Can You Ignore Those TV Update Prompts?
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Q. My TV prompts me to do updates, but I often ignore the requests. Is that bad?
A. We know you're busy—and there are exciting shows waiting in your streaming queue—but if you don't stop to upgrade every once in a while, you're going to run into a few problems. Usually there's a good reason your TV is asking you to approve an upgrade, says CR's TV and electronics tester, Claudio Ciacci. "It could be to improve security, fix a bug, give you new features, or make existing ones better."
By ignoring updates, you miss out on all of those free benefits. Sure, you'll have to do something else for a few minutes, but we think a secure, smoothly operating TV is worth the wait. Plus, you'll save yourself many more minutes of aggravation that would have been spent troubleshooting problems that were already fixed by an upgrade.
A tip for the upgrade-averse: Most smart TVs give you the option to enable automatic updates in your TV's settings. While you're in there, check your picture adjustments, too. Occasionally an update may reset your display to the TV's default setting, but you can simply change it back to your preferred setup. (Optimize your TV's picture to best catch all the fast action of the Super Bowl.)
For more information, check our TV buying guide.
Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the March 2018 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
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