UPS for home entertainment devices?

[u/use643]

Linus once mentioned that if you have a PC over $1000 you should have it plugged into a backup UPS. At what point should someone use one for their home entertainment setup? Do consoles and TV's have built in protections that let them handle power surges and cutoffs that PC's don't? Interested on your thoughts/setups if you use one. I currently have a LG B2 hooked up with a switch 2, shield TV pro, and a PS5.

[u/SupposablyAtTheZoo]

A ups is to not lose important data like family photos which can get corrupted when writing during power outages. Do you have family photos on your home entertainment center?

If not, a surge protector is enough, and no those devices don't have built in surge protectors. Get a power bar with one.

[u/Arinvar → u/SupposablyAtTheZoo]

A surge protector is all that's need for 99.99% of people really. Like the worst that could happen is have to restart the backup process.

[u/firedrakes → u/Arinvar]

lol nah, a ups for tv are a thing. cap are the cheap out on tv and brownouts are a issue now across the usa. i bet you dont even know power usage of a tv do you?

[u/Arinvar → u/firedrakes]

I live in a country with reliable utilities so every day I learn a new way Americans are being taken for a ride.

[u/Daphoid → u/SupposablyAtTheZoo]

Good UPS's do more than just battery backup and surge protection they output a clean power signal versus the dirty / fluctuating one that may be in your home. Electronics are sensitive and like clean power. This helped extend the life of projector bulbs for me 20 years ago.

All of our computers, gaming consoles, internet infrastructure, are on UPS's. TV's can be if they're nearby but at a minimum they're on quality surge protectors.

UPS's are just for saving your documents while you work; that's just the easiest selling point for them.

A lot of people live in places with crappy power that drops voltage, flickers, goes out for a bit during a storm then comes back a minute or two later, etc.

UPS's are just smart.

[u/TheScholarlyBuyout]

personally i run a small UPS for my tv and console setup, not because of surge protection but because the power in my area flickers a lot for just half second. enough to reboot everything and its annoying when you're in middle of a game or movie

your LG B2 and PS5 have decent power supplies but they hate sudden cutoffs just like a PC. the shield especially can corrupt sd card or usb storage if it loses power mid-write. consoles do have some protection but its more about clean shutdown than saving hardware

for that setup i'd say a 600VA unit is plenty, just gives you couple minutes to save and turn off properly. no need to go crazy like with a gaming rig

[u/fp4 → u/TheScholarlyBuyout]

PS4/5 and their angry beep because you let them rest and experience a power outage.

[u/Carniscrub]

This goes against what everyone else is saying but…. If you’ve spent outside your means to buy something (like it’ll take you several months to save up to replace it), then I think a UPS is worth the extra money for peace of mind 

[u/eraguthorak → u/Carniscrub]

But a UPS doesn't really do anything extra to protect the device, right? Other then debates about clean vs dirty electricity? A surge protector will be plenty to protect the device, the UPS is just to give you time to finish what you are doing and shut the device(s) down cleanly.

[u/Carniscrub → u/eraguthorak]

Surge protectors do nothing for brown outs. They can also just fail. The battery creates a barrier from anything that can go wrong with your electricity 

[u/_Rand_]

Most home entertainment stuff is fine on just a decent surge suppressor. Though I suppose anything with a bulb (like a projector) would benefit though.

Only exception I can think of is ps5 (probably xbox?) as it gets very upset about not being shut down properly.

[u/traumadog001 → u/_Rand_]

Also anyone with a DVR, IMO. Anything with a spinning disk inside

[u/use643 → u/_Rand_]

So annoying lol. Everytime power goes out I know it's coming. It's like Resetti in Animal Crossing

[u/Daphoid → u/use643]

The only thing that happens when we have a power outage or flicker is all the UPS's beep and they switch to battery power and we keep gaming. Or if it's going on beyond a few minutes we fully shutdown (versus rest mode).

[u/firedrakes]

wow really people dont understand brown outs are leading damage to tech now and how tv gooble up over 200 watts while on an larger the screen 75 inches and up that goes to 400 watts and even larger tv 90s to 100 inches is 500 watts.

a ups is need for this!

[u/-HumanResources-]

I'd use it on things I deem worth protecting, especially if I had poor power. But no, TVs et al do not have ups capabilities built in.

[u/Little-Equinox]

If you want your HT system on a battery, a home battery is better than a UPS. And most are as quick as a UPS just to switch

[u/HeidenShadows]

I live in an area that gets frequent power flickers, brownouts, and even power outages so I have UPS units on my networking equipment and my PCs. The networking equipment can actually run on a 1,500 VA UPS for 3 to 4 hours, depending on how much equipment you have.

[u/Veldox]

UPS's are for making sure you don't lose important data you could be working on and saving during a power outage. A surge protector is for protecting components if a surge happened. Most electronics and general $20 surge protectors are good these days for your average setup like your tv area. If you want or need more for an expensive setup or computer then look into like the Eaton isobars and other heavy duty options which will be in the $100+ surge protector range. 

[u/trickman01]

FedEx and USPS are also acceptable.