Expert advice

Real Homes tech writer Caroline Preece reveals what you need to know when buying a new TV

Q WHAT SIZE SHOULD I BUY?

A

To work out the size of TV that will fit your space and let everyone watch comfortably, divide the diagonal width (in inches) of the TV by 0.84 and you’ll get the optimum viewing distance.

With a 65 inch TV, for example, you’ll need to be sitting at least 6.5ft from it – something to bear in mind if yours is a smaller room.

If you replace an HD TV with a 4K one of the same size but don’t change your viewing distance, you won’t see an improvement – either buy a larger 4K TV or stay the same and pull your sofa nearer.

Q ARE 4K AND 8K WORTH IT?

A

The three main resolutions to choose from these days are HD, 4K (or Ultra HD) and 8K. This refers to the number of pixels carried – the higher, the better.

You can buy 4K TVS for quite reasonable prices, so go for it if picture quality is important to you. It’ll also be somewhat future-proof as more 4K content is delivered via streaming apps like Netflix.

For brain-busting resolution, you’ll want the 8K. But it may be best to wait until 8K movies and TV shows are more common.

Q WHAT ARE HDR, OLED AND QLED TVS?

A

HDR (High Dynamic Range) gives bright spectral highlights, reflections that glint and sunlight that glares. If you’re an avid sports fan, it’s a real bonus. When picking an Hdr-compatible TV, only mid- to high-end models will give you the picture quality you want. OLED, or Organic Light Emitting Diodes, have astonishing levels of contrast as they’re able to turn off individual pixels for ‘perfect’ black levels. QLED, or Quantum-dot Light Emitting Diode, introduced as an alternative to OLED technology, place a quantum dot colour filter in front of an ordinary LCD backlight.