If you’re about to decorate your living room with a 50in plasma HD TV, Freesat HD box subscription and a Blu-ray Disc player, you’d be wise to add an eye test to your checklist. You won’t get the benefit if your eyesight’s iffy, it’s been claimed.

High Street optician Vision Express has warned that many people aren’t getting the full adavantage of HD quality telly because their specs, contact lenses or good old unaided peepers aren’t strong enough.

In a recent survey, the chain discovered that 60 per cent of Britons haven’t had an eye test in the past 12 months. And two thirds of those who had had one still needed a new prescription.

Phillip Hyde, Head of Professional Services at Vision Express, told the Daily Mail that even a marginally short-sighted person sitting on a sofa watching a couple of metres from an HD TV broadcast may not see the full enhanced image quality. ®

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