‘Tis the season for savings, especially when it comes to things such as televisions. If it’s been a while since you’ve purchased a new TV or wandered through the rows of televisions at Best Buy, you may be surprised and a bit intimidated by the alphabet-soup descriptions of TV features.
The easy answer — look for an OLED HDR 4K TV with an HDMI 2.1 format. But if cost is a consideration — or if you’d like to know just what that means — read on for how to buy a TV for nearly every room in the house.
OLED vs QLED
OLED refers to “organic light-emitting diode.” These TVs produce light via millions of individual OLED subpixels that compose the image. This emissive nature of OLED TVs offers better contrast and black levels than its QLED counterparts. In addition, OLED televisions have uniform screens that can be well viewed from all but the most extreme angles. If you have a new phone, it’s likely you already have seen the benefits of an OLED screen
QLED refers to “quantum dot LED TV.” It is transmissive and relies on an LED backlight that travels through layers inside the TV — including an LCD layer — to create a picture. Picture quality can vary among QLED televisions, so make sure to see the televisions turned on before deciding. QLED televisions are also brighter, which can be an advantage in bright rooms such as family rooms. You also have more versatility in size when it comes to QLED televisions. They are typically priced less than an OLED TV.
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Types of HDR
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. With an HDR television, you’ll find that bright tones are brighter and dark tones darker without over- or under-exposing, respectively. Most televisions these days come with HDR, but there are different types. Dolby Vision (also known as Dynamic HDR) and HDR 10+ offer better image quality than HDR 10, but there is more content right now for HDR 10 than Dolby Vision and HDR 10+. The good news is that these televisions support HDR 10, so — if you don’t mind the more expensive price tag — you can buy a Dolby Vision or HDR 10+ television and wait for streaming services and video games to catch up, which is happening rapidly.
And HDR TV with Ultra HD Premium means the television has a 4K resolution, meaning the brighter and darker tones are coupled with the sharper image of a 4K television. If going for the 4K television, you’ll want to make sure all of your components offer true 4K resolution for the best visual experience — Blu-ray player, streaming device, home theater receivers and HDMI cable. When shopping, you’re likely to see 8K televisions — most TV reviewers say to wait those out for now.
TVs Aren’t Just for Family and Media Rooms
Armed with the above information, you’re ready to wade your way through reviews of highly recommended televisions for family rooms and media rooms. But many people might have a TV in their bedroom, kitchen, exercise room or even outdoors. The same logic can be applied as when buying for a family room or media room, but there are other considerations.
If you’re busy in the kitchen, screen resolution might not be your greatest consideration when buying a TV for the kitchen, so you can downgrade and save money in that respect. However, you might want to test the quality of the television’s speakers since there won’t be room for a sound bar. Also, see if you can mount your TV on the wall or under a kitchen cabinet. You’ll also want good viewing angles since you likely won’t be right in front of the television. A few kitchen TV recommendations can be found here.
For bedrooms, you’ll want to play close attention to where you’ll place the television and how far it will be from the bed. This will help you determine what size television to purchase. Mounted televisions allow for a good viewing angle when lying in bed. A tilt or full-motion mount allows for the greatest versatility when buying a TV for the bedroom. It can be hard to not find a smart TV these days, but they are certainly recommended for televisions in the bedroom where voice control is especially convenient.
Many of these same considerations apply to televisions for exercise rooms, which is a great idea for those who want to stream exercise classes. A television can also be a motivator if you designate shows that you only watch while you’re exercising. And while you might opt for a TV stand or placement on a piece of furniture in the bedroom, a wall-mount TV is universally recommended for an exercise room. You can find other recommendations here.
Why You Want an Outdoor Television
No, we’re not talking about thoughts on why you should place a television outdoors — you can probably think of lots of reasons why. But once you do decide to have a patio TV, you want to make sure it’s made to be placed outside. Outdoor TVs are made with waterproof housings that can protect against extremely hot and cold temperatures to varying degrees. Also, look for IP (ingress protection) ratings for resistance not only to water but also to dust. If your television is going to be in direct sunlight, you’ll want a television offering maximum brightness. If it’s shaded, it doesn’t need to be so bright. You will want a brightness display panel with anti-reflective coating for reliability. Other considerations and recommendations for outdoor TVs can be found here.
The Very Best Viewing Experience
For the very best viewing experience, install your new television in your new home in Sierra Vista! Our builders have a number of available homes, as well as many more floor plans to choose from.
