When you’re buying a new TV, it’s important to think about how you use your TV and how often you’re viewing TV content. Where will your TV be placed in your home? How do you use your TV, do you only watch free-to-air TV or do you also stream the latest TV shows from popular streaming services? Do you need a TV that can help find you answers or one that’s easily controlled by your voice? Whatever you need from your TV, we’ll help you find the perfect fit.
· Bedroom/small room/kitchen
· Medium lounge room
· Large lounge room
· 40-inch and smaller
· 55-inch and larger
· 70-inch and larger
· 1 – 1 ½ metres
· 1 ½ – 2 metres
· 2 metres +
Standard High Definition TV, also known as HD TV describes a clear picture quality on the TV or monitor. HD TV features a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels.
Full HD gives you up to five times sharper an image than a standard HD TV. Full HD content is commonly found on Blu-ray DVDs and on digital television content. The resolution for Full HD is 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Full HD gives you up to five times sharper an image than a standard HD TV. Full HD content is commonly found on Blu-ray DVDs and on digital television content. The resolution for Full HD is 1920 x 1080 pixels.
8K has double the pixels of 4K with a resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels. 8K provides incredible depth and detail allowing for better immersion. While there is very little 8K content available, processors can upscale your content to 8K.
TVs with full array include a series of LEDs behind the TV panel which are lit depending on need. Full array typically produces the best images possible on an LCD TV.
These are thinner than back-lit LED TVs as they use a panel of LED edge lighting. The power consumption of edge-lit LCD TVs is much lower when compared to back-lit models.
HDR or High Dynamic Range refers to technology that allows a greater range of contrast and colour. HDR enables brighter whites and darker blacks. The result is a more realistic and natural image.
Dolby Vision is technology that masters and delivers incredible colours and brightness similar to HDR. Dolby Vision is a certification issued to TVs that meet strict minimum specifications for amazing viewing.
These TVs are an evolution of the QLED technology, enhanced by Mini LED Technology allowing for improved contrast and deeper blacks giving picture quality on par with OLED
Mini LED is a display technology that uses miniature versions of the regular LED (light-emitting diodes) to provide improved contrast and deeper shades of black. with screen quality similar to OLED
Local dimming is specific to LED TVs and refers to the dynamic brightness adjustment of an image. It allows the screen to show a dark image in one part of the screen and a bright one in another
Direct dimming uses dimming blocks which enhances contrast and intense colour representation.
A Smart TV is one that can connect to the internet. They usually have an interface on the TV to navigate to various options including Netflix, Facebook, YouTube and browsing the web
Measured in Hertz, refresh rate simply refers to how many times the picture is refreshed per second. Standard is 50Hz, higher rates are available. Higher refresh rates are better for rapidly moving objects.
Processors in the TV reads content you’re watching and enhances it. Commonly found in 4K Ultra HD TVs, upscaling technology will upscale Full HD content to 4K Ultra HD. Many 8K TVs feature AI upscaling
This provides high-definition input to your TV from another HD device. TVs have approximately 2-4 HDMI ports.
Home entertainment is bigger than ever before. With so many technologies available, it can be difficult to know which audio products will best suit your lifestyle and home system. Before you can make a decision, it’s best to have an understanding of what you're listening to and how you'll use your audio system.
Our Audio Buying Guide will then help you find the right product and guide you around the different technologies and terminologies.
Where: Soundbars are suitable for large rooms like the main living room.
Source: TV, movies and music from the TV and other smart devices
A Soundbar is a bar or box containing several speakers that sits below your TV to give you a great home audio experience. It’s well suited for those tight on space or not wanting the clutter of multiple wires and speakers with a surround sound system. Typically, they can be mounted onto your wall or placed on top of your entertainment unit near or under your TV.
Where: Multiple rooms in the home or outside in the entertaining area.
Source: Radio, CDs, streamed music from smart devices
If you want the flexibility of listening to music in multiple rooms then networked audio might be the thing for you. Essentially, it’s a speaker system that can operate as a standalone connected to your Wi-Fi or you can add more speakers from the range to extend your music listening experience.
Where: Living room, Main Cinema area
Source: TV, movies and music from the TV and other smart devices
If you want the full cinema experience and have the room for it, a surround sound speaker system is ideal. Today’s speakers bring amazing crisp and clear sound to bring your music and home entertainment to a whole new level and create a full listening experience.
You can also visit our Tristram St Branch in Hamilton and listen in one of our dedicated sound rooms.
Where: Large room to multiple rooms
Source: TV, DVD/Blu-ray, radio, gaming console… the list is endless.
AV Receivers gives you the ability to connect all your audio and video devices through the one device to send to your surround sound speakers. They come with varying functionality from a basic plug and play to the ability to play in multiple rooms.
Where: Focus point in your home
Source: Vinyl records
Enjoy your listening experience on a quality turntable that brings all your vinyl records to life. Heathcotes brings you the best in what today’s turntables have to offer; low vibration, belt drive systems, accurate platter rotation and smooth sleek designs. Vinyl has made a great comeback as it brings an amazing, nostalgic listening experience - no need to hide away generations of record collections. Brands like Audio-Technica, Project and Denon ensure that you get the best experience possible.
Where: Anywhere you are
Source: Connect directly to your music device or streamed via Bluetooth
The world of headphones has changed dramatically over recent years. While classic plug and play headphones are still on the market, wireless listening via Bluetooth® has taken the headphones category by storm. Some personal headphones also offer noise cancellation technology to help you block out outside noises to really immerse you in your audio, while wired headphones offer unlimited listening capability.
Where: Anywhere you want – poolside, BBQs, picnics or holidays.
Source: Music streamed from your smart device via Bluetooth
A wireless Bluetooth® speaker is great if you want to listen to music wherever you are. They are light and portable, making it easy to take with you. Bluetooth® speakers vary in size from a small handheld/pocket size to
those that are bigger that are perfect for the benchtop, providing bigger sound yet still offers portability.
Where: In the home, from the living room to smaller areas like the kitchen or bedroom.
Source: Music streamed from your smart device via Bluetooth
Smart speakers can be controlled with your voice via the many smart assistant systems available like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Using your voice, you can power on your speakers, play songs, change the volume or playlist and even ask the speaker questions like what today’s weather will be. As the speaker accesses the web, it can provide answers to simple questions you ask it.
This refers to the number of speakers in your set up. “5.1” simply means five speakers plus one sub-woofer. The more speakers you have the more immersive the experience.
Found in sound bars, an IR blaster allows you to place the bar in front of the TVs infrared receptor without blocking the signal from the remote.
This refers to an AV receiver’s ability to send a second source signal to connected speakers in another room.
Dolby Digital is a digital audio coding technique to reduce the amount of data needed to produce high quality sound.
This refers to the speaker set up and uses overhead speakers and object-based surround sound to give a more immersive experience. Most speakers incorporate this technology by sending the sound upwards.
Multi-directional sound which gives you an immersive experience – sound comes from the directions that they are supposed to as if you were really in the movie.
Technology which enhances the quality of sound, for example from CDs or DVDs.
Allows 4K HD video data to pass through a receiver without losing any of its quality.
Wirelessly stream audio, video, photos etc. between compatible devices. Some devices have this feature installed, others require a small dongle called a Chromecast that connects via HDMI to your TV.
NFC stands for ‘Near Field Communication’. Usually found in smartphones and other portable devices, NFC allows you to wirelessly send and transfer information when devices are in close proximity to one another.
