I bought a 48" LG OLED (the smallest they make for OLED) for our small apartment. You really need a sound bar, though. I like it well enough, but the interface is a bit clunky.
I know you mentioned not wanting a “home theater” experience, but if you plan on doing any movie watching at all you should certainly consider the audio side of that. In-TV speakers are really really bad, IME.
Which means considering things like speaker placement, or at least a sound bar, and possibly a Home Theater Receiver to let you switch different sources to the TV and sound system, although it sounds like you could probably pipe everything to the TV and then out of the TV into the sound bar if you don’t care about surround sound and fancy audio modes. But if it were me, I would at least make sure the contractor ran speaker wires to wherever I might want to put surround sound speakers in the future.
For mounting the TV, unless you have crazy viewing angles, I would just use a standard beefy wall-mount. I used to have a 65" plasma wall-mounted, and that thing weighed a ton. I use a projector now, which to be honest if I were you I would at least think about, if you are doing the remodel now and have a large empty wall…
You can get a very nice projector for $700, and suddenly you have a 120" TV. But that’s not ideal for gaming (latency) so if gaming is a big point then you want to stick with a TV.
Yeah, I’m much more interested in being able to play games than in having a giant TV. I play games now, and I’m not satisfied with my set up. (Mostly just ergonomics.) I have a 30" TV now and I’m perfectly happy with it, except that there’s not room for more than 3 people to watch it at once.
Why would a projector have any more latency than a TV?
The refresh rate might be slower, though.
The downside to projectors is: they require a “light controlled” room. In other words, they work best in the dark.
I’ve always liked projectors, but we finally decided to go with a large LG OLED when we did our last remodel.
Yeah, after looking at a few more I realize that the latency issues were more specific to the ultra-short throw projectors I was looking at (not having a way to ceiling-mount my projector). Those do a bit more video processing to get the UST to work, which adds to the latency. Since mine was specifically for TV/movies I didn’t really care, but gamers certainly were pointing out its unsuitability for that purpose.
If you have HDMI out in the wall, then a short cable will connect to the tv. Instead of a cable snaking over the floor, you hide that in the wall and let it come out at the side of the shelf, into a cabinet or maybe for a small side table, where you put the console.
The TV should have WiFI, so your laptop doesn’t need a cable. Probably.
I’ve used TV sets as monitors since '05. It’s so much easier than using the ‘smart’ functions built in. That way my computer becomes my media center (currently a Mac mini) and the Xbox sits right under the TV on a shelf.
So you’d put a shelf or something at tv level for the equipment?
I’m not sure why you think you need a Roku – new TVs are basically Rokus. So if we dispense with that, you basically need power for the TV then an HDMI cable for your gaming rig and that’s all. And you only need a single remote, which is a huge plus. So if you only need a single HDMI cable, why not stick it in the wall. On the other hand:
I’ll echo the sentiment that TV speakers suck. I’ve got a 65" LG and it can be difficult to understand spoken dialog when watching a movie, even though the set is turned up fairly loud. I’ve been considering a sound bar with a center speaker just to solve the dialog problem. You may want to do the same, and if so maybe get a mount that will also hold the soundbar. Though you could certainly just let the soundbar sit on that 3’ shelf.
Well, there’s the internet input. There’s the HDMI for a laptop, and maybe another cable for the laptop that doesn’t do HDMI (i forget what it’s called, but my monitors have a different port that i can connect to a USB C port on the windows laptop.) There’s the blueray/dvd player. There’s some port for the game system, which maybe can share with the computers. The TV in my den also connects to my external antenna. It would be nice if this one could, too.
And power, of course.
I was thinking I’d put the accessories on the bookcase, and just accept some cables lying around. Alternatively, i could drill holes in the back of the book case and run cables behind it.
But i guess i should plan to get a sound bar, too, if TVs don’t do adequate sound these days.
You’re running ethernet to the TV? Surely wireless is adequate I would think?
Anyway, it sounds like you’ve got a bunch of cables to run. Nevermind the in-wall HDMI. I mean, you could still do that if you used an HDMI switcher, but that’s yet another remote. F that.
FYI, monoprice - an excellent source for good yet inexpensive tech things - sells a bunch of wall mounts, including full motion mounts and a kit for mounting a soundbar above or below a TV.
If you do get a soundbar, make sure it has a center channel speaker for clearer dialog, and hook it up digitally via optical or coaxial digital, or HDMI if your TV has HDMI audio out. Obviously you can just buy the TV and see if the audio is adequate and decide later.
Thanks for the link, and also for reminding me to ask the electrician to connect the antenna. That should be fished through the wall, i think.
If you want a cleaner look, you could get a cable raceway, and go nuts with as many cables as needed.
I guess i expect the cables to be behind the TV, except when they are snaking across the floor to connect to a laptop.
The TCL TVs (Roku) have terrible sound, but that might not be a major issue if you don’t mind getting their special speakers. TCL TVs are designed to make passable sound but not much more, and if you want better sound, you buy the purpose-built wireless speakers for $150. If you really want thump, they have a subwoofer you can add.
I put a 48" TCL TV above my treadmill in the basement and immediately decided the sound was way too thin to listen to while running, so I bought a pair of the Roku speakers with some mounting brackets. They paired effortlessly with the TV and now I have a very nice setup for running.
Just to be clear, these speakers just need to be plugged into the wall, with no other wires. You can place them anywhere you want in the room with the TV.
You’re probably not going this high end, but be aware that some (all?) OLED TVs are very reflective to get better blacks, vs regular flat panel TVs that have a matte finish. This can cause issues with windows or lights that are in your viewing area reflecting in the TV. I had to buy curtains and move lamps when I got my OLED.
Get an installer for the wall mount. Big ass TVs are hard to control, even if you know what you are doing.
An installer is not that expensive.
~VOW
The contractor says they’ll do it. I’m happy to pay them for that.
You can get any size you want, of course, but there is a calculation for the ideal size. Too big and you are swiveling your head, too small and it is hard to see details. The calculation below is from Samsung (which knows a thing or two about TVs). You can get more by Googling “ideal tv size”.
Today’s UHD TVs offer more detail, so you can sit closer than before without seeing the pixels. However, sitting too close will still cause eye strain. While it all boils down to personal preference, there is a simple formula that works as a size calculator that provides a good starting point:
Viewing distance (in inches)/2 = recommended TV size.
For example, if you usually sit 10 feet from the TV, that’s 120 inches (10 feet x 12 inches).
120/2 = 60
The screen size for you is 60 inches (and remember, that’s the diagonal measurement of the screen). SOURCE
Also, not sure you need to wall mount the TV if there is a 3’ book case it can stand on. Either works though.
The bookcase isn’t very deep. I don’t think it is a safe place to balance that big an object. (I don’t care if the Blueray player sticks out. It’s light.)
I just did a similar update to our tv viewing, going with a 55" OLED because my wife didn’t want anything overpowering in the room. I had a live edge walnut slab that I made into a table, so I didn’t need to use a wall mount. The recommendation was to have the center of the screen 45" off the floor. We previously used a swing arm but kind of tired looking up all the time. I don’t know how people who mount over a fireplace live with it.
The LG interface kind of sucks, but it works. I heard that some people just plug in a Roku stick to keep things simpler.
I had a A/V stereo system that I bought about 20 years ago, and hooking it up makes a HUGE difference. I mentioned in a different thread that I tested it with Jurassic Park – having a subwoofer and a center speaker makes a big impact. It’s so old that it didn’t support HDMI but at least it has a digital optical port.
The cheapest place I’ve found for av cables is our home improvement store (Menards). I died when I saw how much Best Buy wanted to charge. Just today I bought a four-foot cable, but it must have shrink in the package somehow; it’s never quite long enough. In other words, always get a longer cable than you think you’ll need.
This mounts directly to the wall and requires no wires.