Not long ago, owning a 75-inch flat screen seemed like a realistic ceiling in terms of screen size and display technology. These days, a 75-inch TV is actually one of the smaller sized options if you’re looking for a gargantuan 4K LED or OLED. Brands like Samsung, LG, Hisense and a few other manufacturers now offer TVs that are 100 inches or larger. If you have a large enough mount or wall space to work with, a 100-inch TV of your own might look pretty good.
Researching and investing in a brand new TV is the kind of living room upgrade that will keep you calling back day after day. That said, it can be easy to make mistakes when shopping for a new TV, especially if you focus on one or two features of the phone card (e.g. screen size, Alexa and Google Home compatibility, etc.) instead of the whole package. A 100-inch Samsung TV may look nice at the store, but taking it home and setting it up, only to be completely disappointed, is the buyer’s remorse we all want to avoid.
To that end, we’ve put together a list of four of the most common drawbacks of a 100-inch TV that you should be aware of. As the weeks and months go by, we expect 100-inch TVs to improve in more ways than one, so some of the drawbacks we’re discussing today could end up being null and void.
The many hidden costs of growth
In recent years, monolithic TVs have become A little cheaper, but buying one will still cost you over $1,000. The spending can only start with the TV, however, as a screen this large often requires finding the right size stand or wall mount to accommodate it. Even if you upgrade from a 65-inch to 75-inch model, chances are your entertainment center won’t be sturdy enough or wide enough to handle the added weight and bulk. Wall mounts can be a little more forgiving when it comes to supported sizes and weights, but you might need a larger mount if your 100-inch TV has an unsupported VESA mounting pattern.
As TVs continue to become more energy efficient, a large, bright mini LED will use more electricity than a set with a smaller screen and chassis. Households that spend a lot of screen time may end up with higher utility bills, especially if you use picture presets like Dynamic or Vivid to make your TV as bright as possible. Let’s just say that if you’ve never used power-saving settings on a TV before, a power-hungry 100-inch model might convince you.
A huge TV may also incur additional shipping and labor costs if you have it professionally installed, as well as additional shipping and return costs if you decide it’s not right for your home or business. Buyer’s remorse is a real phenomenon, and managing logistics and projected total cost can avoid these types of issues in the long run.
Mobility and expandability can be problematic
It goes without saying that a 100-inch TV is heavy and difficult to handle. If you go the DIY route for transportation and installation, you’ll need the help of one or two friends or family members. You’ll also need to make sure you have a vehicle large enough to accommodate a 100-inch TV box. Many retailers offer a basic delivery service that will drop the 100-inch unit off at your home, but you’ll still need companions to help you get it inside on delivery day.
If you thought your old 65-inch OLED was the center of attention in the living room, just wait until an eight-foot screen arrives. Giant TVs require a lot of space, so you might be forced to move furniture and decor to accommodate your newer, larger flagship. Over time, you may also find it difficult to upgrade and expand your home theater setup when working with such a large screen. Adding a soundbar or installing an extra HDMI cable can turn into a two- or three-person ordeal, especially if you need to disassemble and reassemble your 100-inch TV.
If you upgrade frequently and want a massive cinematic display, replacing your TV with a projector setup may prove more beneficial in the long run. Most projectors can easily deliver a 100- to 150-inch image, and products like retractable or pop-up easel screens can be stored away when not in use, so your theater space is less cluttered.
Image quality becomes more complicated
A massive LED or OLED does not automatically guarantee a premium image. TVs 100 inches or larger with advanced features like Mini LED lighting, local dimming, and fast refresh rates generally cost more than entry- and mid-range TVs, and from year to year you’ll find several huge TVs that prioritize screen size over picture quality. On the one hand, this keeps prices competitive, but backing down on picture technology could leave you in the lurch, at least when it comes to visuals.
A 100-inch TV offering 4K resolution has the same total number of pixels (3,840 horizontal pixels and 2,160 vertical pixels) as a 65-inch 4K TV. The difference is that, on the 100-inch panel, the pixels are spread out across a larger screen, so they end up being larger and less crowded with other pixels. This can make image imperfections easier to notice, especially if you’re sitting close to the screen.
Features like AI-based upscaling and digital frame insertion can help clean up a rough-looking stream or older DVD, but there’s only so much your TV’s picture technology can do to improve a lower-quality source. If you don’t want to constantly see compression artifacts, color banding, light flare, and other picture anomalies, it may be time to invest in a 4K Blu-ray player or sign up for Netflix’s 4K streaming plan.
Eye fatigue may become more noticeable
We need happy, healthy eyes to watch TV. Generally speaking, our eyes have much less to scan and observe when the canvas is a 55 or 65 inch screen. But doubling the screen footprint also doubles the work your eyes will be burdened with, which could lead to increased fatigue. We should also mention that fast-paced content (e.g. sports, action movies, video games) can further aggravate eye strain.
If you watch a lot of TV after midnight, brightness controls become even more essential. Even the most basic 100-inch TVs can offer powerful backlighting, especially when watching or playing HDR content. A little harsh lighting here and there isn’t such a big deal, but a rapid-fire FPS shooter that doesn’t give in to explosions is a ton of visual information for the eyeballs to process in the dead of night.
It’s also important to sit a safe distance from a large screen. Choose a seat too close to the screen and your eyes will have to refocus on different parts of the panel more frequently, which can become uncomfortable more quickly than you think. We should also mention that the picture quality of most TVs tends to drop when you’re not sitting in the center of the screen. Even though a 100-inch panel gives you more opportunity to sit centered, fading and contrast can still impact your experience if you’re outside of the sweet spot.
