Staying Fit

If you’re in the market for a new television, you may find that most sets you choose from will come with the ability to connect to the internet via ethernet cable or Wi-Fi.
That is essentially what manufacturers mean when they talk about smart TVs. That’s because video streaming — watching TV over the internet rather than through a cable or satellite service — has become a standard viewing option in many households.

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So if you’re considering an upgrade to your window to the world mounted on the wall, you’re probably going to get a smart TV, whether you want one or not. A smart TV can be your ticket to top-notch movie and TV streaming that’s cheaper than cable TV, or free ad-supported video on demand that comes without a monthly subscription but still lets you watch a favorite show at your convenience.
“For an older audience, a smart TV is really valuable,” says Ty Ahmad-Taylor, vice president of product marketing at Facebook’s parent company, Meta. “It allows them to cut the cord with regards to paying a large cable bill for a bunch of channels they don’t want to subscribe to.”
But TV terminology probably has changed since the last time you purchased a television, especially if you bought in anticipation of the end of analog TV broadcasts in 2009. And it can be overwhelming to wrap your head around the latest phrases, acronyms and industry jargon. Here’s a handy glossary to help you take advantage of sales.
4K should be a minimum
Your next TV will be a whole lot sharper. Referred to as “4K” or sometimes ultra-high-definition TV, these televisions offer four times the resolution of a 1080p high-definition television (HDTV).
Instead of a screen that has roughly 2 million pixels, the little dots that make up the image, these televisions boast more than 8 million pixels. The “p” in a 1080p HDTV doesn’t stand for pixels but progressive scan, which renders a picture in the same way as your computer screen.
Each line of these digital images is created in sequence, in contrast to old analog TVs that drew every other line and then filled in the blanks, called interlaced video. (But the number of pixels vertically in a 1080p HDTV is 1,080, so that can add to the confusion.)
Many TV providers and almost all streaming services now support 4K content, so the timing is ripe to pick up a 4K TV. But one caveat: If you’re buying a TV that’s 42 inches or smaller, it doesn’t pay to go with 4K. The screen size isn’t big enough to appreciate the extra detail unless you plan on sitting really close.
8K holds promise
Some newer TVs already have leapfrogged to deliver 8K resolution. So instead of the 8 million pixels that make up a 4K image, more than 33 million pixels result in an unbelievably lifelike and clear picture with a resolution best appreciated on a large television.
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