Your next TV – it’s a big decision. Probably the most used piece of tech in your home, there are more TV sizes than ever to choose from and at nearly every budget level. It can be puzzling, but we’re here to help you nail it.
What's the right distance from the TV?
With amazing Ultra HD technology offered in most new televisions, you can sit closer to your set than ever without seeing the pixels or losing image quality. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should – generally you’ll get a better experience (and do your eyes a favour too!) if you can follow the below TV size calculator:
TV viewing distance (in inches)/2 = recommended TV size
So if your sofa is ten feet away from the wall you plan to mount your TV on, that’s 120 inches. 120 divided by two would be 60, so a TV of around 60” is probably the best suited to your space.
Room size and TV position
The farther away you sit from your screen, the smaller it will appear, so you might want to give some thought to how much of your field of view you’d like your screen to take up. You’ll want to consider the position of your TV too – will it be wall-mounted or sit on a cabinet? Will it be in a corner or flat?
Take a look at our Guide to wall mounting your TV
TV viewing angles
Is your sofa directly in line with your TV, or do you sit off centre? Will it be wall-mounted, or on a cabinet? If you want to get the perfect viewing experience, ideally you want to be parallel to your living room TV with a maximum 15-degree angle up or down and a maximum 40-degree angle to the left or right. You can make sure you’ve got the best seat in the house with our TV accessories.
TV Screen sizes and dimensions
Once you know how far away you’ll be sitting and what angle you’ll be sitting at, you can start to consider the television sizes that will make the most of your space. There are more TV screen sizes than ever to choose from – just remember that the bezel will add a little bit extra to the TV dimensions too.
How to measure the TV Screen?
Time to break out the measuring tape! To see how many inches your TV screen is, measure from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. It’s always best to measure up to check the TV set as a whole will fit nicely into your space.
TV screen resolutions and technologies
An evolution in screen resolution and some amazing picture enhancement technology has meant screens can be larger without showing pixels, so you can get a bigger panel, even if it’s for the bedroom or kitchen where you may end up sitting close.
What is TV Resolution?
Your TV screen is made up of pixels that form the picture, and to put it very simply – more pixels, more detail. The resolution of a TV is one of the key pieces of information to consider – because of course, you want a great quality image.
QLED or OLED
QLED or OLED? How much difference does it really make to your viewing?
With an OLED panel, individual pixels create their own light source to make up the picture, so they can turn themselves off completely to show the deepest blacks, giving you some awesome detail in darker scenes.
QLED will give you a more diverse range of true-to-life colours, no matter what conditions you’re viewing the screen in. You also get higher peak brightness, meaning HDR content will look even more jaw-dropping.
4K, 1080p or 8K TVs
4K Ultra HD TVs have a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels – that’s four times greater than a Full HD display. This means you get better picture quality with greater detail – you’ll notice this especially on larger screens, so if you’re thinking of going for a big panel, 4K is for you.
If you want a seriously future proof TV set, at 7,680 x 4,320p, an 8K set offers outstanding resolution - a whopping 16 times greater than HD. There’s plenty of 8K coming, and it will give all your current content a pretty great facelift too.
Check out our full range of incredible TVs.
