When you want a new TV then there is some new technology on the market you really need to consider, and the sizes are still increasing too, both those things can make it really hard to choose your next model. One good thing which makes your choice easier is that it looks like the plasma TV is a dying breed, it seems the LCD TV has won that particular war. There are still a few plasmas on the market which are trying to grab your money, but the LCD is firmly in control now so think long and hard before you go against the trend.

Below are the 2 main considerations you need to make when you go TV shopping now:

3D TV is coming out: That’s right, the first wave of 3D televisions have started to trickle onto the market and tempt consumers, with more to surely follow, but are they worth buying? The main problem I see with the technology is that these first TVs use those ‘active shutter’ glasses to make the 3D effect. The ‘active’ part of the name means each lens has a shutter on it that opens and closes faster than the eye can notice, that way when it is synced with the TV you can have a different image shown to each eye as you watch. They look a lot better than the red and green lens glasses we had when I was a kid, and I wouldn’t mind watching them once a week with a good film, but watching the news in them? No thanks.

So I think we should wait a few years before we decide to invest in a 3D TV, by then hopefully the technology will have matured and we can see if they manage to get rid of the glasses or not. Another good thing about waiting is that it gives them time to work out any bugs that emerge with this batch of TVs, and it gives the price time to go down as more TVs come out to create competition .

LED backlighting is available: These TVs are often incorrectly referred to as LED TVs, when actually they are just a normal LCD TV with LED backlighting. The hype surrounding them stems from the fact they have ripped out the rather bulky CCFLs that are in the back of every other LCD TV to provide light, and they have put in LEDs instead which are much smaller. The end result is a TV with ultra slim sides and with its thickest point being just 2 inches, but is it worth paying more for that when LCD TVs are pretty slim already?

I think it is a good step forward, it makes them lighter and thinner, but I wouldn’t pay a massive premium for it like they are charging at the moment while the technology is still new and sparkly. Instead have a look in a year or so, and if the price difference between the TV you are looking at with and without LED backlighting is just 10% or less, then maybe get one, otherwise I don’t think it is worth it.

Another thing you need to think about is the size, if you are stuck with a 32 LCD TV then you might want to consider upgrading to a 42 incher, but the 55 inch TV is too big for a normal family to enjoy comfortably.