Big Screen TV

In 2023, I wrote a post about how I was going to have to retire my big pull-down screen, projector and theater sound DVD system.  You can click here for the details, but the executive summary of that post was that with the end of Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service, I would no longer be able to watch essentially unlimited movies on my big silver screen.  Since that time, I have used it only infrequently whenever I wanted to rewatch one of the few DVDs that I had purchased over the years and added to my small library of movies.

Without the use of my big 84” diagonal screen, I was left to watch TV on our 46” flat panel TV which I had purchased when the broadcast world went digital and my 32” flat panel TV could no longer receive the content.

I don’t watch a lot of TV in general except during college football and college basketball seasons and with this “smallish” TV (at least by today’s standard), I usually had to pull up a stool or chair close enough to see the picture.

While Netflix still offered DVDs, my wife and I would occasionally watch a TV series on the big screen that we could get on Netflix DVDs (e.g., The Wire, Breaking Bad, Dexter).  You may recall if you read that previous post, that at the time, my wife encouraged me to come into the 21^st century and begin to stream shows and movies.  To this end, I purchased a device to connect to my TV that would allow access to different streaming services (i.e., apps) to which we subscribed.  But I knew if I wanted to replicate that old big screen, I was going to have to get a much bigger TV.

The first step towards that goal was to get rid of this “TV cabinet” upon which our TV rested.

While in its current state, where the TV would normally go was occupied by my daughter’s dollhouse that I had built for her many years ago.  I know I am dating myself but at the time that we purchased this TV stand, TVs were called picture tube TVs (or more correctly, cathode ray tubes (CRTs)).  And the biggest size you could get was a 36” diagonal TV as any larger size was prohibitively heavy.  That curved shelf is where you would put your CRT TV.

So, to accomplish my goal, in addition to getting a larger flat panel TV, I would also need to get a smart TV to be able to stream content as my wife suggested.

The first step I undertook was in 2024 when I purchased a longer and lower TV stand upon which to eventually place our new, bigger TV (I prefer to have a TV on a stand rather than mounting it on the wall).

I also wanted to replicate the high sound quality I had with our old system and so in anticipation of that new TV, I bought a high-quality sound bar (sitting in front of the TV in the photo above).

This year I finally completed that goal by purchasing a 77” diagonal 4K Smart TV.  When asked by the salesclerk if I also wanted to purchase the installation service, I declined as I was not going to mount it on the wall.  I figured how hard could it be to unbox and set up (oh boy was I in for a surprise).

When it was delivered, I asked the delivery guys if it was heavy as they carried it upstairs.  Their reply was “yeah, pretty heavy.”  I looked it up later and found that it was almost 80 pounds which was surprising to me given how thin the screen is.

Once it was delivered, I went online to view a short 4-minute unboxing video for my brand of TV, although it was not my exact TV.

Per the video, I cut the straps surrounding the box and opened the top to lift out the setup instructions.  One small pamphlet said to go online to download the user guide.  I did and found it was over 250 pages long.  Skimming through it, it seemed to be more complicated than my wife’s new car.

Inside the box was also a fold-out, four page “IKEA-like” instruction on how to just unbox it, attach the legs and make the necessary connections without damaging the TV.  Cautions in multiple places indicated the screen was quite fragile and to not hold it in certain places.  And to never, never let it tip over.  It additionally showed that it was a 2-person job.

The day my wife was available to help me, it was with a bit of trepidation that we started.  First, we had to lift off the outer box which due to its large size hit our ceiling fan.  Leaning the whole TV over, we managed to get it off without the TV falling over.  We next were presented with numerous Styrofoam brackets which had to be removed and repositioned to keep the TV upright.  Getting the two-piece legs attached to the back was another challenge we had to overcome.

We were now ready to lift the 80-pound behemoth up onto the TV stand being careful not to touch the screen where it could be damaged.  I then proceeded to make all the necessary connections.  After nearly an hour, I was now ready to turn it on.

Without getting into the details, set up took another hour as each app had to be individually installed and then logged into to register the new device.  This involved either using my phone to scan a QR code displayed on the TV or logging into the streaming service on my computer.  But finally, our new TV was ready to use.

In retrospect, I would have paid for the installation by someone experienced if I had known what all was involved.  As we struggled through the process, I shuddered to think what trouble, some other senior citizens without some tech savviness would experience.  Obviously, the days of easily taking a TV out of the box, making a single cable connection and then simply turning it on are gone forever.

In spite of the challenges, I was very pleased with our new TV.  Having a size just seven inches less than my pull-down screen, will definitely rival our old technology.  And hopefully we will enjoy years of viewing pleasure!