What TV Should I Buy?

The Aerial Man Scotland are digital TV experts. We sell TVs and we set up TV’s that customers have purchased every day so we are used to working with all brands and styles of TV’s. The choice of TV is vast and it’s like buying a new car – they will all get you to there but it’s down to individual choice over styles.

Buying a new TV is a really confusing experience these days due to the sheer amount of choice and even bigger load of confusing terminology!

Bear in mind that you can’t really go wrong with most popular brands of TV purchased now and unless you have something specific in mind, they’re all pretty good.

Here are a few pointers that may help you choose.

How big should I buy?

If you can and you’re unsure between a couple of sizes, we would say that bigger is generally better. Almost everyone who buys a TV is always happier with the larger choice and I don’t think we’ve ever heard anyone say that they wished that they had went for the smaller option. Screen resolution is so good now that the picture should be fantastic and if you get it mounted on the wall with cables hidden, it really can be like a cinema experience in your own home.

As an average, a TV in the main room would be 49” upwards and a bedroom would be 32-49”. Kitchen & dining room TV’s vary depending on location.

Try not to get bogged down in the spec sheet

Most terms are fairly confusing and all manufacturers will say that their TV is the best – it’s fairly tricky to pin down when trying to explain things such as picture quality.

Do I need 4K or HDR?

Most modern TV’s purchased now tend to have this anyway as it’s so much cheaper to manufacture so it would be generally built in if you’re going for a brand new TV. TV’s with 4K resolution or ultra high definition (UHD) have 4 times as many pixels as standard 1080p resolution but it’s actually quite difficult for the human eye to tell the difference in sharpness between a 4K TV and a good quality HDTV.

4K TV shows and movies are rare but are slowly increasing and providers such as Netflix, Sky and Amazon offer it but only on certain shows. It’s worthwhile investing in a 4K Blu-ray player for movie nights too if you can, you’ll notice a massive difference in picture quality if you do.

Smart TV

Most TV’s now have a Smart feature but it is easy to get Smart access by using a box or a stick so it’s not actually a huge concern. Saying that, if you don’t want to bother with having separate boxes and don’t want to think about where you want to put them, it’s worthwhile making sure that it’s there before you purchase.

Curved TV’s

There is a huge increase in curved TV’s this last year or so but can be a bit of a gimmick so I wouldn’t worry too much about the difference between it and a flat screen. Have a look at some to see if you really feel it’s worthwhile as it also depends on where you want the TV placed and the overall aesthetics in the room.

3D

Unfortunately, after a large fanfare and lots of initial sales, 3D has sort of fallen flat on it’s face and investment has been reduced by manufacturers.

Thickness

Manufacturers have invested massively in making TV’s as thin as physically possible so that they are almost as thin as paper now (See LG’s wallpaper TV). Although this looks great and the TV is much lighter than before, the speakers are generally adversely affected (despite what the manufacturers say) and you may also wish to invest in better audio such as a soundbar, subwoofer or a surround sound system. It can’t be helped really, it’s just part of the manufacture process. Most people are ok with it, but if you want to maximise the overall experience, I would seriously think about improving the sound in some way.

Some terminology

• OLED TV’s have great picture quality, amongst the best available but are still quite pricy.

• Nearly every TV uses LED LCD technology which is different from OLED.

• If your room is brightly light, a matte screen will reduced reflections.

• Glossy black screens preserve black well.

• Remember to calibrate your new TV when you get it home to get the settings that you like.

• Don’t worry about other factors include the resolutions, colour gamut, video processing, maximum light output and display resolutions (4K vs 1080p)

Have a look at our previous blog to find out more about the set up of the TV once you’ve bought it and got it switched on!

If you need any help choosing your new TV, contact us and we can give some general advice. We also offer a wide selection of TV’s and audio on the website, so have a look when deciding. If you want it set up on the wall with cables hidden, just make a free appointment and we will check it out for you too!