Gimmicks are nothing new in technology. Consider movie theaters, which for decades have tried things like IMAX, 3D, vibration, and even scents and sprays to make things more exciting. To this day, cinema chains are still using the first three of those tactics to convince people to step away fromNetflixorMaxfor a few hours.
There are gimmicks in the home theater space too, naturally. TVs have become commodified – there’s often little to separate one4K TVfrom another these days apart from size and ports. If you’re shopping for a new set, it’s critical to be aware of these gimmicks before spending hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars.
I’m not sold on the idea of AI health coaching apps on my phone
Fitness may be simultaneously too nuanced and too simple for AI coaching.
8K resolution
Like swatting flies with a baseball bat
This first pick might be controversial, but the truth is that an 8K TV doesn’t serve much practical purpose yet. You won’t find 8K content on any of the major streaming services, mostly because there’s too little demand for the amount of bandwidth and server space involved. A single stream can consume 50 megabits per second, if not more. Many titles haven’t even been converted to 8K, and typically, there’s going to be limited benefit to doing that. You can only extract so much detail out of 35mm film, never mind old sitcoms shot on tape like Martin or The Golden Girls.
If you buy an 8K, you’re mostly going to be watching upscaled 4K and 1080p material.
The result is that if you buy an 8K, you’re mostly going to be watching upscaled 4K and 1080p material. In fact the only dependable source of 8K content is YouTube, and then mostly in the form of nature and tourism clips. You may not even notice the difference versus 4K, since it’s already hard to tell the difference between 4K and 1080p on many TVs, even ones over 60 inches. To take full advantage of 8K at a normal viewing distance, you’d need a screen covering an entire wall.
8K will inevitably enter the mainstream at some point, but only by becoming so trivial as to be a “why not” option.
8K gaming isn’t worth the effort yet
It’ll be the norm one day, but that day is years off.
Good luck finding one, thankfully
3D TVs have come and gone sporadically since 1935, but got a major push in 2010 following the success of the James Cameron movie Avatar. Some of these sets still required glasses; a select few generated a glasses-free (autostereoscopic) effect. For a short time, both kinds of TVs seemed poised to capitalize on a wave of 3D movies that did away with one-off gimmicks like Jaws 3-D.
Production of 3D TVs seems to have fizzled out after 2016, though. The biggest problem was a traditional one – namely, the popularity of the actual content. Many theatergoers were still annoyed by this next-generation 3D, since if a movie wasn’t shot (and displayed) with the technology in mind, the effect was minor or outright distracting. Also, some people couldn’t handle 3D on a physical level, whether because it made them nauseous or the effect simply didn’t work. In 2025, you’ll still find some 3D releases in theaters, but they’re not as common as they were in 2011.
3D TVs also arrived shortly before 4K HDR. Given the wider benefits of 4K, companies and buyers alike shifted their focus. You might be tempted to buy a TV that supports both 4K and 3D, but anything you find will probably be a used model dating back to 2018 or earlier. Don’t expect a 3D TV to ship with features likeeARCor Dolby Vision, though ironically, Vision now includes a 3D spec for VR headsets like the Apple Vision Pro.
Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3: What’s the difference?
Apple’s Vision Pro is a natural competitor for the highly touted Meta Quest 3, even if both are wildly different. Here is everything you need to know.
Curved screens
Don’t let futuristic vibes trump your real-world viewing
There’s more to say about curved TVs in the expanded guide below, including their history. The key point, though, is that curved sets are pointless if not detrimental to your viewing experience unless you live alone. To get the full effect in depth, color, and contrast, you have to sit in a sweet spot in the middle of your room, and anyone outside that spot is going to get an increasingly inferior picture. At the wrong angles, people may be hit by reflections from various light sources, or even miss part of the picture.
It’s almost a moot point. The only curved TV maker still around is Samsung, and even then its latest model dates back to 2019. The only curved displays you should be considering are PC monitors, since they’re actually ideal for 3D gaming and extending your desktop.
Should you still buy a curved TV in 2025? Probably not
A curved display makes sense, but maybe not in your living room.
Rollable and transparent TVs
A solution in search of a problem
These models aren’t very common – they’re mostly the province of one brand, LG – but even when you may locate them, you still shouldn’t buy them. Rollable TVs fold up when they’re not in use, while transparent TVs are just that, turning pixels opaque only when necessary.
Aside from availability, the overriding issue is cost, as you might already know.LG’s Signature OLED T(above) costs a whopping $60,000 for a 77-inch model, and rollable sets still range in the tens of thousands – if you can find them at all. Both LG and Samsung have discontinued production of rollables, at least for now, so you’ll probably have to buy them off rich existing owners.
There’s little practical value to either technology. They mostly just expose the wall or window behind them, and if there’s something you really want to see in your room, you probably shouldn’t put any TV in front of it, no matter how rich you are.
5 things I’ve learned about EVs now that I’ve owned one
The EV experience is wonderful overall, as long as you’re prepared for it.
