Beating window glare on a wall-mounted TV

The best time to fix glare is before the bracket goes up. Once a TV is on the wall you can still improve things, but the wall you choose decides most of it.

Two kinds of glare

• Reflections: a window, lamp or bright wall behind you shows up mirrored in the screen.
• Washout: light falling directly on the screen raises the black level, so the picture looks grey and flat.

A window behind the TV causes a third problem — your eyes adjust to the bright window and the picture next to it looks dim.

Choosing the wall

• Best: a wall perpendicular to the windows, so light comes from the side.
• Risky: the wall opposite a window. The window reflects straight back at you.
• Tiring: the window wall itself, with the TV between or beside windows, unless you have good blinds.

In open-plan rooms with windows on two sides there may be no perfect wall, and that's where the mount does the work.

Test it before drilling

1. On a sunny day, hold a mirror or a phone with a dark screen flat against the wall where the TV will go.
2. Sit in your usual seat. Whatever you see reflected is what the TV will reflect.
3. Repeat in the morning and late afternoon — low sun is the worst.
4. Slide the mirror a foot left, right, up or down. Small moves can take a window out of the reflection entirely.

What a mount can do

• Tilt ($59): angling the screen down a few degrees moves reflections of high windows and ceiling lights out of view. Most useful when the TV is above eye level.
• Full-motion ($89): swivel the screen away from a side window in the afternoon and back at night. The best tool for rooms with windows on several sides.

Screen type

• Matte or anti-reflective coatings scatter reflections; some current TVs are noticeably better at this than others. Check reviews for reflection handling.
• Brighter panels fight washout in sunny rooms.
• OLEDs have deep blacks in dark rooms but glossy screens; in a very bright room they need more care with placement.

The room

• Curtains, blinds or solar shades on the offending window are the complete fix.
• Move lamps so they aren't behind the seating.
• Darker, matte wall paint opposite the TV reflects less.

Lighting behind the TV

A soft light on the wall behind the screen (bias lighting) reduces eye strain at night and makes blacks look deeper. It doesn't help with daytime reflections.

Not sure which wall is best? Tell us about the room when you book and we'll check the reflections with you before drilling. Labor starts at $94.