Should you buy a new HDTV right now?

On the one hand, it's a global pandemic and most retail locations are still closed, making it impossible to browse different TVs first hand, while the beginnings of a likely recession have left many with less money in their pockets. Perhaps not surprisingly, The Commerce Department's most recent monthly retail sales figures showed that the consumer electronics sector, of which TVs are a key part, plunged more than 60 percent in April.

On the other hand, some are using the current circumstances of being stuck at home to look for a bigger or better TV, or to hunt for bargains on surprise inventory. Here are some of the other reasons why one might choose to get a new TV right now.

- Your old one broke. To be honest, this is what drives a lot of purchases of new HDTVs. If your old TV suddenly stops working, which has been known to happen, going out and buying an instant replacement can be the only option.

- You're spending more time at home. With the quarantines in place, most of us are spending a great deal more time watching TV than we normally do. In the new normal, that might occasion the need for a newer, bigger, or better TV. That's also the case for those of our who have extra people at home. If you had one or two TVs in your home and that was cutting it before, that might not be the case any longer if you suddenly have multiple kids who are home from school.

- Getting smarter. All of the statistics from the quarantine show that Americans are streaming more and subscribing to more services. And there are, after all, more such services to subscribe to, including the soon-to-launch HBO Max. If you don't have a smart TV already, with streaming app functionality built right in, the desire for such apps might occasion the purchase of a new television. A Parks Associates study released earlier this week found that around 45 percent of the households surveyed owned a smart TV as of the third quarter of 2019.

- You're building a new room. Are you putting together a new home theater, man cave, or she-shed? A new TV, along with other audio and video components, is a must, and you're going to want one that's going to last awhile.

- Those prices. It's astounding how inexpensive high-quality HDTVs have gotten, with the models with sizes and features that used to cost in the high thousands are now available in the hundreds. Buying a value model can be a no-brainer.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.