It isn’t easy to find the best TV – there are more and more TV options with elaborate screen tech and jargon-filled features – but the good news is that an excellent home cinema experience has never been more affordable.
Our job is to help you find the best TV in your budget range, based on our extensive testing experience with these sets. We’ll cut the overwhelming number of options down to just the most worthwhile, from budget options to cutting-edge flagship sets.
Here, we’ve focused on the best TVs for all-round excellence, balancing picture quality (measured objectively in some ways, but also from our subjective experience in other ways), features, sound quality, price, and size options. If you’re looking for something specific, you might prefer to head straight to our guides to the best gaming TVs, best TVs under $1000 or best OLED TVs – but here, you can get an overview of all the best models, including from these categories (and more).
We’ve reviewed every kind of TV over the years, from the first flatscreens to the original OLEDs to today’s best 85-inch TVs. And that means we know which features really matter and how they will deliver the most bang for your TV-buying buck. No matter how much you want to spend, what you want to watch or where you want to watch it, you should find the best TV for you in this guide.
Al Griffin
I’ve been working in AV product testing and tech journalism for nearly 30 years, and I’ve had my eyes on basically every flagship TV available today. Before joining TechRadar, I was editor of Sound & Vision magazine. I shaped this list with the help of our reviewers on top of my own experience, to cover as many bases as possible for different budget or viewing needs.
March 19 2024
Added benchmark charts for every TV, to make it easy to compare performance.
The quick list
Want the simplest guide to the best TVs around? Here’s our quick guide – you can read more in-depth verdicts on each TV by following the link, as well as alternative options in some cases.
The best TV for most people
The Samsung S90C does it all. Excellent picture, top-tier gaming performance, great built-in sound, and provides a more budget way into the world of QD-OLED.
The best budget TV
A QLED display with full-array local dimming, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, easy to use smart software, and a seriously affordable price tag; it’s a winner.
The best mid-range TV
The Hisense U8K offers high brightness levels, rich mini-LED contrast, and a great host of features, all for a price that beats the competition.
The best premium OLED TV
With superb brightness levels thanks to QD-OLED technology, punchy colors and stunning contrast, the Samsung S95C is a quality TV. It does come at a price though.
The best cheap OLED TV
The LG B3 is LG’s entry-level OLED TV from 2023 and provides stunning picture quality and gaming features that equals much more premium models.
The best bright TV for daytime sport
This hits far higher brightness levels for watching on bright days than most similarly priced sets, and handles motion well – and is ideal for gaming.
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The best for versatility
Gaming, picture quality, an intuitive smart TV platform, and a wealth of sizes from a smaller 42-inch to a large 83-inch; the LG C3 covers all the bases in a way that few TVs do.
The best TV for sound
Sony uses the whole screen as a speaker to make this mid-range OLED sound a cut above the likes of the LG C3 or Hisense U8K. It looks great, too.
The best TV 2024
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Below you’ll find full write-ups for each of the best TVs in our list. We’ve tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best TV for most people
BUY IT IF
✅ You want QD-OLED for relatively cheap: The Samsung S90C gives you a brighter OLED screen than the LG C3, and fantastic picture quality, for the same price as C3.
✅ You need lots of HDMI 2.1 ports: HDMI 2.1 is available on all four of the S90C’s HDMI ports, supporting 4K 120Hz for unbeaten connectivity.
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ You want the brightest OLED available: Both the Samsung S95C and the LG G3 offer higher brightness levels than the S90C.
❌ You want an 80-inch TV: The 83-inch model uses a different screen type that’s far less bright – we wouldn’t recommend it. Get the 83-inch LG C3 instead, which has Dolby Vision.
The Samsung S90C takes the top spot on our best TV list because it does it all; excellent picture quality, sleek design, brilliant gaming performance and it gives you access to QD-OLED technology for the cheapest it’s ever been. With prices dropping over time too, this gives you real OLED bang for your buck.
With excellent contrast levels, dynamic and punchy colors and deep, rich blacks that we come to expect from an OLED, we found in our review that the S90C’s extra brightness compared to the LG C3 (further down this list) or Sony A80L really adds an extra layer, despite these TVs all costing the same. Its sharpness levels and detail are also a sight to behold. One thing to note, though, is that the 83-inch model uses a regular OLED screen that’s much less bright, and we would recommend getting the 83-inch LG C3 instead.
Not just a beautiful TV, the Samsung S90C is also a gamers’ paradise. With a refresh rate of 144Hz, it has four 2.1 HDMI ports that all support ALLM and VRR as well as 4K 120Hz. It also has a gaming hub so you can tweak setting easily to get the most out of your games. Add to this built-in sound quality that beats almost all other TVs, including LG’s OLEDs, you get a complete package with the S90C.
It’s not totally perfect (the lack of Dolby Vision support is a shame), and higher-priced OLEDs such as the Samsung S95C (at #4 in this list) and LG G3 can beat it for brightness. But in terms of what you get at this budget level, the Samsung S90C is real value for money and is the best TV for most people.
Read the full Samsung S90C review
The best budget TV
BUY IT IF
✅ You want a great smart TV interface: Easy navigation and a large app selection make Roku TV one of the best smart TV software options around.
✅ You want a great-value TV: The Roku Plus Series offers strong picture quality and an intuitive smart TV interface at a very affordable price.
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ You don’t want to use a soundbar: The Roku Plus Series has less impressive built-in sound and could definitely benefit from a soundbar.
❌ You’re watching in a bright room: With average brightness levels, the Roku Plus Series will struggle in brighter viewing environments.
The Roku Plus Series is a budget TV that provides very good overall picture quality that exceeds its price tag. Coupled with a great smart TV interface, the Roku Plus Series is a real option for people looking for a new TV on a tight budget.
Picture quality is the real highlight of the Roku Plus Series. Colors are vibrant and have a real visual punch. Motion is also processed well, with fast panning shots not suffering from much blurring that a lot of budget TVs tend to and images look crisp and clean. However, picture suffers a little when viewed from off center, and the Roku Plus Series has average brightness levels, so isn’t the best for brighter viewing environments, but it’s hard to argue against the quality of picture you get with the Roku Plus for the money you pay.
The Roku TV smart TV platform built in to the TV is one of the better smart TV interfaces. It’s easy to navigate and comes with a wealth of app options and even offers the Roku Live TV portal that enables access to a load of free channels. It’s worth noting that accessing picture settings within the Roku Plus Series can be a real pain, but Roku TV still sits as one of the best smart TV platform.
The Roku Plus however is not the best for gaming, with no 120Hz support or cloud-based gaming options, and its built-in audio isn’t the best so a soundbar may be required – but for the money, this is a great-looking TV with good features and a top-tier smart TV platform.
Read the full Roku Plus Series review
The best mid-range TV
BUY IT IF
✅ You plan to watch in a bright room: With excellent brightness levels thanks to mini-LED, the Hisense U8K is great for bright rooms.
✅ You want a TV with an ASTC 3.0 tuner: Usually found on higher-end sets, the U8K comes with an ASTC 3.0 tuner for next-gen 4K digital broadcast TV.
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ You want a TV that looks good from any angle: Despite great picture quality, the U8K’s contrast fades when viewed from off-center, so might be a TV to avoid if you have lots of visitors. The Samsung QN90C (#7 on this list) is better for that.
❌ You want a perfect TV: QD-OLED and OLED TVs beat the Hisense U8K in a lot of areas, including precise contrast. You can also expect better local dimming from more premium mini-LEDs, such as the QN90C mentioned above.
The Hisense U8K’s excellent picture quality, wide suite of gaming features and price point mean this TV is one of the best mid-range contenders. With a mini-LED screen, the Hisense U8K is great for viewing during the day and comes installed with Google TV as a smart TV platform, which is generally slick and packed with useful streaming apps.
Although the Hisense U8K uses a mini-LED screen meant for higher brightness levels, it doesn’t fail to offer deep black tones in its picture as well. Its contrast does however fade when viewed from an angle but with high peak brightness levels (we measured it at 1,590 nits) and an anti-glare coating, the U8K is an ideal viewing companion if you’ve got a naturally bright room.
The U8K also serves as a great gaming TV. Two of its HDMI ports are HDMI 2.1 and offer Dolby Vision gaming as well as the usual VRR and ALLM support, also not forgetting that all important 120Hz refresh rate. There’s also a game mode included to get the best settings out of your video games.
In terms of audio and design, the Hisense is solid as well, with decent bass and dialog clarity for audio and an adjustable feet from a design point of view. The Hisense U8K may not be the perfect TV, but at the price it is, it’s certainly one that suits a lot of people’s budgets and comes with a wealth of features as a bonus.
Read our full Hisense U8K review
Best premium OLED
BUY IT IF
✅ You want OLED picture but also brightness: The S95C offers OLED detail and contrast with best-ever brightness thanks to the QD-OLED panel, taking it to a new level.
✅ You want a slim, sleek design: With a minuscule screen trim, ultra-slim rear and external connections box, the S95C is an elegant TV for a classy room.
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ Mini-LED suits you more: If you have a particularly bright room to deal with, mini-LED may suit you better; even more than the S95C’s much improved brightness.
❌ Dolby Vision is a must: Samsung’s TVs continue to lack Dolby Vision support and sadly the S95C is no exception.
The Samsung S95C is groundbreaking. Although it may not be the brightest OLED TV we’ve reviewed in terms of peak brightness, as the LG G3 was slightly brighter, you’re still going to get a better overall brightness compared to the G3. The S90C still measured at 1,400 nits – compare that to the 820 nits of the LG C3 and you can see why it’s so interesting… and expensive. It’s so much brighter, which means it can look closer to real life – and there’s an even bigger difference between bright and dark.
That’s an astonishing improvement for OLED TVs, and it’s not the only thing astonishing here. During testing of the S5C, we said it’s “particularly effective in taking high dynamic range video to a whole new level of enjoyment, drama and realism, but also feeds gloriously into the S95C’s colors, unlocking new levels of color volume and purity, even in bright color areas, we’ve never seen before on an OLED TV”.
It’s also packed with gaming features and HDMI 2.1 connectivity, and we measured a best-in-class 9.2ms response time when gaming. Even the sound is pretty good, though you really should pair this with a proper sound system of some kind.
With all this and excellent gaming performance, why isn’t top of the list? That title goes to the S95C’s more budget sibling, the Samsung S90C. The S90C doesn’t offer quite the same brightness levels as the S95C, but it’s cheaper and still offers fantastic all around performance, so the S90C sits atop the list. Don’t get us wrong though; the S95C feels every bit as premium as it should.
Read the full Samsung S95C review
Best cheap OLED TV
BUY IT IF
✅ You want excellent OLED pictures: With deep blacks and punchy colors, the LG B3 has an outstanding picture despite being LGs’ entry-level 2023 OLED.
✅ You want excellent gaming performance: The LG B3 offers 4K 120Hz support, Dolby Vision gaming and VRR and ALLM connectivity and a handy Game Optimizer mode.
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ You need more than two HDMI 2.1 ports: Despite excellent gaming performance and features, the LG B3 only offers this one two of its four ports.
❌ You need the best built-in sound: While it’s respectable, the B3’s sound system is definitely not as punchy as other TVs available, like the Samsung S90C (#1 on our list).
With its prices finally dropping, the LG B3 now offers an entry-level option to 2023 OLEDs but doesn’t compromise on picture quality or gaming performance. Its features rival plenty of other OLEDs on the market, and you don’t have to fork out as much to get sumptuous image quality.
Superb contrast levels with deep blacks and dynamic colors combine to give the B3 a picture that feels more premium than the price tag it comes with. It offers Dolby Vision HDR support and when used, movies and TV shows look fantastic with it. It doesn’t have high brightness levels however, with the LG C3, Samsung S90C and even the Sony A80L beating it. It still handles reflections well despite this in reasonable controlled environments, but for bright room viewing, such as sports during the day, something like the Samsung QN90C (#7 in this list) will be much more visible.
With LGs’ Game Optimizer feature included, the LG B3 is a real dark horse for gaming. The ability to tweak so many settings while playing really means you can tailor your gaming experience to whatever game you’re playing. It also has 4K 120Hz, VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming support. It’s a little disappointing that this is only on two of its four ports, but that’s okay for the more casual among us.
The B3 does have a distinctly average built-in sound system, though, and its stand doesn’t feel the right quality when compared to its price tag, but there is still plenty on offer here to make the LG B3 a real consideration if you’re looking to upgrade your TV and make your way into the world of OLED.
Read our full LG B3 review
The best TV for sport
BUY IT IF
✅ You want a perfect TV for daytime viewing: With high brightness and anti-glare screen, the QN90C is perfect for those with bright rooms.
✅ You want a great gaming TV: With four 2.1 HDMI ports that support 4K 120Hz, VRR and FreeSync and an intuitive cloud based gaming platform.
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ You want the best TV, money no object: The QN90C offers impressive performance, but the QN900C offers better shadow detail, brightness and black depth.
❌ Your budget is limited: You can get a decent mini-LED TV for less in the form of the Hisense U8K at #3 on this list, although it doesn’t offer quite the QN90C’s performance.
Samsung’s QN90C series TVs feature a mini-LED backlight, which not only gives higher brightness than LED or QLED panels, but more accurate local dimming as well. And while the QN90C doesn’t quite hit the OLED-like heights of the company’s flagship QN95C when it comes to rendering the deepest shadows, its performance on that front is nonetheless impressive. Along with its strong brightness, the QN90C’s anti-glare screen it a brilliant TV for viewing daytime sports.
Gaming is a particularly strong point for Samsung Neo QLED TVs, and the QN90C has four HDMI 2.1 ports, with 4K 120Hz capabilities. There’s also the Samsung Game Hub which offers cloud-based gaming from the likes of Utomik, Amazon Luna and even Xbox.
The QN90C has better than average audio performance for a TV, including an Object Tracking Sound Plus feature to enhance the directionality of effects in movie soundtracks. It also supports the company’s Q-Symphony feature, which lets you pair the TV with select Samsung soundbars for a more spacious and dynamic audio experience.
There are cheaper mini-LED alternatives from brands such as Hisense and TCL, but they won’t give you the same picture quality or features that the Samsung QN90C can offer.
Read our full Samsung QN90C review
The best TV for versatility
BUY IT IF
✅ You like a wide choice of sizes: Ranging from 42-inch to 83-inch, the LG C3 can fit anywhere in the house, from desk to cinema room.
✅ You want a TV for movies and gaming: The LG C3 has very strong picture quality, and gaming features to cover every avenue.
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ You’ll watch in bright rooms: The middling brightness means it can struggle with sunlight or reflections – the Samsung S90C at #1 in this guide is brighter at the same price, or the Samsung S95C (#4 in the guide) is nearly twice as bright.
❌ You have the LG C2: While there are some improvements, the LG C3 does not give enough of a jump from its predecessor, the C2, to warrant an upgrade.
The LG C3 covers a lot of bases when it comes to what you look for in a TV; it has great picture quality, a host of gaming and smart TV features, and it comes a wide array of sizes that should suit whatever your needs, whether it’s your new PC monitor or you want it to cover most of your wall to get that cinematic experience.
The LG C3 offers excellent detail within its picture and deep black levels that make it look brilliant when watching moves or TV shows. As we noted in our review “colors look bright without being garish” and the picture was “perfectly crisp”. There also isn’t much need to tweak any picture settings; out of the box, the LG C3 looks fantastic, but there are plenty of options to tweak if you need to experiment.
Gaming features are stocked here, with Dolby Vision, VRR, AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync support, ALLM and 4K 120Hz across all four of its 2.1 HDMI ports. Game Optimiser also enables you to play around with settings to get gaming on the C3 just right as well. And, with a wide array of sizes available from 42-inch to 83-inch, every gamer from the bedroom to the living room should be covered.
With so many features and options under its belt, the LG C3 is a versatile TV for sure. However, the Samsung S90C, one of the C3’s closest rival, takes the crown for best overall TV with improved brightness and a better built-in sound than the LG C3 at the same price. But, if you’re not a Samsung fan or you need smaller than 55 inches, it’s hard to argue against the LG C3.
Read our full LG C3 review
The best TV for sound
BUY IT IF
✅ You want excellent audio: The A80L delivers impressive built-in audio that does a good job with Dolby Atmos effects.
✅ You want brilliant picture quality: The Sony A80L also delivers a sharp, refined picture with fantastic detail at a mid-range price
DON’T BUY IT IF
❌ You want the brightest OLED screen: Other OLEDs TVs from brands like LG and Samsung offer higher brightness levels than the A80L.
❌ You want all the latest gaming features: The A80L only has two HDMI 2.1 ports and doesn’t support Dolby Vision at 120Hz either.
The Sony A80L is the mid-range OLED TV in Sony’s 2023 lineup that delivers rich, fulsome audio quality. Thanks to its speaker placement and Acoustic Surface+ technology, the A80L’s built in sound is powerful and punchy, feeling fully connected to the to what’s on screen. Because sound is allowed to travel through the screen itself, the audio is direct and room-filling at the same time. Bass levels are not massive despite multiple subwoofers, but this is undoubtedly one of the best TVs for sound on the market at the moment.
Not just packed with an incredible sound system, the Sony A80L offers excellent picture quality. With spectacular sharpness and detail, the A80L provides crisp images with both 4K and upscaled HD movies and TV shows. The color handling on the A80L is top-tier as well, which in our review we said was “mesmerizingly precise”. The A80L does however have lower brightness levels than our top pick OLEDs, including the Samsung S90C at #1 on the list.
The Sony A80L also has good gaming features with 4K 120Hz, VRR and ALLM support. Sadly, it only has two HDMI 2.1 ports, where TVs from LG and Samsung will have it across all four ports and it doesn’t support Dolby Vision gaming at 120Hz either; something that LGs’ mid-range OLEDs have been supporting since 2021. However, it does have ‘Perfect for PlayStation’ features, meaning it has a special HDR mode for the PS5, and custom image presets for different genres of game.
It may be slightly more expensive than other entry-level/mid-range OLEDs, such as the LG C3, but if you’re a Sony fan, you won’t be disappointed by the A80L’s amazing sound quality and brilliant picture.
Read our full Sony A80L review
How to choose the best TV for you
How do I choose the best TV for me?
There are tons of things you could consider when buying a new TV, but not everyone needs to get stuck in the technological weeds. Here’s the advice our editors tend to give the (many) people who ask this of them in real life.
First, set your budget and your size. Choose a maximum amount you’re willing to spend, and the size of TV you want, and then narrow your search to only models that fit both of those criteria. You will find that already you’re down to looking at only a handful of options, making it much easier to get a grip on things. If you have quite a high budget, set yourself a minimum budget too to help narrow things – maybe 30% below your maximum budget.
When considering the size of the TV, think where you’ll be installing it; it can make all the difference if you’re using one of the best TV wall mounts to mount your TV, or just placing it on a stand, as the same TV can look different on both these places.
So now you’ll need to make a few further decisions. If you’re looking at the mid-range or premium end of things, do you want an OLED TV or an LED/mini-LED TV? In sizes of 55 inches and up, LED TVs tend to be brighter than OLEDs, and so are great for watching sports or TV during the day in bright rooms. But for movie nights, OLED TVs are the best, thanks to their unrivalled contrast – they just don’t go as bright as LED TVs unless you get the most expensive models.
If you’re buying a mid-range set, you’ll need to decide if you need a 120Hz screen or not. This is great for gamers (especially those with a PS5 or Xbox Series X), and good for movies, because it can show more natural motion. But if you want to save cash, getting a 60Hz TV might be a better idea, because 120Hz TVs always cost more.
And then, spare a thought to sound. Most of today’s thin TVs have weak built-in sound. If you don’t mind buying one of the best soundbars too (or if you already have one), then don’t worry about this. But if you don’t want extra boxes in your setup, then focus on the TVs we’ve recommended where we mention the audio is stronger. Sadly, it tends to be higher-end sets that do this better – but even then, not all are created equal. Sony and Samsung are usually strong for audio, though, so are a good place to start.
What TVs are coming in 2024?
We’ve already heard about a lot of exciting new TVs coming in 2024 from LG, Samsung and more and we’ll be sure to update this guide when we’ve had a chance to test them.
Samsung has lifted the lid on its entire new TV range including the flagship Samsung S95D, which features new anti-glare tech and as well as the Samsung S90D, follow-up to our TV of the year, the Samsung S90C. The S90D introduces two new sizes in 42 and 48-inch (although admittedly not QD-OLED). There’s also the mini-LED Samsung QN90D.
LG has also announced its 2024 lineup including the LG G4, which again promises even higher brightness than the LG G3 and the LG C4, LG’s mid-range OLED that promises over 1,000 nits of peak brightness and having seen it in person, the brightness boost from last year’s LG C3 is there. There’s also the LG M4, its wireless OLED.
Of course, it’s not all about LG and Samsung. TCL announced its 2024 TV lineup, icnluding a 115-inch mini-LED with 20,000 local dimming zones. Hisense also unveiled a 110-inch TV amongst its 2024 mini-LED heavy TV range.
There have been no announcements from Sony just yet as they tend to come later in the year, but as soon as we get news we’ll be sure to update you. As with all these TVs, once we get our hands-on testing we’ll update this guide with our impressions.
Which TV is the best quality?
That depends how you define quality. We define it as the ultimate mix of picture quality, features, design and price – when recommending the TV that’s best for most people at any given price, that’s what we’re looking for. And that’s why the Samsung S90C is at the top of our list – there are TVs that do individual things better, but nothing else does so much stuff so well, for the same kind of price.
The best premium OLED on the market for us is the Samsung S95C, the Samsung S90C’s more premium sibling, but it comes with a bigger price tag and when this is matched up against the S90C, the S90C delivers better value overall.
Which brand is best for TVs in 2024?
There’s no one brand that does TVs better than the others, but there are definitely some TV makes that excel in certain areas more than their rivals.
Some of the best brands on our list are Hisense, LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL and Vizio. They all tend to be the top-performing brands at the premium end, though all bring out a wide range of models each year.
The Samsung S90C is at the top of our best TV guide right now with an outstanding picture and although it’s expensive, it’s excellent value for money. With steps into the QD-OLED world, of which the Samsung S90C is one, Samsung has established itself as a real contender for best OLED TVs, with the also impressive Samsung S95C offering incredible picture quality and performance. There’s still also Samsung’s dynamic mini-LEDs on offer that will suit most people with bright environments.
LG also certainly make excellent OLED TVs – in fact, LG Display makes the OLED panels for most other brands. We like that LG offers a wide range of TVs, including different budgets and sizes – the LG C3 goes from 42 inches all the way up to 83-inches. LG’s webOS is one of our favorites, an easy to use operating system that feels intuitive.
Sony is another major player in the TV space. Its screens boast stunning picture quality and build quality. Although, like other brands in this list, there’s a wide range across the board. One interesting difference about Sony is its really pushed its Cognitive XR processor, a processing chip added to its TVs from 2021 that boosts vision and audio performance.
Of course you shouldn’t feel hemmed in by these four brands – Panasonic offers excellent premium TVs with a focus on image quality in particular, and Hisense and TCL offer great value in the mid-range and affordable end of the market.
Which is better OLED or QLED?
This is one of the biggest and more contentious TV tech questions of the moment. Luckily we’ve covered all of the details in our OLED vs QLED guide.
However, if you’re looking for a summary we’d say that QLED is a great option for brightness if you’ll watch in bright, sunlit conditions; whereas OLED TVs offer better viewing angles and superior contrast for gorgeous movie-like images, as long as you can control the lighting.
Is 4K better than OLED?
Luckily, you don’t need to decide whether to go with OLED or 4K – you can have both! 4K refers to the resolution (ie, the number of pixels on the screen), while OLED refers to the panel technology (ie, what the pixels are made from).
So you can have 4K screens that are OLED (almost all of them are, apart from some pricey 8K OLED TVs), and you can have 4K screens that are QLED, mini-LED or other tech.
Is LG better than Samsung?
Both LG and Samsung are excellent TV brands and you can’t really go wrong with either. However, there are some areas where one TV maker could be a better option than the other.
An LG TV tops our best TVs guide, but Samsung is the market leader for sales overall. If you’re looking for the most impressive picture quality out there, regardless of price, nothing currently beats LG’s OLED panels for color and contrast.
But Samsung TV’s are incredibly bright, particularly in more affordable models. We also love Samsung’s lifestyle sets, like The Frame QLED 4K TV (2022), for combining performance with style. And its cheaper TVs are usually excellent value for money.
How we test the best TVs
When it comes to testing the best TVs, we base our tests on the following criteria that you’ll find in our reviews: picture quality, audio quality, gaming features, smart TV features and ease of use, design, and value for money. We test these using both objective measurements and our subjective opinion from viewing the TV.
Testing picture quality, we start by cycling through the TVs picture presets – Standard, Movie, Sports and so on – to establish where they have strengths and weaknesses, and which is the most accurate. We test these picture modes through several sources including 4K Blu-ray and streaming, HD Blu-ray and streaming, and lower-resolution sources such as DVD and broadcast TV to test a TV’s upscaling effectiveness.
While testing, we’re looking to see how the TV’s processing handles various elements of the pictures. How is motion handled in 24fps movies compared to sports, for example, or how natural the details look when upscaled from lower-quality to higher quality. We’ll test to see whether digital noise reduction processing ruins the look of film grain, and how well a TV handles the digital artefacts and color banding that are common on streaming services.
We’re also looking for how well a movie handles dark tones, especially if it’s an LCD model, and this includes and backlight blooming from light to dark areas, and any unevenness in the backlight.
When it comes to objective measurements, we use specialized equipment, including a test pattern generator to create measurable signals, a colorimeter to read them, and Portrait Display’s Calman Calibration software to record our results.
The first area we’ll usually test is brightness. We’ll measure a TV’s brightness over different sized, white window patterns, such as 10% (for HDR highlights) and 100% or fullscreen brightness. The 10% window tells us the maximum brightness we can realistically expect a set to achieve in real use, while the 100% window tells us how bright it can go in something like sports where brightness is even for a long time, and is important for understanding how well a TV will beat reflections. We do this to test not only how effective a TVs backlight will be, but also to measure against claimed brightness from manufacturers. When we test brightness, we make sure to do it in a light-controlled room to prevent any interference from other light sources which could affect results.
We also test the color reproduction of TVs, in both SDR and HDR, to test their accuracy to the source material, and how much of the maximum possible color gamut they can show. We’ll also test accuracy not only for color but grayscale tones, to see how accurate a TV’s contrast is, looking in particular at just how true its representation of black tones are.
For gaming, we use a Leo Bodnar 4K Input Lag Tester to see what kind of latency is added to games by the TVs processing, and we always test this in the Game Mode equivalent. We’ll test other gaming features, such as 4K 120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate support, using a games console for real resting.
It’s worth noting that although we strive to test every TV in matching conditions and with the same equipment, some of our writers have different setups. We only use writers with equipment that is at the same level of accuracy as ours, and they will run the same tests.
The latest updates to the best TVs buying guide
March 19 2024
Added benchmark charts for every TV, to make it easy to compare performance.
February 26 2023
Expanded the How we Test section to include a more in-depth breakdown of our testing methods for the TVs in this guide.
November 10 2023
Added author bio and link to TechRadar’s Best Black Friday TV Deals page.
October 12 2023
Added this ‘latest updates’ section to keep readers informed of any changes to this buying guide. Updated several products in this list to reflect our latest reviews, and following price cuts and lack of stock of older TVs.