Best HDTVs for Football Season
We'll show you how to pick an HDTV that will give you the best picture so you can enjoy the upcoming NFL season.
The 2007 football season is upon us and right now hundreds of well-paid, highly motivated professional football players are playing hard so their rabid fans can get the maximum entertainment out of their performance. Don't you owe it to them to watch them play on the absolutely best possible TV you can get? There's still plenty of time to enjoy this season on a flashy new TV set.
A brand new HDTV will completely change the way you watch sports at home, especially football. The super-high resolution and crisp, detailed display makes watching a football game an immersive experience, taking you into the huddles and giving you the extra clarity you need so you can scream your head off at the referees for making a bad call.
The Benefits You Get
Our Top Picks for Football HDTVs
| A | is outstanding and exceptional, rated in the top 10% of LCD and plasma TVs. |
| B | means they are good, with some standout features. |
| C | means they are mediocre, and probably more trouble than they're worth. |
| D & F | mean they are absolutely awful or old. Avoid at all costs. |
| A | is outstanding and exceptional, rated in the top 10% of LCD and plasma TVs. |
| B | means they are good, with some standout features. |
| C | means they are mediocre, and probably more trouble than they're worth. |
| D & F | mean they are absolutely awful or old. Avoid at all costs. |
Widescreen! The 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio of an HDTV reveals vast amounts of action that were previously invisible to those using standard definition TV sets. No longer are viewers constrained to a tight camera angle that follows the snap, the throw, the reception. Now, you can watch the backfield and see the up and down the field.
Big TVs, Low Prices. Never before have consumers been able to acquire such large televisions for such reasonable prices. A 42" flat-screen television can be had for around $1000, and HD DLP televisions can reach 60 and 70-inches without putting much more of a dent in your bank account.
Superior Audio and Picture Quality. You'll see greener greens on the field, be able to spot individual faces in the crowd, and see details you never knew you were missing. If you ever wanted to count how many blades of grass are on a football field, an HDTV will help. Dolby 5.1 surround sound will make the bone-crushing hits and awe-inspiring roars of the crowd seem like they are emanating from your own living room.
The Specifications You Need
Perhaps the most important specification to be aware of is Response Time. This spec, usually conveyed in milliseconds, is about how quickly an HDTV can refresh the entire image on the screen. If it's too slow, moving images (like football players, cheerleaders, and fancy animated touchdown graphics) will appear blurry or jagged. The average, optimal response time is 8 milliseconds, which should provide excellent coverage for moving figures and sports games. Anything more than that is out of bounds.
Another specification to be mindful of is Contrast Ratio. This number measures how well an HDTV can display the color black. Displaying the color black accurately is important because it helps define edges and make the picture really pop off the screen. HDTVs with low contrast ratios often display blacks as grays or browns, muddying up the picture and reducing overall quality. Try and look for a TV with a contrast ratio of at least 12,00:1.
It is absolutely crucial that your new HDTV have an HDMI input. In order to get the absolute best-quality HD signal from your cable or satellite provider, you'll need to connect your set-top box to your TV with an HDMI input. Component cables will do in a pinch, but the digital signal provided by HDMI is the absolute best connection you can have.
The Specification You Don't Have to Worry About
1080p Resolution. Many manufacturers tout 1080p as the pinnacle of HD resolution, and technically, it is. The only problem is that there are no television channels that currently broadcast in 1080p. That means you'd be spending a few extra hundred dollars for a feature that is ultimately wasted. FOX Sports, ESPN and ABC's high-definition broadcasts are in 720p, which is considered superior for football because it handles moving images better than the alternatives. Either a 720p or 1080i capable HDTV will serve you just fine.
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