Planning for Black Friday: TV Buying Guide

You shouldn’t stand in line at midnight after Thanksgiving to get good deals on things like books and clothing — you should only be facing the cold and dark, fighting other shoppers before the stores open, for outstanding savings on incredibly expensive items. And every year, one of the most sought-after purchases on Black Friday is a television.

Yet, you shouldn’t waste your Black Friday budget on just any TV. Here’s a review of different features to seek in the TV of your dreams, so you can walk away from this year’s doorbusters with a revolutionary home viewing experience.

Size

Most people intuitively know this: Bigger is better — when it comes to televisions. Larger TVs offer a superior viewing experience because they make it easier to obtain an optimal viewing distance, height and angle. There is a strict algorithm for calculating how large your TV needs to be given the distance of your sofa: size of TV x 0.55 = optimal viewing distance. This means you can enjoy more wiggle room in how you arrange your furniture if you invest in a larger set. Additionally, the center of your TV screen should be at eye-height to prevent you from craning your neck and causing neck pain and stiffness. Larger TVs don’t need to be hung so far off the ground, making them easier to mount properly.

Even if you ignore the technical benefits of a larger set, you’ll find that people simply don’t complain about getting a TV that is too big. Everyone enjoys a larger screen for one reason or another, so you should measure your space and aim to invest in a screen that is as large as possible.

Picture Quality

This is where most average consumers get confused and frustrated during the TV-buying process. Most televisions in most stores are covered in unintelligible specifications, with letters and numbers that are anything but intuitive. Some buyers want the best possible picture quality using the most cutting-edge technologies, but most buyers only want to make sure they aren’t missing out and buying an outdated set.

If you fall into the former category, you should prioritize purchasing an 8K TV with OLED tech. If you aren’t terribly concerned about picture quality, you will likely be happy with a 4K or Ultra High Definition (UHD) television that uses LCD tech, which also includes Samsung’s QLED. Here’s why:

8K vs 4K

In general, the higher the density of pixels on a screen, the better the picture quality. Back in the day, 1080p TVs were a major innovation in picture resolution, allowing home viewers to see more detail on the small screen than ever before. A couple years ago, 4K TVs quadrupled the number of pixels crammed into TVs, and lately, 8K TVs double that number again, to nearly 8,000 horizontal pixels.

However, most people simply can’t tell the difference in resolution at such a high magnitude. 4K technology is relatively easy to manufacture, making it inexpensive, but the newness of 8K increases its price. Thus, you should only spring for 8K if it really matters to you.

OLED vs. LCD

LCD technology has been used in TVs for years, but that doesn’t make it outdated. In fact, LCD tech has demonstrated time and again that it is ideal for the small screen since it is lightweight, inexpensive and effective at producing quality images. Most affordable TVs use LCD technology, save Samsung’s QLED, which uses quantum dots over an LCD backlight — essentially a rebrand of typical LCD tech.

On the other end of the spectrum is OLED TVs, which use actual LED lights to produce images. OLED is superior to LCD in that it can generate richer colors and more realistic blacks, plus it comes in a slimmer, lighter package than LCD. Still, OLED is the top-of-the-line right now, so you will need a high TV budget to get one, even on Black Friday.

Amenities

Size and picture quality are the most important considerations for a TV, but they aren’t the only considerations. For example, you might need to think about your existing smart network and how a TV will connect and interact with other devices around your home. You might want a run-of-the-mill smart TV that has apps like Hulu and Netflix, but if you use your TV for more, you might need to hunt down a set that allows you to stream content from your phone or computer, or one that has productivity features like email.

Your shopping isn’t over once you bring your new TV home on Black Friday. To ensure your TV investment is solid, you should remember to get an extra TV warranty, which allows you access to repairs and replacements if certain things go wrong.

The right TV is out there waiting for you — and you can snag it on Black Friday if you prepare today. Measure your space, consider your budget and carefully select your perfect television, so you can get the best day-after-Thanksgiving gift ever.