March 31, 2024, 5:16 pm | Read time: 4 minutes

Modern TVs usually offer a sharp picture, vibrant colors, and great sound, right? That’s true, at least if users make the right settings. Even the most expensive models often don’t reach their full potential out of the box. Just a few clicks can enhance your TV experience. TECHBOOK explains which TV settings you should change to get a particularly beautiful picture.

TV Settings You Should Change

Set Sharpness to “0”

It may sound strange, but you should completely turn down the sharpness setting on your TV. The higher the sharpness, the more optical detail is lost. It might take some getting used to at first, but it’s worth it. Just give it a try!

Also interesting: Why You Should Almost Always Turn Down the Sharpness on Your TV

Correct TV Color Settings

Does your TV picture look dull and low-contrast despite the latest OLED or QLED technology? This is often due to incorrect color settings. If not configured properly, you might end up with a washed-out picture or give the news anchor a reddish skin tone. Manufacturers offer settings like “Dynamic” or “Cinema” in their TV’s picture options, which you should definitely try out.

TECHBOOK can’t give a general tip on which settings are best for your TV–tastes vary too much. If you’re not satisfied with any of the presets, choose the closest one and manually adjust contrast, brightness, and color until you’re happy.

Enable HDR in Settings

Many Germans now own a 4K TV. For such devices, you should activate the High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology if available. It offers more vibrant colors and better contrasts for supported content. To benefit from this in games and movies, the function must first be activated in the TV’s settings for each source.

With manufacturers like Sony, LG, Samsung, and Philips, the function is sometimes quite hidden. Philips and LG list HDR in the general settings menu but hide it under terms like “HDMI Ultra HD” or “Ultra HD Deep Color.”

For Samsung, activate HDR as follows: Settings > Picture > Expert Settings > HDMI UHD Color for the used HDMI port. For Sony: Settings > External Inputs > HDMI Signal Format > Enhanced Format.

Try Gaming Settings on Your TV

Do you enjoy gaming on your console? Then you should definitely know that many TVs come with special settings for games. The so-called game mode promises smoother picture rendering and, most importantly, less input lag. This is especially important for online matches and can be a decisive advantage in first-person shooters.

More Tips for a Great TV Experience

Adjust TV Sound Settings

Do you sometimes have trouble understanding dialogue while watching TV? This could be because new devices have much poorer speakers. Flat smart TVs simply lack the space for large speakers with rich sound, especially in models with smaller screen sizes. For better dialogue clarity, activate the “Clear Voice” option in the TV’s audio settings.

There are also other settings to improve the TV’s sound. Alternatively, you can use external speakers, Bluetooth speakers, soundbars, etc.

Also interesting: Finding the Right TV Size for Your Living Room

The Right Viewing Distance

A great TV is useless if you can’t maintain the right viewing distance. To determine this, use the following formula: the TV’s screen diagonal in centimeters (found on the back of the device) multiplied by 2.1. For a 40-inch TV, this means: 101.6 cm x 2.1 = 213.36 cm. You should sit about two meters away. If you’re watching in SD quality, the multiplier increases to 3; for 4K content, it decreases to 1.5.

Consider Time of Day and Positioning

In general, you should remain flexible with your settings. Just because a certain setting works well for a primetime soccer game when it’s dark outside doesn’t mean the picture and sound will be suitable for morning TV.

That’s why it’s worth exploring the capabilities of your TV. This way, you can adjust to the time of day, light conditions, atmosphere, and situation accordingly.