Guides

Under $1,000 for a 65 inch screen you can buy a genuinely bright mini-LED or a QLED for about a third of the budget. The gap between them is brightness and motion, not size, and picking wrong usually comes down to where the TV sits.

Three OLED TVs that make consoles and PCs feel instant, ranked by who they are for: an all-round LG with Dolby Vision, a bright QD-OLED, and a big-screen value set.

Three TVs that hold up in a sunny living room, ranked by who they are for: a mini-LED pick that beats glare for the money, a bright budget QLED, and the glare-free premium set for a wall of windows.

A projector screen is the surface every projector is judged against, and the type you buy matters more than the brand. Two picks cover the ends that matter most: a 120-inch fixed frame for a dark room and a foldable sheet that costs less than a streaming stick.

Three short throw projectors that put a big picture up from a few feet away, ranked by who they are for: a bright 1080p value pick, a long-life laser, and a 4K ultra short throw that replaces the TV.

Two gaming projectors that keep the picture responsive on a 100 inch screen, ranked by who they are for: a 120Hz 1080p value pick and a true 4K short throw with monitor-level lag.

Three outdoor projectors that earn the wall space, ranked by who they are for: a polished all-rounder, a Roku-built budget pick, and the brightest option for early-evening starts.

Three soundbars under $500 that fix flat TV audio, ranked by who they are for: an Atmos bar with a real subwoofer, a bass-heavy movie pick, and a compact all-in-one with no sub box.

Two surround systems that put real speakers behind you without an AV receiver or a cable run across the floor, plus what "wireless" actually means before you buy.

Under $500 you are choosing between a surround receiver that passes 4K at 120Hz and a stereo receiver that just sounds better than your TV. Both are good answers, and the wrong one is expensive to undo.

Three beginner turntables that play records without a crash course in tonearm setup, ranked by who they are for: an automatic first deck, a step up with a real cartridge, and an all-in-one that needs no speakers.

A 75 inch TV is heavier than it looks and hangs further off the wall than you expect. Three full-motion mounts cover the size, stud, and weight situations that come up most, and each one is rated well past a modern 65 to 85 inch screen.

Most HDMI cables are the same cable. The ones worth buying carry the HDMI Forum certification and stay short enough to hold full speed, and there are two we would actually spend money on.

A TV stand has one job: hold a big screen at the right height without wobbling. Three picks cover the room sizes and budgets that come up most, from a full console to a base that saves the furniture you already own.