5 Must-Have Accessories For Your HDTV

So you finally bought that shiny new high-definition television you’ve had your eye on. Congratulations! With groundbreaking television shows like “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men”, and “Game of Thrones” on the air, there’s no better time to ensure that you are getting the best quality picture available.

Now that you’ve done your research, ensured that your HDTV is a few inches larger than your best friend’s, taken it out of the box and plugged it in, it must be time to put your feet up and enjoy watching the Yankees get crushed. Unfortunately, it takes more than a great HDTV to get a great picture. Here are five must-have accessories to ensure that you are getting high-definition picture with your new television:

• Digital Antenna

Your television may be high-definition, but if you are not receiving high-definition content, you just paid way too much for average quality viewing. Just plugging in and turning on your television is not enough to get HD content. If your television has a built-in HDTV tuner, all you need is an antenna to get HDTV programming. The main advantage of the antenna is that HD programming is free! However, an antenna will not provide access to all available HD programming. If you want more options, you’ll have to make the choice between paying monthly for cable or satellite.

• HD DVR

Your next big purchase needs to be an HD digital video recorder.Oh, you already own a DVR? Doesn’t matter – it must be an HD DVR. The reason is that high-definition shows take up a lot more space on a hard drive, so a normal DVR just won’t cut it. Also keep in mind while shopping for an HD DVR that they don’t hold nearly as many hours of programming for the same reason.

• Surge Protector

Finally, a cheap accessory! It would be a shame if you just spent a lot of money on a television but forgot to buy a surge protector to keep it from being fried. A more expensive surge protector won’t give you a better video quality no matter what the salesperson tells you, but you do want to choose a protector with coaxial inputs and outputs for your antenna or cable.

• Blu-ray Player

Just like you need an antenna to get live high-definition programming on an HDTV, you need a Blu-ray player to get HD quality when playing films. A standard DVD player will work on your HDTV, but you need a Blu-ray player to get true HD quality for your Netflix or movie purchases. Fortunately, both the prices of Blu-ray players and Blu-ray disks have fallen in the past two years, so there is little excuse not to make the HD leap.

• HDMI Cables

Now that your new HDTV needs to communicate to the Blu-ray player, cable box, HD DVR, you better make sure you get the right cables to connect them all. If you go to a big box retailer like Best Buy or Staples, the salesperson will inevitably give you a long speech about how important it is to get expensive, top-of-the line cables. The story might make some sense; why buy expensive electronics if you’ll just connect them with cheap cables?

The reason is simple: there’s little quality difference between cables, especially when it comes to HDMI cables. Most retailers won’t even give the option of cheaper cables because cables provide some of the highest margins. Instead, buy your HDMI cables online. Ensure you get the right length for the room, and look for the best prices and return policies. No one will know the difference if you get the gold-plated HDMI cables or cheap versions online.

An HDTV is a big purchase, and there are plenty of other considerations to maximizing your viewing experience. TV stands, a universal remote, and curtains to darken the room – the list goes on.

What are your must-have HDTV accessories?

Written by Dwayne Thomas, a staff writer a cabletv.com.