Consumer Alert: Buying a new TV this holiday season? Here's what to look for

If you're in the market for a new TV this holiday season, you could find that the choices are staggering and the features are not always easy to understand. News 12's Walt Kane breaks it all down.

News 12 Staff

Nov 29, 2019, 3:50 PM

Updated 1,779 days ago

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The holiday shopping season is officially underway, but if you’re looking to buy a new TV, you could find yourself feeling overwhelmed by all the new technology.
The choices are staggering and the features are not always easy to understand. News 12's Walt Kane visited Best Buy to see how much things have changed in just the past year.
"Last holiday season, we were talking about the transition from high definition to 4K and the great picture quality that came with that. Now we’re actually talking about 8K and we’re talking about larger panel TVs too," says Brian Sesta, with Best Buy.
Experts say 4K TVs are quickly becoming the standard. TV channels that support 4K still don't exist yet, but there are a growing number of titles on Amazon, Netflix and other streaming services.
By contrast, there's literally nothing to watch yet in 8K. Most analysts say you can safely keep waiting for prices to drop on those.
One thing that you should examine is a TV's processing power, or refresh rate. If you like to watch sports or action movies, you're going to want a faster processor in the TV.
Last year, it was worth looking for a TV with a high dynamic range for better picture quality. But this year, there are three competing versions: HDR, HDR Plus and Dolby Vision. All will work -- which is best for you depends on what streaming services you use.
And some TVs now come with the ability to be controlled by your Amazon or Google smart device.
If having the latest features doesn’t matter to you and you’re looking to get the best price, experts say you can get some of the biggest savings by buying last year’s technology.