A Quick TV Shopping Guide
Given 10 minutes to pick our in-house Technology Systems Designer’s mind about anything and everything, we decided to use his wealth of expertise to answer a burning question for ourselves - if we’re looking to upgrade our home TV watching experience, what do we need to know? To dive right in, the best way to decide is to actually look at the products and compare in person in a showroom. However, before you step foot into a store (or more likely add to your cart) during this buying season and beyond, we wanted to share what we learned is important when TV shopping, so you can shop with the confidence of a professional designer.
Best Size for My Room?
Think about how you are going to position your TV in relation to yourself (the viewer). If it's above a fireplace, for instance, a large TV can make it uncomfortable to see the whole screen. Similarly, if you're really far away from your TV, a larger image will be easier to see. Bigger isn't always better. A good rule of thumb is to measure the distance from your favorite seat on the sofa in feet, divide by two, and that's the size of the TV you should buy. For example, sitting 10 feet (120 inches) away from the TV, you'll want a 60" TV. It's a good idea to mount the TV so that the bottom of the image is at eye level.
The verdict? Bigger isn't always better.
Divide the viewing distance by two to get the diagonal measurement of the TV.
Curved or Flat?
You have to be extremely close to the TV for the curved to do anything for depth perception in the image. They were a huge fad in the 2010s, but thankfully, much like the 3D TVs of yesteryear, they didn't stick around long. You’re almost always better off getting a bigger TV or better color depth for the money.
The verdict? Stick with a flat TV.
Best Display?
There are only a few manufacturers that actually make displays. Samsung, LG, Sony, and Sharp are the big ones. Those manufacturers also sell their panels to other manufacturers who rebrand them under their own names, but generally they keep the best ones for themselves.
The verdict? Stick to Samsung, LG, Sony, and Sharp.
Should I Invest in 8K?
Most content now is still 4K or HD. Cable TV is broadcast in HD, and anything Disney Animation was created in HD as well (it can be upscaled to 4K for UltraHD players). We are several years away from 8K programming being pervasive, but companies like Comcast are waiting until 8K is ready to roll out for cable TV, and completely skipping 4K.
Unless you’re buying a new XBox or PS5 with your TV, an 8K TV is not really necessary. You may have the 8K resolution available on your TV, but what you currently have in your house isn’t likely to be streaming 8K, so you won’t see the benefits until you upgrade everything that plugs in/streams in your TV.
The verdict? You should wait.
Additional Considerations
High Dynamic Range
HDR is a very misleading term. It’s just like putting “all natural” on a food product, any manufacturer can call their TV “HDR.” Now, there are several standards that actually do mean something. HDR10 and DolbyVision are the big ones, but much like 8K resolution, you'll want to make sure that the sources you are playing are similarly compatible.
Refresh Rate/Frame Rate
Refresh rate is another consideration. Games especially look really amazing with high refresh rate (120Hz or greater). However, most TV manufacturers try to add frames in between their 60Hz content, which gives a soap opera look, so if you do get a high refresh rate TV, it’s recommended to turn off that motion interpolation feature for lower frame rate content.
Display Technology - OLED vs LCD
OLED and LCD are the two display types available on TVs you’ll be looking through, and we lean towards OLED. Both have excellent color depth. LCD tends to be a brighter screen overall, which is better for bright rooms. However, OLED renders “dark” colors better – so you get more depth in darker games, or moody movies. However, OLED can suffer from burn-in if the same image is left on the screen for a long time (like a leaderboard on a video game). So each has its pros and cons, consider what you will be using your TV for the most when choosing.
Our final tip? If you missed out on the season’s deals, check out the sales right before the Super Bowl in late January or early February. The deals will be back.