De-living room design has become increasingly popular in the past two years, but many people simply replace the TV wall with a bookshelf and place a large dining table. In reality, isn't this simply repurposing the living room as a study? How can this truly be considered de-living room design?
I believe that true de-living room design isn't simply removing the TV, but rather enhancing the living room's functionality through effective layout and design. So, today, I'd like to share how I designed my living room and the subtle details that went into it.
1. A Diverse Living Room:
Before renovating my new home, my primary design goal was a horizontal living room. Simply put, a large open space with the dining room and even the kitchen behind the sofa would create a wider view and more flexible living space. However, when I was about to demolish a wall, I discovered the opening markings were incorrect. The living room wall was load-bearing and couldn't be demolished, so I had to abandon this plan.
However, since I have a child, I still wanted my living room to accommodate three main needs: children's play, family movie viewing, and entertaining guests. To address these three requirements, I created some custom designs for my living room.
First, to ensure safety and space for my child's play, the living room must avoid large coffee tables, protruding TVs, or TV cabinets.
Second, my living room spans approximately 5 meters, so to accommodate movie viewing, a 98-inch TV and a 150-inch projector are ideal for a better viewing experience.
Finally, for entertaining guests, the sofa layout in the living room is flexible enough to accommodate both shared viewing and face-to-face conversation.
Taking all of these into account, I opted for a fully built-in TV wall in my living room. This way, the TV is built-in, and the TV cabinet doesn't protrude from the wall at all. Many people might use cabinets for this purpose, but I have ample storage space throughout the house. Using cabinets in the living room would be expensive and would create numerous seams that wouldn't fit with my overall decor.
For my sofa and coffee table, I opted for a modular, petal-shaped sofa for flexibility. This design allows for a long, straight-across arrangement for viewing movies, or it can be separated into groups for a more intimate, intimate setting.
As for the coffee table, I completely abandoned the traditional central coffee table layout and opted for several smaller tables, allowing for flexible configurations that can be moved around and used anywhere, meeting both the functional and aesthetic needs of the living room.
II. Should I choose a TV or a projector for movie viewing?
To satisfy your movie needs, you can either choose a TV or a projector. There are a wide variety of TV models available today, and projectors have made significant progress in the past two years. So, should I choose a TV or a projector for my home?
Typically, TVs and projectors serve very different needs, and they're not simply interchangeable. For example, my home uses both a TV and a projector.
The biggest advantages of a TV are its high brightness, high refresh rate, and 4K resolution, which is almost always standard. Therefore, if the size and price are right, a TV is my top choice. If you enjoy playing games or watching sports, a TV has a clear advantage.
The biggest advantage of traditional projectors is that they can project large screens at the same price. However, given the current decline in TV prices, I personally feel that the advantages of traditional projectors under 100 inches are less pronounced. For example, my new home has a 150-inch projector, which is not only expensive but also practically impossible to transport in a building.
However, smart projectors have developed rapidly in recent years and are a good choice if you need to accommodate multiple viewing spaces. You can use them in the living room during the week and in the bedroom at night. They typically have built-in systems and speakers, and can be plugged in for operation. However, the brightness is often low, requiring only curtains.
From the above comparison, it can be seen that if you are using them for main viewing in the living room, a TV is the best choice. If you are renting or temporarily seeking flexibility, a smart projector is the best choice. Traditional projectors are more suitable for creating a large-screen theater in a villa or large apartment.
Also, to accommodate both the living room and dining room, I use a telescopic TV stand. This allows the TV to be extended outward from the wall and can be adjusted in any direction, allowing viewing from the dining room.
III. TV Selection and Experience 1. Choose a size to ensure a basic experience:
There are many charts out there that compare viewing distance to TV size, but most of these recommendations are completely outdated. If you follow these charts, you'll definitely end up with a smaller TV, and the longer you look at a TV, the smaller it will appear.
Therefore, I personally recommend a 65-inch TV for a living room over 2.5 meters, a 75-inch or 85-inch TV for over 3.5 meters, and a 98-inch or 100-inch TV for over 4 meters.
I also personally believe that within a limited budget, size should be the primary consideration, followed by picture quality and color. The difference in experience between TVs with different picture quality and color, as long as they're not placed next to each other or after prolonged viewing, isn't as significant as you might think.
However, TVs tend to appear smaller the longer they're placed in your home. Anything smaller than 65 inches is essentially obsolete in the living room. Therefore, for my 4.8-meter living room, I ultimately chose a 98-inch Thunderbird TV.
However, choosing the TV size is only the first step. Determining the mounting height is also crucial, as otherwise, your viewing posture will be uncomfortable. First, a normal sitting position requires about 120cm of eye height from the ground (you can look slightly up or down at the TV, depending on your preference).
My TV is 98 inches, and the monitor is 126cm tall, so a 57cm height (120-126/2) is ideal. However, I usually slump down on the sofa looking up at the screen (and Shandong people are relatively tall), so I ultimately settled on 60cm.
You can see that when my wife, who is 1.65 meters tall, stands up, her head isn't even as high as the top of the TV. Therefore, the viewing experience of a large screen for daily viewing simply cannot be matched by a smaller one.
2. Choose picture quality to enhance your viewing experience:
After confirming the TV size, the next step is to choose the picture quality. In fact, there's no need to compare the most basic resolution. These days, regular TVs are almost all 4K. If the picture is blurry, it's either a fake or the source material is of poor quality. Therefore, the three most important factors to consider when choosing a TV are color gamut, refresh rate, and zoned light control.
(1) Color gamut value:
The first is color gamut, which simply means the range of color presentation of the TV. Currently, the most common color gamut values are DCI-P3, BT709, and NTSC. Please note that the standards for different color gamut values are not universal, so it is not easy to compare the values between them.
Generally speaking, a wide color gamut is defined as DCI-P3 exceeding 92%, BT.709 exceeding 130%, or NTSC exceeding 85%.
For example, the color gamut of my TV is 93% DCI-P3, which uses phosphor technology. In daily life, whether I watch movies or colorful animations, there is no problem at all, and the viewing experience is very good.
If you want to pursue higher quality color presentation, you need to choose quantum dot technology. Generally speaking, DCI-P3 will exceed 96% or BT.709 will exceed 140%. However, the price of TVs in this area is often relatively expensive, and I personally think it is not necessary for general home use.
(2) Refresh rate:
The refresh rate is also easy to understand. A TV with a high refresh rate can ensure smooth viewing when watching action movies, sports, or playing games, while a TV with a low refresh rate will have a greater impact on the user experience.
At present, the screen refresh rate must be at least 60HZ to meet basic usage needs, which is also achievable with entry-level TVs. However, if you are a little more demanding, it is recommended to choose a TV with a refresh rate of 120HZ. Generally, such TVs will claim to support motion compensation when they are advertised, and the price is generally not much more expensive.
My TV currently has a refresh rate of 120HZ and also has a motion compensation function. This way, whether I am playing games or watching football games, the smoothness is very good. Combined with the large size of 98 inches, it is definitely a great tool for daily relaxation and gatherings.
It also has an HDMI 2.1 interface, which is the core interface of 120Hz, which can ensure smooth output of the source and no lag.
(3) Zoned light control:
This term is more difficult to understand than the first two terms. In fact, to put it simply, it can make the black areas darker and the bright areas brighter, thereby improving the contrast and preventing the picture from being blurred. For more precise zoning, direct backlighting is generally required. Compared with the strip structure of the edge-entry backlight, the structure of the direct backlight is a checkerboard structure. Therefore, finer zones can make the black areas darker, which helps to show the details. You can see that when the background of the movie screen is black, the details of the picture are still clearly visible and not blurred with the black background. This is mainly due to the 192 checkerboard zoned backlight.
3. Select configuration to extend service life:
After talking about picture quality, let's talk about the hardware configuration of the TV, which mainly includes three aspects: CPU, memory and interface data. Generally speaking, hardware configuration will not affect the output of picture quality (some top-level TVs have optimized picture quality chips, but they are not widely used and will not be discussed here), but they determine whether the TV will freeze after long-term use and how expandable it is. Large-size TVs are very troublesome to transport and install, so I prefer to spend a little more in the early stage to extend the life of the TV.
(1) Processor:
First of all, the CPU. There is no need to say much about this. It is the core of any TV, mobile phone or computer, and its computing power depends on it. Generally speaking, low-end products are A53 quad-core, mid-range products are A73 dual-core, and high-end products are A73 quad-core.
For example, my TV uses an A73 quad-core processor. When I watch 4K sources, I rely on its powerful decoding capabilities. The picture is still very smooth, and various large-memory sources seem to have no pressure. It will definitely be enough for a few years.
(2) Memory:
The second is memory, which is generally divided into running memory and storage memory. Its function is the same as that of mobile phone memory. I personally recommend that the running memory be at least greater than 2G, 4G is more secure, and the storage memory be at least greater than 16G, 36G is better. As for larger memory, it is naturally better, but you don’t have to pay for it separately. After all, TVs generally don’t download too many apps. My TV currently has a 4GB + 64GB memory configuration, which is enough to last until the TV is scrapped. (3) Number of interfaces: Finally, the number of interfaces. Whether you are connecting a player, a game console, or a speaker, you need to rely on interfaces. My Thunderbird TV currently has 8 interfaces, including the most core USB2.0 and HDMI2.1, so the access needs of various devices can be fully met. Especially the HDMI2.1 interface, which seems to have the same number as the HDMI2.0 interface, but there is actually a big difference in use. HDMI2.0 can only achieve 60 FPS 4K images or 30 FPS 8K images, while HDMI2.1 can achieve 120 FPS 4K images or 60 FPS 8K images, and can even support 10K resolution display. Although 8K is not widely used at present, the application of 4K120FPS is becoming more and more widespread, especially when playing games, the smooth experience brought by high resolution is absolutely immediate. HDMI 2.1 also supports dynamic HDR and reduces image lag through a variable refresh rate.
Summary
My Thunderbird SUPER 98 4K TV, with its 93% DCI-P3 wide color gamut, 120Hz refresh rate, and checkerboard backlighting, fully meets my daily viewing needs. The CPU and 4GB + 64GB of RAM also fully meet my needs for long-term use. The comprehensive number and variety of interfaces offer strong expandability.
My overall purchasing strategy was to prioritize size, then image quality, and finally hardware configuration. First, the 98-inch size was a fixed option. Second, the image quality required a wide color gamut and a high refresh rate. While higher color gamut options are available, the price is nearly double, so I decided against it. Finally, the hardware, both the CPU and memory, are top-of-the-line, ensuring a long-lasting viewing experience.
For now, the large 98-inch size makes watching TV more immersive, while the high refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 interface make gaming smoother.
Of course, if your home elevator is big enough, then the new 100-inch Thunderbird is a good choice. The basic performance is still 4K 120Hz, and the DCI-P3 reaches 95%. The larger screen makes the viewing experience more immersive.
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