What lcd tv should i buy

The more densely packed array of pixels in UHD sets makes them capable of greater picture detail. We're now also starting to see the first so-called 8K TVs, which have screen resolutions of x, with more than 33 million pixels.

You will still find p and p TVs in the smaller screen sizes—say, 32 inches and smaller. There is now a decent amount of 4K content to watch, especially from streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix. We expect more to come on the market in the future. Another benefit of 4K TVs: Most now support high dynamic range HDR and a wider palette of colors, for more vibrant, natural-looking images.

To find out more about high dynamic range, see our HDR section below. And right now, it's hard to find a UHD TV smaller than 39 inches, although we do have one inch 4K set in our ratings. Just remember that resolution is only one of a number of attributes that a TV has to get right to produce excellent overall picture quality. Regular HD TVs remain a great choice for many consumers when you factor in price, especially in screen sizes smaller than 65 inches.

Thanks to its higher-resolution x screen, a 4K TV can display greater detail than a p set when presented with high-quality UHD content. New 8K TVs, with x screens, are capable of even greater fine detail.

Images on these sets appear sharper, with smoother lines on the edges of objects, depending on your viewing distance. Many UHD sets attempt to enhance the image in other ways. For example, many better TVs now have sophisticated video processing and use artificial intelligence to upscale lower-resolution content to the TV's 4K or 8K screens. And most 4K sets now support HDR, which provides a higher level of contrast between the lightest and darkest images.

More content that has been encoded with HDR is available every year. As we previously noted, one of the most exciting recent TV developments is high dynamic range, or HDR. When done right, HDR boosts a TV's brightness, contrast, and color, making the pictures on the screen look more like real life. The dramatized image below shows that when HDR is at work, you'll see details that might not otherwise be obvious, from the texture of the brick on a shady walkway to nuances in the white clouds in a daytime sky.

You'll also see brighter, more realistic "specular highlights," which are glints of light, such as the sun's reflection off a car's chrome bumper or an airplane wing. HDR does all that by increasing the contrast between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks a TV can produce. But you won't see all that fantastic contrast and color every time you turn on the TV. Find out where you can watch 4K content with HDR. First, your TV should automatically detect the type of HDR being used in the content and choose the right way to play it.

Second, the type of HDR doesn't seem to be too important right now. What we've seen in our labs is that top-performing TVs can do a great job with different types of HDR.

The quality of the TV is more important. One type, called HDR10, has been adopted as an open standard. Companies pay a licensing fee to use it. On paper it has some advantages. By contrast, HDR10 uses "static" metadata, where brightness levels are set for the entire movie or show. Many new TVs already support HLG, but it looks like others will be able to get firmware updates if necessary. This matters only for people who get TV through antennas , which are making a comeback. Our tests show that not every TV with "HDR" written on the box produces equally rich, lifelike images.

But there are also challenges specific to this technology. Better-performing HDR TVs typically generate at least nits of peak brightness, with top performers hitting 1, nits or more. With an underpowered TV, the fire of a rocket launch becomes a single massive white flare.

What to do instead? But there are also some good choices for people who want to spend less. And if you're buying a smaller set or just want to wait on 4K and HDR, you can find several good—and inexpensive—options. The overwhelming number of TVs on the market, especially in midsized and larger models, are smart TVs. These televisions can access online content, such as streaming video services from Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix.

Basic smart TVs may be limited to the most popular services, while others offer a vast assortment of apps. More sophisticated smart TVs can respond to voice commands, using microphones built into the TV's remote control or using an app on a smartphone. More than 80 percent of the TVs sold these days are smart TVs, according to market research firm Omdia. Details below. This will let you perform basic TV controls—such as raising and lowering volume, and changing channels or inputs—and search for shows and movies using voice commands.

Just be aware that almost all smart TVs collect information about the shows you're watching and the apps you're using—for marketing purposes. The degree to which you can control this data collection varies by the brand of smart TV system, but there are ways you can limit the amount of data being collected and shared.

Streaming media players are a popular add-on for TVs, bringing streaming movies, TV, music, and games to TVs that lack internet access. There are more than a dozen streaming player models, offered mainly in two styles: set-top boxes, and stick players about the size of a USB flash drive. The most basic ones support p video, and many models can play 4K content with HDR from the streaming services that offer it. Because 4K models often come with promotional discounts, getting a 4K player probably makes the most sense for most consumers because their next TV purchase is likely to be a 4K model.

And be aware that streaming video requires robust broadband and WiFi connections to prevent the video from freezing or buffering. If you move more of your entertainment to the internet, you may need to upgrade to a faster connection. Many smart TVs also let you check social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and several support casual games as well. Some sets may have all three. Like streaming media players, smart TVs need to be connected to your home network.

Read more : Cord cutter's guide to the best indoor antennas. If you aren't planning to use a universal model or the remote that came with your cable box, pay attention to the TV's included clicker.

It's nice when it can command other gear directly so you can ditch those extra remotes. We prefer smaller, simple remotes with just a few buttons that consign most of the action to the screen.

Read more : Best universal remotes. Since TVs are basically furniture, manufacturers have concentrated on making their sets look nicer. Many TVs today look like almost all picture from the front, and when seen from the side or hung on a wall, the thin cabinets almost disappear. Other innovations include channels to hide wiring and, in the case of high-end Samsung TVs, a separate input box to further combat clutter. We don't have a favorite brand; instead we try to judge the TVs I test on their individual merits, largely ignoring brand cachet or reputation.

We don't test TVs over the long term, but from what we know all of the major brands are more or less equally reliable.

Some brands do perform more consistently better than others in my tests, or deliver remotes, smart TV systems or designs we prefer over competitors, but these can change on a fairly regular basis. Another way to answer that question is to check out our current list of best TVs.

Trick question! We believe the best TVs for watching pretty much anything are the TVs with the best black level, color and other standard performance characteristics not to mention the biggest screen. Motion resolution isn't a major concern since most blurring on TV sporting events is inherent in the source, and input lag, which we measure for every TV review , can often be improved by specialized gaming modes common on most TVs.

Those are only found on newer, more expensive TVs. Read more : Best TVs for gaming with low input lag. Properly adjusting the picture is very important to getting the most out of your TV. That said, simply selecting the "Movie," "Cinema" or "Calibrated" preset will get you the most accurate picture on most TVs. If you want to go deeper, or perhaps bring in a professional to help, check out our picture settings tips and professional calibration explainer.

If you want better audio, we recommend starting with a soundbar or investing in a home theater system. And if the built-in smart TV system on your set isn't up to par, check out a streaming device. The short answer is "it should last a very long time. Yes you can, and it should work very well whether you use HDMI or go wireless. Because rear-projection TVs are no longer on sale as of , and the last plasma TVs were manufactured in They're sadly missed.

Unlike dinosaur rear-projectors, we think front-projectors are really cool. Here's our favorite home theater projectors and portable projectors. Once a futuristic add-on filled with promise -- remember Avatar? The last two major brands to support 3D, Sony and LG, dropped support entirely in , joining Samsung, Vizio and most other brands. All of the TV makers we asked cited lack of interest from consumers.

Neither one has proven better in our tests yet, and it mostly depends on the TV. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. CNET editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. David Katzmaier , Sarah Lord. Jump to details.

Best high-end TV for the money. Sizes: , , , , inch. Best TV for the money, period. TCL 6-Series. Sizes: , , inch. Best budget TV. Sony also introduced the X92, which comes only in a massive, inch screen size and otherwise looks to be similar to the X90J.

The company has said that the inch 8K models will have up to 2, zones of local dimming and 3, nits of brightness. Also, TV makers have started reducing the number of 4K models they have, or reducing the features in those TVs, as they focus on 8K for their most high-end displays.

The big-name TV manufacturers usually introduce completely new TV lines every year and gradually phase out the previous models. It also has a pair of HDMI 2. In addition, Vizio is still working out bugs in the models in relation to certain game consoles and other devices, which makes us wary of recommending them right now. Since the QN90A already does a good job of offering wider viewing angles than a conventional LCD, we chose to review and recommend it instead.

Its full-array local dimming worked well in our tests, and its dynamic tone mapping better preserves HDR highlights.

The HDMI 2. This TCL model has to scale all 4K content to 8K to display it, and in our tests it scaled some content incorrectly—so a yellow and red neon sign became only red, for example. And film grain on Blu-ray discs was amplified; instead of being a fine grain, it was more apparent and noisier.

As a result, images looked more washed out and lacked pop compared with what we saw from the competition. In SDR video, shadow areas appeared closer to gray than black unless we significantly lowered the backlight, and then the image was too dim for many rooms. HDR images were brighter than they should have been, which also caused colors to be less saturated than on competing TVs, so the extra brightness was wasted.

It offers a great-looking image but is due for a refresh at this point. The Hisense H9G is an improvement over the H8G model largely because this set has a much faster processor that makes the Android TV experience far better than before.

The H9G also has very good local dimming, and with HDR content in our tests, colors looked vibrant and bold. When we tried to correct these problems using the calibration controls, the tools introduced other artifacts that made the picture worse, so we were unable to fix those issues. We did not review this TV, but Rtings. If you need a wider viewing angle, the Sony XH is a better choice.

TV Reviews , Rtings. Televisions , Reviewed. Chris Heinonen is a senior staff writer reporting on TVs, projectors, and sometimes audio gear at Wirecutter. He has been covering AV since for a number of online publications and is an ISF-certified video calibrator.

He used to write computer software and hopes to never do that again, and he also loves to run and test gear for running guides. How we picked and tested Advanced LCD specs. Our pick. Upgrade pick. Also great. Sony XH A more affordable choice for group viewing The Sony XH offers wider viewing angles for larger groups and provides superb video processing and image accuracy. Everything we recommend. Why you should trust us. Who should get this. How we picked. A native Hz refresh rate: TVs with a Hz refresh rate can display both film content which is 24 Hz and TV content which is 60 Hz without introducing judder, or jerky, stuttering motion.

A TV without judder has smoother, more natural-looking motion, especially on panning shots. In our tests, during scenes with panning shots, we can still easily see the difference between 48 Hz and Hz displays. Support for a wider color gamut: This feature is required to show the expanded colors available in Ultra HD content. Inputs that support HDMI 2. The newer HDMI 2. Unfortunately, at this point almost any TV available without those features is lacking in other important ways.

How we tested. Our pick: Hisense U7G. The Hisense U7G Series includes the following models:. Flaws but not dealbreakers. Upgrade pick: Samsung QN90A.

A more affordable option for larger spaces: Sony XH. The Sony XH Series includes the following models:. TV features, defined. Recommended settings. Adjust the backlight to your preference, and disable the automatic light sensor. Everything else comes set up correctly.