Purchasing a television set is not an everyday occurrence. Because TVs tend to last much longer than a smartphone, you have to consider many future plans when buying a TV. Aside from your plans, which might include upgrading your home, factors such as upgrades for streaming video, content, and screen resolution standards mean that buying a TV can quickly become a complicated affair.
By using a smart strategy based on your room size, viewing habits, preferred content, and a variety of other factors, our TV Buying Guide attempts to narrow down the list of TVs you’ll want to consider for your home to just a few.
Therefore, when choosing the right TV, you need to prioritize a number of features that make up the main benefits of your TV, while leaving out features that you may never really use or want to use. You’ll also have to take into account that the accessories you use with your TV today – such as game consoles and audio extensions will only grow over time, or will only support the latest standards in the long run.
Decide your Budget
One of the most important factors, if not the most important, when you are choosing a new TV is the price. If you’re looking for a TV that only performs the basic functions, you can expect to pay a fairly reasonable price at the checkout. However, if you want to take advantage of technological advances and get the most out of your viewing experience, you’ll have to pay a bit more. The good news is that even top-of-the-line TVs are more affordable today than ever before.
Types of TVs
The first decision you need to make is what type of TV you want to buy. Just a few years ago, you had to choose between plasma, LCD, LED, DLP and rear projection TVs. Nowadays, manufacturers have narrowed down the different types of TVs. Almost all TVs sold today, including QLEDs, are LCD TVs with LED lighting, usually called LED TVs.
LED
Although LCD and LED televisions are often referred to as different technologies, they both produce their image in the same way, using a liquid crystal display. A liquid crystal display is a thin, translucent panel made up of millions of tiny cells called pixels that are filled with liquid crystal. Each of these pixels can change its opacity when a charge is applied. Red, blue and green color filters give each pixel the ability to produce color as well. When light passes through the pixels from behind, the building blocks of a visible image are obtained.
The main difference between LCD TVs and LED TVs is that LCD TVs use fluorescent lamps for backlighting, while LED TVs, as you might have guessed, use LED lamps. LEDs are much smaller than fluorescent lamps, so the TV can be built much thinner. They also use slightly less power, so LED TVs are more energy efficient. But best of all, LEDs can do something fluorescent lamps can’t: a feature known as local dimming. This turns off some of the backlighting during high-contrast scenes (i.e., both very dark and very bright areas in the same scene), allowing the bright areas to be brighter and the dark areas to be darker.
With LCD TVs, the backlight could not be turned off, which gave them a reputation for having rather gray blacks. Local dimming gives LED TVs a more intense picture with better contrast and colors, resulting in a picture that just looks better. When they first came on the market, LED TVs were much more expensive than LCD TVs. Now, the technology in LED TVs has dropped in price to the point where there are no longer any advantages to using fluorescent backlighting, and today only LED TVs are available for purchase.
QLED
To understand what sets QLED TVs apart from other technologies, it’s best to start with quantum dots. These dots are incredibly small, man-made crystals that glow when excited by an energy source. In QLED televisions, a layer of these crystals, or quantum dots, is in front of a blue LED backlight. The blue backlight excites the quantum dots and makes them glow. The combination of the LED backlight and the glowing quantum dots allows QLED TVs to output impressively vivid colors and excellent brightness. However, the use of a backlight limits the ability of QLED TVs to achieve the deep blacks possible with OLEDs, where each pixel produces its own light.
OLED
Among the various types of TVs available today, the OLED TV is the most unique. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) televisions are similar to LED televisions, with one major difference. Each individual pixel is capable of generating light, color and opacity by itself. This means that manufacturers can dispense with backlighting altogether. As a result, OLED TVs can be only a few millimeters thick, as backlights add both weight and depth to the TVs. Also, because brightness can be controlled at the pixel level, OLED TVs can produce incredible contrast on their screens.
Unlike other TV screens, OLED TVs can turn off individual frames to create deep blacks that simply aren’t possible with other technologies. Simply put, OLED TVs deliver the best and most vibrant picture of any TV currently available. However, they are still much more expensive than LED TVs and QLED TVs, which is their biggest drawback.
Choosing Screen Size
Regardless of whether you choose a basic or a high-performance TV, the most important factor in the decision will probably be screen size. Consider how many people in the family watch TV at once and where you will place the new device. Then, decide on the largest screen size that comfortably fits that space and your budget. Taking into account price, performance, and the typical living room, the benchmark today is between 55 and 65 inches.
Screen size also depends on how close you are to the TV set. In practice, if you can see the individual pixels of the screen, you are too close. A good rule of thumb is to sit three times the screen height from the TV for HD and only 1.5 times the screen height for the 4K Ultra HD. In other words, you can sit twice as close to the 4K UHD TV.
Display Technology
The most important aspect when buying a TV is the screen. And in terms of the screen, there is a lot to talk about, because there are different types of screens that are currently available on the market. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Besides the now extinct plasma and LCD screens, there are also the new QLED and OLED screens that might confuse buyers.
Apart from the display type, another feature to consider is the HDR technology. HDR is a new feature of 4K Ultra HD TVs and stands for High Dynamic Range. It refers to the screen’s ability to deliver more colors, contrasts, and higher brightness. Unlike 4K, which gives you good quality up close. High dynamic range makes an immediately noticeable difference in video quality from any distance. It provides an overall improved viewing experience, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker, and offering much more nuance in the gray areas.
An HDR-enabled TV can reproduce content with a wider range of brightness and color than a conventional non-HDR TV. HDR technology gives you brighter highlights, deeper colors, and more vivid picture quality. It can be a huge improvement over your current conventional LCD TV.
High-End Styling, Hidden Wiring
Since televisions are basically furniture, manufacturers have focused on making their sets look nicer. Many TVs today look almost like a complete picture from the front, and when viewed from the side or hung on the wall, the thin casings almost disappear. Other innovations include channels to hide the cables and, in the case of the high-end Samsung TVs, a separate input box to reduce clutter even further.
Screen Resolution
TV resolution is one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make when you’re in the market for a TV. While the first wave of 8K TVs have just hit the market, such as the Samsung Q900 8K TV, 4K TVs are still the ultimate and there is no shortage of options on the market. Full HD (1920×1080) TVs were the industry standard for a while, but most manufacturers are now putting all their resources into 4K models. These have four times as many pixels as FHD TVs and are much better in quality.
However, if you want to save money, Full HD TVs are also quite acceptable for their price, and most untrained eyes won’t even be able to tell the difference unless you sit very close to the TV. However, the increasing amount of content being created for 4K, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and even YouTube, justifies upping your budget a bit for an overall better viewing experience. In addition, most 4K TVs are also HDR compatible, which means you get those darker blacks and vivid colors that definitely enhance the movie experience.
Refresh Rate
The number of times an image is refreshed on the screen per second is called the refresh rate. It is expressed in Hertz or Hz, and the standard refresh rate is 60 Hz. However, nowadays 120 Hz TVs are also becoming more popular, giving you a smoother experience when watching fast-paced action sequences.
For now, there isn’t much content that supports high refresh rates, but support for sporting events and movies will be coming soon. If you’re a gaming fan, you might be tempted to buy a TV that supports a high frame rate. However, keep in mind that many gaming consoles usually only support a refresh rate of 60 frames per second, so it makes sense to limit yourself to that.
Contrast ratio
Contrast ratio describes the range of brightness levels that a device can display. Better contrast ratios show more subtle shadows and gradations and thus more detail. However, the way manufacturers measure these ratios varies widely. Indeed, specifications have fallen into disrepute, so much so that if a vendor uses them as a selling point, it is best to look elsewhere. We use the same method to look at the contrast ratio in all the TVs we test, so that we can tell approximately how one performs relative to the other.
However, you should check for yourself how well a TV set reproduces shadow details. Choose a movie with dark scenes and check the rendering of details in shadows, such as in a Harry Potter movie. Experiment with the brightness, sharpness and other picture settings of the TV before making a final judgment. (Tip: For best results, select “movie” or “cinema” mode on your TV.) The best TVs have deep, dark blacks, while less expensive TVs have a dark gray even when they should be showing black. These grays are called “enhanced black levels” and are a common problem with lower quality LCD TVs.
Don’t Forget Gaming
A good gaming TV is not only characterized by an excellent picture and sound. You also need to consider the connectivity, gaming features, and overall responsiveness of the TV. While we already recommend waiting for more HDMI ports, an extra HDMI port can make the difference between keeping your console plugged in or swapping it out for your Blu-ray player every time you want to play a round of Call of Duty.
Although HDMI 2.1 is still relatively new, it’s a must-have for any next-gen console. Certain features offered by the 2.1 specification are now widely used, such as Auto-Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which switches to gaming mode as soon as the console is turned on, and Variable Frame Rate (VRR), which matches the screen to the TV’s frame-by-frame output and synchronizes the two for smooth gaming.
Connectivity
Always pay attention to the number of connection options a TV offers, especially if you want to connect a number of devices to your TV, such as a soundbar, a streaming stick, and a console. You’ll quickly find that you’ve run out of HDMI connections. Also, try to opt for the newer HDMI 2.1 format, as it offers improvements like variable frame rate support. With HDMI 2.1, you’ll also get smoother gameplay and no screen tearing when you have your game console connected to the TV. You’ll also have future-proofed your TV for upcoming 8K content. Besides HDMI ports, you should also look out for USB, Wi-Fi and Ethernet ports.
Sound Quality
The sound is the most important aspect for an intense TV experience. To get good sound quality from your TV, you need to keep in mind that the higher the wattage, the louder the sound output. Sound is something you can’t just find out from a TV buying guide, you have to experience it for yourself.
If you have a spacious home, you should opt for a TV that produces enough sound to cover a greater distance. The best way to decide whether the TV is perfect for your home is to play some action scenes at high volume. So pay attention to the customers to judge whether the sound is subtle and distorted at high volume.
Also check the quality of bass in these action scenes and check the voice in movie dialogues. Pay attention to whether the sound is realistic and check the amount of detail in the sound. When choosing a TV, also pay attention to cabinet noise, directional distortion, and overall sound under pressure. If you want to get the best sound experience from your TV, you should invest in a good sound system and choose a good soundbar.
Understand the Difference Between Cheap Prices vs Big Brands
The final straw when deciding on a TV is the reputation of the TV manufacturer’s brand. Sony, LG and Samsung, for example, enjoy an almost legendary status, as they are commonly referred to as “big brands.” While this brings with it a sense of security in terms of product longevity and customer service, it also means that you’ll usually have to spend more on TVs from these brands. The latter usually charge a premium for this brand appeal.
On the other hand, atypical TV brands like Xiaomi and OnePlus offer nearly identical TVs and viewing experiences without requiring you to spend a lot of money. Their products are mostly inexpensive, and since they are established names in the smartphone sector, they are not completely unknown brands either. You also have a choice of lesser-known brands, but our recommendation in the TV Buying Guide is to avoid these brands purely from a customer service perspective.
If you want to save a few more euros when buying a TV, Xiaomi and OnePlus offer a good balance between features, quality, and brand recognition, making them the best TVs you can buy today. Due to the homologation of the manufacturing processes, the difference in quality between these brands and traditional TV brands isn’t too drastic – which means you can avoid paying a premium for devices like Sony or LG. Unless, of course, you’re looking for an OLED TV.
Conclusion
The world of Television is becoming more modern every day, and you may be spoilt for choice from a wide range of options. That’s why we have a TV buying guide here that can help you make an informed decision when buying your new TV.
