Amount of Light in the Room

Generally, electronic stores are flooded with light. See if the salesperson can reduce the amount of light shining on the picture. If that is not possible, try to shade the screen if light is shining directly on it.

Use DVDs to Check Picture Quality
That is right. DVDs provide the best picture a television can display. Therefore, bring a few of your favorite DVDs with you, and see if you can use it instead of the TV signal that is normally shown.

Playing a couple of your pre-selected “reference” scenes on a number of TVs will give you a quick point of comparison. This will help you judge the true picture quality of your HDTV. If the store shows a negative attitude for using your own discs, it probably does not deserve your business.


Try Out All the Picture Modes
Most of the HDTVs come with numerous picture modes, such as movie, sports, standard and mild. Try all these modes, and see how every mode affects the appearance of the picture.


Check Out Colors
Pay attention to how the primary colors, red, green and blue look on a set. Does grass look natural, or is it too vibrant? Pay particular attention to the red color. See if they are overbearing, or blotchy looking. Check whether red color appears like orange color. These checking would help you to judge the picture quality of your HDTV more precisely.


Stability of Image
Try scenes where the camera moves across a background with plenty of diagonal lines, like stadium bleachers or a row of windows. Is the image stable, or does it break up and lose resolution?


Geometry and Convergence
Look toward the edges of the screen, preferably with graphics or other straight lines. You can try out CNN's crawling ticker. That works great. See if the lines are actually straight. To check convergence, look at the corners with white material, preferably lines again, and see if faint halos of color surround the white.


Picture-In-Picture (PIP)
If you feel it important, see if the set allows you to use picture-in-picture with all kinds of programs. Can you use it with a high-definition signal? Can you use all of the inputs as PIP sources? Answers for these questions would help you to choose the right HDTV set.