TV Buying Guide: How to Choose the Right TV for Your Room

Nothing here needs any technical knowledge. If you only read one section, read the viewing distance table, because it answers the question almost everyone gets wrong.

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How to Measure for a New TV

The number on the box is the diagonal of the screen, corner to corner. It is not the width. A 43 inch TV is roughly 95cm wide, not 109cm, and a 65 inch is about 144cm rather than 165cm. That one misunderstanding is behind most of the TVs that arrive and will not sit in the alcove they were bought for.

Measure three things before you look at a single model.

The width of the space. Whether that is an alcove, a media unit or a clear stretch of wall, measure the narrowest point. If the TV is going into a recess, measure at the back as well as the front, because plaster is rarely square.

The height available. A stand adds roughly 5cm underneath the panel, and some pedestal stands are deeper than the TV itself. If a shelf sits above, check the clearance.

The distance to where you sit. Measure from the front of the screen to the back of the sofa cushion. This is the one that decides the size rather than limiting it, and it is the measurement people skip.

If You Are Wall Mounting

Check the VESA pattern, which is the spacing of the four bolt holes on the back of the TV in millimetres. It does not scale neatly with screen size, so you cannot guess it from the inches. A 43 inch Samsung uses 200 x 200mm, a 42 inch LG OLED uses 300 x 200mm despite being the smaller screen, and a 55 inch Hisense uses 400 x 200mm. Take the pattern from the product page and match the bracket to it. There is more on this in the mounting section below.

TV Sizes and Viewing Distance Explained

On a 4K screen, the useful range is roughly 1.2 to 1.6 times the screen diagonal. Sit closer than that and you can start to make out the pixel structure on some content. Sit further away and you stop resolving the extra detail you paid for, so a 4K picture ends up looking much the same as a good HD one.

Sit at the closer end of the range for films and gaming, where a filled field of view is the whole point. Sit at the further end for general viewing in a bright room. The screen dimensions below are the panel itself, in a standard 16:9 shape.

Screen dimensions are for a standard 16:9 panel and exclude the bezel and stand. Check each product page for exact cabinet dimensions.

Small TVs: 22 Inch to 32 Inch

A small TV is not a compromise, it is a different job. At 1.0m to 1.3m back, a 32 inch screen fills your view exactly the way a 55 inch does from the sofa. These are the sets that go on a kitchen worktop, at the end of a bed, in a spare room, in a campervan, or on a desk.

One thing to know at this size: almost nothing under 40 inches is 4K, and that is not a fault. At 32 inches and a normal viewing distance, the eye cannot resolve 4K detail anyway, so Full HD is the sensible specification rather than a cut corner. What does vary at this size is colour and smart platform, and that is where the three below differ.

Specifications are a general guide and can change. Check each product page for the latest details.

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40 Inch to 48 Inch TVs

This is the size band people search for most in Ireland, and it is where 4K starts to make sense. At 1.3m to 1.75m back it fills your view properly without dominating a smaller sitting room, and it is light enough that one person can wall mount it. A 43 inch set weighs around 6kg to 8kg without its stand.

It is also the band where the jump from a basic 4K set to a genuine high-end panel is most visible, because all three below are close enough in size that the picture is the only thing separating them.

Specifications are a general guide and can change. Check each product page for the latest details.

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50 Inch and 55 Inch TVs

If you sit between 1.5m and 2.25m from the screen, which covers most Irish sitting rooms, this is the band that fits. It is also the safest choice if you are not certain, because 55 inches at 2m is very close to the ideal on every viewing distance guide there is.

Worth knowing: the step from 50 to 55 inches is only about 11cm of extra width, and the price gap between the two is usually small. If the wall takes a 55, take the 55.

Specifications are a general guide and can change. Check each product page for the latest details.

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65 Inch TVs: The Living Room Standard

65 inches has quietly become the default for a main sitting room, and the viewing distance maths explains why. At 2.0m to 2.65m it lands squarely on where most people put a sofa relative to the chimney breast. It is 144cm wide, so it needs a proper run of wall or a wide unit, and at 14kg to 16.5kg without the stand it is a two-person lift.

This is also the size where the three main panel technologies are all available at sensible money, so it is the best band in which to actually choose between them rather than just accepting what your budget allows.

Specifications are a general guide and can change. Check each product page for the latest details.

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75 Inch and Bigger: What to Know Before You Go Large

Above 65 inches the decision stops being about the TV and starts being about the room. A 75 inch screen is 166cm wide and wants you sitting at least 2.3m back. An 85 inch is 188cm, wider than most chimney breasts. A 100 inch is 221cm wide and 125cm tall, which is a wall in its own right.

Three practical things people underestimate at this size. Access: a boxed 85 inch TV may not turn a tight staircase or fit through a standard door frame at an angle. Measure the route in, not just the room. Fixing: at this weight the bracket needs to go into masonry or into studs you have actually located, never into plasterboard alone. Sound: a screen this size makes the thin built-in speakers much more obvious, so a soundbar stops being optional.

One useful rule if you are torn between 75 and 85 inches: work out your viewing distance first using the table above. If you sit under 2.6m from the screen, the 75 is the right answer and the 85 will feel overwhelming rather than impressive.

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OLED vs QLED vs QNED vs LED: Which Panel Suits Your Room?

Panel names are marketing as much as engineering, and the real differences between them come down to one question: where does the light come from? Everything else follows from that answer.

Specifications are a general guide and can change. Check each product page for the latest details.

Two names that cause confusion. NanoCell is LG's older colour filter layer, effectively their answer to QLED, and it sits between LED and QNED. Neo QLED is Samsung's Mini LED range, so it is the direct equivalent of LG's QNED rather than a step above ordinary QLED. Both are colour and backlight refinements on the same LCD foundation.

Shop LG OLED TVs ›Shop LG QNED TVs ›Shop Samsung QLED ›

4K, 8K and What Resolution You Actually Need

4K means 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is four times the pixel count of Full HD. On any screen 43 inches or larger, at a normal viewing distance, it is a visible improvement and it is what essentially everything in that size range now uses. There is no decision to make: buy 4K.

Below 40 inches, Full HD is the sensible specification. The pixels on a 32 inch 4K panel are too small for the eye to resolve from a metre away, so you would be paying for detail you cannot see.

8K is a different matter. It is four times 4K again, and the practical problem is that almost no content exists in it. Irish broadcast is nowhere near it, the streaming services do not offer it, and 4K Blu-ray is still the highest quality disc format. An 8K TV spends nearly all its life upscaling 4K, which a good 4K TV does not need to do at all. Unless you have a specific reason, 4K is the right choice today.

Smart TV Platforms and Apps

Every TV sold now is a smart TV, so the question is not whether it has apps but which system it runs. In practice you are choosing between three, and all three carry Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube and the Irish catch-up services.

Tizen is Samsung's, and it comes with Samsung TV Plus, a set of free ad-supported channels. Newer sets add Vision AI Companion, which answers questions on screen. webOS is LG's, navigated with the Magic Remote you point like a wand rather than arrow keys, and the 2026 sets build in Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. VIDAA is Hisense's, lighter and simpler than the other two, with AirPlay 2 and Apple Home support.

Two things worth checking that people forget. First, how long the software is supported: Samsung commits to security updates on current sets until the end of 2031, and LG's webOS Re:New programme offers upgrades for up to five years. A TV lasts a decade, so this matters more than it sounds. Second, whether it has a Saorview tuner, which means DVB-T2. With one built in you get Irish free-to-air channels straight out of the box with no set-top box. Not every set sold here states it clearly, so check the specification rather than assuming.

If you already have a streaming stick or a set-top box you are happy with, the platform matters far less, because you can simply leave the TV on that HDMI input. Browse the full range of TVs at Heavins.ie to compare platforms side by side.

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Refresh Rate, HDMI 2.1 and Gaming

If nobody in the house games on a console, you can skip this section entirely. A 50Hz or 60Hz panel handles films, sport and everything broadcast perfectly well, because that content is not delivered at a higher frame rate anyway.

If there is a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X in the house, three specifications are worth having. A 120Hz panel, so the console can actually output its higher frame rate modes. HDMI 2.1 ports, because HDMI 2.0 does not carry 4K at 120Hz. And VRR with ALLM, which keep the frame rate smooth and switch the TV into low-latency mode automatically when it detects a console. Most mid-range sets now include VRR and ALLM even at 60Hz, and those alone make a noticeable difference.

A small point that catches people out: some sets have HDMI 2.1 on only one or two of their ports. If you have a console and a soundbar, check which port does what before you run the cables behind a wall-mounted TV.

What a TV Costs to Run

Screen size drives running cost more than anything else, and roughly speaking each step up the size range adds about half again to the annual electricity use. Taking the yearly figures from the sets in this guide: a 24 inch uses around 26 kWh a year, a 32 inch around 40 kWh, a 43 inch around 71 kWh, and a 65 inch around 141 kWh. A 65 inch TV therefore uses about five times the electricity of a 24 inch one.

The energy label letter is worth understanding because it is easy to misread. The scale runs A to G and was rescaled in 2021, so almost every TV on sale now sits at E, F or G. That does not mean televisions got worse, it means the scale was deliberately reset to leave room for future improvement. A TV rated F today is not comparable to an appliance rated F under the old scale.

Two things genuinely reduce what a TV costs you. Turn off the standby draw where you can: most sets sit at around 0.5W on standby, which is small individually but constant. And leave the eco or ambient light sensor on, which dims the panel automatically in a dark room. Panel brightness is where most of the power goes, so a screen running at 60 percent brightness costs meaningfully less than the same screen at full.

One thing to note on OLED specifically: it often carries a lower energy letter than an LED set of the same size, because peak brightness is measured differently on a self-lit panel. In normal viewing it is not necessarily using more.

Wall Mounting, Brackets and VESA Sizes

A bracket is matched to your TV by two numbers, and neither of them is the screen size. The first is the VESA pattern, the spacing in millimetres of the four bolt holes on the back of the panel. The second is the weight the bracket is rated to carry. The screen size range printed on the box is a guide, not the specification.

VESA patterns in this guide alone run from 200 x 200mm on a 43 inch Samsung, to 300 x 200mm on a 42 inch LG OLED, to 400 x 200mm on a 55 inch Hisense. The 42 inch needs a wider pattern than the 43 inch. Take the number off the product page.

The Three Types of Mount

Specifications are a general guide and can change. Check each product page for the latest details.

Brackets for 22 Inch to 32 Inch ›Brackets for 40 Inch to 49 Inch ›Brackets for 50 Inch to 60 Inch ›Brackets for 65 Inch and Larger ›

Do You Need a Soundbar?

Honestly: it depends on the TV and the room, and the answer is not always yes. Modern panels are thin, which leaves almost no space for speaker drivers, so the sound has to come out of a narrow gap facing downwards or backwards. That is fine for the news and adequate for most viewing. Where it falls down is dialogue in films, and anything with a wide dynamic range where quiet speech is followed by loud action.

Two clear signs you would benefit. If you find yourself turning subtitles on because you cannot make out what people are saying, a soundbar with a dedicated centre channel fixes that specifically. And if your TV is 65 inches or larger, the screen has outgrown its own speakers, so a soundbar stops being a luxury.

If your TV is under 50 inches, sits in a small room, and you mostly watch broadcast television, the built-in speakers may well be enough. Try it before you spend.

Specifications are a general guide and can change. Check each product page for the latest details.

A note on Dolby Atmos, which adds height channels so sound appears to come from above as well as around you. None of the three above carries it, and it does genuinely add something in the right room, but it needs Atmos content and a ceiling that reflects sound reasonably. There are Atmos models in the range at higher price points, and it is worth hearing one before deciding it matters to you.

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Cables and Connections

Most new TVs do not include an HDMI cable, and the one behind your old TV may not carry what the new one can do. For 4K at 60Hz an ordinary High Speed HDMI cable is fine. For 4K at 120Hz from a games console you need an Ultra High Speed cable, sometimes labelled HDMI 2.1. Beyond that, an expensive cable does not improve the picture, because the signal is digital and either arrives intact or does not arrive at all.

Three connections worth knowing. eARC is the HDMI port that sends audio back out from the TV to a soundbar, so it is the one your soundbar goes into, and it is usually only one of the ports. The aerial socket feeds the Saorview tuner, so if you use free-to-air channels you still need a working aerial cable. And an Ethernet port is worth using over Wi-Fi for a wall-mounted TV that streams a lot, since a wired connection is one less thing to troubleshoot.

If you are wall mounting, plan the cable route before you drill. Once the TV is flush to the wall there is often no way to reach behind it, and adding a console or soundbar later means taking the TV down again.

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Choosing Your TV: The Short Version

If you have read this far, here is the whole guide in six lines.

Everything else is refinement. The size decision is the one that people live with for the next eight or ten years, and it is the one worth spending an extra ten minutes on with a tape measure.

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