from OLED to QLED, Samsung to TCL, and more

While still relatively young, OLED TVs easily occupy the top spot over LED TVs. But not all OLEDs are created equal and there are only a handful that stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. The Sony A9F is near the top.
The A9F is the latest model in Sony’s line of OLED TVs and is the culmination of previous designs up to this point. To start, the OLED panels at the heart of the TV make up the baseline for picture quality. Compared to LED bulbs, OLEDs provide higher contrasts than LEDs can. That means the screen can easily go from being extremely bright to absolute black with no blooming in the picture. But that’s just the start.
The A9F comes with the Triluminos™ colour display, a common feature among Sony’s top-end TVs. The colour display ups the output of blues, greens, and reds for sharp and crisp colours across the board. 
Then there’s the X1 Ultimate processor to handle the HDR. While X1 processors are common in Sony’s top-end TVs, the X1 Ultimate lives up to the name with the grade of black and white it offers. That in tandem with the OLED panels means the whites will be as bright as can be along with extremely deep blacks. 

While LG and Sony are fighting over OLED dominance, Samsung decided to go off in a slightly different direction. Instead, Samsung decided to invest in quantum-dot LED TVs, or QLEDs for short, to offer their own alternative to the top-shelf OLEDs from Sony and LG. And the top end of what’s available right now is the Q9F.
In general, Samsung TVs offer the best colours of most high-performance TVs on the market right now. It’s one of the reasons QLEDs work so well for Samsung. And the Q9F easily delivers the best and brightest colours of any Samsung TV. The quantum dot mapping can squeeze a little extra detail out of the colours for the brightness to really pop compared to other TVs. Fans of animation would especially be happy with this design choice and focus on colours.
Thankfully, the HDR doesn’t suffer on the Q9F. The focus on colours can negatively impact the blacks and whites in some lower model Samsung TVs. That definitely isn’t the case with the Q9 and the HDR actually measures up with some of the best Sony and LG TVs. 
But what puts the Q9F over the top is the processor. And the same goes for the rest of Samsung’s TVs from 2018. Samsung had previously bought processors from third-party companies that were a little more general and might not have been as optimised as they could be. The 2018 models saw a change in that thinking with Samsung keeping it in-house and producing processors themselves. Keeping it in-house means that the processors can be ideally tuned to produce the best quality possible.
If there’s any obvious downside to this TV, it’s that the audio performance may not measure up. That’s not unexpected when it comes to most flatscreens today, but it’s still disappointing that it hasn’t been addressed on a wide scale. There just isn’t enough power in the speakers and they aren’t built into ideal locations. But if you’re looking for a TV like this, you probably have a sound system or already know what you’re going to get anyway. 

In the world of OLEDs, you know LG is here to deliver. When other companies need OLED panels for their TVs, they often go to LG. They’re the largest producer of OLED panels right now and provide the panels that make Sony TVs what they are. But even with the competition using their panels, LG isn’t just resting on its laurels.
The result of this is the LG E8 OLED TV and it’s easily the best of LG’s crop of TVs. A big reason is because of LG’s a9 processor for the picture. The OLED panels serve as the foundation of the picture, but the a9 is what provides the extra sharpness and clarity for the E8. It also offers better clean-up for colours so they can come through brighter and better than other LG TVs.
But a newer selling point for this TV is the AI ThinQ. In simple terms, it’s an even smarter TV compared to other smart TVs. AI ThinQ allows for easier integration into a smart home when paired with a Google Home or Amazon Alexa device. Once integrated, it becomes a hub that operates the home theater with voice controls. And if your other home theater devices are compatible with AI ThinQ, they can be paired up to go entirely to voice control. So you can forget about fumbling around with six different remotes just to get to Netflix.
The E8 is also an aesthetically pleasing option, with its picture-on-glass design. The glass allows the TV to blend more easily into the room, especially if it’s mounted, and flow with the room much better. It’s also one of the thinnest TVs LG offers, so it shouldn’t take up too much room either. 

Because LED is the standard for TVs today, there’s a sea of choices available to dig through. Even if you manage to trim it down to a select few brands you’ll still have to figure out which one works for you. But if you’re looking for the best, look no further than the Sony XF9005.
Sony TVs are arguably some of the best on the market and the XF9005 is just another example of that. The first reason is because it’s backlit. Most TVs on the market are edge-lit TVs, which means the LED bulbs are built into the sides of the TV. Because they’re around the sides, the light cascades toward the centre which can result in some possible dimming. 
Backlit TVs, as the name implies, have the bulbs built more along the back of the TV instead. The light from the bulbs comes directly out instead of cascading and the difference is clear. The out-of-box picture will be brighter before even going into the settings. The picture will also come out ‘fuller’, meaning the picture will be more even with little to no drop-off when watching.
Another reason this is a great LED option is the X1 processor that’s under the screen. The X1 is the standard processor Sony uses in all their 8 series, 9 series, and OLED TVs to provide that excellent picture. The XF9005 in particular uses the X1 Extreme, which is just one step down from the X1 Master in the OLEDs. It provides the excellent HDR quality for the blacks and whites to make the picture more natural. It also helps with clarity to make sure there’s no motion blur during faster or action-packed moments. 

Making the jump to any high-end tech can be daunting. That’s especially true with TVs because of how many options are out there. But if this is your first high-end TV, Samsung has the perfect model for you.
The Samsung Q6F is the ‘introductory’ model of their QLED TVs but is far from an introductory TV. Think of it as the low-end of the high-end selection that Samsung has to offer, which is still better than some high-end LED TVs. 
Samsung TVs already offer the best color display you can find on most 4K models. The quantum-dot mapping the QLED offers will make colors pop even more. And in case you’re worried, it won’t make everything suddenly look like a cartoon. But cartoons are going to look especially good on this.
And for anyone who is mounting the TV, one of the nice features included in the QLED is the ambient display mode. You can have the display match the wall design to give it flow, load up a relaxing screensaver, or have it cycle through pictures while some light music plays in the background. 

Samsung, Sony, and LG all differentiate their TV models by numbering their LED TVs starting at six and end at nine before hitting the OLEDs and QLEDs. In the case of Samsung, if you’re want to balance performance with cost, their eight series is the way to go.
The Samsung NU8000 series is the kind of TV you want to start with if you’re looking for performance. While the six and seven series aren’t bad at all, the NU8000 is the TV that provides the specs and performance you want for quality 4K.
Because it’s a Samsung TV, the colours are going to be excellent across the board. Everything from animation to Marvel films will be bright and bombastic to the eyes. And with a 120hz refresh rate, the picture will be smooth enough to catch all the crazy action on FA Cup final day.
The only downside is that the HDR is a little lacking. The blacks and whites aren’t bad by any means, it’s just a byproduct of Samsung’s choice to focus on colour output. The colour contrasting and display can sometimes overpower the HDR output and cause some graying on the screen. 

The great thing about 4K TVs becoming commonplace is that now there are models that most people can afford. There’s no longer a need to save up what feels like three months of pay just to get a decent 4K TV that isn’t as big as you’d like. And near the top of that list is the TCL DP628 series.
TCL is one of the more budget-minded brands in the realm of 4K TVs, but that doesn’t take away from their quality. Are they going to match up to some of the insane TVs the likes of Sony and Samsung are offering? No. However, not everyone needs a 75-inch OLED TV that can cost one-third of your annual salary.
TCL has been able to corner the budget market as one of the best-regarded lower-priced 4K TV makers.  In short, you’re getting some above-budget 4K for attractive budget prices.
One way TCL pulls off this above-price quality level is by pairing the 4K display with HDR10 and HLG. This will provide quality blacks and whites for crisp, more natural pictures.