's that fall within your budget you're on the right track, if not you need to think about a smaller screen.

If you have a limited budget and picture quality is what you're after then there are numerous things to consider. If you want a light weight, thin HDTV you should be looking at LCD HDTV's and Plasma. There are also LCD televisions that are illuminated by light emitting diodes (LED). These are the most energy efficient HDTV's, but they are expensive.

An interesting note about LCD versus Plasma HDTV's. LCD tv's do not produce as true of blacks as Plasma HDTV's, unless you go with an LED LCD tv. As I mentioned earlier the LED HDTV's are much more expensive than the normal backlit LCD versions, but you will see much richer colors and deeper blacks.

Many people are more interested in picture size and picture quality than they are in how slim the screen is. For the highest picture quality and picture size you may want to look at Digital Light Processing (DLP) televisions. DLP tv's are rear projection units that use micro mirrors on a semi conductor chip to rapidly reflect light. In some Mitsubishi Laservue televisions they use laser light for the color. DLP HDTV's can be bright, clear, full 1080p resolution and they make fabulous 3D HDTV's. You can have all this at a fraction of the price of an LCD HDTV. The only draw back is power consumption and bulk. These TV's do have a significant footprint, but you can purchase an 80 3D HDTV for under $3000.00!

Now onto resolution. Currently, HDTV's come in two resolutions, 720p and 1080p. The number reference is to the vertical scan lines of resolution. This is based on the assumption of a 169 aspect ratio and 1920 horizontal resolution of 1920 pixels. The p does not refer to pixels however, but refers to progressive. Progressive means that a line is produced for every refresh cycle. Older HDTV's, and current regular tv's, use interlace i, which means a line is created every other refresh cycle.

You may think that you have to have a full 1080p resolution HDTV, but that may not be the case. If you are going to purchase an HDTV with a screen size under 40 1080p is not going to make that big of a difference. Another item to mention is that currently, neither cable nor satellite broadcast programming in full 1080p. They broadcast HDTV in 720p, so at the moment, the only way to utilize full 1080p is to use a Blue-ray disc player.

Finally, the last item to consider is refresh rate. If you intend to watch action movies or sports you will need a TV with a fast refresh rate. LCD HDTV's on the lower price scale use 60 Hz refresh rates, which will result in a lot of motion blur with high speed scenes. The next step up for an LCD tv is 120 Hz. This will result in a much smoother picture, but will cost a lot more money. Many manufacturers are now making simulated 240 Hz refresh rates for LCD tv's, but the jury is out on the added benefits. Plasma HDTV's on the other hand do well at fast motion scenes with the base 60 Hz refresh rate, but there are higher end models with a 600 Hz subfield, which results in movie theater quality crispness and flow in high speed action scenes. Modern DLP HDTV's don't suffer from motion blur.

As a final point I suggest you read flat screen tv reviews from actual customers. Many sites that sell televisions allow customers to leave feedback. If you do purchase a flat screen tv please leave feedback throughout the internet to help others in their quest for the ultimate HDTV buying experience.

If you would like to read tv reviews by actual customers please check out my site Flat Screen TV Reviews. You can always check our TV Buying Guide on our site for any updates at TV Buying Guide. Thanks and happy HDTV!