The moment you unbox your smart TV and start setting it up, you’re hit with a barrage of menus, suggestions, pop-ups, and confusing default settings. While you’re probably keen to swat these menus away, it’s worth taking a moment to check what they’re asking—they could make a huge difference to your smart TV experience.
5You’re Letting Your Smart TV Spy on You
Most smart TVs are tuned to gather as much data as possible the moment they connect to your Wi-Fi. They track what you watch, when you watch it, and sometimes even what devices you connect to them. That information gets bundled up and sent off to advertisers, content providers, or whoever else is buying data behind the scenes. It’s easy to miss just how much of this is happening unless you dig into the settings yourself.
So, first of all, start by turning offACR, orAutomatic Content Recognition. This feature scans the shows and movies you watch, even through HDMI devices like game consoles or streaming boxes, and sends that data out. Depending on your TV’s brand, you can usually find this underPrivacy,Enhanced Viewing Settings, or something similarly vague. You should also disable anything related toAutomatic Picture and Audio Quality,Content Recommendation,Personalized Ads, orSports Mode Auto Detection.
Change These Settings to Instantly Make Your Smart TV More Private
With just a few small tweaks, you can boost your smart TV privacy.
It’s also worth disabling voice recognition features if you’re not using them. Over the years, there’s been no shortage of buzz and a fair bit of unease around smart TVs constantly quietly eavesdropping in the background, even when you’re not actively talking to them. Although many manufacturers claim to anonymize recordings, you have no control over what’s stored or how long it’s kept. If you don’t use voice controls regularly, it’s safer to shut them down entirely.
Lastly, review the terms you probably accepted during the initial setup. Most TVs don’t let you bypass all data collection without losing some functionality, but you’re able to often opt out of the worst offenders. Revisit the setup or system menu, look for user agreements or privacy terms, and opt out of anything relating to data sharing, software usage stats, and marketing programs.
4Your Picture Settings Need Attention
The single most powerful change you may make here is switching your picture mode from whatever default setting your TV shipped with (probablyStandard) to something more cinema-friendly.
To fix this, you’ll want to dive into your TV’s picture settings and make a few meaningful changes:
Most importantly, understand that there’s no one-size-fits-all setting. A dark movie night calls for different tweaks than a sunny afternoon sports game. So, tweak accordingly.
Your Smart TV Looks Bad Because of That Cheap Old Cable—Here’s What to Replace
If your smart TV isn’t performing as advertised, you may want to check your cables.
3Your Audio Settings Aren’t Doing Your Speakers Justice
There’s no point in reinventing the wheel here, as we’ve already put together a comprehensive guide togetting the best sound out of your smart TVbefore spending money on a soundbar. On top of that, you should switch your audio output toPCMinstead ofBitstreamif you’re using the TV’s built-in speakers or a basic soundbar. That way, your TV handles the audio processing directly, which often produces cleaner results than letting external devices do the work. But if you have a dedicated home theater sound system, the opposite applies; use Bitstream to pass uncompressed audio to your receiver.
You should also turn offVirtual surroundor3D audioprocessing unless you are rocking a proper surround sound setup. These features attempt to simulate spatial audio through stereo speakers, but make the sound worse most of the time.
2Your TV Is Connected to the Wrong Network Band
Your smart TV probably supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands. To confirm this, go to your TV’s network settings and look for available Wi-Fi networks. If it lists both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks separately (e.g., “DemiWiFi_2.4” and “DemiWiFi_5G”), and you can connect to the 5GHz one, then your TV supports dual-band Wi-Fi.
The improvement that comes with the 5GHz band becomes immediately noticeable with high-resolution content. 4K streaming typically requires 25 Mbps, and HDR content needs even more bandwidth. The 2.4GHz band, bless its heart, often buckles under that load, especially if it’s already juggling phones, laptops, and yourneighbor’ssmart fridge. Moving to 5GHz provides the headroom needed for consistent, high-quality streaming without the frustrating pauses that interrupt your viewing experience.
A major stumbling block here is that walls and distance can affect 5GHz performance more than 2.4GHz. If your TV is several rooms away from your router or separated by thick walls, you might need to test both bands to see which performs better in your specific setup and select accordingly.
You Can Use These 6 Smart TV Apps Without Wi-Fi
You can still use your smart TV offline, provided you’re prepped in advance.
1You’ve Left Firmware Auto-Updates Turned On
Most smart TVs ship with automatic firmware updates enabled by default, and while this might seem convenient, it creates several problems you probably haven’t considered. These updates often arrive at the worst possible times, interrupting your viewing experience with lengthy installation processes that can take 30 minutes or more. Your TV might restart unexpectedly during a crucial scene or force you to wait through update screens when you just want to relax.
Beyond the timing issues, automatic updates can introduce unwanted changes to your TV’s interface, move settings around, or even add new ads and promotional content you didn’t ask for. Some manufacturers use firmware updates to push additional streaming services, change menu layouts, or modify picture settings that you’ve carefully calibrated. You might discover that your preferred apps have been rearranged or that new “features” have appeared that actually make navigation more cumbersome.
Turning off automatic updates gives you the power to research each update before installing it. You can read user reviews, check forums for reported issues, and choose when to update based on your schedule rather than the manufacturer’s timeline. Navigate to your TV’s system settings, look forSoftware Update,System Update, or similar options, and select any option that suggests disabling automatic updates.You could set the system to notify you when updates are available instead.
