TVs

Richard will be buying a new TV and sound system soon and wants to know what to get. Leo says to determine the size; you want bigger than you think. These days, 70" or more is better for movies. And if you can darken the room, then an OLED is ideal. But if the room has brighter ambient light, then an LCD screen is going to be best. So, it depends on the room you put it in. As for sound, a soundbar will work really well, but you want to get a subwoofer.

Dennis is going to buy an LG OLED. He recently saw an ad for $500 off. How can they do that with such a recent model? Leo says that sometimes they do sales like that to clear out last year's model. Sometimes, it's a liquidation of inventory or even a damaged box, which must be sold as refurbished. The real key is whether the warranty is intact. So pay attention to the reviews. Throw out the highs and lows and take the rest seriously. Also, be sure they will accept a return if the TV doesn't perform or work out. 

Jeff calls in to warn that if you use an OLED TV as a computer monitor, you run the risk of burn-in from window elements like menu bars that are always on. That makes using an OLED a bad choice for a monitor. Leo agrees and suggests a 4K LCD TV with the highest refresh rate you can get.

Jimmy wants to know if you can use a TV as a computer monitor. Leo says you can, but the sharpness of the TV isn't really good enough. Not as sharp. Leo thinks it's better to go the opposite direction and get the largest computer monitor he can afford and use it as a TV. Monitors are much sharper.  Alienware makes a 55" monitor.  But it really comes down to what he will use the computer for. Some, including JammerB in the chatroom, use a 4K LCD with a 120hz fresh rate, which can do the job. But they'll be more expensive than a monitor.

Joe would like to connect a pair of headphones to his LG TV. But when he does, the volume is very faint. Does he need some sort of amplifier? Leo says that most TVs get their audio from HDMI and the Audio Return Channel. If Joe has a home theater system or AV receiver, it's better to plug into that instead of the TV. What Leo thinks is maybe Joe needs to enable the setting in the TV menu. There are headphone amplifiers. Check out headphones.com for suggestions on which to get. There's plenty of options out there.

Ken got a new Vizio TV for Christmas, and he uses closed captioning. But it appears in the middle of the picture. Nobody seems to know how to move it to the bottom, where it belongs. Leo says that it could be a setting on the TV that does it. It depends on where the closed captioning is coming from. Check out this tech note from Vizio. Press CC on the remote. Then the menu.

Eric wants to know what the best option for creating a 120" screen is? Larger TV panels don't seem to be affordable. Leo says that projectors are still the best option, and short-throw projectors can help when dealing with small spaces.  But microLEDs may change the game. There are microLED screens out there with sizes over 100 inches. But they are six figures right now. So it'll take a few years before the technology gets seeded down to more affordable models.