AV Installation | Things you should consider before purchasing a TV
There are a few things to consider here. One is how far you are going to be sitting away from the display. That's pretty easy to figure with a simple formula. It's also important that the TV looks good, wherever you decide to have mounted. A large screen TV can be made to look very small on a long blank wall. The opposite of this is also true. A relatively small 32" TV can look monstrous and out of place on top of a small dresser or cabinet. If you have enough room and can sit a reasonable distance from the display, buy the largest screen size you can. I have never had a single customer want to switch to a smaller TV. I have had many that later wished they’d have gone larger. This rule does not apply the same when applied to projector.
1. What is the best size for me?
There are a few things to consider here. One is how far you are going to be sitting away from the display. That's pretty easy to figure with a simple formula. It's also important that the TV looks good, wherever you decide to have mounted. A large screen TV can be made to look very small on a long blank wall. The opposite of this is also true. A relatively small 32" TV can look monstrous and out of place on top of a small dresser or cabinet. If you have enough room and can sit a reasonable distance from the display, buy the largest screen size you can. I have never had a single customer want to switch to a smaller TV. I have had many that later wished they’d have gone larger. This rule does not apply the same when applied to projector.
2. What kind of TV should I get? LCD, LED, Plasma?
As a general rule of thumb I think plasma offers the best and most natural display. Without getting into the science of it, I just think plasma is more pleasing to the eye. Most of our experiences with customers as well as our installation crew would confirm this. The next best seems to be LCD. LCD has come a long way since the days of really slow refresh rates. These slow refresh rates made watching live sports very difficult because of the noticeable delay. That same delay is why we “generally’ don’t like LED TV displays. There are certainly exceptions to this rule and if you are at the upper end of quality you are probably going to be happy regardless.
3. What about refresh rates?
Refresh rate refers to how fast your screen is refreshed. Slow refresh rates create a “lag” when viewing faster motion programming, a good example would be sports, especially hockey. The higher the refresh rate the better it handles motion. If you’ve ever watched an older LCD television you might have noticed this motion lag or judder. It makes the picture look choppy. However, higher refresh rates can create other issues with cinematography. Check out this article for more details. The refresh rate is mostly a non-issue with plasma displays.
4. Is the TV part of an AV System?
If the TV is going to be part of an AV system you are going to want a TV that has an RS-232 port on it. This port can connect to a Crestron, RTI or other remote control system. If it does not have a port for RS-232 than use a TV that is known to have “discrete” IR codes. Using Sony, Samsung, LG or Panasonic will generally serve you well. I’m not positive but think you would also be fine with the Sharp and Toshiba. Do yourself a big favor and leave than off name discount brand on the shelf at your local Warehouse store. We don’t want to mention names here but if it’s not listed above and it’s inexpensive, don’t buy it. Don’t waste any brain cells evaluating the remote that comes with any TV you are considering. Or for that matter, any other AV device you are going to purchase. The manufactures factory included remote will be useless in a system environment and will end up spending it’s lifetime in a drawer anyway.
5. What about 3D?
Currently, there is a lot of debate on whether or not to get a 3D television. I’ll make this easy for you. If you think your kids would like it or you think it would be cool then by all means go ahead and get 3D. However, if this whole 3D thing seems gimmicky to you or you can’t see yourself wearing the special 3D glasses then don’t bother. Regardless of your preference though, you may not actually have a choice. Why? That’s because most of the best displays are made in 3D. Not because 3D is necessarily any better but because the manufactures need to include this feature to justify the higher price.
6. Mounting your TV
If you bought a very thin TV and are going to mount it on the wall there are some other considerations you’ll have to take into account. First off you’ll need a really thin mount. The older style mounts will be as thick as or even thicker than your new TV. Secondly, if your TV is going to be very thin you’ll never be able to use a standard electrical outlet. You’ll need to have the outlet recessed in the wall. Here is an example of what you’ll need.
7. Fireplace’s
Mounting a TV above a Fireplace is not ideal. This is not for any other reason other than it’s just too high. Too often in our homes the fireplace is the focal point. The problem with this is that though designers design this way, we don’t live this way. What looks good at a home show is not what makes sense for everyday use. Fight it all you want but the typical American household should have the TV as focal point if you want to be practical. All too often, we are called in after these design decisions are already made. If you must mount over your fireplace and there are situations when you will, try to keep the mantle as low as possible. You’ll be kicking yourself later when your neck hurts from looking “up” at the TV if you don’t head this advice. Mounting over the fireplace can work well if you are reclining back when viewing, lying in bed or in a room that is used as a party situation where people are typically standing.
8. Price
The television, or video in general is what drives this industry. The TV seems to be the key piece that facilitates the purchase of all the other associated products like Blu-ray players, AV receivers, speakers and control systems. Unfortunately, the price of the television seems to be the most important thing to many people. I think this is actually a subconscious thing and find myself sometimes thinking the same way. It has somehow been ingrained is us that if we “save” $200 on a $2,500 TV we have reduced our cost. Especially when we are talking about a system this is so not true. If your installer comes out to service your system and finds the issue to be with a TV that you did not purchase from them, you could with one simple service call wipe out the entirety of what you thought you might have saved. It’s best to have a single vendor responsible for everything in the system.
