Considering a new TV purchase? Here are three eco-friendly tips that could not only benefit the environment but also lighten your wallet.
Extending the Lifespan and Quality of Your TV: Top Tips
Investing in a TV is a significant decision, and with the right care, you can ensure your TV stays in top shape for years to come. Here are some key tips to maintain your TV's smart functionality, panel care, and sound quality.
Smart Functionality
To keep your TV's smart features running smoothly, ensure you regularly install the TV's recommended software updates. This will help improve performance and security, reducing glitches and prolonging smart features. If your TV's smart platform becomes slow or outdated, consider adding a streaming stick to maintain access to new apps without replacing the TV.
Panel Care
To prevent burn-in and uneven wear on OLED TVs, avoid leaving static elements on the screen for extended periods. Enable settings like "Pixel Shift" or "Screen Shift" to slightly move images and activate scheduled panel refresh cycles, especially on OLED TVs. Reducing brightness lessens stress on the panel and slows degradation in both OLED and LCD backlit TVs. Regularly dust the screen gently with a microfiber cloth and provide enough airflow around the TV to avoid overheating and damage.
Sound Quality
Investing in a soundbar can enhance audio quality and reduce wear on built-in speakers, which tend to degrade over time. Keep sound at moderate levels to avoid excessive wear on speakers.
Additional General Tips
Protect the TV’s sensitive electronics from power surges caused by lightning or electrical fluctuations by using a surge protector. Avoid excessive screen brightness and adjust picture modes to choose dimmer modes like Cinema instead of Vivid and lower OLED Light settings during content prone to causing image retention. Keep vents clean to maintain cooling efficiency and reduce internal wear.
Extending the Lifespan of Your TV
By following these practices, you can extend both the lifespan and quality of your TV. A new TV is a significant investment, and adding a soundbar can be a worthwhile alternative before making a purchase. OLED TVs are at risk of burn-in due to extended use, although the issue is less prevalent than before. More recycling centers are accepting TVs, making eco-conscious disposal possible.
Many people try to extend the lifespan of their TVs for more than seven years, which is the average consumer tends to upgrade their TV every seven years. The Sony HT-SF150 is a cost-effective audio upgrade, offering a surprisingly powerful sound. The Sonos Beam Gen 2 and Sony HT-SF150 are examples of soundbars that offer improved audio performance for existing TVs. The Apple TV 4K (2022) offers a five-star picture and sound experience.
Second-hand selling platforms can help extend the life of a TV by finding it a new owner. TVs are expensive, cumbersome, and can be confusing to purchase. Running a TV's pixel cleaning system can help maintain the TV's panel health. LED TVs can also encounter issues if driven at full power, resulting in reduced brightness and patchy sections to the backlight. Panel degradation can impact the vibrancy of colors on TV displays.
In summary, maintaining your TV’s hardware by preventing overheating and physical damage, preserving the panel by managing brightness and static images, protecting electronics with surge protection, keeping smart software updated or supplementing with a streaming stick, and enhancing or protecting sound quality by using external audio devices and moderate volume levels will collectively extend both the lifespan and quality of your TV.
