Don't Miss a Snap

Know what to look for in a TV that keeps up with the action on the field

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (January 13, 2020) — When the action on the field is fast, but you are at home on your couch, you want to be watching it on a TV that keeps pace with what is happening in the game.

And when that game is one of the Top 10 most watched sporting events in the world, you don’t want to miss a snap. Quick facts: in 2018 the top five most watched sporting events in the United States were all NFL games, including the Big Game at the end of the season; in Canada, the NFL’s penultimate game is annually among the most viewed TV programs in the country — only bumped from the top spot by Olympics, a Canadian NHL team in the Stanley Cup final, last year’s Toronto Raptors winning the NBA championship and, once, by the Academy Awards.

“When that many people are watching, you don't want to be a second behind what is going on,” says Meaghan Wilkinson, Director of Marketing for Hisense Canada. “It’s easy to think bigger is better when it comes to watching sports on TV, but you should be giving it more thought than that. Professional athletes move quick. You don’t want your big screen lagging or blurring. You want crisp, clear and bright colours with contrast that makes it look like they are playing right in your living room. For sports specifically, a QLED TV is a great choice because there’s a lot of static imagery and sharp contrast when you look at things like sports tickers.”

When shopping for the best TV for watching sports, Meaghan recommends looking for the following:

• Laser: Admittedly for those with a bigger budget, Laser TVs are the next evolution of the projection TV. They have massive screens that are more affordable and efficient than a typical LCD, with true-to-life images that exceed the standard 4K colour range. The image produced by the laser light is precise without unwanted light dispersion, meaning the image on the screen looks more natural. It is ideal for watching fast-moving sports.
  
  

• Quantum Dot Technology : Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that produce pure red, green and blue light. In a ULED TV, that means a display that is brighter, with sharper contrasts between the more than one billion colours it projects. The picture is pure and close to real. A TV with quantum dot technology is almost 20 times brighter than your standard computer monitor. Hisense’s QLED TVs come equipped with Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® for enhanced colour and more immersive sound.

• Sound: What you hear from the stadium is a huge part of the viewing experience in football. The cadence from the quarterback, the crunch of a hit even the roar of the crowd — all provide the backdrop to the action. If you don’t have a separate home theatre system, look for a TV with Dolby Atmos or dbx-tv® for a superior audio experience right from the television.

• Clarity: Most TVs nowadays boast 4K resolution, but the more important feature you should be looking for is HDR — short for High-Dynamic Range, it means the TV has a massive range of colours, which appear brighter and in greater contrast, and provides more detail to the image on the screen — think seeing the blades of grass on the field swaying gently in the wind.
  
  
• Clarity: Most TVs nowadays boast 4K resolution, but the more important feature you should be looking for is HDR — short for High-Dynamic Range, it means the TV has a massive range of colours, which appear brighter and in greater contrast, and provides more detail to the image on the screen — think seeing the blades of grass on the field swaying gently in the wind.
  
  
• Smoothness: Football moves fast, and if your refresh or motion rate is low the images on the screen will blur. You want a Low Input Lag on the TV model you buy — Look for a refresh rate of 120Hz for a crisp, clear view of the wide receiver streaking up the sideline. Also look to see if it has an MEMC chip (Motion Estimation / Motion Compensation). MEMC is used to interpolate extra images on your TV, which is a fancy way of saying it works with the refresh or motion rate to smooth out the picture and reduce the risk of blurred action on the screen.