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Buying and setting up a brand-new TV is always exciting, and modern televisions from major smart TV brands provide stellar picture clarity for watching movies or gaming. However, the setup process doesn’t always go off without a hitch. If you’re too hasty about setting up your TV, you may inadvertently fall into one (or more) of the common pitfalls that new TV owners often make.
Some mistakes stem from pure carelessness. Others happen because, in your pursuit of the best deal possible on a TV accessory, you’ve ended up with shoddy hardware. In some cases, the TV’s settings themselves may be limiting your viewing experience. By understanding the most common mistakes and faux-pas in the TV setup department, you should be able to get your new device up and running both optimally and without any problems.
Discarding the original packaging
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Once you take your TV out of its big cardboard box and mount it, you might be compelled to throw all the packaging out to save on space. However, there’s a case to be made for storing the original box and inserts your TV came with, especially if it’s a particularly large unit.
Should you ever decide to move, you’ll need a safe and secure way to transport your TV to your new space. Larger televisions can be particularly tricky to safeguard during the moving process; holding onto the box ensures your device will have a contained, padded, and durable home when the time comes to move it. Not to mention keeping the box on hand will likely boost the resale value of your TV, should you ever choose to sell it.
If you really have no choice, you could buy additional supplies to pack your TV securely once you need to pack it up for transport. But if you can help it, you’re better off avoiding the additional expense. So, if you’ve got an attic, basement, or dedicated storage space available at home — or if you happen to have a separate storage unit — don’t think twice about stashing your TV box there.
Keeping the frame interpolation setting on
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TruMotion, Motion Enhancement, Picture Clarity, TruCinema, Motion Control — these are all just different manufacturers’ names for the same frame interpolation feature that’s become common to many new TVs. No matter what it’s called on your specific device, we suggest you find your TV’s frame interpolation setting and turn it off.
While some might think of this functionality as a revolutionary technology, it’s simply a feature that increases your TV’s frame rate to 60 FPS by adding additional frames between existing ones. This can lead to what’s called the “soap opera effect,” which entails excessive smoothing that makes the picture seem unnaturally hyper-realistic. It’s an effect that irks many, especially filmmakers and other industry players who want audiences to experience movies as directors intended them to be seen.
Even if you don’t mind the frame interpolation effect itself, the tradeoffs of keeping this feature on are many. It can cause unsightly visual artifacts and distracting post-processing effects that detract from the viewing experience. There aren’t many benefits to frame interpolation even when gaming; in most cases, Game Mode needs to be disabled for frame interpolation to work, which can then cause input lag.
Buying a cheap HDMI cable
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The days of HDMI 1.4 being enough for televisions are long gone. The updated standard of HDMI 2.1, which came out in November 2017, has replaced it. HDMI 2.1 supports data transfer speeds up to 48Gbps and resolutions all the way up to 10K at 60Hz. It also facilitates eARC connections for Dolby TrueHD, DTS:X, Dolby Atmos, and DTS-HD audio output, on top of featuring Quick Frame Transport for reduced input lag and Quick Media Switching for seamlessly going back and forth between multiple inputs. Gamers also benefit from HDMI 2.1’s Variable Refresh Rate and Auto Low Latency Mode features; both go a long way in minimizing latency and screen tearing, which is particularly welcome for multiplayer gaming.
Given how useful all these features are in the updated HDMI standard, it would be disheartening if you were to come home with a cheap HDMI cable only to discover that it’s an older version, like 2.0 or even 1.4, that doesn’t support the features you’d want with your new TV. In that case, you’d likely end up buying another cable anyway and spend more money overall, so you might as well opt for a high-quality 2.1 cable at the outset. Now that the HDMI 2.2 specification has been released, that’s another option for you to consider, but you likely won’t see products that support the updated standard for some time.
Conversely, it’s not necessarily true that expensive HDMI cables are better than cheaper variants if they both support HDMI 2.1. If you do your due diligence by researching options and reading product reviews to select a durable, high-quality HDMI 2.1 cable, you’ll be able to enjoy all the display features your new TV has to offer.
Failing to check if HDMI 2.1 is active
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Figuring out the best HDMI cable for your needs is just one step in unlocking your TV’s full picture quality. Even if you have an HDMI 2.1 cable on hand, not all HDMI ports are designed to support the standard. Once you get your hands on a good cable, you’ll also have to plug it into an HDMI port that supports the features you want, which is often denoted by printed text beside the port. This way, you’ll avoid the mistake of plugging your cable into a port with lesser capabilities, preventing you from enjoying the benefits of a 2.1 connection.
Once you’ve done that, it’s time to check out your TV’s settings to review some HDMI-related options. Most televisions use a standard HDMI mode that defers to 2.0 standards, and this is usually selected by default. While 2.0 limits bandwidth to 18 Gbps, it also ensures compatibility with older devices. However, you should also be able to find an enhanced mode that switches the input to HDMI 2.1; select this option if you’re hooking up a newer device to your TV. That’ll help you enjoy everything from HDR technology to the highest possible resolutions.
Not setting up an external sound system
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A new TV itself isn’t usually enough to unlock the full cinematic experience you’d want to enjoy from TV shows and movies. For truly immersive and engaging viewing, high-quality sound is just as important as high-quality visuals are. Sure, a modern 4K TV with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision can make colors and shades pop like earlier TVs couldn’t, but most onboard stereo TV speakers won’t do justice to the audio in your media. This is especially true for media using multi-channel, beefy audio codecs like Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS:X that are designed to work with surround sound systems.
You don’t need to break the bank on a sound system, either. There are plenty of budget soundbars and even budget high-fidelity speakers out there that still deliver on performance. For a more serious upgrade, however, you could opt for an immersive TV surround sound experience by investing in a surround sound system that can make the audio in your media sound wider, clearer, and more detailed.
Sticking with the default picture mode settings
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The moment you take your new smart TV out of the box, adjusting your picture settings is a must. Depending on personal taste, you might be partial to warmer colors or cooler tones, while preferences for saturation or brightness settings can also differ quite widely. If you don’t calibrate your picture settings at the outset, you’d be robbing yourself of an optimized experience with your new TV. When you navigate to your TV’s picture settings, you should configure things like brightness, contrast, gamma, color temperature, saturation, sharpness, tint, and backlight intensity to your liking.
Those aren’t the only picture settings you can alter, of course. Most modern TVs come with special modes suited for the numerous forms of media you can consume. If you’re a film buff who wants to watch movies in a way that truly matches the director’s vision, then enabling Movie or Filmmaker Mode is a simple way to faithfully recreate these visual effects on your TV. Meanwhile, avid gamers who want to minimize input lag in their favorite titles should turn on Game Mode, although that does come at the cost of picture quality in some cases. If you’re one for competitive multiplayer games, turn this mode on to get split-second advantages over your opponents.
Never updating the TV’s firmware
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Firmware updates are essential across all kinds of modern tech, including televisions, to maintain their functionality over time. Since operating systems are installed on smart TVs before being shipped out, the OS version that comes with your TV is likely out of date by the time you’ve taken it home. That means your television will need a firmware update when you set it up, as well as over time. Not only do firmware updates fix bugs and glitches, but they can also improve upon existing features and introduce new ones that are useful. However, you can enjoy none of those perks if you avoid installing critical firmware updates.
Utility isn’t the only concern, either. TVs running on outdated operating systems are more vulnerable to attacks that could infect your new device with spyware or malware. This could then put your personal data at risk, especially if you’re logged into every app you’ve got on your smart TV.
Forgetting to double-check the power-saving settings
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Working to manage your ecological footprint by reducing overall energy consumption is always commendable. Many people do take for granted just how much electricity they waste in a day, so it’s important to be cognizant of usage. While most TVs come with Eco Mode or Energy Saving Mode to reduce power consumption, the tradeoffs of these modes are seldom worth it — they usually reduce overall brightness and disable picture enhancements. If you run your TV in some form of power saving mode, your TV isn’t likely to provide you with the state-of-the-art experience you might expect. The last thing you’d want is to inadvertently hamper your own experience with your new and (likely expensive) TV.
Ultimately, your viewing habits determine how much power your TV draws every day. Instead of keeping Eco Mode on all the time, it’s better to simply manage how often your TV is on. If power conservation is your concern, just remember to turn your TV off whenever it’s not in use. If you’re watching or playing something that doesn’t make many demands when it comes to picture quality, though, you can always enable power saving mode for that specific experience.
Not prioritizing cable management
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With media players, streaming devices, gaming consoles, sound systems, and other pieces of equipment taking up space at your TV unit, it’s easy for jumbles of HDMI cables, power cords, and more to accumulate behind your television. Not only can these unsightly messes be bothersome to clean, but they can pose safety risks if they’re precariously exposed and in the open. This becomes more of a concern if you have young children or pets at home. To prevent accidents, it’s important to practice proper cable management and organize unruly wires before they cause problems down the line.
To mitigate spaghetti wires at your TV setup, look to purchase shorter standard cables that offer just enough length to cover the distance between your TV and your wired devices. Alternatively, you can improve a messy cable setup with a myriad of simple tools, such as cable ties or a cable management tray. Either option allows you to organize and contain your wires so they don’t get tangled up in messy heaps. To protect your wires — and their potential attackers — from any harm, you can also set up a cable raceway on your wall. Mounting any power strips or surge protectors to the wall is also helpful in keeping your living room tidier. The fewer tripping hazards you’ve got on the floor, the better.
Failing to register your TV in time to get an extended warranty
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Most TVs brands provide a warranty that lasts sufficiently long and enables you to get your TV repaired or replaced under limited circumstances. For the most part, you don’t need to do anything for the warranty to kick in. As long as you’ve bought your TV new from the manufacturer itself or from an authorized dealer, your television should be under warranty right from when you’ve bought it.
However, some companies also let you register a recently purchased product to unlock an extended warranty period. This is a notoriously overlooked part of the purchasing process; most people forego (or aren’t aware of) this painless way of improving coverage on their TVs and other devices. It takes little time to register a product, but the process typically has to be completed within a set timeframe before you become ineligible for the extension. You can often find device registration information in the owner’s manual or paper insert that came with your TV, and completing the process on the official manufacturer’s website often entails filling out a simple form.
Placing your TV right next to an open window or a bright light source
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Placement is key when setting up a new TV. Besides deciding whether you should wall mount your TV or place it on a media console, there’s a far more important consideration to keep in mind when it comes to TV placement: lighting. If you’re setting up your TV in a well-lit room that gets ample natural light courtesy of a large, open window, do yourself a favor and place your TV as far away from said window as possible. Alternatively, find some high-quality light-blocking curtains that you can use for when you’re watching TV.
Some of the best TVs you can buy for bright rooms leverage anti-glare technology that prevents any reflections or minor light sources from affecting screen brightness, but there’s a limit to how effective that technology is. You can’t expect that a massive east-facing window won’t dim your TV’s screen once sunlight starts flooding into your room.
Similarly, don’t place your television next to a lamp or any other bright light source — that would just lead to the same glare problems. Curtains probably wouldn’t help you in that scenario, but you could always move the offending light source or simply turn it off when the television is in use.
