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TV Buying Guide

Choosing a TV today is a complicated, somewhat confusing business. There are so many terms you need to know. Some words can be explained in 2 minutes, but others are complicated and affect the price of the whole TV set.

Let’s examine such terms and their meaning in a TV set, going from complicated to uncomplicated. First, we’ll discuss the issues that affect the price of the TV receiver the most. Then, we’ll move on to the simple and quickly explained things.

Diagonal

Nowadays, everyone buys big TVs. Almost no one takes 43 inches. If you have already chosen a TV, it is 55 inches diagonal. And often, it is 65, 77, or even 83 inches.

Big TV is good; if the budget conditions allow, take a large diagonal. But don’t forget, having a price for a particular model, a 55-inch TV will show better than a 75-inch panel for the same price.

Given the budget constraints, a budget 75-inch model will have low contrast, a jerky picture, and a smart TV with lags. You take the TV to a spacious room with more than 3 meters from your eyes to the screen or look for an 8K panel. But there, the budget will be much higher.

The golden mean is a 65-inch 4K Mini LED TV, although an OLED is also available. However, you need to determine the conditions of use here.

You may notice that OLED TVs are the leaders in screen technology, but such a matrix is not always the best choice.

For example, if you watch TV exclusively at night in a room without external light sources and consider it essential to have the maximum black depth, then an OLED or QD-OLED TV is the best choice.

However, maximum black depth is unnecessary if your operating scenario is daytime viewing sports matches like soccer in a well-lit room with bright HDR content. What you care about is high panel brightness and an anti-glare screen coating. In this case, you’re much better off with a bright QLED or Mini LED TV with a 120Hz screen scan rate.

Everyone uses a TV in different ways. Some buy a TV to watch TV series in full HD, others buy it for night viewing 4K content, and others buy it for sports and games. That’s why no perfect TV exists for everyone; every case is different. Approach the choice wisely; if you are not well-versed in TVs, ask knowledgeable friends to help you.

A golden rule (essential recommendation) for TVs with a 4K matrix is to sit at a distance equal to the screen’s diagonal multiplied by 1.2. That is 20 percent farther than the screen’s diagonal and up to two diagonals.

You can sit closer for movies, like in the theater’s front rows. For 4K, it is necessary to be no farther than two diagonals.

Screen Technology

There are two kinds of screen technology.

The first is QLED or LED technology. The usual LCD matrixes are built on different technologies but on the same principle.

One noticeable advantage of this technology is that LED and QLED are cheaper than others.

LED and QLED have good brightness. TVs of this type should be chosen when put in such bright and sun-drenched light rooms.

There is no perfect black color in LED and QLED. When there is no picture and in a dimly lit room, you may notice that the screen continues to glow. This flaw is just absent in the TVs of the other camp. These are OLED and QD-OLED on quantum dots.

The matrix itself glows. Each pixel can be turned on or off separately, and due to this black color, the screen is perfect. When the pixel is not lit, the screen is perfectly black and has maximum contrast.

OLED displays will have a much deeper black color than screens with constant backlight illumination. In OLED, each pixel glows separately and independently. The pixels go out when the power is removed, so you get a deep black color without halos.

And such TVs are more suitable for movie lovers.

Screen Technology

OLED and QD-OLED have less bright images, but LCD TVs will be more colorful in a lighted room. That is, they will have a better brightness index. It is QLED and LED.

Here is their main difference, so you need to determine the usage scenarios in advance.

If you have a limited budget and like to watch movies in a room with dimmed light but do not have enough money for OLED, consider LED or QLED LCD TVs with Full Array Local Dimming technology.

You can also consider Mini LED TVs. The backlight consists of tiny LEDs, so the light from the backlight practically does not penetrate the screen’s surface. These TVs have excellent image performance but can also be attributed to LCD models.

Brightness

The only critical parameter here is brightness. If the TV will stand in a bright room with large windows, you should choose a model with a declared brightness of at least 300-350 nits or cd/m2.

Brightness should be high. A TV with a backlight of about 600 nits or more is needed for a full HDR display.

Also, pay attention to the type of backlighting and favor Direct LED (DLED) and Mini-LED. A 350-400 nits brightness will do if you don’t need HDR.

HDR

HDR—Two crucial characteristics of a TV are the contrast ratio and color accuracy, that is, how similar the colors on the screen are to the real thing. HDR means that the screen supports increased brightness and contrast. Conventional televisions are referred to as SDR. The term HDR applies to content and TVs, and there is often confusion. For example, many cheap TVs labeled HDR can play HDR movies.

If it’s quality that you value in a picture and discern all the subtleties, then you need to know which brands support HDR and which ones. If the HDR format is vital, you must buy a TV supporting this format.

HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG are different HDR standards. For HDR content to work, the movie file and the TV must have the same standard. Most HDR content is produced in basic HDR10, which all modern TVs support. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are advanced formats, and their presence is usually noted in the description of the movie or streaming service. HLG is the most primitive and quite rare.

Most TV sets support HDR10.

Some manufacturers (Sony, Hisense, Philips) support all major standards, including Dolby Vision and HDR 10+.

However, the two most prominent brands, LG and Samsung, are pursuing different advanced technologies. LG’s approach seems more versatile – more movies and shows are now being produced in Dolby Vision, so it’s easier for LG TVs to find suitable content on streaming services and online.

Check for broken pixels and uneven backlighting when the TV is delivered through a flash drive. Test pictures, especially for LCD TVs, may have poor backlighting.

Sweep

There are now two popular types of TVs in terms of screen sweep: 60 Hz and 120 Hz.

The more Hz the TV has, the smoother the picture in dynamic scenes in movies and games.

For sports and other types of content, 120 Hz is better.

Brands

Even 3 years ago, the best TV could be found among Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony, and Philips.

But now, Chinese TCL and Hisense offer more advantages. If we talk about premium TVs, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, and Sony are still leading.

However, the Chinese brand is almost always the best choice in terms of the middle and budget lineup.

If the brand is unfamiliar, it’s best not to buy.

If you go to an online store, it will offer many manufacturers.

Sound

Most televisions can’t produce powerful sound like a movie theater. It’s best to use a soundbar or home theater speaker system to watch movies.

To connect a speaker to your TV, your model must support modern surround sound standards like Dolby Atmos and DTS so that your TV can send high-quality multi-channel sound to an external speaker.

Connectors

The last thing to look at is connectors and connections. There should be enough of them. Count the amount of hardware you will connect.

You’ll need HDMI 2.0, USB 3.0, and a Wi-Fi receiver that supports a 5 GHz band.

This type of wireless network is faster than the more typical 2.4 GHz; with it, “heavy” movies in high quality will load smoothly without freezing.

Video Games

You can enjoy video games on any TV, even the most primitive.

But it would be best to have a special game mode on your TV, or even better, the ALLM function.

The VRR function allows you to lower games’ comfortable, smooth frequency threshold to 40-45 fps.

Having an HDMI 2.1 connector for games on modern consoles is essential. Only it allows simultaneous transmission of a signal in 4K, at a high frequency of 120 Hz, with HDR and VRR. With the older standard, HDMI 2.0, VRR support is not part of the mandatory feature set.

Also, on older TVs, games will not run simultaneously in 4K at 120Hz with HDR; you have to choose between a colorful picture and smoothness.

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