For the best entertainment experience, the size of a TV matters a lot. Depending on the size of your living room, you may select the optimal TV size accordingly. Of course, we can expect that if you have a larger living room, you will require a larger TV set, and vice versa for a smaller room. However, the truth to be told, screen size should only be one, but not the only, deciding factor when you are making a new TV purchase.
While most buyers are savvy, many have also purchased their new TV sets without much considerations. This has brought about a less-than ideal experience when watching your favourite sport, TV show or movie. Screen size and resolution plays a vital role in considering the right TV for your living room.
To choose the right TV size, it is essential that you have a good understanding of your room’s dimensions and viewing distance. For example, Samsung recommends that the optimal TV size for your living room is a third of the distance from where you are viewing it.
Additionally, viewing angle is also another important factor to consider. The TV should face the viewers in not more than 15 degrees vertically or 40 degrees laterally. If the viewing angle of the TV is too extreme, there could be possibilities of negatives shown. Most manufacturers will state the maximum viewing angles as part of the product’s specifications.
Of course the resolution of the TV also matters. It will directly impact the clarity of the TV. While consumers would want to have a TV that has the highest resolution possible, such products usually also come with a higher price tag. Of course, there could be large TV sets with lower resolution sold at a much cheaper price. These budget oriented TV sets don’t provide the minimal expected TV viewing experience required due to the lack of image clarity.
In the end, selecting a TV is largely dependent on the tradeoffs you are willing to take. Here are some recommendations of TVs in each category.
The Small-size TVs (15-32 inch)
The small-size TV sets are usually made for those who are budget conscious or have space constraints. While larger TV sets have rather standard sizes, TVs in the small-sized range comes in many different sizes and variations. In the market, we’ve seen TVs as small as 15 inch, up to an odd 18.5 inch, perhaps 21,22,23,24,26,28,30,32 inch.
Of course, the benefit of a small TV is that it can serve its purpose while being compact. Most of them can fit nicely on desks or counter tops. Some times, they are even used as computer monitors. In most cases, living rooms will have TV screen size that is 32 inch and above. 32-inch TVs could be great if you have a very tight budget, or if there aren’t many people in the living viewing the TV at the same time.
Most of the times, 32-inch TVs will come with either 1080p FullHD or 720p HD display. It is recommended that you opt for a FullHD version, as we found 720p HD displays to be lacking in clarity. 4K resolution 32-inch TVs are available, but are usually rare and cost much higher than what many can swallow. In this case, one of the TV that you can consider is the Samsung MU7000.
Mid-size TVs (40-43 inch)
When flat screen thin panel TVs were first introduced in the market, a 40-inch TV was considered to be huge. As technology improves, and in today’s context, it seems that a 40-inch TVs should be considered relatively small.
Mid-size TVs should be the main focus of many buyers looking for a screen for their living room today. Most of them come with more advanced features and specifications that are optimized for perfect viewing experience. This TV size category is also the starting point for 4K resolution support, which is known to provide one of the best possible picture clarity. (Of course, your content must be in 4K in the first place).
With gaming consoles such as PS4 Pro and Xbox One S(upscaled)/ One X starting to support content directly in 4K UHD, gamers should really look at TVs with such feature in this category.
Of course, these TVs are expected to cost more than those in the small-size range. You could consider the Sony A9F OLED as one of the recommended TV in this category.
Big-screen TVs (55, 65, 75 inch)
If you have a large living room and looking for the best possible cinema experience, this this category of TV is the one to look out for. Usually they could come in different sizes, but the most common ones are in 55, 65 to 75 inches. TVs in this category are usually designed for entertainment catered for a large setting which will have a group of people such as families and friends. They are good for watching an array of content, like sports and movies. There is no doubt that a minimum of 4K UHD resolution is required for these TVs, which will deliver the expected entertainment impact for contents.
In this size category, we will also find TVs that make use of OLED technology. OLED TVs are manufactured by brands such as Sony, Samsung, LG and Philips. Better picture quality of your TV will demand to dig deeper into your pockets. OLED TVs costs higher than standard LED TVs, but can produce higher contrasts. This makes the colours really pop out from the TV set, and allow viewers to see a “true black” experience on their screens. While it may not seem important, trust me, it makes a huge difference.
Apart from the 55, 65 and 75 inch TVs, there are also a couple of 82″ and 85″. The 85” tv is considered to be one of the super-sized screen. For example, the 82″ and 85″ TVs today could also come with 8K resolution, so as to maintain picture quality despite having a physically large screen. These TVs are usually made for those who expects the best of the best, and will of course come with OLED or other advanced backlight technology such as Samsung QLED for Samsung panels.
In conclusion, there are several factors to consider when deciding on the size and type of TV you should buy for your living room. While many thought that size is what all matters, the fact is that other considerations such as display technology, screen resolution and refresh rate matter just as much. For example, just on screen resolution alone, it is recommended that a TV should hit the sweet spot for pixel density. If the pixel density is too high, it would also mean that the TV would be expected to be more expensive, and you’ll be wasting your money. If the pixel density is too low, image clarity suffers.
Therefore, many careful considerations are required to make the right choice. It is recommended that you visit the shops that have these TV sets on display to really understand how each TV perform. Choose one that’s within your budget and have the type of qualities you require.
