Television buying guide

The first and most important thing is to make sure your new TV gets home safely. Secondly, make sure your TV is installed safely and with good cable management to prolong the life of your TV and to ensure the area looks as neat as possible.

Installing a TV safely means not putting it above a fireplace (the heat will damage the panel, plus it’s just a bad angle for your neck), making sure it’s on a table that holds its weight, making sure it’s attached to a part of a wall that can hold its weight, and ensuring it’s at a comfortable viewing angle so you don’t strain yourself.

Need help installing your new TV? Or just want to make sure the cables are properly hidden, like in a wall? The Good Guys Home Services can organise a professional to do it all for you.

Measuring your TV is actually easier than you might think! When you see TV sizes - it is referring to the diagonal length, measuring from the top left hand corner of the TV screen to the lower right hand corner. TV measurements are typically written in inches.

Smart TVs are televisions with integrated internet and interactive web features to open up a whole new world of entertainment. Whether this be browsing the internet, streaming music or even viewing pictures.

There are a few things you should consider when buying a TV to make sure it is the right fit for you and your home. This includes TV size, resolution, tech and more. Make sure you read this in depth Buying Guide to understand what features matter to you!

QLED stands for Quantum Light-Emitting Diode. To put it simply, that means a QLED TV is just like a regular LED TV, except it uses tiny nanoparticles called quantum dots to supercharge its colour.

For a 4K TV, your ideal screen size in inches is approximately your viewing distance divided by 1.5

Ideal screen size ≈ viewing distance ÷ 1.5

See the table below for common screen sizes

It’s usually better to buy a higher-quality TV before buying a bigger one, but it depends on your viewing preferences and the size of your space. Picture quality matters, because a larger screen with poor image quality will show imperfections more clearly. However, a bigger screen can improve the viewing experience, especially if you sit far from the TV.

For the best viewing experience, the centre of your TV should be at your eye level when seated. For most cases, that works out to ~100–110 cm (40–43 inches) from the floor to the centre of the screen. To measure this, sit where you normally watch TV, measure the distance between the floor and your eyes, mount the TV so the screen's centre matches that height.

Yes, you can mount a TV on plasterboard. First, check what's behind the plasterboard - if there are wood or metal studs, mount the bracket into the studs. If there are no studs, you can still mount a TV, but make sure to use heavy-duty plasterboard fixings such as toggle bolts, snap toggles or metal cavity anchors. Look up the weight of your TV and compare it to the rated load of the fixings to make sure your fixings can comfortably support it. Fixed or tilt mounts are safer than full-motion mounts when mounting directly to plasterboard.

In an OLED TV, each pixel emits its own light, giving perfect black levels and excellent contrast. OLED is typically best for dark rooms, movies, and gaming. Mini LED TVs use thousands of tiny LEDs behind an LCD panel, providing a very bright picture with good contrast and no risk of burn-in — making them a great all-around option. QLED TVs use LED backlights combined with quantum dots to produce bright, vivid colours that work well in bright rooms for daytime TV and sports viewing.

OLED burn-in is possible but unlikely, and the risk varies depending on usage. For sports, the risk is low to moderate, with static elements like scoreboards and logos being the main concern — avoid leaving these on for hours every day. For news channels, the risk is low, since tickers and graphics are constantly moving. For gaming, the risk is slightly higher because on-screen elements such as health bars and maps are often displayed for the entire session. Modern OLEDs include features like pixel-shifting, logo luminance adjustments, and screen savers to further reduce the risk.

The best refresh rate for you will depend on what you will be using your TV for. See example table below:

HDMI 2.1 is a gaming upgrade port that supports up to 48 Gbps, providing the bandwidth needed for higher resolutions and frame rates. For the best gaming experience on PS5 or Xbox, especially 4K 120Hz gaming, fast-paced shooters or racing games, and smooth motion with VRR and low latency, a TV with HDMI 2.1 is essential.

VRR stands for Variable Refresh Rate. Most TVs have a fixed refresh rate, but a TV with VRR can match its refresh rate to the frame rate of a game, resulting in smoother gameplay. Without VRR, the TV might display repeated frames or stutter during fast-paced action.

Yes, if you’re gaming, a Game Mode or low input lag TV is highly recommended. Input lag is the delay between pressing a button on your controller and seeing the action on screen, so a TV with low input lag provides more responsive gameplay. Most TVs have a Game Mode that turns off extra image processing (like motion smoothing or noise reduction), reduces input lag and works with HDMI 2.1 features.

No, you don't need Wi-Fi 6 or Ethernet to stream in 4K. However, Wi-Fi 6 can provide a more stable connection with fewer dropouts, while an Ethernet connection is the most stable option and is ideal if the TV is near the router.

Either built-in apps or a streaming box will work, depending on your use case. Built-in apps are fine if your TV is new and feels responsive, while a streaming box is better if you want smoother performance and longer software support.

Most modern mid to high-end TVs support Dolby Atmos. However, without external speakers, you won’t get true Atmos and will instead hear a downmixed or virtual version through the TV’s built-in speakers. With a soundbar or AV system, you can experience true Atmos and much better sound.

TVs come with built-in speakers, which work fairly well, but Soundbars take your audio game to the next level. A Soundbar is mandatory if you care about movie dialogue, you game or watch sports, or, if you want Dolby Atmos or surround sound. If you're only using your TV for quiet, casual viewing, you can probably skip the Soundbar.

Before the delivery team leaves, inspect the box for dents or damage, ask the delivery drivers to power the TV on and check for cracks in the screen, vertical lines, black spots or flickering. Make sure the TV remote, stand, screws and power cables are included. Then, run a quick screen check; turn the TV on and look for dead pixels, uneven brightness and shadowy patches or cloudiness. Connect your TV to Wi-Fi or Ethernet, update the firmware and select your region or country.

You'll need HDMI cables if you plan on connecting devices like streaming boxes, gaming consoles, DVD players and Soundbars to your TV. If you watch live TV, you'll need an antenna/coax cable. You typically won't need an optical cable unless your sound system is older and doesn’t support HDMI ARC. Connecting an Ethernet cable to your TV is an optional extra and is useful if your TV is near your Wi-Fi router, you stream a lot in 4K or your Wi-Fi is unreliable.

To get great picture right out of the box, go to your TV settings, navigate to Picture or Picture Mode and choose one of these:

• Movie

• Cinema

• Filmmaker Mode

• ISF (Dark/Bright)

Turn off motion smoothing and adjust the brightness depending on your room. Bright room → slightly higher brightness, dark room → lower brightness.

Start with your viewing distance. As a rough guide: 2m = 55–65", 3m = 65–75", 4m = 75–85"+. If you’re sitting closer, going bigger usually looks better with 4K content—just make sure it fits the space and you’re not craning your neck.

Look for HDMI 2.1, 120Hz, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). In plain English: you’ll get smoother gameplay, less screen tearing, and the TV will automatically switch into game mode when you fire up the console.

If you want 4K at 120Hz for gaming, use an Ultra High Speed HDMI cable (that’s the HDMI 2.1 standard). For normal streaming and free-to-air, a regular high-speed HDMI cable is usually fine. Quick tip: buy the cable for the job you want the TV to do.

Count your gear: soundbar, console, streaming device, maybe a Blu‑ray player. Most people are happiest with at least 3–4 HDMI ports. Also check for eARC on one HDMI port if you’re adding a soundbar—makes audio setup much simpler.

eARC is basically the “good” audio return channel. It lets your TV send higher-quality audio to a soundbar or AV receiver via a single HDMI cable. Translation: better sound, fewer cables, fewer headaches—especially for Dolby Atmos-capable soundbars.

HDR is what gives you that punchy contrast and bright highlights. Most TVs support HDR10. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are “enhanced” HDR formats—great if your streaming apps and the TV both support the same one. If you’re choosing between two TVs, stronger brightness + good HDR handling matters more than chasing a logo.

For most people, no, there’s still far more 4K content than 8K. A great 4K TV with strong brightness, contrast and motion usually looks better than a cheaper 8K TV. If you’re future-proofing and buying very large (say 85"+), 8K can be a nice-to-have, not a must-have.

Before you bin anything: inspect the screen, confirm it powers on, and keep the box for a bit (handy for returns or moving). Once it’s set up, run the software update, choose a sensible picture mode (Movie/Cinema for night viewing is a great start), and do a quick check of your HDMI inputs and audio.

The typical lifespan of display technologies really varies greatly depending on the type. LCD TVs generally last around 7 to 11 years at typical viewing habits. OLED displays can average a bit less due to organic materials that may degrade over time. But remember this is a really rough guide only, it's super important to consider how you use your TV, your settings preferences etc, as brightness and contrast levels can also affect display longevity.

Yes, burn-in and image retention are concerns primarily associated with OLED and older plasma displays. Burn-in may happen when static images are displayed for prolonged periods, causing permanent discoloration on the screen. OLEDs, due to their organic compounds, are more susceptible to this, especially if high brightness settings are used continuously. LCD screens are generally less prone to burn-in but can experience temporary image retention under certain conditions. To minimize these risks, it’s advisable to use screen savers, avoid static content for extended durations, and adjust brightness levels appropriately.

Viewing angles significantly affect how display brightness and contrast are perceived. As the angle between the viewer and the screen increases, the brightness may diminish due to the way light disperses, making the image appear dimmer or duller. Similarly, contrast ratio tends to decrease because the difference between the darkest and brightest areas becomes less distinct, often causing colors to appear washed out. Understanding the viewing angles in your room is really important for ensuring consistently great looking content no matter where you view from.

A nit is a unit of brightness - the more nits, the brighter the TV can get and fight glare from windows and lights.

• 400–600 nits → OK for dim or moderately lit rooms

• 600–800 nits → Good for bright rooms with some daylight

• 800–1,200 nits → Ideal for very bright rooms

• 1,200+ nits → Excellent for sun-filled rooms and strong HDR

Go Mini LED (or a bright LED/QLED) so the picture stays clear in daylight and doesn’t look washed out.