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All TVs — from ultra-affordable, 32-inch screens to the best TVs money can buy — aren’t worth much if you can’t see what's playing on them. Even if you shell out some serious cash on what you consider a great TV, daytime viewing can pose a problem in a particularly well-lit living space.
The good news is that there are some simple steps you can take to improve your TV’s picture during daytime viewing. The not-so-good news is that, as with all things in life, there’s only so much you can do to battle the sun.
Disable Eco mode and energy-saving settings
This is something I recommend that every TV-owner does — not just those in sun-soaked living rooms. Almost every TV comes with an energy-saving setting, and it’s usually enabled by default. The feature is managed by a built-in light sensor on the TV that constantly makes adjustments to the screen’s luminance depending on ambient lighting conditions.
If your TV’s ambient light sensor is doing its job correctly, it makes sense to expect the picture to be at its brightest when your living room is at its sunniest. However, many of the sensors I’ve tested throughout the years are wildly inconsistent, fluctuating on a delay or too severely when only minor adjustments have been made to ambient lighting conditions.
Learn about when to use Eco mode
Rather than having this feature enabled all the time, your better bet is to disable it completely and make additional changes to your TV’s settings to ensure consistency. First, check your TV's settings menu for options like Power, Energy or Energy Saving. On some sets, this toggle is stashed in the TV's Brightness submenu, while others keep it in a more generalized submenu.
On some TVs, the primary energy-saving option is an entire picture mode, often called Eco mode or Energy Saving mode. On these TVs, I suggest choosing a different mode altogether.
Change the picture mode
A brighter picture mode could be the boost your TV needs to overcome the sun, but you should be aware of the side effects this might have on the rest of the picture. Typically, modes with names like Vivid or Dynamic offer a brighter presentation than that of picture modes that target reference accuracy.
Unfortunately, picture modes like Vivid and Dynamic also tend to arrive with oversaturated colors, a severely cool color temperature and oversharpened details. Picture modes calibrated to deliver an accurate presentation (like Cinema, Movie or Filmmaker) don’t tend to be as punchy, but colors will be dialed-in and more natural looking.
If your TV offers versions of these more-accurate modes that include the words “Bright,” “Day” or “Home” (like Dolby Vision Bright, Theater Day or Cinema Home), it’s likely that these modes will be brighter than modes like Dolby Vision Dark, Theater and Cinema. I recommend choosing these for daytime viewing if you value reference accuracy but still want to eke out as much brightness as possible.
Increase the TV’s backlight
Most folks don’t root around in their TV’s settings after the initial setup, and most TVs arrive with their backlight (or OLED pixel brightness) set below its upper limit. Take a peek at your TV’s brightness-related settings to see if there’s any wiggle room.
On most TVs, the brightness slider controls the black level, not the screen’s overall luminance.
On most LED-based TVs (like QLEDs and Mini-LED TVs), this setting is called Backlight. On OLED TVs (like LG OLEDs), this will likely be called OLED Pixel Brightness.
Be sure not to confuse this option with the Brightness setting. On most TVs, the brightness slider controls the black level, not the screen’s overall luminance. And, while you’re in the submenu containing brightness-related settings, be sure to make some finer adjustments.
If available, adjust Local Dimming and Peak Brightness settings
If you own a QLED or Mini-LED TV with local dimming capabilities, your TV has the ability to control the brightness of individual zones across the entire picture. On many TVs, the dedicated Local Dimming setting is set to Low (or Standard) right out of the box.
By setting Local Dimming to High, you stand to get brighter highlights, especially during high-contrast content. This could make for a slightly more legible picture in bright rooms, but bear in mind that it could also introduce haloing or light bloom, too. In these scenarios, you might want to compromise with Local Dimming set to Medium or Standard.
Many TVs — be them QLEDs, Mini-LEDs or OLEDs — come with a setting called Peak Brightness. During HDR content this setting is typically maxed out by default, but you ought to check it during run-of-the-mill SDR content (like basic cable TV) to ensure that it’s set to High.
Rearrange the room
Look, I get it: This isn’t the answer you want to hear. Your TV isn’t the only object in your living room, and in all likelihood, your setup has been carefully considered given the room’s layout and the various furniture in play.
That said, if you’ve got your TV set up next to or opposite a window, the most impactful thing you could do to maximize your TV’s brightness during the day (save for installing blackout curtains) is to move your TV out of that spot. For some people, this is easier said than done. And, if you’ve exhausted all other options, it might be time for an upgrade.
Buy a brighter TV
Spending money on a new TV can be a tough proposition if the budget is tight. Fortunately, affordable TVs have never been better than they are right now, so it's relatively easy to land a bright-enough screen without breaking the bank.
Take, for instance, the TCL QM6K, an entry-level Mini-LED TV that's frequently on sale. This set earned our four-star rating in large part because of its brighter-than-average picture. It's much brighter than ultra-cheap, bottom-of-the-barrel LED TVs, and right now, the 55-inch QM6K is just $447 at Amazon.
Alternatively, consider Hisense's entry-level Fire TV, the U65QF. When we put its screen to the test for our Hisense U65QF review, we found that this affordable Mini-LED TV was among the brightest in its class. At the time of publishing, the 55-inch U65QF is on sale at Amazon for just $398, and its price regularly hovers in the $400-to-$500 price range.
If you've had enough of your TV's dim, dull picture during daytime viewing and none of the aforementioned steps have helped, take a look at the rest of our picks for the best budget TVs you can buy today.
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