A friend and his wife came over last weekend seeking for advice on a new Flat Screen TV for their new home. There are many technical variables which need to be considered before deciding upon a flat screen tv, but perhaps the most hyped feature is screen resolution. This is commonly marketed as HD-Ready or Full-HD 1080p.

If you were to go to any electronics store in Kuala Lumpur, you would notice that most sales personnel would try to sell you the latest Full-HD screens, whether or not you really need it. The reason? Higher commissions. Full HD screens have driven the prices of lower resolution screens down, which is an excellent thing. Unfortunately, if you are not fully aware of the technical details, you may get influenced by the sales pitch and end up with something that does not mactch your needs.

When deciding on which resolution to go for, the first thing you will need to know is the type of content you are going to watch on it. Chances are, like most people with basic entertainment requirements, you will be primarily watching Astro and an occasional DVD movie. This is considered medium to low resolution content with a typical resolution of about 500 horizontal lines. If you were to watch this on a high-resolution flat-screen TV, the content is going to pixelate. What this means is that the picture is going to look very blocky (like the image of the eye below). This is similar to what would happen if you took a photo with your digital camera at a low-resolution (such as 2 megapixel) and printed it at a large size.

If on the other hand, you are an avid gamer, and have an Microsoft Xbox 360, or a Sony PlayStation 3, you should get a Full HD screen to enjoy the breathtaking detail which videogames today have to offer. Another thing which would justify a Full-HD screen is if you are going to watch high definition video, which comes in either Blue Ray or HD-DVD formats. A Sony PlayStation 3 also doubles up a Blue-Ray player, so you can watch high definition movies.

Personally, if all you are going to watch is Astro and DVD videos, I would recommend that you try and source an older Flat Screen TV with a low resolution of about 1024×768 pixels. You may be able to get this set at a bargain and it will produce a smoother image compared to the newer Flat Screen TVs if you are watching Astro and DVDs.

So the next time you are at the electronics store, with breath-taking images being displayed on the Flat Screen TVs, ask the sales assistant to show you what the screen looks like with Astro or a normal DVD. Do not be surprised to see a pixelated image. But hey, its better to see it at the shop than once you take it back home with you.