You Asked: Sonos setups, 5,000 nits, and dumb TVs

In this installment of You Asked, the series in which we answer your TV-related questions in hopes of helping you and others, we tackle the problem with Sonos, is 5,000 nits of brightness bad for the eyes, and Is there such a thing as a dumb TV?

Single Sonos all around?

The first question comes from @ragoheads, who says: I am unable to connect my single Era 300 to the Arc and sub. Do we need two Era 300s to connect these?

Based on your description of the situation, it sounds like you’re trying to use just one Era 300 as surround speakers in combination with the Sonos Arc and Sonos Sub. As far as I’m aware, there’s no way to set up just one surround speaker in a Sonos system. The Sonos setup system wants to see two speakers, one for the left channel signal and one for the right channel signal. I don’t believe the Sonos system has the ability to mix a stereo surround signal to mono and route it through a speaker. So, yes, if you want to set up a surround system with the Era 300 speakers, you’ll probably need two. I haven’t tried it, but I don’t think Sonos will allow you to mix two different Sonos speaker models. So, you probably can’t use the Sonos Era 300 for the right surround speaker and the Sonos One for the left speaker.

You can use the Era 300 as a music speaker or TV speaker by placing it in a different room. And then you can put it behind you in the room where your arch is and all, but it won’t be true surround sound, and you might cause more problems than it solves, so I wouldn’t recommend it.

How bright is too bright?

@elmousse007 says: How bad would 5,000 nits be for the eyes?

Well, that would depend on how much screen area was emitting 5,000 nits. If only small areas of the screen are displaying 5,000 nits as highlights, it can be intense, but it won’t cause any problems. But the more screen area that 5,000 nits of brightness provides, the greater the cumulative effect of that brightness. Also keep in mind that 5,000 nits of bright white light will be different than 5,000 nits of red or green.

nvidia shield upscaling

@jaimedejesus759 writes: If I’m using an Nvidia Shield TV Pro, should I worry about TCL QM8 upscaling?

Of course, I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking here, but I’m guessing you mean that you’re concerned that TCL QM8 upscaling won’t be enough for your needs, and you’re wondering whether You can shrug off that worry because the Nvidia Shield does upscaling and is probably as good or better than the QM8.

As always, what could be a simple question has no simple answer. The first thing I need to say is that upscaling and video processing are not the same thing. Upscaling is part of image processing, but image processing involves more than just upscaling.

I don’t take any major issue with the TCL QM8’s resolution upscaling — it’s simply taking lower-resolution content and upscaling it to the panel’s native 4K resolution. It’s not as sharp as some other TVs, it’s true, but it’s not bad, objectively or subjectively. My main concern was with smoothing out color gradations on low-bit-depth content, which is not associated with upscaling.

I don’t know what your needs are; I don’t have enough information. What is the resolution of the content you need to upscale? What size TV will you have? Do you really mean to increase resolution, or is it something else?

I think the QM8 is probably going to do just as well, if not better, than the Nvidia Shield Pro. But you know what? I don’t have nvidia shield pro, so I can’t say for sure. However, I’m going to fix it. I need to get one and keep it on standby, especially what I see happening with some apps on some TV brands.

If you can give me more information, I will be able to give you a better answer. And that sentiment – ​​with more information, I can give a better answer – applies very much to the next question, and that’s why I’m bringing up this question this week.

help me help you

@jaimedejesus759 also writes: As of today, the LG C3 65-inch is priced the same as the TCL QM8 75-inch. Which one should I buy?

This question is a good example of why I can’t give a really useful answer until I have more information. And also why it’s hard for me to give personal shopping advice in general.

There’s really no way for me to do the salesman’s job via text or email unless there’s a series of exchanges in which I ask a lot of qualifying questions. A great sales associate will try to understand what your needs and goals are. And it’s a dynamic, conversation-based process that’s hard to mimic through text-based communication.

With Jaime, I’m curious to know how much he values ​​size and to see how much he values ​​image quality – and specifically what he feels makes a quality image. . What type of content does he watch, and what sources does he use for each type of content? Where is TV going? Does he watch a lot during the day? How much does he see at night? What are the priorities? Personally, I would probably spend 5 to 10 minutes doing this. Whether via email or DM or text, it may take several exchanges which may involve much more time than that.

People get paid to be personal shoppers and consultants, and I understand why. It takes time, effort and skill to be good at it. I think you all realize this too, which is why you try to make the questions simple and straightforward, in the hope that it won’t take too long and I’m more likely to answer. But, I don’t want to give you half-baked help. So, I hope you understand that I won’t be able to personally help many of you make purchasing decisions – I have to do this on a broader scale. But if you’re going to ask, ask in as much detail as you can. You have to help me…help you. Help me, help you.

Stupid TVs gotta be smart, right?

Kiewit writes: Is there such a thing as dumb TV? Wouldn’t it be better to bundle a media box like Nvidia Shield for every TV rather than developing and maintaining one? I know my LG TV apps are out of date. My friend’s Philips TV stopped receiving updates four years ago.

And another along similar lines came from Alex del Castillo: Why are there no modern “dumb” TVs? My dream TV would be one that has five or six HDMI inputs and a tuner (only because it has to). With an interface to change inputs and settings (which will include unused inputs). This way, I can connect only the devices I want.

Spread the word, friends! You will find no greater ally than me in advocating stupid TV.

I would love to have a completely silent TV, where I can access TV settings and inputs, and prompt for a firmware update when needed – and that’s it. No apps, no ads – just a TV ready to display whatever I tell it. But I’m afraid that ship has sailed.

There are some practical reasons why TV manufacturers can’t revert to bare TVs or create special editions of TVs without preloaded Smart TV software. Some of them are the same reasons why we wouldn’t be able to watch a TV without speakers – it’s not possible to create different SKUs, at least not on a large scale without any guarantee they’ll be popular enough to sell and cover the costs. Will be. Also, as I’ve said here before, No Doing something (in this case, not installing the Smart TV platform in the TV) is not as easy as it seems. You would think that not doing it would be easier than doing it. But basic TV functionality – menus, settings, picture quality adjustment – ​​is built into the Smart TV operating system. Breaking it back requires running a different software on the TV. so you’re just not No By doing something, you are forcing yourself to do something different. That costs money.

Speaking of money – and yes, I’m afraid money is often at the center of these things – the profits made on these TVs are so small (sometimes at a loss) that other means of earning revenue are needed to ensure this. Ways have been made to make TVs profitable. Those buttons on the remote that take you straight to a streaming app? These are bought and paid for by streaming services. That’s revenue. Driving viewers to certain pieces of content on certain streaming services? He is worth the money. Advertisement of products through TV? He is worth the money. And overall audience data? That too is worth the money.

Yes, you can now buy a good 55-inch 4K TV for $300. But it also comes with a cost.

To its credit, Google TV at least has a “dumb TV” option that doesn’t exactly make it a dumb TV, but does measure how invasive the smart TV platform feels for everyday use. But this isn’t really the return of silly TV.

It’s frustrating, I get it. But, clearly, those of us who want nerd TV are in the minority. Most people agree with it or actually want it.