Your Dorm Room Television Sucks
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Your dorm room television sucks. Don’t worry though, there are plenty of options for you that won’t make you broke in the wallet (because I know you already are). Unless you already have a great set-up, maybe a 46-incher, listen up because having the right television for your dorm room is just as crucial as having the right sound system to make staying at college the most enjoyable and have an eye-busting, ear-bleeding experience playing Call of Duty 4 against your room mates.
Unlike sound systems there are many, many more configurations you can think about for your room. If you are stuck in a smaller room and have minimal space for a television, you may want to opt for a built-in DVD player. There are some television models with DVD-players if you search for them, but we’re really looking for a television that has more capability to add things.
Resolution Chart
One of the main things you want to look for is if it is capable of at least 720p, the lower grade of HD-quality. That standard television you used to have was 480i, and incapable of anything spectacular that you can do with your Xbox 360 or PS3 can do for you. Stop living with the past! Save your money and go for an HD-capable television.
You have enough to spend on a decent TV (how about $600-1000). What in the hell do you look for? Good question. If you aren’t accustomed to looking for the good specs on TV it is easy to get mind-blown by some terms like “dynamic contrast” and “refresh rate,” as well as a slew of weird stuff that will make each TV seem like the best piece of technology ever.
The things you need to worry about the most are:
- Compatible formats: either 720p, 1080i/p. Usually if a TV is 1080i, it has 720p available, but not the other way around. The chart on the right is from highest to lowest resolutions.
- Inputs: Can you plug in your DVD-player, an Xbox 360 AND a PS3? Maybe, maybe not. Make sure the TV you are looking at has the right amount of inputs to plug anything and everything you might need.
What about (sometimes dynamic) contrast ratio? This is where things get weird. Contrast ratio is the difference between black and other colors a screen can display. The greater the number, the better black is able to be produced. Because black is not a color, it is the absence of light, televisions cannot really display black, especially if the television uses light to produce images (which… they all do… you knew that). Some televisions boast numbers up to 1,000,000:1 color ratio. Honestly, this is bullshit. Any number above 3,000:1 is good enough. Any higher and you can assume that it is a marketing gimmick (especially if the television is within the price range we mentioned earlier).
Now that you know how to select the features that matter, there are other features that might interest you. Some companies have technologies that stand out depending on what kind of usage you’ll do. Most Samsung televisions have a “game mode” which raises contrasts and is actually dynamic to the game you are playing. Other televisions have low response times, like 4ms (milliseconds), which means that the display is able to display images quicker, resulting in less motion “blur” that you might see while watching sports. The typical you will find to be is 8ms.
Those are the basics. The hardest part is deciding how much you are willing to spend. Depending on how much you want to spend is how big of a TV you’ll be able to afford. Within the range of $500-1000, you can get as big as 42″, and as small as 26″. A good dorm room size is the former, anywhere from 23″ to 32″ is a great size that is just small enough to leave some room, and big enough to have great viewing and features.
Mmm, flat screen!
Top brands to look for:
- Samsung
- LG
- Sony
- Panasonic
- Sharp
Have fun shopping! Need some more help? Try Buzzillions.com, a great resource for narrowing down product searches, and has many user reviews to judge products on.
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Not everyone is so lucky as to have a +40 inch flatscreen television in their shared dorm room.
I agree. Hahaha, I do though so I’m happy enough as it is. My Xbox 360 is broken, however, what a piece of junk, sadly