So you're looking to buy a new 4K Television, but you're wondering which one do you get? Not a problem, let us help you out.
First I'll tell you about what you should know about 4K Televisions in general, then I'll let you know about some picks as chosen by the editors of Techronicle. If you want to jump to the recommendations, just go to the Conclusion, otherwise let's learn about what we need to know about televisions so we're not confused by all kinds of fancy Television terms.
Display Technologies
There's LCD Televisions, LED Televisions and OLED Televisions. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode each pixel provides its own illumination, there is no separate backlight.
LCD stands for liquid crystal display. These days all the pixels you see on LCDs are lit up thanks to an LED powered backlight system.
LED stands for light emitting diode. If someone says something is an LED Television that means they're talking about the backlight in an LCD Television. If you remember the early days of flat screen Televisions, you may remember they were kind of thick compared to today's Televisions. Part of that was due to the type of backlight. Older Televisions used Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps or CCFLs. The switch to LEDs as the backlighting attack allowed Televisions to get thinner.
Depending on how many LEDs are in that Television and a few other things, you can get blooming. That's where bright area leaks into an adjacent dark area you don't want blooming.
Also Read: What is thedifference between LCD, LED and Plasma Television
If you've heard of QLED, it's a Samsung branding term which stands for Quantum Dot LED Television. What's a Quantum Dot? It's a tech that promises more life-like colour. However what QLED is not is OLED . QLED is a variant of the LED LCD. QLED and OLED are two very different technologies. QLED is backlight while OLED has no backlight, Since each pixel in an OLED display can be illuminated individually, you can turn off a pixel to create true black.
LED tech is getting better especially with the introduction of Mini LEDs. Like the name suggests, they are smaller than LEDs, so there are a lot of mini LEDs providing the backlight. That means the Television has more control over what gets dimmed and what doesn't. Also since mini LEDs are smaller, you can pack more of them in than traditional LEDs. So if you're looking for a Television that can get really really bright, a Television with mini LEDs may be the way to go.
What is 4K?
4K used to be a way to sell expensive Televisions and make you feel bad about your measly HD Television enough to upgrade. But times have changed. If you're looking at a Television at around 43 inches or larger, that Television will likely have 4K resolution as standard. If you're looking at a Television over 50 inches, good luck finding a non 4K version.
Image Quality
Image quality is not all about 4K, 4K is a resolution that almost always means the Television has 3840X2160 pixels. For comparison HD is 1920x1080. So that means you could fit four HD images within one 4K display. Image quality is not just about the resolution, you'll have to consider things like contrast, dynamic range, peak brightness and HDR performance. Let's highlight a couple of those terms in simple words.
What is Contrast Ratio in Televisions
Contrast is the difference between the brightest the Television can be and the darkest. If something has low contrast, the images may look washed out because the darkest and brightest parts of the image don't vary greatly. If you look at something like an OLED screen, the difference between light and dark can be great. The darkest part of the screen are black because the individual pixel is off. If you really want to get an education about Television contrast ratios, check out what is Television contrast ratio on Techronicle.
What is HDR in Televisions
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and it expands the range of both contrast and color significantly when compared to HD Televisions. Bright parts of the image can get much brighter so the image seems to have more depth. Colors get expanded to show more bright blues, greens, reds and everything else in between. You may have heard of HDR when it comes to photos and that is a different thing. HDR photos combine multiple images with different exposures to make a single image to mimic a greater dynamic range. Television HDR actually expands the contrast ratio and color palette beyond what you'll see on HD Televisions. Even more fun is that there are multiple HDR formats that your Television would have to decode. There are multiple ACR formats and multiple HDR formats can co-exist on a single Television.
What is Input Lag in Televisions
Now there is stuff beyond picture quality when it comes to Televisions too. If you like playing games, you might want to know about a Television's input lag. Input lag is a term for the delay in milliseconds between a Television receiving a signal and the result of the signal appearing on the screen. In this case a lower number means that there's less lag.
Television Build-in Applications Review
If you haven't bought a Television in a long time, you should know that the built-in apps and Televisions have gotten a lot better. Depending on the Television you could be seeing the Roku or Google Television interface built right in. Those are pretty mature and have a great deal of apps. Not every Television company these days tries to make their own smart Television ecosystem.
Also Read: Why do we seeRandom Codes or Number on Screen while watching TV (Hindi)
Talking of Speakers, Most built-in speakers on televisions, they're not great. We suggest you get yourself a sound bar or other speaker system.
Best 4K Television Recommendations
Best LG Smart OLED to buy right now
If money is no object, we suggest the LG OLED G1 series. LG made this thing incredibly thin and slim. The G1 is meant to be hung on a wall and it comes with a mount. Once hung, the G1 sticks out from the wall a whopping eighth of an inch or a little over three millimetres. If you want to place the Television on a cabinet or something else, the feet will cost you an extra hundred dollars. This Television had the best picture quality we have ever tested. The G1 features a panel exclusive to this Television in LG's lineup. It gives you better color and better brightness, although the improvement is subtle compared to other LG OLED Televisions.
So if the style of the G1 didn't hook you, take a look at the LG C1 series to save a few bucks. As for Smarts, LG does have its own Smart Television interface. The remote lets you mouse around to different apps. Both Google and Amazon Voice Assistance are available. There's also a game optimizer mode with picture presets just for gaming. The LG G1 series comes in three sizes and costs some money.
55 inches will cost you $2200; 65 inches will cost you $3000 and the 77 inch G1 will cost you $4500.
Best Samsung Smart Televisions to buy right now
Okay so what's the best OLED alternative, The Samsung QN90A has the best picture of any non-OLED Television we've tested and the best bright room picture. Inside you're going to get a mini LED powered backlight that features full array local dimming. Local dimming improves LCD image quality by making certain areas of the picture dimmer or brighter in reaction to what's on the screen, which significantly boosts contrast. One of the keys to this Television's performance was the excellent black levels. You get minimal blooming in this picture. It gets very close to OLED quality.
Also Read: Samsung QD-OLED TVThe best Television in the world from Samsung
As for the design, the Samsung QN90A is sleek with a small central stand. The Television has channels for cables on the back. Like the LG we mentioned, the Samsung is not as thin as an OLED, so if that bothers you, you know that now.
Samsung included a solar panel on the remote that should be rechargeable in normal household conditions, otherwise you can use USB to recharge the device. You also get a choice of three voice assistants Alexa, Google Assistant and Bixby. The Samsung Q90A is the best non-OLED Television Techronicle has ever tested. Retail pricing starts at around $1300 for a 43 inch model and all the way up to $5000 but that is for an 85-inch model. If you're looking at a 65-incher, it retails for around $2600.
Other 4K Television Options
What about what's the best 4K for the money? That has to be the TCL6 series. It did come out in 2020, but it's still hard to beat for the price. Retailing at $1300, you get a 65 inch 4K Television with mini LED tech inside. There are two variants of the 6 series these days; one is powered by Roku's platform, the others powered by Google. We've only tested the Roku version.
Anyway those mini LEDs maximize brightness leading to better images in bright rooms and with HDR local dimming manages to keep black levels dark and overall contrast superb. Although it's not perfect and gamers will appreciate the new THX certified game mode, which serves up fast response time with minimal lag and excellent image quality.
Also Read: The 2022 InfinixX3 43 inch Smart TV Full Review, The best budget TV at $265?
Now new models of televisions come out all the time so browse around Techronicle.in for more information. We've got so many tips to help you get the most out of your Television, we've even got suggested picture settings for some Televisions if you like tinkering with your tech. Hope you liked this post and if you did, do share this informative post with your friends as well.
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