Ever since liquid crystal televisions and innovative technologies such as HDR, 4K and OLED hit the market, choosing the right TV has become a tricky business. Let's find out, in this buying guide, which are the best TVs to buy currently
To the eyes of the less experienced, the TVs on the market today may all seem the same but technologies are rapidly evolving: the resolution up to 8K, theHDR, OLED and MicroLED added a new experience while watching the television. The bright colors, clear and well-defined images push the manufacturers to increase the quality every year, thus meeting the demands of the square, eager to experience their contents in an increasingly immersive way.
Se you are determined to buy a television released this year keep reading, you will receive an overview of the most important products that have captured the scene this past month. But before some explanation on the different types of technologies present on the best TVs on the market.
Best TVs to buy: the parameters to consider
Let's find out what are the parameters and technical considerations on which to base to choose the best TV suited to your needs.
Smart TV or not Smart TV? - Best TVs
Nowadays every self-respecting TV is a Smart TV. Only very low-end or older models do not have a smart part. But what does this mean in practice? Basically it means that the TV works like a big smartphone. We can therefore install applications inside and connect to the web, as well as watch our favorite TV channels. If you need to buy a TV, choose a smart TV so you can take advantage of various streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney +. The doubt could be which operating system to aim for. LG, Hisense and Samsung use proprietary solutions and they work very well. Sony, Philips, TCL and others use Android TV instead, which is a very flexible operating system. Panasonic has some models with a proprietary system (perhaps a little anachronistic), others with Android TV.
Plus the best TVs have dedicated processors and algorithms to increase image quality such as motion compensation, sharpening and saturation enhancement. The electronics and the image processor are in fact the components that make the difference, even with the same panel, they allow you to have clear images and colors faithful to reality or to the director's choices.
LCD/LED/QLED/MiniLED – Migliori TV
LED televisions have monopolized the market replacing the old plasma TVs. They are cheaper and guarantee lower energy consumption as well as the possibility of drawing a modern and slim design, which allows you to hang the TV on the wall or ceiling without risking your health or the object itself.
LCD technology, despite the advanced stage of development, is still in excellent health. The main difference between different LCD TVs is the backlight. The cheaper models use a backlight LED Edge which causes a lack of homogeneity in the images, especially in dark scenes. The higher-end models instead use a Full LED backlight, for better image quality. Some models with MiniLED backlight, with performance comparable to the OLED on contrasts thanks to a high number of LEDs. Another thing to watch out for is the number of dimming zones: higher means better contrast. The best LCD TVs also use an a filter Quantum Dot to improve color fidelity.
OLED - Best TVs
OLED is now the most widespread technology in the medium-high range. The difference from an LED TV is that it does not have a backlit panel behind it. In fact, pixels light up autonomously: this technology allows greater energy savings and also the eyes suffer less effort, effectively gaining also in terms of health. THE colors are great and especially the contrast ratio (infinite) is the main advantage with LCD models. In recent times, costs have been falling slowly and OLED TVs are becoming increasingly affordable even in the mid-range. Currently in terms of value for money, an OLED TV is certainly the most appropriate choice.
However, Samsung's QLED panels have an advantage in terms of chromatic fidelity and ability to reproduce shades of color. On the other hand, however, the infinite contrast of OLEDs is truly exceptional, even if many high-end TVs with advanced dimming manage to fool the less experienced eyes. There are also QD-OLEDs, which are displays that use OLED as a backlight and Quantum Dot for color reproduction. They are generally very expensive and are likely to be a transitional technology.
Curved displays, is it worth it? - Best TVs
Recently, major TV and monitor manufacturers have launched devices with a curved design on the market. The purpose? Involve the viewer more, wrapping his field of vision as much as possible. The cons? This only works if you are in a front potion.
Resolution - Best TVs
Most TVs currently on the market have three different resolution types: HD Ready pari a 1280×720 pixel (o 1366×768 pixel), Full HD pari a 1920×1080 pixel e Ultra HD (4K) equal to 3840 × 2160 pixels and slowly also 8K (7680 × 4320 pixels). Here the choice is quite obvious: the larger the panel resolution, the better the image quality… And the higher the price of course. Full HD is now the bare minimum. But if you want a longer-lasting solution, better aim for 4K.
HDR - Best TVs
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It guarantees a better color rendering thanks to different management of brightness and contrast, it is one of the technologies that has most revolutionized image quality in recent years. It is not present in the low-end models in general. The new standard Display HDR divides HDR TVs into three quality bands, that is HDR 400, HDR 600 e HDR 1000. The numbers refer to the peak brightness expressed in nits reached by the monitor
Audio - Best TVs
Sometimes, the audio aspect is left out when choosing a TV, until you sit on the sofa, turn on the set for the first time and audio quality is not satisfactory or not powerful enough. Video quality yes, but let's not forget the audio. And this not just when it comes to the sound quality of the TV itself, but also the possibility of a possible expansion with other peripherals (soundbar, diffusori, subwoofer, ecc.).
So let's make sure that the device is compatible with multi-channel audio coding systems (virtual or real) such as Dolby Digital o DTS (Digital Theater System) and that the power of the audio output is acceptable.
Gaming - Best TVs
If before to play at high levels it was necessary to buy a gaming monitor, with the arrival of HDMI 2.1, TVs and smart TVs have become increasingly competitive in the gaming world. First comes the ability to play 4K content up to 12o Hz, the minimum wage for playing at high levels. Then we have lots of new technologies such as:
- Variable Refresh Rate (VRR): allows you to dynamically adjust the frame rate and synchronize it with that of the GPU or console. This avoids graphical glitches and delays
- Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC): allows TV and audio devices to communicate in order to synchronize the sound in the best possible way. Increase the available bandwidth
- Auto Low Latency (ALLM): allows you to automatically activate the Game mode which makes the display much more reactive, at the expense of image quality in general
- Quick media switching (QMS): in this way switching from a multimedia source becomes immediate.
Please note that not all TVs with HDMI 2.1 are compatible with all features! You have to check model by model.
Beware of DVB-T2 technology! - Best TVs
Full support for the new generation digital terrestrial will be guaranteed only by televisions compatible with DVB-T2 technology which support H.265 / HEVC codec. All modern TVs should be compatible with this standard, but beware of low-end models, especially for compatibility with H.265 / HEVC.
Best TVs to buy: 4K, HDR, OLED and cheap
After seeing what are the technical aspects to take into consideration before buying the best TV adapted to your needs, it is time to move on to list of the best TVs available on the market this month.
