Whether you’re watching TV in bed or sitting in the front row of a cinema, your visual angle makes a huge difference to how good the picture looks. The ideal viewing position for TV is at eye level. That’s why most people don’t choose the first row in a cinema. Sitting lower down can strain your eyes and make the image look less sharp and contrasty.
You can adjust your TV screen to a better position to reduce glare by lowering it or moving it away from direct sunlight. Alternatively, you could get a sun shade that covers your TV and helps cut down on the amount of glare you have to deal with.
Upscaling is when a TV’s processor converts lower-resolution content to a higher resolution. The best TVs can do a fantastic job of upscaling, but many cheaper models struggle with it, and the results are often disappointing. A TV with bad upscaling can look blurry, with poor fine detail and dull colors. A good upscaling process, on the other hand, produces a sharper image that looks much more natural.
Motion smoothing is a setting on most modern TVs that affects the way your games and movies are displayed. It can be turned on or off using the picture settings menu, and it changes how the TV displays movement on screen. It usually reduces the judder that can be caused by fast movements, but it can also cause a lot of blurring and slowdown. It can be useful in some situations, but most people prefer to have it disabled because it reduces the overall quality of a picture.
Most TVs have a noise reduction setting that changes how the TV’s internal components process video signals. These settings can range from very effective to disastrous, but the one thing they all have in common is that they introduce input lag. This is a big problem for gamers, as it can reduce the responsiveness of controllers and slow down games. Newer TVs tend to have better built-in noise reduction settings, so it’s a good idea to check these before you buy one.
Equalizer settings let you control the frequency of sound waves, from low bass frequencies to high treble frequencies (like a bird singing or thumping drumbeat). Some TVs have preset EQ modes, but you can usually find a full set of controls listed by sound frequency in the picture settings menu.
LEDs can last over ten years, and lowering TV’s the backlight setting on your TV can help keep it working well until that day comes. Using the right picture settings and placing your TV correctly can also help to prolong its lifespan, so it’s worth taking the time to learn how to use your TV’s features effectively.