TVs can be tricky to buy. Whether you read our exquisite guide to the Best TVs or not, you probably won't find every top model at your local Walmart, Best Buy, or Costco. And when you're browsing retail websites, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by marketing speak like HDR, QLED, or “local dimming.” That's why we've collected a few tips, tricks, and terms to help you shop smarter when buying a new TV. Think of these as a checklist to consider before you buy your next big screen.
Be sure to check out our guide to the Best Soundbars, our How to Buy a Soundbar Guide, and our tips on upgrading your home audio to round out your home theater.
- What Size TV Should You Get?
- What Screen Resolution Do You Need?
- What Is Backlighting?
- What Are Quantum Dots?
- What's High Dynamic Range (HDR)?
- Gaming Performance
- The Right Ports
- What About TV Software?
- How Much Should You Expect to Pay?
- Get a Soundbar or Bookshelf Speakers
Updated July 2024: We've added information about quantum dot technology, the latest in gaming and audio tech, and updates about pricing and the current TV market.
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What Size TV Should You Get?
Bigger screens are always better, right? When it comes to TVs, sure, but that doesn't mean you should always spring for the largest size. Pricing on bigger models continues to drop but it can still get out of hand quickly, and you should always make sure you have room for all that screen footage.
Some high-end OLED TVs have smaller sizes so they can double as computer monitors, but most TVs below 55 inches are largely nonstandard these days. Many manufacturers still make models below this size, but you likely won't get the latest and greatest performance.
This is the smallest standard size for modern TVs. It’s generally considered ideal for the small-to-average room in a home or apartment, but if you have a larger space, you may want to size up. Be aware that TVs this size and larger often come with feet on both ends of the screen; if you’re not wall-mounting, make sure you measure the width of your TV stand to ensure it can hold your new TV. That said, we're seeing even midrange models switching to adaptable feet and/or pedestal stands more often.
This has long been the default option for larger living rooms or for spaces where you’re going to have many eyes watching at once. As TV tech has improved and prices have dropped, 65-inch models have started to become the standard for many, though it should be noted that they may dominate your decor to some extent in smaller rooms. If you have the extra cash and space, it is worth the upgrade for those who love seeing details even closer in films and TV shows.
I only recommend TVs this size and larger for people who have huge rooms and are looking for a truly cinematic experience. Buyer beware: Pricing on TVs this large can get quite pricey (well above $2,000 for higher-end models). Cheaper ones (under $1,000) might not look great due to limitations in processing and panel lighting. Be prepared to have a professional or a group of friends help you move and mount a screen this large.
What Screen Resolution Do You Need?
Resolution means the number of pixels on your screen. Modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), 4K Ultra HD or “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants. TVs below or above 4K UHD resolution are relatively rare but for opposite reasons: Full HD screens are now old tech and are reserved for only the smallest and cheapest models; 8K resolution is available mostly on expensive, big-screen TVs.
What's the difference? More pixels! 4K TVs have about four times the number of pixels as 1080p screens, and 8K TVs have about four times that of 4K models, or 16 times (!) that of 1080p. In theory, this means a much clearer picture than 4K TVs, but that's not necessarily the reality. Because the pixels in a 4K TV at standard size (55-65 inches) are already packed so densely into the display, you may not be able to see the difference between 4K and 8K TVs unless you're watching from a close range or on a very large screen (75 inches or above).
There's also not much content available in 8K, which means most of the video you're watching will need to be upscaled, or raised to the TV's resolution by its internal processing system. For this reason, if you're buying an 8K TV, you'll usually want to buy a more premium model with good upscaling from a brand that makes them regularly, like Samsung's QN900 series.
Stick to a 4K UHD screen for now, unless you're a high roller.
What Is Backlighting?
Put simply, all TVs—besides OLED and some specialty Micro LED models—use a combination of LED backlighting passed through a multi-layer substrate. There's a layer that makes the color and image, as well as a layer that lights said image so we can see it, controlled by the TV's internal processing. These backlighting systems have a big impact on how good your LED TV screen looks in terms of contrast (the difference and definition between dark and light objects).
Here are some backlighting terms you'll likely run into and what they mean:
Edge lighting is typically used in budget TVs, or TVs that need to be thinner than their direct-lit and locally dimmed counterparts. It involves a ring of lights around the screen used to illuminate the display. It commonly bleeds through in dark rooms, so you can see where the TV is being lit.
Direct-lit TVs tuck their backlighting behind the display and can typically get brighter than their edge-lit counterparts. Without local dimming, direct-lit TVs will also look odd in darker rooms, with blotchy spots that reveal the backlighting.
Local dimming is a technology we’re increasingly seeing on even some budget TVs from brands like TCL and Hisense, where multiple LEDs in the back of the TV can coordinate to light or darken smaller sections of the screen as needed. This means better contrast and less bleed from bright images on a dark background. (Think tiny stars or a spaceship lit across a deep-space background in a sci-fi or nature film.)
Mini-LED technology ($500+) takes local dimming to a more exact level, allowing for even more dimming zones behind your panel for better control. As the name suggests, mini-LEDs are smaller, with the best models fitting thousands across a standard screen. Since mini-LEDs are more precise they create better contrast with less “haloing” around images on dark backgrounds than regular LED. This helps them compete with the self-emissive screens, like OLED.
OLED, or “organic LED” ($800+) displays have individual pixels that act as their own backlight, so you get perfect contrast. Blacks are truly black because the pixel is completely turned off. The downside of these “self-emissive” displays has long been that they don't typically get as bright as the best LED TVs. This is still the case, but the best OLED models now utilize new technologies that double the brightness of OLEDs made just a few years back. While LED TVs are still the brightness leaders (continuing to advance with each new generation), the best OLED TVs from Samsung, Sony, and LG offer enough brightness for even challenging lighting conditions.
In extreme viewing scenarios, you might also run into “burn-in,” where the content you watch leaves a visible mark on the screen. This is rare for modern OLED displays, and only happens if you leave static images on the screen for thousands of hours. While both leading display technologies have their place, OLED's mix of improved brightness and perfect contrast has helped it remain the stalwart favorite for most videophiles and professional reviewers.
MicroLED technology ($100,000+) is a new emissive technology designed to compete with OLED. Not to be confused with mini-LED, these TVs are packed with incredibly tiny microLEDs that, like OLED displays, act as their own backlighting and emit their own red, green, and blue colors. That allows them to deliver black levels and contrast like OLED, but at much higher brightness. These TVs are currently very large and prohibitively expensive due to the production process (it's tough to get traditional LEDs small enough!). We expect MicroLED to be more prevalent in the future, but even several years on, this technology is still out of reach for the vast majority of shoppers.
What Are Quantum Dots?
Another display technology you'll hear a lot about when shopping for a new TV is QLED. While this technology may look nearly identical to OLED on a TV box, it's actually a variation of LED TV technology with one distinctive difference: quantum dots.
Not to be confused with everyone's favorite quirky '90s sci-fi series, quantum dots are tiny nanoparticles which, when added to a TV display, can help create more expansive and brighter colors that maintain accuracy at high brightness levels. Samsung was the first major brand to coin the term “QLED” but now the majority of mid-tier LED TVs and above utilize some form of QLED technology.
More recently, Samsung added quantum dots to OLED displays to create a new TV technology called QD-OLED (though Samsung often calls it simply OLED). Samsung introduced QD-OLED in its impressive return to OLED TVs with the S95 series (and later the step-down S90 series). Sony followed suit, blending Samsung QD-OLED displays with its own special processing for the fantastic A95 TV series.
QD-OLEDs have helped advance OLED tech by allowing for brighter, more versatile OLED TVs that compete better with ever-brightening QLED TVs. Not to be outdone, LG upgraded its OLED panels with its own brightening tech, including a technique called MLA (Micro-Lens Array). Using MLA and other advancements, LG OLED TVs like the flagship G-series match up well against Samsung and Sony's brightest QD-OLEDs. This has helped OLED remain a marquee display technology, even as QLED TVs continue to advance with eye-popping brightness.
What's High Dynamic Range?
High Dynamic Range, more commonly called HDR, is now standard on all TVs worth buying, allowing you to see a wider range of highlights, contrast, and even more lifelike colors on supported movies and TV shows.
There are a few major standards for HDR these days: Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+. All of them enhance the differences between the brightest and darkest parts of an image. HDR10 is available in virtually every modern TV and is the baseline standard. Dolby Vision is the most widely available of the more advanced HDR formats, while HDR10+ (championed by Samsung) is also becoming more common. Both advanced formats allow TVs to adjust the brightness, contrast, and color of supported content on a scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame basis, so you'll get results closer to the director's vision than with basic HDR10.
These days, you wouldn't want to buy a TV that doesn't support HDR unless you're after a small/cheap HD TV. Even if you're on a tight budget, you'll also want to consider an LED TV with quantum dots (aka a QLED or NeoQLED display) for their brighter and more vivid colors.
Gaming Performance
If you’re going to be gaming on your TV, I highly recommend paying attention to two factors: refresh rate and input lag. You can often find these specs on the product listing or the box itself. Most standard TVs have a refresh rate of 60 Hz, which means the display can natively reach 60 frames per second (fps), or 60 images on the screen per second. However, modern consoles and games can support up to 120 frames per second, or 120 images per second. This offers smoother motion on the screen, making your game feel more fluid and responsive. For this reason, the best gaming TVs utilize a 120-Hz panel.
Input lag is the time it takes for your movement on a gamepad or keyboard to register on the screen. The lower the better. Most TVs hover at around 15 milliseconds of input lag (less if the game is running at 1080p and 60 frames per second). LG’s OLED models have shockingly low input lag times, but this is primarily beneficial for fast-paced games that require speedy interactions, like first-person shooter games.
If you're an avid gamer, you'll also want to ensure your TV offers advanced gaming features like VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) to sync with a game's changing refresh rate without “tearing” or feeling sluggish, and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), which automatically optimizes the TV's input lag when turning on a modern console or gaming PC. In order to get those features in high resolution, you'll need a high-bandwidth HDMI connection, and that means a TV with HDMI 2.1.
The Right Ports
Most TVs include an optical output for audio, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet connection, and three or four HDMI ports. As noted above, you should make sure your new TV supports at least one high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 port (or more if you have multiple modern gaming devices), which allows for 4K resolution at up to 120-Hz for the best gaming performance, among other benefits.
All new TVs provide one HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) port, which lets you easily connect modern soundbars, powered bookshelf speakers, and A/V receivers with an HDMI cable—and even control volume and power from the TV remote. Most midrange TVs or higher will support the more advanced version of ARC, HDMI eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel). With higher bandwidth, eARC allows a TV to send uncompressed sound formats to a supported audio device. In essence, it supports better sound quality to raise the performance of the best soundbars and surround sound systems, but you'll need a great setup to tell the difference.
I recommend buying all-new high-speed cables if you're getting a new TV for the first time in a while like the affordable Amazon Basics cable linked above. Modern cables support higher data speeds than those from years past, and HDMI cables can wear out over time.
What About TV Software?
All major TV brands have a baseline smart interface with support for a large number of streaming services, including Vizio's Home Screen, Samsung's Tizen OS, and LG's webOS. New Sony TVs, as well as most new Hisense and TCL models, come with Google TV, while Roku TVs come with Roku OS, the streaming brand's simplified, tile-based interface.
Roku and Google TV are our current favorite smart TV interfaces, but if you're not keen on your TV's built-in operating system, worry not—you can easily add your desired streaming platform for very little money with one simple purchase. Just grab one of our favorite streaming devices, plug it in, and let your preferred smart interface do the heavy lifting.
How Much Should You Expect to Pay?
You'll see quite a range of prices when shopping for a new TV. A lot of it comes down to the features you want. Here's a basic price guide on what you can expect for the money. Be sure to check out our list of the Best TVs for specific model information.
If you just want a TV with a large screen that can stream your favorite shows, this is a good starting place, especially if you're on a budget. I highly suggest you avoid TVs that aren’t made by the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, Hisense, Vizio, or Roku. Also, avoid spending less than $300 on anything, unless it’s smaller than 55 inches.
If you watch TV often and want something between 40 and 65 inches, this is a great price category to shop in. Stick to the major brands above—especially our favorite value-oriented brands like TCL, Hisense, and Roku—and you can hardly go wrong. If you want the best from more premium brands like Samsung, LG, and Sony you'll likely need to spend up.
This price range is for TVs 65 inches or larger, and/or those with advanced panel technologies, like OLED, and QLED/mini-LED. You’ll also typically get higher-end processing for improved upscaling, and better hardware like a 120Hz panel for video games and sports. Get into the $2,000 range and you'll find top-rated 4K TVs from Samsung, LG, and Sony. Spend more than a few thousand, and you can begin to expect 8K resolution—not that there is currently much 8K content to watch.
Get a Soundbar or Bookshelf Speakers
TV speakers suck. Companies have tried to improve them, but even the best models still sound tinny. Just buy a soundbar already. Many modern soundbars come with built-in smart assistants like Google Assistant or Alexa, connect to streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify Connect, and offer advanced sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to immerse you in sound. Our Best Soundbars guide has several recommendations at multiple price ranges.
If you're more music-oriented and don't care as much about surround sound formats, we recommend considering a pair of bookshelf speakers as a soundbar alternative. Many options in our Best Bookshelf Speakers guide come with built-in amplification and advancements like wireless streaming and HDMI ARC, so you don't need a separate amplifier—just plug and play. If you've been listening to TV speakers up to now, you won't believe what you've been missing.
