This week on The Upgrade we’re upgrading your HDTV, just in time for Super Bowl Sunday! It’s all about how to buy a great TV, for the big game, or anytime you’re in the market for one—plus a call out for your questions for the show!
How to Listen to This Week’s Episode
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This Week’s Discussion: Upgrade Your HDTV
So the Super Bowl is this Sunday, and whether you’re into football or not, now is a great time to buy a new set. Prices are at one of their lowest points of the year, because retailers want to make room for the new year’s models that we saw earlier in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, and TV manufacturers are looking to push eliminate as much stock of those old sets as possible.
So what do you look for? Start by setting your budget—you can get a great TV for not a lot of money, but if you are willing to spend a bit, the technologies you want to invest in are HDR and 4K. HDR is the future of television, and makes colors pop, movies glow, and even live broadcast TV look better—provided your source material supports HDR. You may see multiple HDR standards floating about, but there are only two to concern yourself with. Check out our guide for the lowdown.
Second, 4K is mature enough that you should buy it. It’s available in enough sets that you shouldn’t have a problem finding even a budget 4K set. Even if you don’t think you have 4K content, you probably do—between Netflix streaming, high-resolution YouTube, and the best set-top boxes, you probably have something. Even if you don’t, you will soon, and you won’t pay more for it than you would otherwise.
Finally, keep an eye on—or away from—smart TVs. Just because a TV is billed as smart doesn’t mean you have to connect it to the internet just for it to become part of a massive botnet. Use smart settings if you want, but make sure you get security updates when possible, and read the terms of service so you’re not letting the TV manufacturer see everything you watch or connect to your TV. When in doubt, unplug it from the internet and use the Chromecast you probably already have.
Finally, when you get your TV home, don’t forget to calibrate it! Set it up where you plan to view it, and then give it a good calibration—it doesn’t take long, we promise—in the light where you’ll usually watch TV. Use one of your favorite movies to test it out, something with bright and rich colors, or deep dark blacks and bright whites to make sure you have everything perfect to your eyes. Enjoy!
Our Upgrades of the Week
For the first (again) edition of The Upgrade we asked everyone at Team Lifehacker to contribute a little something about the small change they made this week that improved their lives:
Patrick: A hand-crank burr coffee grinder. The fact that it’s a burr grinder means you get even grounds of coffee for the perfect cup depending on how I want to brew it. Also, because I have roommates, the hand crank won’t make a ton of noise and wake them up in the morning.
Thorin: The Fuck, a command-line tool that automatically corrects your last, horribly mistyped command. Once installed, just type “fuck” and it’ll correct the last thing you typed if it didn’t work, or doesn’t look right.
Andy: Bluetooth headphones on the go. They may not be the best audio quality, but there’s something to be said for not having wires or dealing with tangled cables is nice, especially when you’re on the subway and trying to get a handhold and look at your phone at the same time. After all, your commute probably isn’t the time when audio fidelity matters most.
Eric: Tell your Amazon Echo to respond to “Computer” instead of Alexa, a la Star Trek. It’s a small thing, but it makes us feel like we’re living in the future.
Alan: Ordering lunch in the morning, and getting it delivered to work. This lets me rely on past me—who’s probably thinking I should eat something healthy—do future me, who’s stressed out and busy, a favor by getting them something to eat, and making sure it’s good for me.
In future episodes, we’ll answer your questions in a segment as well!
How Do I Submit a Question?
There are two ways to send in your question:
Call (347) 687-8109 and record a question. Calls are awesome! We like them, and may play yours on the show!
Email your question to [email protected].
Please keep your questions as brief as possible. This means about 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls and videos. Your questions can be specific, but broader questions are generally better because they’ll apply to more people. Either way, we look forward to hearing from you!
Logo by Jim Cooke.