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Television technology is changing so rapidly – unless you work in the industry or are an AV enthusiast, the television you buy next time will probably not remotely resemble the one you currently have. We have jumped from standard definition cathode ray tubes that receive only an analog signal, to the HDTV with LCD, LED or plasma display technology and digital tuner inbuilt as the new standard.

It is hard to keep up with these base improvements, let alone track all the different extras and features you can get with different models! Today our HDTV buying guide will look at what extras you need when buying an LCD television, which are good for specific uses, and which are still too expensive to be worthwhile.

Connection extras

Some LCD televisions come with a whole range of different jacks and plugs. HDMI is the new gold standard, but many televisions come with optional wireless interfaces for different devices, Ethernet and USB connections, Firewire connections, as well as the standard audio in, composite cables, S-video cables, etc. It seems LCD television manufacturers are doing plenty with quality, but not much with that spaghetti bowl behind the television yet!

So do you actually need all these different connections? Usually, yes. If you have a laptop computer, certainly yes. There are so many ways that computers and televisions can interact nowadays, and this will only grow in the future – you might be limiting yourself immensely if you fail to get the model with a few extra plug-holes.

Sound extras

You can get a lot of different audio features with televisions nowadays. Many have stereo output, and anything above 5W per channel will give you decent sound quality. There are televisions with different sound modes, room settings, voice zoom and surround sound.

Do you need that fancy audio? If you don not have an audio system to run your television through, yes. If you do have an audio system hooked up to the LCD television, these features are a waste of money – they will hardly ever be used.

Tuner extras

Sometimes you will see LCD televisions with memory modes for favourite-channel-surfing, checking channel lists, etc. For heavy watchers and incessant surfers, these can be handy.

Do you need the tuner extras though? Many people find that it is simpler to do things the old way, and don not end up using these. HDTV buying guides don not make a big point of them any more.

Syncing/connectivity extras

Many television manufacturers allow other devices from within their brand to sync, or exchange and update information, with the television. Sony Bravia and Sharp Aquos are two major examples.

Is this a required extra? Only if you already own a compatible hardware item, or plan to buy one.

Picture in picture If you want to avoid switching between two channels to see when the news article you have been waiting for starts, or want to check out what songs are playing on the music channel while watching Law And Order, picture in picture can be a handy feature.

However, is it a necessary feature? If you use an external tuner rather than your television’s inbuilt tuner (for example, you change channels using your DVD player remote, or through a satellite or cable box), picture in picture will not work with scrambled channels. You might find that your setup renders it useless. Ask your AV expert about whether picture in picture will work with your hardware arrangement before you use it in an LCD television buying decision.