Tips for Picking a Large Screen TV

When looking for a new television, it’s easy to become lost in the maze of jargon and unfamiliar terms. Does OLED outperform QLED? Could 8K replace 4K? What is a quantum dot? After you get through all that, it seems like there’s an endless selection of sizes, brands, and pricing to choose from.

If you’re in the market for a new TV, it’s important to find one that not only serves your purposes but also complements the decor of your living space. Find out what features to look for when buying a new television.

Buying a New Television for Your House

You may be shopping for a new flat screen TV because you’re redecorating your living room, you’re moving into a brand-new home, or you simply want to update. Most importantly, you should consider the size of the room the TV will be placed in, the available space for the TV, and the primary purposes for which you will use the TV when making your selection.

Sizes of flat-screen televisions range from 32 inches to more than 80 inches. If it’s too big for the room, it will take away from the ambience, and if it’s too little, it will be hard to see for everyone. Consider the dimensions of the space while making your selection; the bigger the TV, the further away you’ll need to be to see the screen clearly. It’s also important to consider how the TV will be displayed; on a stand atop a piece of furniture, mounted on the wall, or suspended from the ceiling. It’s possible to accommodate a larger television set if you place it on the wall instead of placing it on the floor.

The most common TV size is between 55 and 65 inches. This is the most popular option since it strikes a balance between affordability, performance, and the space of a standard living room.

Resolution

The amount of pixels used to produce an image on a television set is known as its “native resolution.” The more pixels a display has, the more detailed and colorful its images will be. The term “image resolution” describes the quality of the image that is sent to the screen. You could have a TV with a resolution of 8K, but the channel or app you’re using to watch it might only be broadcasting 4K content. It is usual for broadcasts to come in more than one resolution, allowing viewers to pick the one that best suits their set.

The price of 4K televisions has dropped significantly in recent years, and the picture quality is superior to that of full HD or 1080p televisions. The best picture quality currently available is on 8K TVs, which are also available but are more expensive.

Display Types

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the plethora of abbreviations used to describe TV screens. What factors should be considered while deciding between an LCD and an OLED television? Beginning in 2014, LCD televisions outsold their plasma counterparts. Knowing that all LED TVs are essentially LCD TVs with some advances in technology can be helpful. LED televisions, commonly known as LCD televisions, use liquid crystal displays. LED televisions employ light-emitting diodes to generate a better picture than LCD televisions, which use fluorescent backlights.

To put it simply, an OLED is an organic light-emitting diode. In contrast to LED displays, OLED screens allow you to turn off individual pixels. In comparison to LED monitors, OLED displays are slimmer, offer higher picture quality, and use less power, but they are also more expensive.

To put it simply, a QLED is a diode that emits light at the quantum level. A quantum dot is included into each pixel of a QLED display, which helps to increase the brightness of the pixels and ultimately results in more vibrant colors. Compared to OLED TVs, QLED TVs are more affordable, and their picture quality is significantly superior than that of LCD and LED models. 

Usage

 Man's Hands at Home, Sitting on a Couch in Stylish Loft Apartment and Playing Arcade Car Video Games on Console. Male Using Controller to Play Street Racing Drift Simulator.

The qualities you seek in a television set will vary depending on how you plan to use it most often. Video game consoles and other electronic devices can only be connected via HDMI connections. It’s important to have adequate ports for all of your consoles if you own more than one. Features like Auto-Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which automatically puts your TV into game mode when you turn on your console, and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which synchronizes the screen’s refresh rate with the TV’s frame-by-frame output, both contribute to an enhanced gaming experience made possible by HDMI 2.1.

Most modern televisions contain USB ports that can be used to connect external devices like Blu-ray players and sound bars. If you’re a film fanatic who enjoys having physical copies of your favorites, this is an important factor to think about.

Wall Mount

Make sure your new TV supports wall mounting before hanging it on the wall. Most modern sets can be mounted on the wall, but this is not always the case.

Compatibility

These days, most televisions can connect to the internet and have smart features. It’s important to get a TV that’s compatible with your other smart home gadgets. If you want to use the television with other smart home devices, like an Amazon Alexa, you should make sure that they are compatible with the television.

Refresh rate

The more frames per second (fps) your TV is capable of displaying, the more fluid the motion will appear when watching shows, movies, or playing games. When shopping for a TV, make sure the refresh rate is at least 60 Hz.

Aspect Ratio

Living room of modern house with glass window and wooden floor. TV on white wall against sofa in home or villa

Typically, you can sit as close to your 4K TV as is comfortable, according to Greenwald (100 percent of the diagonal measurement). A 55-inch screen is fine if you’re five feet away. Maybe 65 inches in height, if that. Choose a TV that is just a hair smaller than the cabinet or console on which you plan to display it. Alessandra Wood, vice president of style at San Francisco’s Modsy, an interior home design firm, gives this example: “For instance, a 65-inch TV feels a bit huge for a 57-inch console, but looks much more balanced on an 80-inch console.” “43 inches is large enough to see from bed but tiny enough to fit on a dresser without taking up too much space,” she adds of televisions’ ideal placement in bedrooms.

HDR

According to Sigritz, the best TV viewing experience may be had with an HDR set because of the HDR set’s ability to display a greater variety of colors than standard definition sets. The analogy that comes to me is upgrading from an eight-pack to a 24-pack of crayons.

When they do provide 4K material, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and the rest of the streaming services make sure it’s in HDR. The HDR standard agreed upon by Hollywood and the broadcasting industry is termed High Dynamic Range 10 or HDR10. It’s important to keep in mind that there are a variety of HDR upgrades available from different manufacturers, including Dolby Vision (used by Sony, LG, and Vizio) and HDR10+ (used by Samsung and Panasonic). Dolby and HDR10+ make movies look more lifelike because they enable the light to change scene by scene, rather than being fixed for the entire film as in regular HDR.

Prices

For a decent 55-inch 4K TV on a budget, you should expect to pay around $500. And a 65-inch model will set you back at least $900. Superior picture quality, greater sound, and cutting-edge functions all mean a higher price tag. 

Best Time to Buy

Experts say timing is crucial when shopping for a television package to coincide with the size of your ideal large screen television. Super Bowl season (January and February), spring (March or April), and Black Friday (particularly November) are the three best times of year to buy a TV and save money.

Home Theater Sound Systems

There is a well-known phenomenon caused by TVs’ little speakers: we turn up the volume for a tranquil scene and then scramble to find the remote when an explosion roars. A sound bar is the answer. Since TVs have gotten smaller and thinner, “the speakers dropped out and became a sound bar,” Sigritz adds. Many modern sound bars also have a subwoofer to enhance the viewing experience of action scenes without disturbing the neighbors.

If you want a more dramatic and immersive TV experience, Greenwald suggests adding a sound bar or speakers to your setup. 

Conclusion

Most people should buy the biggest OLED TV they can afford. The picture is great, and no one has ever been sorry they bought a bigger TV than they thought they needed.

There are two big differences. Cost is the first: LCD TVs are much cheaper than OLED TVs, but they still look great. The second type is background light. If you often watch TV during the day and your room has a lot of windows, you might be better off with an LCD.