12 Errors to Keep away from When Setting Up a New TV for the Holidays

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Acquired a new TV for entertaining in the course of the holidays? Is it a lot larger than your final TV? Earlier than you dive into all of the enjoyable stuff, it’s good to contemplate a vital query: The place are you going to place it?

Whether or not you wall-mount or use a TV stand, there are some vital, and infrequently unintuitive, elements to think about. As an illustration, do you know that unhealthy TV placement can scale back a TV’s obvious image high quality, trigger neck ache and extra? You positively do not wish to mount your TV too excessive, too distant or at a bizarre angle.

Points created by unhealthy TV placement won’t be obvious immediately, however over weeks and months they may very well be noticeable, annoying and probably even painful. The time hole may very well be sufficient that you simply won’t even understand it is the TV’s placement inflicting the problems.

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Is that this hyperbole? Not likely. Contemplate that the Occupational Security and Well being Administration has requirements in how your work setting is setup to reduce the possibility of repetitive stress accidents. Should you’re watching 4 to 6 hours of TV at evening, it is attainable you can be vulnerable to most of the identical points. Additionally, most TVs look far worse “off axis,” as in too far above, under or to the facet of the middle of the display screen. So all that cash you spent on a brand new TV may very well be wasted by not it from the angle it appears greatest.

Mounting a TV above a fire can be a foul thought, as is the toilet. A slight seating shuffle, or adjusting your most well-liked pedestal placements, might yield higher image high quality or enable for a bigger TV. So earlier than you mount a TV or purchase an costly TV stand, contemplate these dos and don’ts for TV placement.

Do these 5 issues earlier than you arrange a brand new TV

Do test TV peak 

Whereas there isn’t any set peak for TV placement, ideally you do not need the TV to be too excessive. Staring up at a TV is like sitting within the entrance row of a movie show. It isn’t ultimate, not comfy and never conducive to lengthy viewing periods. Typically talking, you need the middle of the TV to be about eye stage, and even barely decrease. That is true whether or not you are mounting the TV or placing it on a stand.

For extra on this, try my information on how excessive it’s best to put your TV.

A fashionable living room with lime green couches and a TV on a low stand.

Good couches make a fairly good TV placement look even higher.

Westend61/Getty Pictures

Do test the space out of your sofa to your TV

It is unlikely anybody studying that is going to be sitting too near their TV. Sitting nearer to your TV has two advantages: It fills extra of your area of view (so it is extra immersive), and you’ll see extra decision (the picture is extra detailed). If you cannot or do not wish to sit nearer, you’ll be able to alternatively get a bigger TV. Take a look at this text on how large a TV you can purchase for more information.

Do look out for sources of TV glare

Room lighting and reflections are the No. 1 killer of TV photos in keeping with a examine I simply made up. The actual fact is almost each trendy TV has a reflective display screen, and I do not care how superior your lamps are, they don’t seem to be as attention-grabbing as what’s on TV. Certain, you’ll be able to simply flip off the lights (or shut the blinds), however generally that is not simple or attainable. If it is not, try our piece on the right way to rid your HDTV of reflections.

A modern room with floor to ceiling views of a mountain forest. Oh, and there's a TV mounted too high on a wall.

It is good when your view can outdo your TV.

Ibrahim Akcengiz/Getty Pictures

Should you’re considering of wall mounting, consider all of the Do’s talked about to this point. Plus, when you’re considering of getting an LCD, ensure you get a wall mount that is in a position to pivot or modify. With few exceptions, LCDs have worse efficiency when you’re not sitting immediately in entrance of them. With the ability to pivot or transfer a wall-mounted TV so it is aimed immediately at your eyeballs will likely be an enormous enchancment in image high quality (in comparison with the identical TV not aimed toward you). It is price mentioning at this level that TV weight just isn’t a limiting issue relating to mounting.

For some reason a man sits on a blue couch watching TV in the middle of a gravel road.

All the time contemplate glare.

OJO Pictures/Getty Pictures

Do contemplate greater than type

In the case of TV stands, there are numerous choices. Contemplate the TV peak along with no matter type you want. Most stands are pretty uniform in peak, and some inches above or under ultimate is not going to matter, however a big TV on a tall stand is not an awesome thought.

Do contemplate security, particularly when you have younger youngsters

Seems that falling TVs injure a variety of youngsters yearly. Discover out the right way to hold your TV from falling over when you’ve obtained youngsters or vigorous pets.

Do not make these seven widespread TV placement errors

A woman sits on a red box watching TV. The woman, the box, and the TV are on a boulder in the middle of the forest.

Reflections could be an issue right here.

Robert Daly/Getty Pictures

Do not mount your TV too excessive

A TV on the appropriate peak goes to look actually low once you’re standing. Which is okay, since more often than not you will not be standing once you’re watching it. Mounting a TV too excessive can actually be a ache within the neck. If you’d like an excellent snicker, there is a vigorous subreddit dedicated to photos of people that have mounted their TVs too excessive.

Do not mount a TV above the fireside 

Critically. Do not mount a TV above a fire. For the above motive and extra — not the least of which is that warmth is the enemy of all electronics. Even when you by no means use your hearth, mounting a TV above it’s virtually at all times too excessive to observe from a sofa.

A TV sits in a built-in bookcase.

Although clear wanting, a bookshelf or different cupboard can scale back sound high quality and restrict the scale of a TV you will get sooner or later.

Tetra Pictures/Getty Pictures

Do not feel restricted by a cupboard, bookcase or leisure heart 

When you have a cupboard, bookcase or leisure heart the place your TV has at all times been, it is price contemplating dropping it. That is an enormous ask, particularly for a brand new TV, however contemplate two issues. First, it not solely limits the scale of the TV you will get, however the high quality. In case your cupboard can solely match a 42-inch TV, know that the higher TV tech like native dimming, OLED and Mini-LED are virtually solely accessible in bigger sizes. If they are often present in smaller sizes, there are normally just one or two fashions. Second, relying the place the TV’s audio system are positioned, a cupboard might severely scale back the TV’s sound high quality and quantity. (When you have a 5.1-speaker system or soundbar, this may not be a difficulty.)

Do not put your indoor TV exterior

Do not mount a “common” TV exterior. There are TVs made for simply that. Or, when you do not wish to spend the cash on a TV designed for outside, simply know that any TV you allow on the market is not prone to final lengthy (even when it is beneath an awning). Greatest to carry it in once you’re not utilizing it.

Do not feel you want a ‘actual’ TV

For kitchens and bogs, a sensible show like a Google Nest Hub or Amazon Echo Present may get you every little thing you want with out the scale and trouble of a full-size TV.

Do not sit too distant out of your TV 

Nonetheless, you will get a bigger TV to compensate. At 10 ft away, you can get the most important TV available on the market and nonetheless not see pixels. 

Do not put your TV at a bizarre angle 

If you must flip your head to see the display screen, it is simply going to result in sore necks. Twisting your head a bit could not seem to be an enormous deal, however conserving it that method for hours at a time could be a ache — actually.

A stylish chair, TV, stand, and speakers are all on a beach.

I might suggest a subwoofer.

PhotoAltoMilenaBoniek/Getty Pictures

Backside line

Let’s take two rooms as examples. First room: You may have an awesome TV, mounted excessive on a wall close to the nook, with the couch and adjoining lamps, on the opposite facet of the room within the different nook. These poor of us have a small-seeming TV, plenty of reflections, and stiff necks from turning and looking out up on the TV. Second room: The TV is mounted at eye stage, the couch is 8 to 9 ft away and there aren’t any lamps to mirror on the display screen. Through which room would you wish to watch a marathon of Andor?

Correct placement can decide a good portion of the general enjoyment of a brand new TV. It is price contemplating adjusting your room to be extra conducive to comfy TV viewing. Not solely will you acquire potential image and luxury enhancements, however within the course of, you may unencumber more room for different issues. Like a rug that basically ties the room collectively. 

As soon as you’ve got obtained the location discovered, this is the right way to arrange your new TV. Should you’ve already obtained it arrange, listed below are some vital image high quality settings to regulate, together with turning down the sharpness management. Should you’re having bother listening to dialogue, there are some settings you’ll be able to modify that may assist.


In addition to masking TV and different show tech, Geoff does picture excursions of cool museums and places world wide, together with nuclear submarineslarge plane carriersmedieval castles, epic 10,000 mile highway journeys, and extra. Take a look at Tech Treks for all his excursions and adventures.

He wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines, together with a sequel. You may observe his adventures on Instagram and his YouTube channel.



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