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On the flip side, if you are watching a standard definition signal, an EDTV will have a 10% better picture than an HDTV because it has to do less upconverting to match its native resolution. If you are watching a DVD on an EDTV, it will also look better than on an HDTV because no conversion has to take place.

Standard TV will also look better on an EDTV because less upconversion has to occur. This is a major selling point since up to 90% of broadcasts are non-HD. Many HDTVs do a very poor job of displaying standard definition content because they tend to magnify the flaws in the signal.

Finally, the difference in price between a EDTV and HDTV can be almost $1000.

Do you need more reason to at least consider an EDTV?

Buying Tips
Buying a new TV is always a major purchase. When you’re putting down a couple grand or more, you have to go into the store knowing more than just what the sales associate will tell you.

There are several things to realize about televisions at your local electronics store. All the TVs are set to their showroom settings. This means that the brightness and contrast are set to about as high as they can go so that they catch your eye. The showroom settings are not optimal for a living room, so you have to take this into consideration. Most showrooms also are dimly lit so that the TVs look their best. Remember that your living room probably has incandescent lighting and windows. Finally, retailers are obviously going to have an HD signal playing on all the TVs. Sure, this makes them look their best, but you have to remember that a very large majority of the programming you watch will be non-HD. If you’re interested in a particular HDTV, ask to see if you can see a standard definition signal on it.

Of course, size is an issue (and it does matter in this case). You should go to the store knowing your room dimensions and have a good idea how far you will normally be sitting from the TV. When you’re at the store, bring a tape measure and measure the distance you will most likely be sitting from the TV. You don’t want to go too big because sure, being immersed in a movie might be pretty neat, but when watching the news it can be pretty distracting. You also don’t want to sit too close to a large screen TV because at a certain point you will actually be able see the pixels, which is not a good thing.

Once you find a television that fits your needs and budget at the store, hold yourself back and kindly tell the clerk that you’re “Still looking.” Then go home and get online. Search shopping.com, pricegrabber.com, and froogle.google.com to find the best price. Check out sites like avsforum.com to read about the TV you’re interested in from people that actually own it. You’d be amazed at how much information you can find.

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