Modern trends in TV viewing have encouraged some people to envisage a future where no-one watches conventional TVs. Instead, we are all carrying around smartphones and tablets and doing all our viewing that way.

This isn’t really what is happening, however. People want to watch programmes on the same TV, because it offers a better picture and a more comfortable environment. Mounting the TV on the wall with a TV bracket means you get the perfect view from your sofa. How could you improve on that?

Recent research has partly supported the latter view. While mobile phone viewing is having no impact on TV viewing, tablet viewing is. The results come from a survey which saw 5,000 Europeans questioned in the UK, France, Spain and Poland.

In general, mobile phone viewing could be characterised as ‘killing time’ whereas tablet viewing wasn’t. People mostly watched the same things on their tablets as they did on their TVs.

The research was commissioned by Orange and carried out by TNS. Bruce Hoang, the Orange advertising network’s group marketing director, said:

“The findings are quite stark in their description of how people are using devices. Clearly the one-size-fits-all approach for digital content across TV, PC, smartphone and tablet does not work, and this has significant implications for content producers and advertisers.”

Even if tablet use continues to have an impact on conventional TV viewing, it is unlikely to replace it, simply because the way in which we watch TV has evolved to meet people’s needs.

Recent figures have indicated that TV ownership in the US could actually fall next year. This would be the first time this has happened since records began. However, it seems likely that the TV bracket market will be unaffected as many people are still upgrading their old CRT TVs for modern flat screen models.

This year, there were 115.9m households with TVs in the US. It is thought that could drop to around 114.7m next year. The estimate comes from Nielsen, who have been recording such information since the Seventies.

The number of homes without a TV it its highest point since 1975. Three per cent of Americans currently do not have a TV. It seems many people are turning to online TV providers, like Netflix and Hulu, but the effect may be stalled as these services become more readily available through TVs.

At the end of the day, watching a TV is a fundamentally more comfortable experience than watching a laptop or a tablet. TVs are larger and offer better picture quality for one thing, but they are also set up specifically for viewing as they serve no other purpose.

A TV mounted on the wall with a TV bracket takes up virtually no space whatsoever and offers optimum viewing for people. This strength was partly highlighted by the amount of TV being watched. Although fewer people have TVs, those that do are generally watching them more – on average for 59 hours 28 minutes a week.

Microsoft has released some new software that will allow people to control what they watch on TV using their voice. It works via the Xbox Kinect and allows people to search the web or use its built-in video services to find programmes.

The interface is based on that of the Windows Phone and has applications for Sky and Channel 4 TV programmes. An iPlayer application is also expected early next year. Microsoft actually go so far as to say that the service will be the biggest source of interactive TV in the world, with 40 different providers represented.

To control what happens, users will simply say ‘Xbox’ to activate the control system. They will then be able to speak further commands or use gestures to control the TV.

This is not dissimilar to Apple’s mooted TV interface. Increasingly, we are seeing TVs getting more elaborate software and the boundaries between computers and televisions are blurring. When we talk about internet TV, many of us think of watching programmes on a laptop or similar device. However, this need not be the case.

People only ever used these devices because that was where internet TV was found. It wasn’t that those devices were intrinsically better for TV viewing, because they aren’t. If you want to watch a film or TV programme, the most comfortable way of doing so is on a flat screen TV mounted on the wall using a TV bracket. When internet TV is more readily accessible in this way, we will see this fact borne out.

You probably think of YouTube as being confined to your web browser – a site you visit on your laptop or desktop PC and watch short amateur video clips. That is how the site started and is why it is so well-known, but over time it has evolved and it is increasingly offering more conventional forms of TV.

A recent redesign has brought this side of the website to the fore with television style channels featuring professionally made video content of greater duration than the short clips for which the site is famous.

This change in focus runs parallel to a technological change, whereby we are able to watch online content on our normal TVs. There are many different ways that this can be achieved, such as via Microsoft’s Xbox, which has a YouTube application. This then allows us to sit in comfort, watching a large screen TV mounted on the wall with a TV bracket.

Group product manager, Noam Lovinsky, said of the new look YouTube:

“This is really the largest redesign and largest launch in YouTube’s history. As we carry the redesign across the site and all kinds of devices it really changes the game for content providers. Everyone is going to be vying for that precious spot on the home page.”

The new look site should improve the experience for users of all sorts of newer internet-connected devices, but the conventional TV is perhaps the most important of these as this is where the majority of future viewing is likely to take place.

If you’re investing in a new TV for this Christmas, make sure you get a TV bracket as well. It is one thing buying a giant, top of the range flat screen TV, but if it’s awkwardly positioned on a table in the corner of the room, you aren’t really getting the most out of it.

The better TV, the more important it is that you set it up properly. Your old CRT wouldn’t offer a particularly immersive experience no matter what you did with it, but a brand new plasma screen can be so much more than that.

A modern TV, when combined with a good surround sound system can produce an unbelievable home cinema effect. People still go to the cinema, despite having hundreds of TV channels at home and this is why. The experience is so much better than simply watching TV. Or it was at any rate.

Nowadays, if you spend a bit of money, you can create a home cinema setup that rivals what used to be known as ‘the flicks’. The TV is obviously the most crucial element, so if you’ve got the money, spare no expense. The sound system is also vital. You don’t want something that gets distorted if you turn the volume up.

The TV bracket is also key. It’s not so eye-catching, but it serves a useful purpose. It allows you to position your screen correctly, so that you can get the best experience when watching films this Christmas.

The festive season is the TV season for many of us. In the days before digital video recorders, there was almost too much to watch. We would buy a huge pack of video tapes and record everything we wanted to see. On top of that, we’d flick the TV on and watch all sorts of stuff that we weren’t even all that bothered about.

Nowadays it’s so much easier. We identify the things that we want to see and we record them. Then, if we find ourselves with some free time one evening, we watch them. We don’t have to trawl through all the channels, searching for something good. We know that we’ve already got what we want to see.

There are a lot of films on at Christmas and nothing justifies an expensive TV like a film. Made with big budgets to be watched in a cinema, they make the most of modern technology, so make sure you’ve got a TV bracket to ensure that you get the best viewing experience.

This applies to sport as well. Football fans are familiar with the Christmas fixtures, but TV rights have meant we can expect to be able to see a match pretty much every day over Christmas. Cricket fans meanwhile know all about the Boxing Day Test in Australia, when about 90,000 people descend on the magnificent Melbourne Cricket Ground for what is one of the great sporting traditions.

All sports have their traditions, but none is so joyful as the Boxing Day Test in Australia. In the UK, cricket is often thought of as a quiet game played in small grounds, not stadiums. That isn’t the case in Australia or India, where tens of thousands can turn out for a game. It is these two teams who will be meeting in this year’s Boxing Day Test.

The Boxing Day Test takes place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the MCG, as it does every year. This giant stadium can hold 100,000 people (the Great Southern Stand alone holds about 48,000 – more than most football grounds) so it’s not hard to get tickets each year. In 2006, over 89,000 people turned up for the Ashes match against England and to wave goodbye to Shane Warne, who was playing his last match on his home ground.

However, in terms of action, it would be hard to beat the more recent Ashes fixture in 2010. 84,345 people – many of them English – saw England end the day ahead in terms of runs, no wickets down, having already dismissed Australia for just 98. They went on to win by an innings and 157 runs, retaining the Ashes in the process, in what must rank as one of the most humiliating defeats in Australian cricket history.

Australia v India this year is almost as appealing. The Australians are rebuilding and the Indians are smarting having lost their number one world ranking to England last summer. Even as an impartial fan, this is something worth getting up for on Boxing Day – even more so if you’ve a giant TV set on TV brackets in your front room.

Nothing ensures a good viewing experience better than a TV bracket and nothing ensures good TV programmes better than Christmas.

TV brackets are hugely underrated. It’s not like they produce high quality pictures and sound or anything like that, but without them, you’re losing the effect. A TV placed on a table is at the wrong height and may also be at the wrong angle for some seating positions. A TV bracket allows you to raise the TV a bit and swivelling and tilting facilities allow you to point the screen in the right direction.

This can make all the difference when you’re settling down for some serious TV watching over the Christmas period. With holiday days to take and good food in abundance, we can often find ourselves watching more TV at this time of year. We might feel bad about it at times, but at least we enjoy it.

With special episodes of popular comedies and soap operas and Christmas film premieres, it’s easy to get sucked in. Factor in all the additional sport that is played at this time of year and you can easily lose a day or two to sloth and overindulgence.

But where’s the harm in that? That’s what Christmas is for. New Year is for making amends and trying to claw back the damage you’ve done to your body. The days before then are for lounging about. Just make sure that you have a TV bracket, because nobody likes getting a stiff neck.

Buying a top of the range TV is something of an indulgence. We splash out, buy some TV brackets and mount it on the wall, but do we really get our money’s worth from it?

Who cares? Sometimes you just have to treat yourself and few people don’t appreciate a good viewing experience. This is even more true when it comes to films. They’re made for the cinema, so the sound and visuals surpass what you’ll find on most TV programmes. This means they offer a viewing experience that’s a little more special.

Christmas is a great time for making the most of this with all the film premieres. Sky even devotes a handful of channels to premieres, meaning you can watch them when you want. There are a few films that will start appearing on these channels around Christmas time. Here’s a quick rundown.

First up, The Dilemma, in which Vince Vaughn sees his friend’s wife seemingly with another man. Vaughan has to decide what to do, but the longer he leaves it, the more he seems implicated himself.

Also showing is Morning Glory, starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton. McAdams takes a job as a TV producer and hires an ageing TV anchor in the form of Ford, only to find that he refuses to cover most of the normal staples of a morning TV show.

Finally, there is Middle Men, starring Luke Wilson. After building an online billing empire, he finds himself lost in a world of depravity and crime and begins to question his get rich quick plans.

When you were a child, you probably anticipated the Christmas TV guide almost as much as you anticipated the day itself. The dark winter nights combine with time off from work and suddenly the TV schedules get spruced up a bit.

Christmas is a time of TV specials. There are festive episodes of current favourites and repeats of old classics as well. But the entertainment doesn’t end there. It’s also at this time of year that many films premiere on TV.

This might not be such a big a deal as it once was. DVDs mean that many people have seen films long before they appear on TV and they seem to appear so much quicker nowadays as well. It used to take years before a major film was broadcast, but now it can be a matter of months. All the same, if you have missed something at the cinema and on DVD, there’s a good chance it’ll have its first showing some time around Christmas.

All in all, we probably spend more time watching TV at Christmas than we do at any other time of year. It’s therefore important to ensure that you have your TV set up properly. You will get a better viewing experience if you do this and you’ll also save yourself from getting a sore neck from lounging on the settee. The first thing you should look for to achieve this is a TV bracket. Many different types are available, so you will definitely be able to find something that suits your needs.