TV buying checklist
Open a section, slide each spec to what you want, and print your own TV wish list at the end.
Measured corner to corner in inches. Measure from your sofa to the wall first: for a 4K TV, sitting roughly 1.5 times the screen size away works well.
32″39.8 x 70.8 cm43″53.5 x 95.2 cm55″68.5 x 122 cm65″80.9 x 144 cm75″93.4 x 166 cmDrawn to the same scale. The coloured area is the screen.
A popular living room size, about 2 to 2.5 m from the sofa.
How many pixels make up the picture. More pixels look sharper, especially on bigger screens and when you sit close.
AaSmall text on the screenand even smaller details in photosMagnified to show the difference.
The standard for 43 inch and up. Netflix, YouTube and Prime Video all stream in 4K.
The screen technology. It decides how deep blacks look, how bright the TV gets and how rich the colours are.
An LED TV with a quantum dot layer for brighter, richer colours. Blacks are similar to LED.
HDR (high dynamic range) shows brighter highlights and more colour in shows made for it. The formats differ in how well each scene is tuned.
Also scene by scene, and used by Netflix, JioHotstar and Apple TV+.
How bright the screen gets, in nits. It matters in a sunny room and for HDR. Brands often quote a peak on a tiny patch, so check reviews.
Your bank OTP is 482913
Can you read this in a bright room?
How the screen reads under bright light, roughly.
Comfortable in a normal living room during the day.
Dims the backlight only behind dark parts of the picture, so blacks look black. OLED does not need it, as each pixel switches off on its own.
Dims the whole screen at once. Often sold as "local dimming", but it is not.
How the picture holds up when you sit to the side. It matters when the family sits on a wide sofa or around the room.
Colours hold from the side, though blacks look greyer at night.
How many times a second the panel redraws. Check the native figure: "motion rate" or "240 Hz effective" numbers are marketing.
Slowed down so you can see it. Each dot is one frame.
Fine for shows, films and cricket. Most budget and mid-range TVs.
Input lag is the delay between pressing a button and seeing it on screen. ALLM and VRR are features that cut lag and tearing with consoles.
Auto low latency mode turns game mode on by itself when a console starts.
HDMI 2.1 is the newer port that carries 4K at 120 Hz from a console. eARC sends full-quality sound from the TV to a soundbar.
Sends Dolby Atmos to a soundbar over one HDMI cable. Plain ARC is more limited.
The chip runs the menus and apps, and cleans up and upscales lower-quality video. Brands rarely name it, so RAM and storage are the easiest clues.
Handles streaming apps well. Look for 16 GB storage or more.
The TV's operating system, where you find apps like JioHotstar, Netflix and YouTube. All the main ones have the popular Indian apps.
The widest app choice, with Chromecast and Google voice search built in.
How the TV joins your home Wi-Fi, and whether you can send video from your phone. Chromecast works with Android phones, AirPlay with iPhones.
Uses the faster 5 GHz band too. Good for 4K streaming.
Speaker power in watts, and Dolby Atmos, a format for more spacious sound. Thin TVs have small speakers, so watts are only a rough guide.
Fills a normal living room
Rough idea only. Brands measure watts differently.
Louder with a little more body. Enough for most living rooms.
HDMI ports connect a set-top box, console, soundbar or laptop. USB ports play files from a pen drive and can power a streaming stick.
Room for a set-top box, soundbar and console.
The panel is the most expensive part of a TV to replace, often most of its cost. Some brands cover it longer than the rest of the TV.
An extra year on the panel. Often offered on mid-range TVs.
How the TV sits in your room. Check what is in the box, and whether installation is free.
Check the feet fit your table. Feet at the far edges need a wide unit.
Your wish list
TV WISH LIST
by TechPP Insights
Your next TV should have these minimum specs
Your picks will print here.
Scan to make your own wish list
techpp.app
Choose at least one spec to print your wish list.
Down to two TVs? See them side by side or decode your remote
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