What Makes a Great Gaming TV?

When you’re buying a TV you should really take into consideration what you’re going to be using it for before you shell out your hard earned cash. There are so many TVs on the market, all with their strengths and weaknesses. However, one of main reasons that many people invest in a new TV is because the spend a lot of their time playing video games, so what makes a TV suitable for gaming?

You can hook up a games console to practically any TV, there’s no reason why you can’t connect your Xbox of Playstation 3 to an old CRT set. Of course the games won’t look anywhere near as sharp and crisp as they’re meant to, but they’ll still be playable.

However, if you’re very keen on games and want to get the most out of your console then you’ll need a HDTV. There are plenty of low cost HDTVs currently on the market ranging from cheap plasma TVs to top of the range LED sets, so choosing a TV for gaming can be quite confusing, especially if you don’t know what it is about a TV that makes it especially suitable for gaming.

Well first off, plenty of HDMI ports is something to look for. Most modern games consoles use HDMI to connect to your TV and many TVs that are designed for gaming will have several HDMI ports in easily accessible locations, making it easy to connect and remove devices.

Viewing angle is another point of consideration. TV sets with a wide viewing angel are especially suitable for playing multiplayer games with large groups of people where not everyone will be able to sit directly in front of the screen.

1080p is a must for a TV if you’re planning on using it for playing the latest games. However, you won’t find this feature limited to TVs specifically desinged for games playing as most large televisions on the market will be equipped with 1080p for the sharpest possible resolution.

Of course, you must remember that although a TV may be marketed as a ‘Gaming TV’ that doesn’t mean that it can’t be used for regular viewing and watching movies, they’re designed to be used for everything, but are just especially suitable for playing games.