Frequently asked questions about buying tech and working with Technichole.

A simple rule of thumb is to aim for a seating distance of about 1.0 to 1.6 times the diagonal screen size of a 4K TV. For example, if you sit around 8 feet (96 inches) from the screen, a TV in the 65 to 77 inch range is usually appropriate. Closer than that and a 55-inch may still feel immersive; farther than that and a 75-inch or larger can make a noticeable difference.

That said, comfort matters more than formulas. If you are upgrading from a much smaller TV, bigger will feel dramatic at first, but most people adjust within a week or two and are glad they chose the larger size. We generally recommend going as big as your room, furniture layout, and budget reasonably allow, provided the TV is not overwhelming the wall or forcing you to move your head constantly to follow the action.

If you watch a lot of movies in a dim or dark room and you care deeply about inky black levels and contrast, OLED tends to deliver the most cinematic experience. Each pixel controls its own light, which means dark scenes look truly dark and bright highlights stand out beautifully.

Mini-LED and QLED sets, on the other hand, often get brighter than OLED, which helps a lot in bright living rooms or daytime viewing. They use sophisticated backlights and local dimming to balance black levels and peak brightness. If you have large windows, white walls, or you watch a lot of sports with daylight glare, a good Mini-LED or QLED TV may be the more practical choice.

In short, choose OLED if you prioritize movie nights in controlled light and want the best contrast. Choose a quality Mini-LED or QLED if your room is bright, you watch at all hours of the day, or you want a punchy, vibrant picture for sports and everyday streaming.

For HDR to really stand out, a TV should be able to hit at least around 500 nits of peak brightness, with higher levels (700–1000 nits and above) delivering noticeably more “pop” in highlights like sunlight, fire, or reflections. In a typical bright living room with windows and overhead lighting, the brighter the TV, the more flexibility you have to enjoy HDR without feeling like the image is washed out.

However, brightness is not everything. Good tone-mapping, contrast, and local dimming matter just as much. A well-tuned mid-range TV can often look better than a very bright but poorly controlled panel. When we test TVs, we look at how they handle both dark room HDR movie scenes and real-world daytime content, not just the headline nit number.

The fastest improvement is to switch the picture mode from “Vivid,” “Dynamic,” or “Standard” to something like “Movie,” “Cinema,” “Filmmaker,” or “Custom.” These modes usually reduce blue-tinted color temperature, tame excessive sharpening, and get you much closer to what the creator intended.

Next, if your TV has a light sensor or “Eco” brightness mode, consider turning it off if the picture feels too dim, especially for HDR content. Disable or reduce aggressive motion smoothing if movies look like soap operas, and make sure your streaming apps are set to stream in the highest quality available. These simple tweaks often solve 80 percent of the problems we see people struggle with.

HDMI 2.1 and a 120 Hz panel are most helpful if you play fast-paced games that support 120 frames per second, such as competitive shooters or racing titles. The benefit is smoother motion, lower input lag, and sometimes features like variable refresh rate (VRR) to reduce tearing.

If you mostly play slower-paced games, story-driven titles, or you are not overly sensitive to motion, a good 60 Hz TV with low input lag can still provide an excellent console experience. We suggest prioritizing HDMI 2.1 and 120 Hz if you are investing in a premium console and want to future-proof your setup, but not letting it completely overshadow basics like contrast, brightness, and overall picture quality.

Input lag is the delay between a command you make (like pressing a button on your controller) and the action appearing on the screen. High input lag makes games feel sluggish or imprecise, especially in competitive titles where quick reactions matter.

Game Mode reduces input lag by turning off or simplifying some of the TV’s heavy processing, such as motion interpolation or advanced image enhancements. The goal is to get your actions on screen as quickly as possible. When you set up a new console, enabling Game Mode on the HDMI input you use is one of the first settings we recommend checking.

eARC stands for “enhanced Audio Return Channel.” It is an improved version of ARC that allows a TV to send higher-quality audio formats, including uncompressed Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos, back to a soundbar or AV receiver over a single HDMI cable.

If you plan to use a modern Atmos-capable soundbar or a receiver with multiple speakers, eARC is extremely helpful because it simplifies your setup and ensures you are getting the best audio signal your gear supports. For simpler 2.0 or 2.1 soundbars, standard ARC is often sufficient, but if you are buying new gear anyway, choosing a TV and soundbar that support eARC is a smart way to keep your system flexible for future upgrades.

Even on good TVs, built-in speakers are constrained by physics. There is limited space for drivers, so sound often comes out thin, boxy, or hard to understand at low volume. A decent soundbar can dramatically improve dialogue clarity, give voices a more natural tone, and add enough bass to make movies and games more engaging without rattling your walls.

If you watch a lot of shows, news, or movies and you often find yourself turning volume up and down just to hear dialogue, a soundbar is one of the highest-impact upgrades you can make. You do not have to jump straight to a huge 7.1 system; even a compact 2.1 or 3.1 soundbar can be transformative in a living room or apartment setting.

Modern smart TVs have come a long way, and platforms like Google TV, Roku TV, and Fire TV can be perfectly good for many people. If your TV is fairly new, responsive, and has all the apps you need, you might not need a separate streaming stick or box at all.

However, if you notice sluggish menus, frequent app crashes, limited app selection, or heavy ad clutter on the home screen, an external streamer can be a worthwhile upgrade. Devices like dedicated streaming boxes often receive more frequent updates, run apps faster, and can outlive your TV, which is especially useful if you plan to keep your display for many years.

For most people doing web browsing, documents, video calls, and light multitasking, 16 GB of RAM is a very comfortable baseline. It helps keep your system responsive even with many tabs and apps open. For heavier creative work, development, or virtual machines, 32 GB or more may be justified.

On the storage side, a 512 GB SSD is a sensible minimum for a primary laptop today, especially if you plan to keep it for several years. If you work with large media files or games, 1 TB or more reduces the need to juggle external drives constantly. Regardless of capacity, we strongly recommend solid-state drives (SSDs) rather than traditional hard drives for speed, reliability, and everyday responsiveness.

If your current TV or laptop still does everything you need without causing daily frustration, you may get more value from optimizing settings or adding a small accessory than from replacing the whole device. A new soundbar, better lighting, or a faster external SSD can extend the useful life of your gear.

It becomes worth upgrading when you consistently run into clear limitations: your TV cannot get bright enough for your room, lacks essential ports, or struggles with modern streaming apps; your laptop is frequently freezing, cannot handle the software you rely on, or its battery no longer lasts a realistic amount of time away from the outlet. When those pain points appear daily, an upgrade often saves time, frustration, and even money in the long run compared with constantly working around hardware that no longer fits your life.

We look at products the way you actually use them. For TVs, that means evaluating them in bright daytime conditions as well as dimmed movie-night setups. We pay attention to how they handle motion in sports, how well they preserve detail in dark scenes, how bright they can get for HDR, and how intuitive their settings menus are for non-experts.

For soundbars and speakers, we prioritize clear dialogue at moderate volumes, balance between bass and midrange, and how easy they are to connect to a TV or streaming source. For laptops, we include real-world performance, thermals, keyboard comfort, battery life, and display quality. Our goal is not just to quote specs, but to explain what those specs feel like when you are actually living with the device.

No. Our credibility depends on trust, and we take that seriously. We do use affiliate links to retailers such as Amazon and others, which may earn us a small commission if you buy through them, but this does not change the price you pay and it does not determine which products we recommend.

If a more affordable model performs just as well or better than a high-end flagship for most people, we say so clearly. When brands send products for testing, we disclose that, but they do not get to approve our reviews or influence our scores. If something is a poor value, we will state that plainly, even if it came directly from the manufacturer.

Our consultation service is for people who want more tailored guidance than a general buying guide can offer. You email us with details about your room, your current gear, what you watch or play, and your budget. From there, we may ask a few follow-up questions and then offer structured recommendations that make sense for your specific situation.

We are based in Orlando, Florida, but consultations are typically done remotely via email or video. We can help you choose between specific models, sketch out a complete room plan, or tune settings on equipment you already own. The focus is always on practical, honest advice that respects your constraints rather than trying to push you toward the most expensive option on the list.

Absolutely. Many of our readers and clients start out by saying they are not tech-savvy, and that is exactly who we write and consult for. Our job is to translate the jargon—HDR, VRR, local dimming, watts, nits, and refresh rates—into what you will actually see, hear, and feel in your space.

You are never expected to understand every spec. If all you can tell us is that your living room is bright, your budget is fixed, and you want movies and sports to look great without bothering the neighbors, that is enough for us to start from. We build the technical choices around your real-world needs, not the other way around.

If you do not see your question covered here, or if your situation feels unusual, you are always welcome to email us directly at [email protected]. Include as many specifics as you are comfortable sharing—room size, viewing distance, what gear you own, and any products you are considering—and we will do our best to respond with meaningful, tailored guidance.

This FAQ will continue to evolve based on the questions we receive. If we notice the same theme coming up repeatedly, we often turn it into a dedicated article or a new FAQ entry, so your question may help other readers in the same situation.