Should I Set Up A Home Office With A TV?
Should I Set Up a Home Office With a TV?
If you have a home office, you understand the debate of whether or whether not to put a TV in your office. Some experts say it’s just going to distract you while other say it doesn’t. So, should you set up a home office with a TV?
The answer is: Yes, a TV in your home office can be a great addition. But you need to keep it’s use to benefit your work
While a TV streaming traditional cable might be kind of distracting and maybe not the most productive idea to keep in your home office, today we’re going to look at a few ways to set up a TV in your home office that is actually helpful instead of hurtful to productivity.
When it comes to working efficiently, sometimes the biggest problem with spreadsheets, Internet pages being open, and zoom calls is that you don’t have enough real estate on your monitor to do everything all at once that you need to do. We’re going to look at which TV to pick, what you can use it for, and how to maximize your workday with the help of a TV as a second screen instead of a distraction.
If we’re honest, you could get distracted by anything with the amount of tech at your fingertips. From your phone to your tablet, a TV that sits ready to function as a second screen shouldn’t add any distraction you’re not already familiar with.
Why is a TV as second screen in your home office helpful?
A second screen is helpful because sometimes you want a zoom call on one screen and your word doc you’re looking at with your partner on the other period, or maybe you have a YouTube video explaining something you’re learning how to do on Excel.
Whatever your reason for needing a second screen, there are so many practical uses for a TV to serve that purpose.
You can use it as an auxiliary display when you need it, a video watching platform when necessary, or even an on-screen fireplace (or the ocean, or the mountains, wherever you feel peaceful) to set up a great working environment for you to get a lot of things done.
In the wide world of zoom backgrounds, it might even be helpful to have a moving display that you can place your logo on to have a professional and branded background.
If you don’t have a lot of light in your office, an ambient display can be a great way to shed a little bit of light and ambiance into your office. Natural light is always ideal, but some TVs have blue light blocking function to keep your eyes from straining halfway through the day, and this is often easier than ever to toggle. It can be much easier than having to wear a pair of blue light glasses.
Another reason to select a TV as a second screen instead of a regular computer display is that computers will shut off after a while, have different sleep options, or become difficult to connect and disconnect because of the use of HDMI cords and other things you might need them for.
To our previous point, when it’s not in use, it can just be a background instead of something that you need to fuss with. While it is good to avoid distraction, you can hook up your TV to an Apple TV or an Amazon Fire Stick so that if you need to pull something up or reflect something on the screen, it is available to you at the swipe of a screen.
Even though you might not watch actual TV on your screen all the time, having the functionality for it is excellent.
How to pick the right TV for your home office:
When setting up a Home Office with the TV, it is worth your time to consider and research picking the right TV for your purpose. If you’re looking to add a TV to your office setup, you don’t need to get the biggest, best, or highest resolution TV on the market. It’s not your main TV, there’s no reason to drop serious cash on it.
Remember: you won’t be watching Sunday Football or an action movie; you do not need something fancy and 4k. You also don’t need something even as good as a crisp PC screen, which is why opting for a TV is the best idea for this purpose.
If you’re already using a monitor, try to get a TV with the same resolution options as your already existing computers. For example, if you’re using a 1080p resolution on your computer, you’re going to want to set your TV for a 1080p resolution as well. This way, there is no additional adjustment with adding the screen. You can simply turn on the tv, drag what you need over to it, and start working.
There is no adjusting or fiddling necessary; you just plug right in and go. Sometimes, you have to activate specific settings to select the second screen or share screen, but those are usually easy to find with a simple web search.
A fun idea for a tv if you’re looking for something that can be a little bit pricier is a frame TV. When not in use, this tv turns into a matte painting image to look sleek and elegant. You can even select an outline for the TV so that it looks like an actual frame.
Connections and wall-mounting your TV in your home office:
When selecting your TV, make sure that it has enough HDMI ports for everything you need, especially if this will be something you use for different aspects of your workday. If you’re going to add it to a computer but also want to use an Apple TV on it, you’re going to want to make sure you have the proper ports to do so.
Most TV’s do have sufficient ports given the nature of how people watch TV nowadays, but it’s worth a second look to make sure.
When deciding if to wall mount your television and which wall Mount to pick, consider your office’s shape and structure. If you have a proper Home Office setup, you might want your TV to be clean lines and tucked out of the way when not in use.
You could also put the TV right next to your existing computer to share the screen and increase the real estate of the windows you’re using. If you pick a wall mount that is adjustable and movable, then you can pull the TV out to somewhere that’s comfortable when you’re using it and put it back when it’s on a static screensaver or a fireplace.
This can also be immensely helpful if you have a visitor in your office. You are able to show them something you’re looking at without having to bring them around your side of the desk or them needing to squint to see it. Additionally, this concept is equally excellent for presentations.
Another idea is putting the larger TV screen on the wall behind your desk and having your computer to the side so that the static screen is your computer and you’re able to drag anything you’re currently looking at to the computer to enlarge it as not to strain your eyes if you’re working long hours or looking at small text.
Overall, multiple screens and different uses of them are beneficial in an office environment. It takes your setup from functional to actively help you get through your day with ease. See also our article CAN I HAVE A HOME OFFICE WITH SOFA BED?
Whether you set up a TV in your home office for the sake of screen real estate, comfort of screen-sharing/more prominent display, or even a momentary distraction, in any case, the addition of a TV will help your day sail right along and even add benefits to greatly improve the flow and efficiency of your daily routine.