How Do I Watch TV in Bed Without Disturbing My Partner?
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Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.
Q. I like to watch TV in bed at night, but the screen is so bright it keeps my husband awake. What can I do to cut down on the brightness?
A. If you're watching TV in bed but the screen is lighting up the bedroom like a football stadium, you might be tempted to fiddle with the brightness setting—but don't.
"For LCD or LED TVs, the backlight setting is the one to adjust," says Claudio Ciacci, CR's lead TV tester. Lowering the backlight helps reduce the bright glow at night while still looking acceptable in daytime. On OLED TVs, search for an "OLED light" or a panel brightness setting.
Some newer TVs also have an auto sensing brightness control option that, when turned on, adjusts to the room lighting, "but that feature is more about energy savings and can lead to unpredictable and subpar results," Ciacci says.
Members can sign in to use our TV Screen Optimizer to find our setting recommendations for individual models. Our testers tinker with tons of settings to find out which ones make a specific TV model look its best in a dimmer environment, as well as for daytime viewing.
Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the January 2019 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
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