Suggest me a Television

What this tool does

You want a new television, and the showroom is a wall of acronyms, OLED, QLED, 4K, HDR, on screens that all look stunning under shop lighting. This tool gives you a way in. It hands you a TV brand or series at random, so you have a name to research instead of a blank and a sales pitch.

Press the button for a suggestion. Press it again for another. Ask for a few at once to build a quick shortlist. It is worth knowing that it suggests brands and series rather than specific models with set sizes, so treat each pick as a maker and range to explore, not a single television to buy.

How to use it

1. Number / Quantity. How many to pull at once, from 1 to 100.
2. Generate. Pulls a fresh brand or series, or a fresh set if you asked for several.
3. Starts with, Contains, Ends with. Optional filters that trim the list before it picks. Leave them blank to draw from everything.
4. Copy. Copies the current picks to the clipboard as plain text for your notes.

A pick is on screen the moment the page opens, so there is always something to look into.

How it works

The list is a fixed set of TV brands and series, and each press draws one at random, with no repeats inside a single set when you ask for several.

The filters let you aim. Contains keeps any entry with your text in it, so typing samsung brings up Samsung and its QLED, Crystal UHD, and The Frame lines, while a panel type like oled narrows it across brands. Starts with goes by the first letter and ends with by the last.

What is on the list

It is a set of around fifty TV brands and series. The major makers are all here, Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, Vizio, Hisense, and more, along with their better-known ranges like Samsung QLED, LG OLED, and the Sony Bravia line.

Because these are brands and series rather than exact models, a pick points you at a maker and a tier rather than a single television at a single size. Some series names also shift year to year, so once a brand or range catches your eye, look up its current models in the size you need.

Why the TV aisle is bewildering

Televisions are hard to shop for because the jargon is thick, the brands each push their own competing labels, and every set looks magnificent in a bright showroom. Faced with all that, people stall or get talked into the wrong thing. It is the effect Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper found in their 2000 jam study, where a tasting display of twenty-four kinds tempted more passers-by but converted far fewer of them into buyers than a display of six.

Barry Schwartz called the broader pattern the paradox of choice, where abundance leaves us anxious rather than satisfied. A random brand or series gives you a real name to research away from the showroom lights. The most important factor, though, is one no acronym captures, and the next section starts with it.

What actually matters, starting with size

Get the size right first, because it shapes your enjoyment more than any panel buzzword. Measure the space the TV will live in and how far away you will sit, then buy toward the larger end of what fits, since most people go too small and regret it, and modern sharp screens look great even up close. With size settled, look at the panel technology: OLED gives the deepest blacks and contrast at a higher price, while QLED and good LED sets go brighter for less and suit sunny rooms. After that, the built-in smart system matters only a little, since a cheap streaming stick fixes a clunky one, and you can set a budget knowing the size and panel choice drive most of the cost.

Questions people ask

Is it free, and does it save anything?

It is free with no sign-up, and nothing is stored. The picks run in your browser, so use Copy to keep a shortlist for your research.

Can I get a few options at once?

Yes. Set the quantity to the number you want, up to 100, and press Generate for that many different picks in one go.

Are these specific TVs or brands?

Mostly brands and series rather than exact models. Each pick is a maker or range to explore, so you then look up its current sets in the screen size you need.

What size should I get?

Measure your room and viewing distance, then lean toward the larger end of what fits, since most people underbuy. The section above covers it, along with the panel choice.

References

1. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, "When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000, the study behind choice overload. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11138768/
2. Barry Schwartz, "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less", his talk on how more options can lower satisfaction. https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice