Screen time: Your guide to buying a smart television
Think about the position of your television and ensure you are not just too close. Sony Bravia, KD-43X81KU 43-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV, €749.99, currys.ie.
Buying a smart TV is a nerve-mincing and relatively high spend. On the showroom floor, in an age of price matching and easy price comparisons, it’s not unreasonable to expect to be upsold. In the hypnotic wonderland of velvety OLED and 8K showcase reels, you won’t be thinking straight.
Don’t wander wide-eyed into the showroom or rattle out a buy online knowing nothing at all. We’re about to tune you in. Any well-branded HD TV capable of 4K transmission will be sufficiently smart and pin-sharp for most family viewing. The sophisticated Sky ecosystem is the command centre for even cheap tellies.
TV technology alters at a blistering speed, and old chestnuts like high-definition, voice-assist and in-screen guides are commonplace with highly specific control and in-the-moment atmosphere. Prices have fallen dramatically for all but a sophisticated 75-inch plus OLED acres.
The truth is we have hit something of a limit in what the eye can comfortably perceive. Soap-opera motion smoothing (“leaved” with blank black frames) has proven so unnerving it’s been dubbed “vampiric” and creepy. Do the walk online, filter your feature choices like lounge lighting and gaming capability, then set a budget, and never ignore where the TV is going back home.
In terms of proven eye health and spatial rules, we should be a minimum of 1.5 times the screen size (taken diagonally) away from the set to avoid searing our eyeballs directly out of our head. Some people cheerfully ignore these basics, and with the increasingly high resolution of TVs, with no breaking up of the image even nose to the panel, it’s tempting to go large for a more immersive, cinematic experience.
The 65-inch and 75-inch televisions are increasingly touted as standard sizes to contain and make out the smaller multi-screens that gaming and content navigation of a typical 4K streaming buy. Buyers are now conducting their smartphone adventures to the TV, and as Samsung explains, “multi-screen allows you to enjoy the TV show on the main left screen while mirroring your phone on the smaller right-hand side screen.”
So, you have a clutch of models to consider. What is it? More screen area and less technology, or more tech in a higher-end, smaller TV? Often, this is a false dilemma riding on desire, as you’re caving to more smart goodies than you actually need.
Start at home with a blank cut out of old wallpaper or taped-up gift wrap (the darker the material the better). Tape it up on the wall near the TV position and sit in your normal spots. I sprung for a deal on a QLED 65-inch model, and though delighted was startled (and mildly upset) by the influence of the unlit panel’s black hole presence, on the perceived proportions of the room. Going from 43inch to 65inch for my very special Birthday Lad, we now need a 50cm high TV bench to drop this monstrous toy down towards the floor, at €250-plus, even with Ikea. See what accessories and peripherals — a wall bracket, bench, sound bar or even extra seating a glistening behemoth will demand. Finally, examine your available viewing angles, so that the watching seat, is a good seat.
Resolution together with refresh rates and the quality of the processor (flicking through each static image and connecting seamlessly to the Internet) are the keystones of stable, pleasing picture quality. Resolution is the number of points of light making up the whole picture across the screen: 1920 x 1080 vertical/horizontal pixels is high definition (HD), 3840 x 2160 pixels is Ultra HD (UHD), 4,096 x 2,160 pixels is 4K and 7,680 x 4,320 pixels is the potential for 8K.
The 8K option where it will be available requires 100Mbps internet service to stream. Matching your available broadband service to the right platform and set technology is key. The TV alone (whatever its spec) cannot conjure up 4K hyper-realistic live-streaming from Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, Google Play Movies, Apple TV and SkyQ — it’s a conduit to connectivity. Much of the time with old content and non-HD live-streaming TV, you won’t be seeing hyper-realistic theatre.
It’s very easy to get lost in the tech-speak of pixel boosters — and choosing a TV is a nerdy delight for some buyers. Not all HDMI inputs support 4K 120fps gaming (crickets in my head). Smart television can perform as your home network hub (ooh, we were giddy about that back in 2020) but is now picking up speed in its online intuitive performance too. So, yes — totally confusing in all its features, technology and promised 8K future-proofing. The better (faster) the processor the more expensive the set.
What do you need? Gamers using the TV panel will notice any perceptible “lag”, will expect the contrast standard of HDR10 and may well bleat on about next-gen HDMI features. Don’t get too caught up in hysterical tech reviews online. Settle on a budget and use your eyes. The first thing your opinionated (and probably highly informed) gamer will want, is a refresh rate of at least 120HZ or a gaming boost facility when they are massacring villains (most TV content is 60HZ no matter what). Sport can benefit from frame insertion to smooth out the action.
The truth is, many casual TV watchers, not physically embracing the screen, will not care for or appreciate the exquisite colour palette, deep blacks and stunning refresh rates of a top-class blisteringly smart OLED TV costing €2,500-€10,000. That does not mean, you should take your €500 to €1,000 spend out the front door without knowing your way around. HDR, stands for a high dynamic range to punch up those colours and tailor contrasts — something that’s available in high-definition entry-level TVs. Ensure any personal must-haves are covered like the ability to synch’ with your home network, for instance.
Panasonic and Sony (Bravia) are famed for their mid-range 4K HDR enabled LEDs screens — beautiful image-making in a generous telly without bruising the credit card. Buying in Sky Glass as a comprehensive TV/Streaming product, keep in mind that your contract can kick up. Currently set prices are 43-inch (€755), 55” (€999) and 65-inch (€1,299). It’s best run on fibre broadband and an internet speed of 10Mbps. Most inexpensive sets will already “upscale” content to as close to 4K as possible.
QLED is set in the middle bracket between LEDs and our next step up — the OLED television. Standard LED TVs have been joined by a new family of QLEDs which offer brighter screens, better whites and sumptuous, true-to-life colour and resolution. Using what is termed quantum dots, the QLEDs are LED layered up with a blue filter, improving colour quality in a seamless, liquid-like picture. If you can’t comfortably hit the price of OLED look into both Sony NLED (NanoCell), Samsung QLED, Hisense and TCL. All have excellent reputations for daylight viewing and are not prone to the rare screen burn occasionally experienced with OLED.
QLED is a Samsung technology and LG is generally regarded as the measure of OLED. Sony’s Bravia is their form of QLED as is LG’s QNED. Sky Glass TVs are UHD QLED not OLED. I can vouch for LG QNED as we just bought one (saving around €500 on the equivalent OLED set), and I’ve to push against the G-force with Top Gun Maverick. Watching even the remastered 007, Dr No (1962) has proved a new thrill. I felt I could swan dive off the couch into that Caribbean lagoon.
Stepping up, OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode with light coming directly from each, individual tiny phosphorescent pixel. Backlit, they are legendary for precise colour transmission and pleasing contrasts (deep shadow-free blacks and whites that are not burnt out). Their performance covers the screen edge to edge, something of a weakness with lesser visual technology transmitting light from the top edge or centre. OLED is said to be more environmentally friendly than LED or QLED as it does not require Nitrogen Trifluoride in its manufacture. Prices have improved, and you will meet that intersection choice of an entry-level at a 55” OLED (€1,300-€1,800) and a mid-range Samsung QLED/LG NanoCell/Sony Bravia (€900-€1,300).
Samsung has put OLED and QLED together in what they claim is the best of all worlds, the QD-OLED range. On the showroom floor, grazing the set with your eyes — OLED will always look more sumptuous. Go for tea, reacquaint yourself with the decided size and budget and read up on some real-user reviews on your smartphone while the salesperson sweats it out. Delivery for a 55-inch-plus screen? Key in another €20-€30.
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