On today’s episode of You Asked: What are the most important specs to consider when buying a TV? Should you go for a big screen TV or projector for your vacation home? And… was I wrong about OLED being the highest mainstream standard for TV performance?
What specs matter most when buying a TV?
Pete asks: What are the most important specs to consider when buying a TV?
Pete, I’d say there are a few, but the first thing to consider is where you’re placing the TV in your home. Is it a living room? Bedroom? Dedicated theater-style area? Workout room?
I won’t go down the rabbit hole on each one of those, but let’s assume it’s a living room TV. Depending on if you’ve got a lot of big windows that will add a lot of light during daytime watching, I’d say brightness and the panel type are both important specs to start with.
Starting with the latter: if you don’t have a lot of ambient light or you can control the light in the room well, I’d consider OLED if you’ve got the budget for it. It’s going to give you the best picture quality in terms of contrast and HDR viewing.
A lot of the newer models also get bright enough to battle added light in the room. The Samsung S95F , especially, has an anti-glare screen that does a great job handling reflections, and its QD-OLED panel in the 55, 65, and 77-inch sizes is quite bright.
Now, if there is a lot of light that’s going to be pumping into the viewing space, you don’t want your TV to struggle to compete with it. The simple answer in this case would be to go with a Mini LED TV . Fortunately, most of the ones we talk about on this channel get plenty bright.
If you’ve got the budget, Sony’s Bravia 9 is a top-notch option. The Samsung QN90 series sets are also great performers. TCL and Hisense have a number of more budget-friendly options that can still compete with some of the more expensive models.
What those TVs I listed also have in common is their backlight technology: Mini LED with full-array local dimming. This is another spec to consider for the best viewing experience. These TVs will have much better contrast and be the best performers when it comes to HDR viewing. It’s not quite OLED levels, but they are getting very, very good with improved contrast these days. Mini LED TVs are also pretty fairly priced. So if you’re serious about a purchase, it would be the bare minimum I’d look at in terms of tech.
The operating system is another feature that I wouldn’t say is a dealbreaker, but it shouldn’t be something you don’t understand or don’t enjoy using since you’re going to be using it every day with the TV. To be honest, most of them are fine in my book.
Google TV is probably the easiest to use on Sony, Hisense, and TCL TVs, but Samsung’s Tizen and LG’s WebOS aren’t difficult to learn. They all make it pretty easy for users to find what they need.
All of them are finding ways to get more ads in front of us, but I don’t find them obnoxious, especially on Tizen. I’d say Fire TV is the only one I’m not a big fan of. Amazon is just a bit pushy with those ads sometimes. But as always, if you don’t like an operating system, just pick up your streaming box of choice, like an Apple TV 4K , and you can easily work around it.
Speaking of which, inputs are also important—especially for gamers. For the latest-gen consoles and PC gaming, you’re going to want at least one HDMI 2.1 port to get the most out of the console output and maximize what I’d assume is a faster refresh rate on the TV, like 120Hz or more.
And certainly, if you have more than one console or know you’ll be connecting a streaming box and external audio devices as well, just know what you’re working with in terms of HDMI capability so there aren’t any surprises when you start setting things up.
The last thing I’d say goes on my most important spec list is size. I can see you rolling your eyes—of course you need to consider size—but seriously, you want the TV to fit your space well. If it’s too small, you’ll know right away and feel it with the empty wall space around it. If it’s too big, it may dominate your room and just be too much if you aren’t sitting far enough away.
Now, some of you might also say sound is an important spec, and I’d mostly agree. Certainly do your research there if you’re going to rely on the TV speakers. I think a lot of mid to top-tier models do have good enough sound, and many are starting to take speakers more seriously.
But I’m just Team Soundbar these days—especially when you can find good ones for as little as a hundred dollars. They’ll add clarity and an experience that most TV speakers won’t compete with.
Big TV or projector for a rental?
Dennis asks: I have a short-term vacation rental and one of the rooms is set up as a theater. Currently, it uses a 75-inch Samsung LED. I’d like to upgrade and go bigger. My question is: Do I stick with a TV and go with something along the lines of a 100-inch Hisense QLED or 98-inch TCL QLED? My other option is going with a screen and projector. What are the biggest differences? Pluses and minuses of each option? One thing to keep in mind: how easy will it be for guests to use?
Starting with the last part first—I just assume most guests have not used a screen and projector. And what I know is a lot of people don’t like change or having to learn new things on vacation. So if it’s a screen and projector, while it sounds awesome on a list of amenities, I don’t know if it’s going to get used that much. Just my opinion.
An extra-large Hisense or TCL TV, on the other hand, is going to be a bit more guest-friendly, and one big reason is the operating system. With Google TV, guests can sign in and out of their Google accounts on the TV and have access to all their usual subscriptions and content, making them feel right at home.
Plus, it’s a huge TV that a lot of people probably haven’t used. So the experience will be right up there with using a large screen and projector.
Now, I’m not super experienced with projectors. I’ve just used a few small ones that we’ve had around here. But a few things that are noticeably better on TVs: brightness, contrast, and color. Even if the projector is going in a theater setup in a darker room, the TV will produce better picture quality.
But again, my main reasoning would just be ease of use and setup. TVs are pretty plug-and-play and won’t require guests pinging you and asking how to use the projector.
Is OLED still the peak of TV tech?
Dru asks: You’re crowning OLED as the peak of TV tech, highlighting some refinements still to come to match the limits of human vision. But is that title based on actual superiority, or just what’s attainable and widely available right now? Because last I checked, the real king is Micro LED. It’s just living in a castle most of us can’t afford to visit yet.
Dru, you are exactly right, which is why I said in that video: “In terms of mainstream, affordable TVs, I’d say the current bar is set at OLED.”
Keywords: mainstream and affordable—because yeah, Micro LED is insanely expensive. According to microled-info.com , the 163-inch Micro LED TV released by Hisense in China costs the equivalent of $110,000. At least at one point, I know Hisense planned on releasing a 136-inch Micro LED TV here in the United States as well. And when you think of the tariffs on that thing, you just gotta laugh to keep from crying. That’s a downpayment on a house.
Anyway, seeing a Micro LED TV like that in person was an experience. Incredibly bright. Incredibly sharp. And noticeably more clear than OLED. So we haven’t quite hit that peak yet.
When it does come down from the castle and can be manufactured in a more reasonable, consumer-friendly price and size, it will sit atop the TV mantle and give everyone that can produce one a new standard to chase.
